Unfortunately, with a router-modem setup, a quick mouse-over of the connection icon on my system shows only my ethernet speed (100 Mbps) rather than actual internet connection.
In practice, I've always gauged speed by how fast large files can download. Back on dialup I averaged about 12-15 MB an hour, maybe 18 if I was lucky. DSL seems to give me close enough to a 60x improvement, so that what was hours is now the same time in minutes.
(Edit, P.S.) I just looked up my ISP's page, and their standard high-speed DSL offering is "up to" 5Mbps for residential accounts. I imagine there's faster available for commercial accounts, which would typically use ethernet (or whatever) right to the phone switching box, to minimize standard phone wiring.