I had contacted my ISP. As expected, I received the response that "It must be something on your end." They wanted to bring a laptop down to check things out. When I informed them I had hooked up a P4 3.06 brand new out of the box system and did some of the speed tests available on the internet, they started looking on their end.
The ISP fessed up to having problems with their systems. After which, my connection speed has risen to a level that I would expect. Thanks to all that finally provided some feedback.
Question answered.