Warp Speed Internet
Whether you're a Net newcomer or an Internet expert, sooner or later you'll find yourself wishing that the Web worked a little more quickly. Wouldn't it be great if downloads didn't tie up your modem for a fortnight, Web panes appeared in less than an hour and streaming music didn't disconnect every three seconds?
Of course, the easiest way to get a faster connection is to sign up for broadband. If you've got the cash - and you're lucky enough to live in an area where broadband Internet access is available.
That doesn’t mean modem users are stuck with slow connections though. There are plenty of tweaks you can use to get the best connection speeds possible, and software companies offer all kinds of utilities that are designed to tweak Windows, speed up downloads and make your connection work that little bit harder
Blame Windows
Before you hurl invective at your ISP, it's important to check the basics first. Are you using the correct modem drivers? Dialing the correct phone number for your ISP and modem type? These simple mistakes are more common than you think, and just a quick check can make the difference between a speedy and a sluggish connection.
Make sure you're using the right connection settings (check your ISPs help pages, then have a look in Control Panel - Modems. Although your modem connection speed is 56Kbps, you should ensure that Windows is set to a maximum of 115,200bps instead; this means you can take advantage of your modem's built-in compression to squeeze every last bit of performance from your hardware.
If everything looks okay, there are a few more simple things to check. Are you trying to do too much? There's only so much data that can be squeezed down a phone line, so If you're downloading eight files, reading six Web pages and trying to listen to streaming audio at the same time then it's no surprise that things aren’t running as quickly as you'd like. If you're accessing sites at peak times - typically, 5am-7pm then you'll also notice a significant slow-down.
One way to increase the speed of your Web browser is to increase the size of your browser cache. This uses your hard disk to store a copy of each Web page you visit, together with all it’s graphics, animations and so on; If the page hasn’t changed when you return to the site, your browser loads the page from your hard disk instead of from the Internet. Because many sites use the same graphics for navigation, logos and so on, a good-sized browser cache can speed things up dramatically; If you don't believe us, clear Internet Explorer's Temporary Internet Files folder (Tools • Internet Options • General •• Delete Files) and access your favorite sites. Because their graphics are no longer cached on your hard disk, they'll take much longer to load than normal.
It's easy to change the size of your browser cache; in Internet Explorer, go to Tools • Internet options ••• General •• Temporary Internet Files • Settings and adjust the slider to the number you want. If you're short of space, 100Mb should be okay; if you visit lots of sites every day, it's a good idea to make the cache much bigger.
You can also try a tweaking program such as Tweak XP to change some arcane Windows configuration settings, but don’t expect miracles: tweaking can make a slight difference to your connection speed, but most connection problems are to do with sites, phone lines or ISPs rather than obscure parts of the Windows Registry.
Blame your Telephone Company
A slow connection isn't necessarily the fault of your ISP - It could be your phone line. If there are miles of cheap extension cables between your modem and your phone point, getting any kind of connection is miraculous: signal quality degrades the further it has to travel, and lots of extension cabling could result in a poor quality phone signal. Try moving your computer nearer to the phone point and use a single bit of cable between your modem and the wall socket to see if things improve; you could also give your telephone company a call and ask them to turn up the gain on your phone line. This boosts the signal quality of your phone line and can make a big difference to your connection speeds.
Another possibility is that your telephone company has crippled your connection. If you've signed up for a second line, have a look in the cupboard to see if the engineer's installed a DACS box. If he has, that's almost certainly the culprit. A DACS box doesn’t actually give you a second line. Rather, it takes your existing phone line and splits it in two.
The result is usually a connection speed that never crawls above 33.6Kbps, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Your telephone company only guarantees that you’ll get a phone connection, not that you’ll get a decent phone connection. If you’re considering getting a second phone line, make sure you’re not fobbed off with a DACS box. If you’ve already got one of the evil things installed, there’s not much you can do short of upgrading to ISDN.
Subscribe to Sandra Prior’s Online Newsletter and get up to date Computer Technology News delivered right to your email box for free. See website for details http://usacomputers.rr.nu and http://sacomputers.rr.nu.
Of course, the easiest way to get a faster connection is to sign up for broadband. If you've got the cash - and you're lucky enough to live in an area where broadband Internet access is available.
That doesn’t mean modem users are stuck with slow connections though. There are plenty of tweaks you can use to get the best connection speeds possible, and software companies offer all kinds of utilities that are designed to tweak Windows, speed up downloads and make your connection work that little bit harder
Blame Windows
Before you hurl invective at your ISP, it's important to check the basics first. Are you using the correct modem drivers? Dialing the correct phone number for your ISP and modem type? These simple mistakes are more common than you think, and just a quick check can make the difference between a speedy and a sluggish connection.
Make sure you're using the right connection settings (check your ISPs help pages, then have a look in Control Panel - Modems. Although your modem connection speed is 56Kbps, you should ensure that Windows is set to a maximum of 115,200bps instead; this means you can take advantage of your modem's built-in compression to squeeze every last bit of performance from your hardware.
If everything looks okay, there are a few more simple things to check. Are you trying to do too much? There's only so much data that can be squeezed down a phone line, so If you're downloading eight files, reading six Web pages and trying to listen to streaming audio at the same time then it's no surprise that things aren’t running as quickly as you'd like. If you're accessing sites at peak times - typically, 5am-7pm then you'll also notice a significant slow-down.
One way to increase the speed of your Web browser is to increase the size of your browser cache. This uses your hard disk to store a copy of each Web page you visit, together with all it’s graphics, animations and so on; If the page hasn’t changed when you return to the site, your browser loads the page from your hard disk instead of from the Internet. Because many sites use the same graphics for navigation, logos and so on, a good-sized browser cache can speed things up dramatically; If you don't believe us, clear Internet Explorer's Temporary Internet Files folder (Tools • Internet Options • General •• Delete Files) and access your favorite sites. Because their graphics are no longer cached on your hard disk, they'll take much longer to load than normal.
It's easy to change the size of your browser cache; in Internet Explorer, go to Tools • Internet options ••• General •• Temporary Internet Files • Settings and adjust the slider to the number you want. If you're short of space, 100Mb should be okay; if you visit lots of sites every day, it's a good idea to make the cache much bigger.
You can also try a tweaking program such as Tweak XP to change some arcane Windows configuration settings, but don’t expect miracles: tweaking can make a slight difference to your connection speed, but most connection problems are to do with sites, phone lines or ISPs rather than obscure parts of the Windows Registry.
Blame your Telephone Company
A slow connection isn't necessarily the fault of your ISP - It could be your phone line. If there are miles of cheap extension cables between your modem and your phone point, getting any kind of connection is miraculous: signal quality degrades the further it has to travel, and lots of extension cabling could result in a poor quality phone signal. Try moving your computer nearer to the phone point and use a single bit of cable between your modem and the wall socket to see if things improve; you could also give your telephone company a call and ask them to turn up the gain on your phone line. This boosts the signal quality of your phone line and can make a big difference to your connection speeds.
Another possibility is that your telephone company has crippled your connection. If you've signed up for a second line, have a look in the cupboard to see if the engineer's installed a DACS box. If he has, that's almost certainly the culprit. A DACS box doesn’t actually give you a second line. Rather, it takes your existing phone line and splits it in two.
The result is usually a connection speed that never crawls above 33.6Kbps, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Your telephone company only guarantees that you’ll get a phone connection, not that you’ll get a decent phone connection. If you’re considering getting a second phone line, make sure you’re not fobbed off with a DACS box. If you’ve already got one of the evil things installed, there’s not much you can do short of upgrading to ISDN.
Subscribe to Sandra Prior’s Online Newsletter and get up to date Computer Technology News delivered right to your email box for free. See website for details http://usacomputers.rr.nu and http://sacomputers.rr.nu.