It's that slow. 3kbyte/sec is about a dialup 28.8k, maybe a 33.6k. Dialup 56k (really limited to about 53k) is the best speed under ideal conditions. Under less than ideal conditions the modems will adapt to a speed that will allow reliable connections. That's almost always the 28.8 or 33.6 speeds. Really bad connections will fall back to 14.4, or slower.