I have a Pentium166 with 16mb of ram and I recently replaced my 28kps modem with a 56kps modem. I have noticed no improvement in speeds of uploading or downloading. Have I wasted my money?

Many factors could be at play here. One reason could be that your internet service provider may not be able to handle the potential speed of your modem, if your modem goes at 56kps and your internet service provider only has 28kps modems then your connection will be limited to the speed that your internet service providers modems go at (in this case 28kps), even though your modem is faster. Ring up your internet service provider and ask them what speed their modems go at, if it is slower than your speed you have your answer, but if it is the same or faster then it is likely that it is your own computer that is causing the problem. If the port on your computer doesn’t go at a speed that is fast enough to handle your modem then, like the ISP problem, it will be limited to the speed that the computer can handle the modem. To check if it is fast enough go to: start menu > control panel > modems > click on the diagnostics tab > click once the port that your modem is connected too (it should say beside the number) > then click more info (make sure the modem is on). Look in the port information box at the UART. If it says that the UART is 16550 or higher then your port should be fast enough to handle it, otherwise you may wish to investigate purchasing a new COM port card that can handle the speed of your modem.