Any ideas why my internet is so slow?

[shootersroll]

I live in an area in which dial-up is my only option. Earthlink is my isp and have been using internet explorer on my desktop pc for over a year with little problems (regarding using the internet). I recently started using my Macbook (with the external modem) for my internet and it is horribly slow. I have tried using Safari and Opera, but both seem to operate at about the same speed. I just happened to think while typing this that I may have selected the wrong kind of modem while going through the set-up procedure. The packing slip that accompanied the modem does not indicate what kind it is, and on the second attempt of choosing the modem type from the choices in the set-up, it seemed to work so I left it at that. Any suggestions? I am frustrated because I have been trying to make a case to my family that we should switch to Mac (thereby allowing me to get a new iMac) and I am losing at this point.