Well so you have someone to pity, in rural Canada using "satellite" (actually it is a radio signal from a tower but somewhere a satellite is involved). AND I'm getting all of .5 Mbps (as in one half of one Mbps) all the way up to 1.4 Mbps on a clear day. Typically around 1 Mbps - as tested at Speedtest.com. BUT hey this is so much faster than dial up and it does not tie up the phone line.
Now don't you feel better about your 'crappy' connection speed?