And to go with the USB modem train of thought, if it is a USB device, it needs drivers and becomes a device of the PC, using CPU cycles and so on, so if your PC gets bogged down for whatever reason - your connection could well suffer as a result
Sorry about last night, I solved my FPS problem now though - my CPU had underclocked itself to 1.1Ghz instead of its usual overclocked 1.7Ghz (from an XP1700+ 1.46Ghz at stock, a fine boost)
I notice the carname_default.jpg files in the skins folder and was using them as painting templates, but they are 512x512 - are there any 1024x1024 versions kicking about? (preferablyy FO8 and FOX)
9th in race 1, dnf race 2 - my wheel lost calibtation every lap almost - had to swerve violetly left/right to keep it up - eventually I made a mistake and sailed into the wall