There are several factors which may lead to slow connection speeds:

And a few possible others that cannot be foreseen.

Possibility Two:  You Have Your Modem/Account Set to Connect at a Slow Speed
To check to make sure your modem is operating at peak levels you must do the following:

Possibility Three:  Olemac's Servers Are Nearly Full and Most Users Are Actively Surfing (Rare)
Although we are always adding new modem pools and T-1 lines there are rare times when we reach or come close to our full capacity.  These are very rare and unlikely to be your problem.

Possibility Four:  You Are Located Too Far From Olemac's Servers
Phone lines are made too carry audio signals, yet the internet uses digital signals to communicate over phone lines.  Although there are analog-to-digital convertors placed periodically throughout the system there is still a matter of signal degredation, causing slower connection speeds for certain people located too far from the server.

Possibility Five:  Your Phone Line Is Noisy
Some people may have bad phone lines, sometimes because of damage and sometimes from a bad installation.  Either way the line works just fine for phones, but there is usually a small buzzing sound that can be heard in the background.  This buzzing sound can interfere with the signals sent in and out for the internet and cause slow connection speeds because it has to send the same information repeatedly.  This is usually fixable.