How to speed up your Internet connection

When I access a website, the data is coming directly from the website to me? Why is my connection still slow?

The data does not flow directly from the website to you. It has to pass through several handlers before it reaches you. If one of these handlers is slow, then your transfer times will be too.

Imagine that you are in an assembly line. Someone starts the product off and as it goes down the line a person in the middle is taking his sweet time, or worse out to lunch. You can begin to see how that would slow the whole process down.

"Hey who's slacking off?" you might ask. Well there is a way to tell. It is a program called Tracert. This program is already included in Windows 95 and 98.

Here's how you run Tracert:
1. In Windows 95/98, click the Start button and select Run. Then type command.
2. At the C: prompt, type Tracert, followed by a space and your site's name (for example, Tracert cnet.com).
3. Tracert will show you up to 30 hops, indicating both the response time and the site name or IP address of each stop along the route.
4. If you get more information than you need, or if one router sticks you with repeated "Request timed out" messages, press Ctrl-C to quit. If you get four such messages, you probably have found a router that refuses Tracert requests.

The speed of your connection depends on the total response time of everything along the path. With Tracert information, you can pinpoint exactly which router is wasting your time. It's quite satisfying to be able to direct blame at a specific culprit. Unfortunately, that's all these programs let you do. If your ISP is speedy but one of the routers in the chain is slow, you're dead out of luck. If your own ISP's servers are slow, however, be that boss and fire your current ISP and get a new one. You will be glad you did.

I have made sure it isn't my production line now what? Since I have a good internet connection, the site I am connecting to should have NO problem giving me the data I need fast.

Actually it could be the very site causing the problem. The most thorough way to find out is with Net.Medic, a freeware program that checks out your Internet connection and builds up a record of how well a site performs over time.

With Net Medic's History you get a report that graphs the slowest sites, giving you a picture of a site's overall performance and letting you know the difference between a very slow site and a site that's just having a bad day. The three bars--Best Case, Average, and Worst Case--show how long the delays are on a site's good, average, and bad days. Data like this makes it easy to determine whether it is your problem or theirs.

If you are constantly finding that a site has large delays, it is the sites problem and perhaps you should contact the system administrator about it.

There are several options you can choose to avoid laggy sites:

1.Try visiting the site during offpeak hours, ie. at night.
2.Find a good offline browser that gets the pages you are seeking in the middle of the night while you are sleeping.
3.Check for a mirror on their site. A mirror is a complete duplication of their site on another server. This is usually much less used.
4.Check weather your ISP has a proxy server or not. Proxy servers usually have data for many sites stored locally on your ISP that you can access.

You can also use the ping command which comes with Windows 95 and 98. Ping is a program that sends a 32-byte signal to the Web site's host server. If Ping reports over 400 milliseconds (ms), either the Web site or your connection is sluggish.

Here's how to use the Ping utility that comes with Windows 95/98 (if your ISP gave you another utility, check its documentation):
1. Click the Start button and select Run. Then type command.
2. In the Open window, type ping, followed by a space and a Web site's name (for example, ping cnet.com).

Ping will show you the results of four tests. Any time less than 300ms is normal. Times longer than 400ms are considered slow. A "Request timed out" message means that the site didn't respond within 1 second, which means the server is probably down.

I just bought the latest 56k modem. My connection will now automatically be SUPER fast!

While it is true that when you upgrade your modem it will speed up your connection, it is also true that there are many other factors than just your "hardware" to take into consideration. One thing you might try to do is see how fast your ISP really is.

What is the speed of your ISP's modems? Does the ISP's modems communicate the same language as yours? If they don't match, you might be making yourself go slower.

Finding out is not hard. Here is some simple steps:

1.Dial in to your ISP.
2.Then double-click the Dial-Up Connection icon in Windows 95/98's System Tray at the right of the Toolbar.
3.Is the connection speed the fastest your modem can handle?
4.If your modem can run at 56 kbps and your connection is 28.8 kbps, you're not using your modem's full potential.

If your not using your full potential here are some possible reasons why:

Your ISP's modem could actually be slower than yours although unlikely.
As is always, noisy phone lines are probably reducing your connection speed.
In the process of upgrading modem technology over the past years, ISP?s have designated separate numbers for slow and faster modem banks. You may be dialing into a slower modem bank. It?s worth checking out.
Another possibility could be that your ISP itself is slow.


Don't blame your ISP until you've run Net Medic a couple of times so that you can tell who the real culprits are. Tell your ISP about failed connections and long delays in making a connection. It is a good idea to use detail when talking to your ISP. Keep notes on how many connections are dropped and how many redial attempts you make for an initial connection.

Net Medic can automatically monitor these things for you. After logging for a while you will begin to see solid patterns. Compare these results, with what your ISP claims to give as good service. If they don't match talk to your ISP, or get a new one.

My ISP is big and they would NEVER be willing to bargain with me.

That is simply not true. In these days of free Internet access, ISP's must value their customers much more than they used to or lose out! Below I have listed several ways to negotiate with your ISP.

Check Your ISP's Website For Updates
You can either look on their website for a bulletin, or some ISP's have newsletters. Look at the bulletins for those periods when you had problems with the service. If the ISP has had admitted fault about network problems during these times, and is taking action to fix the problem then wait to see if things get better. Check their website for FAQ's so that you know it isn't you causing the problem with something misconfigured.

Get Together a Strong Case
Be sure you have a solid case before you call tech support. Track all of the times, dates, and details about the problems you've had. Write down failed calls, busy signals, DNS server failures, connection times consistently longer than 25 seconds. Use the program Net Medic, which we discussed earlier. This will help you build a strong cast against your ISP.

Go For The Jugular
Tech support phone lines aren't the best place to hash out petty service problems. Find the most appropriate email address that will solve your problem off of their website. If all else fails, write to the Webmaster, usually at webmaster@your ISP's domain.

Don't Panic
If no one responds to your email within a reasonable amount of time, then call your ISP. Have the facts in front of you. That way, the tech support people won't dismiss you as a speed-obsessed freak, even if you are one.

Replace them
If they don?t satisfy your needs, look for another provider. There are plenty out there for you to chose from.

Memory has nothing to do with my Internet connection.

Memory has everything to do with it.

The internet is one of the most memory intensive things out there. If you hear the hard disk thrashing when there's no activity onscreen, you need more RAM. Your system is swapping bits of data to and from your hard disk's virtual memory cache. If you computer pauses unexpectedly, it is most likely that your processor is bogged down from all that your throwing on it.

Not having enough memory would be the equivalent of you constantly having to write every thing you ever learned down. If you wanted to bake a cake for example you would have to read it into your brain. Now let?s say while you were waiting for the cake to bake you wanted to watch TV, you would have to write down on a piece of paper how to bake the cake, and then read how to turn on the TV. When you went back to check on the cake, you would have to write down how to watch TV and read how to bake a cake. Thus the process would go on severely slowing you down.

This is what your computer has to do when you don?t have enough memory. Before you go buy memory for your system, try closing the programs you're not using. If you do this it will release precious system resources.

If you are still not satisfied, buy the memory. It is usually much cheaper to upgrade memory than buy a new PC. A good amount of memory to have is 64 megabytes.

The condition of my hardware has nothing to do with how my internet connection performs.

Your system condition can have EVERYTHING to do with how your internet connection performs. Having a fast processor doesn't automatically give you a fast Internet connection. Poor system performance can make or break an Internet connection, and your hard drive may be the cause. Your drive contains two important file areas: a virtual memory swap file and a folder that contains your browser's cache files. The drive's ability to access these areas can either speed up or slow down your browser and your Net connection.

Defrag Your Drive
An unfragmented hard drive is like a broken piece of glass. When a hard drive writes a file, it has to write it in one straight line. If other programs are in the way of this straight like then they get moved, many times getting cut in half and thirds in the process. The whole file is still there, but you hard drives has to look in several places to piece it all together. This increases access time and decreases performance.

Windows comes with its own defragmentation program. For best results, run it once a month.

To use Windows 95/98's defragmentation tool:
1. Double-click the My Computer icon and right-click the hard drive.
2. Select Properties, click the Tools tab and Defragment Now. You can monitor its progress (and get a graphic representation of how fragmented your drive is) by clicking Show Details.

Get a New Drive
When your hard drive starts to get full, it is a good idea to simply get a new one. They are cheap enough these days.

Upgrade Your Software
Poor connection performance could be as simple as the need to upgrade your software to the latest version. Let?s face it, software can be buggy, so upgrade yours today.

Optimize Your Serial Port
Once your hard drive is in tune, take a quick look at your serial port to make sure that it's running at its fastest. Windows uses a sliding window on how much data it can receive. You can adjust this window by doing the following:

1. In Windows 98, click the Start button. Select Settings/Control Panel, then double-click the System icon.
2. Select the Device Manager tab.
3. Under Modem, select the one you're using and click the Connection tab.
4. Under Port Settings, move the sliders right to increase the capacity of the Receive Buffer.

Windows is already perfectly configured for a fast internet connection.

There are many things you can do to speed up your connection Here is a few:

Fine Tuning Windows
Windows is not typically configured for fast Internet access using a modem. It is optimized for an Ethernet card. This translates into poorer performance for you. Let's go over a few steps on what you can do to increase your performance. Using SpeedTec , InternetTweak, and TweakDUN  you can optimize your connection. These programs modify your registry, so use them at your own risk.

To use these programs to optimize your Registry, you must adjust at least one of the four settings below.

MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit)
MTU is an IP network setting known in the Windows Registry as MaxMTU. This setting dictates how big your packets are. Usually the standard packet setting should be 576. ISP?s say that the smaller the packets the better chance that data can get through with out being corrupted.

It's easy to change the MTU on your PC, and you can do it without using the programs recommended here or going through the Registry editor.

1. Right-click the Network Neighborhood icon on your Windows 98 desktop and select Properties.
2. Select the Configuration tab and highlight Dial-Up Adapter in the Network Components pane. Click the Properties button below the pane.
3. Select the Advanced tab and highlight IP Packet Size. In the Value pane, select Large for 1,500 bytes or Small for 576 bytes. Click OK and restart your computer.
4. Test your connection at MSN Computing Central.

MSS (Maximum Segment Size)
The maximum segment size is a value that two Internet hosts use to negotiate the size of the MTU they will use to exchange data. It should be set at a value of 40 less than the MTU size (or 536 on a standard dial-up line). A correctly set MSS ensures that packets are transmitted properly.

RWin (Default Receive Window)
This IP network setting (DefaultRcvWindows) is the amount of data that your computer can receive before it has to send an acknowledgment to the host. The default setting in Windows 98 is 8,192 bytes; SpeedTec recommends a setting of 16 times MSS (23,360 bytes if you're at an MSS of 1,460 bytes); TweakDUN and InternetTweak both recommend a multiple of 4. Go ahead and experiment to find out what is best for you.

TTL (Time to Live)
This network setting establishes the number of hops across servers that a data packet can take before it expires. The Windows 98 default is 128, which is also recommended by SpeedTec. TweakDUN and InternetTweak suggest 64.

You can use all these programs we just suggested for you. You also can do it by hand.

Hand-Edit Your Registry Settings
You can choose to do things the hard way. Go into your Windows 95 Registry and edit them yourself. This is certainly not for beginners and we are warning you. Go at your own risk.

1. Back up your Registry. Refer to the second commandment of Registry editing.
2. In Windows 98, click the Start button and select Run. Type regedit, and click OK.
3. Find the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Root\Net. Below it is a series of numbered subkeys (0000, 0001, 0002, and so on). Highlight each numbered subkey in turn until you find the value DeviceDesc equal to Dial-Up Adapter.
4. Now drop another subkey level to Bindings. Highlight that subkey and look for a string that begins with MSTCP. It will be followed by a four-digit number (for example, MSTCP\0000). Write down the number.
5. Find the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Network\MSTCP and highlight the subkey with the four-digit number in Step 4. Look for the Driver value, which will be equal to NetTrans\0000 (or 0001, and so on). Note that four-digit number for the next step.
6. Drop down to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\NetTrans, and highlight the subkey that shares the four-digit number from step 5. Right-click and choose New/String Value. Name the string value MaxMTU. Right-click the value, choose Modify, and set the value to 1500. Next, add a string value named MaxMSS. Set it to 1460.
7. Exit the Registry. Restart your computer.

You're not finished yet, but you shouldn't make many changes to the Registry without testing the system. Restart your system now. If it restarts smoothly, proceed to the next step. If not, restore the old settings from your backup and try again, if you dare.

1. Back up your Registry under yet another name, different from the one before.
2. Click the Start button and select Run. Type regedit and click OK.
3. Click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\MSTCP.
4. Right-click a blank space in the right-hand pane and select New/String Value. Name the string DefaultRcvWindow. Right-click the DefaultRcvWindow string and select Modify. Enter the Value data as 5840 or 8760 (four or six times the MaxMSS value).
5. Right-click a blank space in the right-hand pane and select New/String Value. Name the string DefaultTTL. Right-click the DefaultTTL string and enter the Value data as 128.
6. Click the Registry menu and select Exit.
7. Restart Windows.

Using the domain name is always faster that using the IP.

True and false. True for the point that it is easy to remember. False because it takes your browser longer to locate the IP address.

What Do I Suggest? Create an IP List!
The Internet is based on numbers, IP numbers. These have existed long before names ever surfaced. Names are simply for our convenience. When you put say ?Yahoo.com? in the browser, it has to go to the Domain Name Server or DNS for short and fine this IP, then it starts downloading the page. This takes time.

To get around it, I suggest keeping your own DNS database. Start a text file with the numbers instead of the names. There is no DNS resolution therefore it can speed up your Internet time.

The easiest way to collect and cache those IP addresses is to download SpeedTec or TweakDUN. Their button-driven interfaces let you amass a hosts file without typing anything. Both programs are stable, inexpensive, and a snap to install and use.

You can also do this by hand by:

1. In Windows 98, click the Start button and select Run. Type command.
2. In the Open window, type ping, followed by a site's name (for example, ping cnet.com).

You should find a number in this format 000.000.000.000. These numbers symbolize the format only, not what it will actually be. To save these numbers do the following:

1. In Windows 98, click the Start button and select Programs/Accessories/Notepad.
2. Type the IP address you just copied into the text file and follow it with a space and the domain name (for example, 216.200.247.133 cnet.com).
3. Under the File menu, select Save and save the file in your Windows folder as "hosts" (not "hosts.txt").

Be sure to label each number so that you know what is what.

It does not matter what my homepage is.

It does matter. Usually when browsers are installed they like to make the homepage their home site. Like Microsoft Internet Explorer uses <http://www.msn.com>. This may be all fine and dandy but it takes time out of your precious day to load every time you load a browser. 99% of the time you don?t want to look at that site anyway. Plus it takes up your bandwidth and your processor gets used loading it.

Here is how to get rid of those nasty startup pages:

To load a blank page in Netscape Communicator 4.x:
1. Under the Edit menu, choose Preferences/Navigator.
2. Under Navigator Starts With, select Blank Page.


In Navigator 3.x:
1. Under the Options menu, select General Preferences and choose the Appearance tab.
2. Under Browser Starts With, select Blank Page.


In Internet Explorer 5:
1. Under the Tools menu, click Internet Options and select the General tab.
2. In the Home Page dialog box, click Use Blank. The next time you open your browser, it will open the blank page file (about:blank).


In Internet Explorer 4:
1. Under the View menu, select Options and choose the General tab.
2. In the Home Page dialog box, click Use Blank. The next time you open your browser, it will open the blank page file.

Graphics don't take up any more bandwidth than text.

Huge misconception. Graphics are usually the very reason why WebPages take so long. People don't size down graphics efficiently so you find yourself in a world of never ending senseless downloads. Here is how you turn of graphics:

To turn off graphics in Navigator 4.x:
1. Go to the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Select Advanced and uncheck Automatically Load Images.

To turn off graphics, animation, and sound in Internet Explorer 4:
1. Go to the View menu, select Options, and choose the Advanced tab.
2. Uncheck the appropriate boxes.

In Internet Explorer 5:
1. Go to the Tools menu and select Internet Options.
2. Choose the Advanced tab and uncheck the Multimedia settings.

To get rid of Java in Navigator 4.x:
1. Go to the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Select Advanced and uncheck Enable Java.

To get rid of Java and ActiveX in Internet Explorer 4:
1. Under the View menu, select Internet Options and the Security tab.
2. Under the Internet Zone, choose Custom/Settings.
3. Choose options that let you turn off or be warned about ActiveX Controls and Java applets.

To turn off Java in Internet Explorer 5:
1. Under the Tools menu, select Internet Options and the Security tab.
2. Click the Custom Level button.
3. Choose options that let you turn off or be warned about ActiveX Controls and Java applets.

Many sites have something called alternative text. This lets you know what the picture means and why you should click on it.

Caching makes no difference in the performance of your connection.

This can make one of the hugest differences. This allows your browser to return to the site with out having to download all the graphics over again. They are stored on your hard drive locally hence the term cache. Now I am not talk about money either. This cache helps your connection appear to run faster by loading stored files. We recommend a cache of 10,000K. Any more than this will be counter productive to your hard drive and will fragment it.

Here is how you do it:

To increase your cache size in Navigator 4.x:

1. Under the Edit menu, select Preferences, double-click Advanced, and select Cache.
2. Change the disk cache to 10,000K.

In Internet Explorer 4:
1. Under the View menu, select Internet Options and choose the General tab.
2. Under Temporary Internet Files, click Settings. Under "Amount of disk space to use," drag the slider to the right. The amount to use depends on the size of your hard disk, but it should be about 5 percent. (If you have relatively little RAM and visit graphic-intensive sites, add a bit more to your cache.)

In Internet Explorer 5:
1. Under the Tools menu, select Internet Options and choose the General tab.
2. Under Temporary Internet Files, click Settings. Under "Amount of disk space to use," drag the slider to the right. The amount to use should be about 5 percent of your hard disk.

If you surf a lot without returning to the same sites very often, it helps to purge the cache in the middle of your session.

To clear the cache in Navigator 4.x:
1. Under the Edit menu, select Preferences, double-click Advanced, and select Cache.
2. Click the Clear Memory Cache button.

In Internet Explorer 4:
1. Under the View menu, select Options and choose the General tab.
2. In the Temporary Internet Files dialog box, click Settings/Delete Files.

In Internet Explorer 5:
1. Under the Tools menu, select Internet Options and choose the General tab.
2. In the Temporary Internet Files section, click Delete Files and confirm the deletion.
Keep in mind that your browsers cache is not selective and will cache everything.

DSL can't be any faster than my regular phone line, because it uses my regular phone line.

It is much faster, %2000 percent faster or more. It uses a range of sound way higher that normal phone lines uses. Phones use 0 to 8000 hertz while DSL uses 8000 to 128,000 hertz.
It is easy to hear if you have line problems, just pick up the phone and listen. You will quickly be able to tell whether a line has problems or not. If it sounds like someone opening a gift then you have a line noise problem. Poor wiring, moisture, and location cause it.
You can pester your phone company to fix the connection, but be warned: telephone companies have a tendency to try to turn the tables with excuses such as "Your phone is probably faulty," or "It's your problem if you have a computer on this line."
If you cleaned up your phone line, customized the Windows Registry, and followed our other tips, and you still crave speed, consider abandoning your traditional connection altogether--or at least modifying it drastically. Your current options for high-speed Internet access are cable connections, digital subscriber lines (DSL), and ISDN.
Cable Modems
Cable modems, theoretically can download at speeds up to 30 mbps. Cable however is not available on a large basis yet, and unless you live in a major city you probably won?t get it. This is not to mention the fact that many people are sharing the speed therefore that in and of itself can slow you down.

DSL and Other Alternatives
Digital subscriber lines piggyback on your phone line to deliver data at up to 6.1 mbps, yet they still leave room on the phone line for you to make a regular voice call. DSL's bandwidth is guaranteed unlike a cable modem.

The only downside to DSL is that right now it's available only in urban parts of the country. DSL prices can range from $40 to $200 a month. The $40 account would be for a home user and the $200 would be for a business and much faster than the $40 account.

FreeDSL (<http://www.freedsl.com> and <http://www.freexdsl.com>), an attractive-sounding alternative, is available only where DSL is already installed, and it's free because you're forced to watch advertisements constantly scroll by in addition to those carried on Web sites.

ISDN
Your last 2 options are ISDN and Satellite link. ISDN typically only connects at 64kps and is hugely expensive. I knew of an office that had 2 ISDN lines and paid $300 for it. I have never figured out why they are so much more expensive and give so little.

Satellite Link
This option is worst off all. Although it is available anywhere, you can only download, not upload from it. Unfortunately the only pay models I have seen from offers like these is on a pay per meg basis which like long distance, gets really expensive really fast!

There is no difference between 33.6 and 56.6k.

There is a huge difference depending on your phone line. For those of you who cannot get DSL or cable, and don?t want to go to the expense of getting a satellite link, all I can say is upgrade your modem if you haven?t already.

If your ISP does not offer 56.6k then change ISP?s. Even though you may upgrade your modem to 56.6k don?t expect HUGE miracles. Phone line quality as said before could be the culprit for your less than desirable access speeds. Besides it is against the law to connect at 56.6k anyway. The FCC made this law because of how strong a 56.6k connection is. It many cases it will bleed noise over to other peoples lines. Don?t worry though I have never seen a modem connect at 56.6k anyway. The average I usually see is 40 to 48kps.

Some would ask: With all the obstacles, why even bother upgrading? Because by upgrading, you have the best chance of getting a good connection.

Be Careful While You Shop
I would not recommend buying a Winmodem. It uses your system resources to do it?s work, which can cripple your connection. Unless you have a super fast computer, buy a stand alone modem that relies on itself.

Two Modems, Twice the Speed
So, what else can you do to crank up your connection speed? Dial-up modems aren't expected to become any faster; for that, you need DSL or a cable modem.

It is possible however to link up two modems into one data stream. This is made possible by Windows 98. It makes the modems share the same resources thereby combining the data streams. This is called a multilink connection. It is quite easy to do, but you have to have 2 modems. Listed below is some instructions on how to go about this.

To establish a multilink connection on a Windows 98 system:
1. Click the Start button and select Programs/Accessories/Communications/Dial-Up Networking.
2. Right-click your Internet connection icon and choose Properties.
If you don't have a connection already configured, double-click Make New Connection, type multilink, and select your fastest modem (if there's a difference). In the next window, enter your ISP's access number and click OK. Right-click the resulting icon and choose Properties.
3. Select the Multilink tab. Click Use Additional Devices and select your second modem, listed in the window below. Type in the phone number the second modem will dial (it may be the same as the first number; your ISP will tell you).