SORRY to say this, but if your Internet speed is anywhere below 500 kilobytes a second, then you are behind modern times. There are many ways to dramatically improve your Internet speed, many of which are free; some not. If you want to make your Internet speed faster, here’s how. { Pieces 1-5 are about hardware, pieces 6-8 are about getting a good browser, and pieces 9-11 are about configuring Firefox. }
1) GET CABLE. ($$$)
First thing’s first, if you don’t use cable, this blog won’t be able to help you. The most dramatic way to increase Internet speed is always to move to cable. Telephone modems operate at about 56 kilobytes a second. I am able to download at 650 kilobytes on one computer on one network with cable.
2) GET A BETTER ROUTER. ($$$)
This one can cost a lot of money. If you have a router that is several years old, buy a newer, better, and faster one. (duh)
3) CONFIGURE DOWNLOAD LIMIT. (FREE)
A common culprit behind slow Internet speed is the router being set with a download limit. There are too many different routers with too many different settings to discuss in this blog, so try searching for, "controlling download speed with /your/ router".
4) SECURE YOUR ROUTER. (FREE)
If you have a wireless router, secure it so other people won’t use it and eat up your bandwidth. There are too many routers with too many different methods to do this to discuss in this blog, so try this link: www.ehow.com/how_2253625_secure-wireless-router.html or try a web search for, "Securing a /variable/ wireless router".
5) CONNECT DIRECTLY TO CABLE. (FREE)
Ethernet might be a smidgen faster for you. Wireless speeds depend on the router, network cards, wireless adapters, number of users on your network, hackers using up your bandwidth, the setup for a computer, connection quality, and the location of the router. Remember, though, that wireless is virtually never faster.If you can directly connect to your cable modem, try it and test your speed with a testing web-site or by pinging a web-site. Compare the speeds; if the gain is enough for you, use Ethernet.
6) ENSURE YOU HAVE A GOOD ISP. (COULD SAVE OR SPEND MORE)
Know your isp, (Internet service provider) and know if you can get better; they can have an appreciable impact on your Internet speed. Some isps are good, and some are not-so-good. Simple, quick research should be enough to show whether your isp is really acceptable.
7) DO RESEARCH FOR A GOOD BROWSER. (FREE)
Don’t use a bad/insecure browser such as AOL or Internet Explorer. Both of these browsers are infamous amongst Internet geeks for having a lack of security, letting illegitimate software install on your system or browser. Beyond letting software piggyback on your entire system, stealing information, and installing viruses, this software can also use your Internet connection to distribute spam and (sometimes) assist in a DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service attack), which can slow an Internet connection considerably. ( Even if the computer is a master or slave )
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8) GET A GOOD BROWSER. (USUALLY FREE)
Get a good browser; many of which are free. For browsing speed, I definitely recommend Firefox (free), because it has a free, exceptional ad blocking add-on named, "foof," that prevents the huge majority of ads from even loading. It is also capable of configurations to help it run much faster.
9) PIPELINING. (FREE)
If you have Firefox, configure it. To enable something called pipelining ( sending multiple HTML requests at once for a single computer ) type, "about:config," into the HTML bar at the top of the browser. This should show you a page telling you about how, "Doing this can void your warranty," blabbity-blabbity-blah. It makes doing this sound extremely intimidating when in reality, it isn’t difficult, and if you follow these instruction to the letter, not even dangerous. click, "OK." At the top of the page there should be a filter box. Type, "pipelining," into it. Double click on all of the pipelining options that appear, except maxrequests. Next, click on maxrequests and replace whatever it is with 8. This sets the number of requests Firefox will simultaneously send to maximum. That’s it for pipelining.
10) GIVE FIREFOX SOME LEG ROOM. (MOSTLY FREE, SUCKS UP SYSTEM MEMORY)
Increase amount of memory Firefox will use. This should not put a serious strain on your system, but if you set it and don’t like it, I don’t advise reducing the number to what it was before. (I tend not to do anything else while browsing, so I always set the amount very high and have no idea what would happen). Go to about:config again and type, "browser.cache," into the filter box. Now click on the, "browser.cache.disk.capacity," entry and set a number higher than the default 50,000. (I recommend remembering that number though, so you don’t have to find this blog again if it causes issues). Be wary of a ridiculously high number like 999,999. Try doubling it. If that works, you might want to add 50,000 more if you have a lot of RAM; like 2 gigs.
11) MAKE FIREFOX WORK FASTER. (FREE)
Tell Firefox to immediately begin constructing and displaying web pages. To do this, go to about:config again (last time, I swear), click OK, right click on an empty space in the page, and select new -> integer. Set, "nglayout.initialpaint.delay," as the name by putting it in the box. After you click OK, another box will appear prompting you for an integer value. Set it to "0". Last but not least, get Fasterfox. It’s an add-on that makes Firefox run faster.
- www.wikihow.com/Make-Firefox-Load-Pages-Faster - firefox speed adjustments.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasterfox - fasterfox add-on.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foof_browser_add-on - foof add-on.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_explorer#Security_vulnerabilities - more evidence of security vulnerabilities in internet explorer.
- xforce.iss.net/xforce/xfdb/28445 - aol insecurity. This provides a great number of cited sources about aol being vulnerable.
- performance.toast.net/fastestisps.asp - showing isps have impact on customers internet speed.
- www.guard-privacy-and-online-security.com/best-wireless-router-speed.html - shows the different router speeds.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_security - wireless security.
- www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/04/01/exploring_time_capsule_10_100_1000_ethernet_vs_802_11g_n_wireless_networking.htm - ethernet vs. wireless speeds.
