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How to speed up your Internet connection.
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Back in the day, I remember how cool it was when I got a 33.6 modem, upgraded from a 14.4. This was so FAST! Now with my 56.6 I find my self tapping my fingers on the desk waiting. I need warp speed MR SCOTT, yet the warp speed will never come, or will it?
I am going to share with you several tips on how to surf faster. Before we are done you should be the fastest ship in the galaxy. I will detail myths, facts and cures that will have you up and hopping.
So lets get started shall we?
Myth 1: When I access a website, the data is coming directly from the website to me? Why is my connection still slow?
Fact: 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.
Myth 2: 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.
Fact: 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.
Myth 3: I just bought the latest 56k modem. My connection will now automatically be SUPER fast!
Fact: 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.
Myth 4: My ISP is big and they would NEVER be willing to bargain with me.
Fact: 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 |
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