I live in rural Virginia (Appalachian mountains) and still use dialup,
although cable is available, and has recently upgraded to 3Mb.
It's a big country. I've heard that some university towns have real
fast connections, as a benefit of the relationship with the school.

I have high hopes that speeds will go nowhere but up. What bothers
me is the tendency of providers to disallow servers. I want a
direct connection with no middle man. Fat chance.