>That did it, thanks.  ppp-report now says:
>
>chat:  Jan 21 22:08:39 CONNECT 28800/24000/V34/V42BIS
>
>which is exactly what I was looking for.
Steve,
    Make sure your modem is set to report the actual carrier speed.
Most modems default to a setup that does not.  Many will set the option
in the init string to report the DTE speed (port to modem) and not the
actual carrier connect speed.  For Hayes compatibles, the AT command 
to report the carrier speed of a connection is ATW1 (most will default
to W0).  The carrier speed is the modem-to-modem rate, and I suspect
that is what you want to know.

Paul