2nd revision date 10/10/2000

Disclaimer :

I first discovered this little tip in an old issue (July 98) of PCWorld Malaysia in my college library when I was doing my A-Levels. I posted this tip on my old homepage . Since then, there have been a couple of differences with Win98 and Win95 and how to change the settings.

What it does

Windows 95/98 default has a MaxMTU of 1500. That means that packets of 1500 bytes are sent over the Internet. Most routers on the Internet have a MaxMTU of 576. That means your 1500 byte packet is fragmented in 3 packets. 

With fragmentation the speed goes down because it generates a lot of useless space. If you set your MaxMTU to 576 there will be less unwanted fragmentation so speed goes up. So the suggested value for MaxMTU is 576. 

Both Win95 and Win98 have their MaxMTU settings stored in the registry slightly differently. Get a program that is compatible with your operating system. Your computer won't crash if you don't but then you won't notice any difference in speed. I just discovered this when I was putting this article on the web. So if you read the older version of this article , I apologize. Personally, I recommend EasyMTU which handles both Win95 and Win98 operating systems. I like the internal speed benchmarking utility that determines the best MaxMTU setting.

10/10/2000

Here's another cool addon that speeds up web browsing. Naviscope utilises tricks among them, preventing your browser from downloading ads  to avoid clogging your bandwidth.

On the Internet

Naviscope WIN95/98 Browser addon

EasyMTU  by Rob Vonk (recommended)WIN95/98/NT

MTUSpeed Pro by Keith Sutherland(only for WIN95)

Technical Details on MTU