Has anyone gotten Steam to set up successfully over a dial-up connection?

I tried to load up my "Special Collector's Edition" DVD of Half Life 2; of course, you have to set up Steam first and update downloading stops at 32%, 48%, etc. Then connection goes dead. My dial-up connection is still running just fine, its just the Steam connection that stops responding. I've followed their FAQ suggestions about uninstalling and reinstalling with the latest SteamInstall file and resetting my firewall settings (ZoneAlarm free), but still no joy.

I think my only option may be to bring my system in to work and hook up to the company T1 to get my updates before the Steam connection craps out.

Anybody else have dial-up experiences/tips/tricks?