Boost internet speed
|
Turbo-Surfer
|
Top Net Access TipsSurf Lean Shield your browser from gyrating french fries, singing bananas, and pop-up ads by turning off Java and JavaScript. In Netscape Navigator 4.x, select Edit, Preferences, Advanced. Uncheck Enable Java and Enable JavaScript, and click OK. In Internet Explorer 4.x, select View, Internet Options, Advanced and, under Multimedia, uncheck Play animations, Play videos, and Play sounds, as desired. Scroll to the Java VM category, uncheck all selections, and click Apply. Disabling these scripting languages may limit the interactivity of some Web sites, and you may receive annoying error messages when your browser refuses to run a script. Skip the Pics Your browser spends most of its online time downloading graphics. For a speed boost, turn off the pictures. In IE 4.x, select View, Internet Options, Advanced and, under Multimedia, uncheck Show pictures; then click Apply. Or go to Microsoft's Web site and download the IE 4.0 PowerToys, which include an Image Toggler to turn images on and off. In Navigator 4.x, select Edit, Preferences, Advanced, uncheck Automatically Load Images, and click OK. (In Navigator and IE, you can always right-click on image boxes later to view particular pictures.) Another option, WRQ's $30 @Guard, strips out banner ads and prevents your browser from opening extraneous windows to display pop-up images. Download a trial copy at www.wrq.com. Or consider using the $35 "low-overhead" Opera browser from Opera Software. It comes with a camera button so you can easily toggle between surfing with pictures and surfing without. Clear Junk Off Your Desktop To ensure that your browser won't slow down when it is displaying graphics, close any unnecessary programs that may be running on your PC--especially graphics applications. This tip is particularly helpful if your PC uses an older-model graphics card. The Older Browsers May Be Faster On a slower PC, try using an earlier version of your browser, such as a 3.x edition of Navigator or Internet Explorer. Older browsers require less memory, so they load (and surf) faster on geriatric PCs. Or download the $35 copy of Opera (see "Skip the Pics," above). It runs on PCs as old and weak as a 386SX with 6MB of RAM. Don't Linger at Home If you're like most people, you use the default setting for your home (or start) page--and that's either Netscape's home page or Microsoft's, depending on which browser you're using. But why waste time loading a Web page you rarely want to visit? Instead, set your home page to a fast-loading site that you visit often. A good candidate: your favorite search engine. In Navigator, select Edit, Preferences, Navigator. In IE 4.x, select View, Internet Options, General, or simply drag and drop the icon next to a URL in the Address field on to IE's Home button. Be Cache Savvy Your browser uses memory and disk caches to store images and other gewgaws from Web sites you've visited. If your Web surfing consists of going to the same sites day after day, give your browser a roomy disk cache of 12MB or more. If you tend to visit new sites, set up a smaller disk cache that's faster to search and access. Keep in mind, though, that an undersize cache will slow your Web access, since it forces your browser to download the same graphics repeatedly as you surf. To speed things up, tell your browser to check its disk and memory caches for changes to a Web page only once per session. In Navigator 4.x, select Edit, Preferences, click the plus sign next to Advanced, click Cache, customize your caches, and then click OK. In Internet Explorer 4.x, select View, Internet Options, General and, in the Temporary Internet File section, click Settings to gain access to the cache settings. Click OK when you're done. Incidentally, putting the cache into a virtual or compressed drive often forces the browser to run in low gear if you do not have enough memory, so avoid doing this unless you have a lot of spare memory (at least 32MB of total system memory). Defragmenting your hard drive every few weeks also helps speed up your browser's disk access. Accept Cookies From Strangers As tempted as you may be to deploy a so-called cookie crusher to block Web sites from slipping cookies to your browser, forbear. Cookies aren't all bad. They allow Web sites to jump you past irrelevant material to areas you're interested in. And if you instruct your browser not to gulp down cookies as you surf, you may be bombarded by an annoying stream of messages whenever a Web site pops up with a cookie. Navigator 4.x permits you to "Accept only cookies that get sent back to the originating server." To set this option, select Edit, Preferences, Advanced. Thereafter, Navigator won't send any cookie from your machine to a server other than the one that originally sent it. Thus, for instance, if your ordering information for a Web shopping site happens to be stored in a cookie, Navigator will send it only to the original shopping site. Upgrade to V.90 If your ISP supports the V.90 spec, you'll enjoy higher-speed connections after upgrading your K56flex or x2 modem to this new standard. Go to the modem manufacturer's Web site for information--and with luck, a free firmware upgrade, too. And while you're there, check to see whether you will need a new modem-initialization string. You can peruse a list of ISPs that support V.90 at www.k56flex.com/isprt.html. Accelerate Your Port If you have an external modem, make sure your communications port is talking as fast as the modem can listen. In Windows 9x, select Start, Settings, Control Panel, Modems. Select your modem, select Properties, and use the drop-down box to adjust the maximum speed to 115200 (for a 56-kbps modem; you can set ISDN and faster modems to higher speeds). Next, go to the Connection tab, choose Advanced, make sure that hardware flow control is enabled, and then click OK. Click Port Settings and nudge the sliders up a bit to increase the send and receive ports' speed. Click OK. Buy a Faster Port If you have an external 56-kbps or ISDN modem, consider buying a hot-rod serial card to replace your outmoded 16550-compatible UART chip (whose top speed is 115 kbps). High-speed serial cards with a 16650 or 16750 chip can attain speeds of up to 460 kbps--essential for optimal ISDN performance. Lava Computer and Pacific CommWare both sell a variety of such cards, which typically cost around $100. Find Your Modem's Real Speed Want to know how your modem is really performing? Download a large compressed file from your Internet service provider's FTP (for File Transfer Protocol) server. Why from your ISP's server? Because the connection will be swifter than if your modem has to communicate with another server over the Net--and the protocol is faster, too. Use FTP software like the $35 CuteFTP . FTP software will make a faster connection to your ISP than your browser will. If your FTP program displays the transfer rate in kilobytes per second, multiply that number by 10 to identify the kilobits-per-second rate that the modem is gauged at. Perform this test late at night or early in the morning, when your ISP is least likely to experience a slowdown on its server. For more detailed information about your modem's performance on the Net, get a copy of VitalSigns Software's $30 Net.Medic, 888/984-8259. Net.Medic tells you where the slowdowns are occurring--whether the culprit is your modem, your ISP, or the Web sites you're visiting. Remove Unrelated Wires Does your modem share the jack with a fax or an answering machine? Noise from devices near your modem may be hobbling its connection. Plug the modem cord directly into the jack. If you use a double jack, disconnect any devices plugged into the second jack. Remove any cordless phones. Unplug the part of the phone that plugs into the jack. Track Line Noise They sound good in a cereal bowl, but crackles or pops on your phone line interfere with your modem connection. To check this out, pick up the phone's handset, press a single number on the keypad, and then listen for noise pollution. If you hear static or other noise, plug the phone into another jack and repeat the test. If the phone sounds fine from that jack, the source of the noise is a bad phone cord, a loose connection in the first jack, a faulty wire between the first jack and your home's network connection box, or a loose connection at the network box. Try a new phone cord first, because this is the most common culprit and the solution is so simple. If you hear noise when the phone is plugged into the second jack, too, the problem may be a bad connection between your house and the phone company. Try repeating the noise test at a neighbor's home or at your office before you call the phone company. If you do have to call your phone company, ask to speak to a "data specialist." If the company uses a digital exchange, ask whether the automatic gain control is turned off, and request that the technician set your line setting to position 5. Also have the company trace your phone line's signal strength and quality through each of its central offices. Multiplexed Phone Line If you have two phone lines (one for voice, and one for the modem), ask your phone company to connect two separate lines to your house, rather than splitting a single line in two. Splitting one line cuts its bandwidth in half, inviting modem connection problems. |
[Home][Tips][1][2][3][4][5][6]
| Download Internet Optimizers. Boost Internet Speed. | Optimize Internet Connection and Boost Speed for faster downloads. | Internet Optimizer. Accelerate Internet connection speed. |