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Increasing the Download Buffer Changing
the Baud Rate Download
Accelerator Plus Maximum Connection
Speed Increase Dial-up S
peed
Virtual Machine Phone
Line/Number Drivers
If you are a 56K dial-up user like I, you will know how extremely irritating slow Internet and downloading can be. Finally after much tweaking I have got my modem to download for me at 4-7 kilobytes per second. Unfortunately for me, I live far away from the main Internet backbones and I have to go trans-continental before I can even access any websites. It takes me around 15 "hops" to get to www.yahoo.com. What that means, is my computer has to go through 15 other computers before it reaches Yahoo's website.
If you want to know how
many hops it takes you to get to a website or IP address, go to start>run and
type "command". Your DOS prompt will appear. Type in "tracert
Your computer will display the name of each computer it has to go through, and the number of hops it takes in total.
e.g. tracert www.yahoo.com
Increasing the Download Buffer:
Go to My Computer and Dial-up Networking. Right-click on the connection that you use for Internet, and click properties. Near the bottom, click configure (make sure your correct modem is selected). Go to the connection tab and at the bottom left, go to port settings. The default setting for the Receive buffer is about 3/4 way to the right. Drag the slider completely to the right. Click OK until you have closed all the windows.
I am not 100% sure what this does, but I think that it sped up my Internet a bit. A friend of mine said that when he tried streaming media or listening to the radio through Media Player, it continuously said "buffering...". If you experience this problem, it's probably a good idea to change it back again to the default setting.
The baud rate is the speed that the ports on your computer communicate with the computer. You may need to fiddle around a little bit with this setting to get it optimized for you, but that should not take very long (took me about 5 minutes). This setting made a huge difference in my Internet speed!
First go to My computer and to control panel. Double-click on modems and go to the diagnostics tab. Check which port your modem is on and memorize it. Close all the windows.
Right-click the My computer icon on the desktop. Go to properties. Click the Device Manager tab. Click on the + sign next to Ports (COM & LPT). Double-click the port which you memorized earlier (e.g. COM 1). Click on the Port Settings tab.
You can check if your settings are the default settings by clicking restore defaults and checking if the values in the boxes are the same as they used to be. If they are, then you just have to click restore defaults to get it back to the original settings if something goes wrong. If they are different, then you will have to write down your settings.
You should now see bits per second near the top of your window. Inside will be a number (e.g. 9600). Change the number to 19200 and remember what the old setting was in case you ever have to change it back again. Click OK until you have closed all the windows.
This is the setting that I have selected, however you might want to experiment to see which setting is best for you. Do not touch settings such as stop bits and parity!! Fiddling with those numbers could result in your being disconnected, and I don't think that they can make anything any faster.
This is an essential piece of software for anybody who downloads files off the Internet. Some websites just refuse to let you download faster than 1 kilobyte per second (kbps). This is really frustrating and means that you can take more than a quarter of an hour just to download a single megabyte!
Luckily, with Download Accelerator Plus (DAP) I can get about 3kbps from such websites. From other websites I can get as much as 7kbps!!
This program is an absolute blessing when the Internet is crawling, and also has the great function of being able to resume downloads if they stop, or to pause them yourself and continue some other time.
One of the reasons that it is so quick, is that it searches for multiple servers that host the same file that you are trying to download. It then downloads only from the quickest servers. This program is a must-get! (and no, I don't work for them! I just like the program. Ok?)
This is just to check that your modem is connecting to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) at the maximum possible speed. Go to My computer and to Dial-up Networking. Right-click your connection and click properties.
Click on configure in the bottom right of the window (make sure your correct modem is selected). At the bottom it says Maximum speed. This should be set to 115200. If it is not, then set it to that.
This does not mean that you will now connect at 115200, but just that that is your maximum connection speed. If it is set too low, you will not connect at your optimum rate.
Just out of interest, I connect at 49333 almost every time. I would be interested to know what connection speed you get. So, please e-mail me at liquid_rockface@yahoo.co.uk if you would like to tell me.
Increase Dial-up speed:
Is your modem taking forever to dial up? Here are a couple of tricks to get your modem to connect more quickly:
1. Go to My Computer, then Dial-up Networking. Right-click your dial-up connection and click properties. Go to the Server Types tab. Under advanced options make sure that log on to network is unticked (unchecked). I only have enable software compression marked.
2. At the bottom, under Allowed network protocols there are three checkboxes (tickboxes). If you are not on a network, then untick NetBEUI and IPX/SPX.
3. To make your modem dial faster, go to the general tab, click configure..., go to the Connection tab, click Advanced... Under extra settings there is a text box. In this box, type S11=10. This will make your modem play each tone for 10 milliseconds. If you have problems and it is too fast, make the number 10 bigger. Try 20, 30 etc. The default is 75 for most modems. Do not touch the number 11 after the S. That will change a different setting. If you have problems, just delete the text in the box altogether.
About a year ago, somebody advised me to update my Virtual Machine (download from Windows Update) for Internet Explorer. For some odd reason, it just about doubled my Internet speed!
The reason why this is odd, is that the Virtual Machine is basically a universal platform for Java to run on. This is so that whether you are running Windows 95, Windows XP or Linux, Java will still run in the same fashion. A few websites on the Internet make use of Java, (not to be confused with JavaScript which is something slightly different) and the Virtual Machine ensures that the code runs in the way the programmer wanted.
As far as I can fathom out, technically it shouldn't make any difference whatsoever to the speed, but it does, so install it! I'm not the only person who has noted the increase in Internet speed after updating the Virtual Machine.
Install a New Phoneline, or Try a Different Dial-up Number
If you are having problems with slow connections to your ISP, (Internet Service Provider) try installing a separate phone line for your computer. This new line might have a better connection than your old one, and will allow you to go online for longer, without clogging up your main phone line.
You should also make sure (whatever line you are using) that there is nothing else plugged into the same phone socket as your modem line. This will (maybe) help stop you getting disconnected from the Internet if a phone call comes in, and it should make the connection faster.
You can also contact your ISP and ask them for the nearest dial-up number to your house. The closer the ISP, the faster your Internet will be. Also, that same centre may have numerous numbers. I just tried a different number for my ISP and it's dead quick compared to the old one!
If none of the above helps your Internet speed, then it may be time to update your modem drivers. You will have to visit your manufacturer's website to download the drivers, but you may find them at DriversHQ. Drivers can make a huge difference to your Internet speed, so this is one tweak not to be overlooked. If your Internet is fast and is working, however, do not update your driver! Only update if you have to.
