Upgrade Your Dial Up to 56k

56k dial-up access is available to most TXOL customers. This is offered as an upgrade option only, since some service areas will not be able to use 56k. If you are currently a TXOL customer and would like to upgrade to 56K dialup, signup online and get started today with 56k.

Current 56k areas include all of the D-FW areas, Cisco, Eastland, Ranger, Olden, Morton Valley, Carbon, and Rising Star, Strawn, Mineral Wells, Stephenville, Palo Pinto and Strawn. If your town is not listed, please feel free to email us at support@txol.net

Price for upgrading to 56k will be a $10 administration fee plus tax. Your current monthly access fee will remain the same.

Click here to sign up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I even bother with 56K?
Most users can get higher connect speeds with the 56K technology. The half-digital nature of 56K means that your connect rates should be higher than with pure analog technology.

How much faster?
As with 28.8K and 33.6K modems, the exact performance will depend on the line quality in your area. Most TXOL users are connecting between 45 and 50K.

But 56K has disadvantages too. You can't use it if there is more than one analog-to-digital conversion in your local phone loop. Many rural area customers experience this situation.

There are some other things you should be aware of. The 56K reference is download reference only, as uploads are at a more modest 28.8K or 33.6K speed. Top speed in the U.S. is limited to 53K because of FCC regulations. These minor disadvantages are a nuisance, but they won't prevent most people from using the technology because it's usually an all around better connect.

Will I need any special hardware on my computer to get 56K?
Yes you will need a 56K modem.

Why do I have to pay an administration fee to upgrade?
There are 2 main reasons for the cost. They are, to limit the amount of people at one time that move to the new service. We can't afford to change all our equipment at the same time. The administration fee will most importantly help us to offset the cost of buying the equipment in order to have 56K available. This transition will cost 5 times more than what we spent to go in business, so we appreciate your understanding in the upgrade fees. Even though we have looked at many ways to get this service rolling, such as a higher monthly rates, we believe this is the easiest transition. Please remember that we are in remote areas and the costs for offering digital services are much higher than in metropolitan areas. We are the first in the US to offer this service being a relay switch from a metropolitan switch station. In the future, all of our equipment will be digital and 56k dialup. This will mean that eventually there will be no upgrade fee.

What is the difference between 56K and 33.6 or 28.8?
(Yes it is faster but,) 56K V.90 is completely digital as opposed to 33.6 or 28.8 V.34 which is analog. Anyone who has seen analog Internet equipment has probably noticed the racks and racks of modems lined up on the wall. Each modem is analog and is connected to an individual telephone line. The modems have to be continuously monitored and reset to keep from over heating. Over heating will cause the modem to ignore incoming calls and "ring a way" (Not pick up) Digital 56K does not use individual modems. Instead it uses a single device called a Portmaster 3. The physical size of the PM3 is approximately 12 inches long by 7 inches wide by 3 inches high and is equivalent to 48 individual modems with only 2 connections to the telephone switch station. This connection is called a PRI (Primary Rate Interface) which has the ability to carry several calls on a single line.

Does it matter if I have a K56flex or a 56K V.90 modem?
If your in the market for buying a new modem, you should look for a V.90 compliant modem. V.90 is latest technology, completely digital and will shortly become the standard for the Internet industry. Kflex on the other hand is a digital modem that converts the signal to analog before send data. It should not matter if you're using a Kflex modem or V.90. Kflex is a little slower.