Dwonload DRTCP & using the FAQ section & the recommendations, make your adjustments. Remember the old settings (just in case). I've used it (DrTCP) for a long time.
You say your cable speed is 128 k/bit sec? That seems way low.
I was paying the same price for a dial-up connection and although this is only 2x faster it's a way better service - it doesn't go down every 5 minutes! Plus I don't get kicked off every 2 hours and have to dial in again and I dropped the second phone line so it actually works out cheaper. Hopefully I'll be on 600k by next year.
i've been rebuilding my desktop with slack 9 the past couple days, it was a rocky start getting things set up the way i like them but now with the exception of rebuilding a ton of software I'm up and running, so far so good.