crippe13

I would also try booting into safe mode with networking and test a download or 2 that way. If you could successfully download windows updates, it doesn't sound like its a hardware issue. It might be a setting in your router, or some software/firewall problem. Have you installed any antivirus or spyware programs since you reformatted? Are you on SP2? (and is it blocking the download with the information bar?) ... thinking cap broke so I'm out of ideas and questions

Trying to get back on topic- do a google search on BPL. Its still being argued heavily in a lot of areas that proposed further testing of it. It MIGHT turn into a viable option to cable/dsl in another year or 2, but FIOS and WiFi sound like they might be better in the long term. Of coarse it wasn't that many years ago that broadband over cable sounded like a pipe dream.

If you haven't gotten a new modem already, you might try aiming a small fan at the back of the modem.

There WERE a few ISPs that offered 112k dialup using USRobotics modems and "Shotgun" technology.