> Maybe I'm grasping for straw here, is there _anybody_ out there that can
> give me a definitive answer as to why ppp performance degrades steadily?
Sounds like the USR "spiraling death syndrome", but of course you
need to be using a particular model of USR modem.
There are many people who are fairly unhappy with USR. That's
unfortunate; they used to make very good modems, but somehow success
seems to have made their quality control go down the tubes.
See this web page for amusement's sake:
(Mr. Sporster meets Mr. Sledgehammer!)
http://www.allegro.com/sportster.html
- Ted