Internet connections?

I'm looking for a new provider, since my current (Verizon) sucks dick. Download and uploads are no where near what they advertised when I purchased, etc etc.
I was thinking of getting the 1.5mb/384kb connection from CoVad:
http://www.covad.com/services_dsl_soho.shtml

Could I get some input, or suggestions?

What were they advertising?  Understand that they usually advertise in kilobits (kb) or Megabits (Mb) per second, not kilobytes (kB) or Megabytes (MB) to make it sound more impressive.  Eight bits per byte, BTW.  Also note that those rates are usually offered as a maximum without an Quality of Service (QoS).  For example, imagine there's 20 other people on a 10Mb/s line.  Each of those people is on a 1.5Mb/s connection.  If the line is under heavy load, you won't be able to max your connection.  This happens all the time, and it's getting worse (at least, here in America) because the telcos are reluctant to invest in more bandwidth and instead cram more and more people per line.  So yeah, be careful with the terms they use and READ EVERY WORD OF THE CONTRACT.

>>2
What were they advertising?
To quote them "Connection speeds up to 3.0 Mbps"
Understand that they usually advertise in kilobits (kb) or Megabits (Mb) per second, not kilobytes (kB) or Megabytes (MB) to make it sound more impressive.
For example, imagine there's 20 other people on a 10Mb/s line.  Each of those people is on a 1.5Mb/s connection.  If the line is under heavy load, you won't be able to max your connection.
I see.. Dirty bastards.. Well, that explains why I download at around 200-300kB during good days, sometimes 500-800kB at nights..
be careful with the terms they use and READ EVERY WORD OF THE CONTRACT.
Probably should have been my policy in the first place, but eh, I'm learning.
Thank you for your time and help, I appreciate it a lot.

By the way, would I be better off looking for a provider that isn't mainstream, less people, better speeds, maybe?

Damn, man.  You guys just sound spoiled to me.  I've tried several providers, and I never hit the kinds of speeds people talk (or rather, complain) about.  In fact, my common download speed is 30-50kB/s, and the fastest download I think I've ever clocked is 225kB/s.  Ever.  On any provider.  It's not my area, since I tried several providers while moving apartments in diff. states, maybe I just have shit luck.  But man, 500-800kB/s, even if it's rare, sounds pretty fucking good to me :(

I have a 15 mebibit connection and I download routinely at 1.4 mebibytes per second. My ISP is Cox Communications. They are kind of hit or miss.

I'd just wait. Rumors are that Google is going to become an ISP within a year or two.

>>5
where do you have cox? here in phoenix they're bumping the highest-end connections up to 12 megabit on oct 4th. 5 bucks a month more, but I don't really care, 5 bucks for 3 megabits isn't bad