newbie has problems w/ dialup

[Mark Zyniecki]

Based on the suggestions and some research, I've modified the MTU and
MRU to appropriate values for dialup. In /etc/ppp/options I've added
two lines after the line "crtstcs":
MTU 576
MRU 512

When the modem is connected /sbin/ifconfig shows the following for modem0:
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:512 Metric:1
There is still no overall difference in download speed. Still takes
170-180 seconds to download 150 Kb.

It seemed worth it to try changing from the openSUSE to the WinXP init
string since the differences in the Hayes commands don't seem that
significant (although I wonder why echo is on in openSUSE and off in
WinXP.). YaST2 recognizes the modem (/dev/ttyUSB0). However, I can't
get it to maintain changes after clicking all the way through to
"finish". Each time I return through YaST the modem baud rate is back
to the highest rate (400000) instead of the 57600 I changed it to, and
the init string is back to the openSUSE original from the WinXP
substitution.

Sooo, I modified /etc/wvdial.conf. Changed baud to 57600 and the init
string to the WinXP version. After connecting to the Internet, I
examined the KInternet log, which showed wvdial used the openSUSE init
string instead of the WinXP version substituted in wvdial.conf.
Checking wvdial.conf, the substitutions were there, and checking
through YaST, the baud was back to 4000000 and the openSUSE init
string was back.

QUESTIONS:
1.) Why does ifconfig show MTU 512 when /etc/ppp/options has MTU 576?
2.) How do I get YaST to accept the baud rate and init string changes
or get wvdial.conf to execute the changes?