| without surfing the Web is as unthinkable as life | | | | connection and its best to run tests at different hours |
| without the telephone.No matter what you're doing in | | | | of the day.These test sites report their values in |
| any given day, whether it be shopping, checking the | | | | different formats. |
| weather, or catching up on the events around the | | | | In the evening Internet traffic is much higher and you |
| world, we all have a tendency to go online to get the | | | | want to know how fast your connection is during this |
| scoop on these matters. | | | | time. With this data written down and safely put away, |
| Whether you're thinking about starting your first Internet | | | | you should want to find out how fast your modem is |
| connection or you want to get the most out of your | | | | at other times, especially in the mornings. |
| existing connection, knowing how to accomplish this | | | | This values may be reported in 1kb or 1 kilobyte or 1MB |
| can boost that connection and make your web surfing | | | | which is 1 megabytes.Look at the site's reporting |
| much more enjoyable. | | | | values and take careful, detailed notes of each |
| If your starting out for the first time, you must find an | | | | connection speed test. |
| ISP or Internet Service Provider in your area that | | | | To optimize either connection you will need to tweak |
| serves as a middleman between your PC and the | | | | Windows Settings and install optimization software.If |
| Internet. | | | | you have a Dial-Up connection and use Windows 98 |
| Once you have found yourself a reliable ISP, you have | | | | or Me, click Start, Settings, and click Control Panel. |
| two choices of Internet connections. The slower of the | | | | Then right click the Modems icon. |
| two is the Dial-Up connection but its also the | | | | Now click Properties, and choose the General tab.Use |
| cheapest.If you can afford to pay a higher monthly | | | | the Maximum Speed Drop-Down menu to select |
| fee, a broadband connection is the way to go. | | | | 115200. If this setting causes your Modem to no longer |
| Whichever connection you have or start first, it can | | | | connect, change it to 57600. |
| probably run faster with a little optimization. In order to | | | | Windows XP users should click Start, Control Panel |
| improve your current Internet connection, it would be to | | | | and switch to classic view.Double-click the Phone And |
| your advantage to know your current connection | | | | Modem options and choose the Modem tab. |
| speed. | | | | Change the maximum settings port speed to 115200 |
| Check this by running a Speed Test at such sites as | | | | and if the Modem responds poorly or not at all, change |
| PC Pit Stop at and if you're running a broadband | | | | the speed to 57600. |
| connection, try Broadband Speed at and another is | | | | Broadband users should consider using a tweak utility |
| Broadband Reports at | | | | such as TCP Optimizer at and after downloading the |
| You can go to such search engines as Google or | | | | software, you run it and make a backup of your |
| MSN and perform a search for let's say, "Internet | | | | current settings. |
| Speed Test" and you will have a ton of software | | | | Save the backup, and follow the instructions in the |
| allowing you to test your Internet connection and many | | | | software to optimize your broadband speed.Don't |
| are free. | | | | forget to click apply changes and click Yes if the |
| The Broadband Speed Test site allow you to test up | | | | software ask you to re-boot the computer. |
| to three times a month free.After that you can | | | | And now you're on the home stretcth. Your computer |
| purchase a subscription and test up to 1,000 tests for | | | | should run faster now.If the new settings cause trouble, |
| $60.00. You can also purchase just 100 speed tests | | | | return to the program and restore your back up |
| for just $12.00 | | | | settings. If you failed to make a backup, restore |
| Run a few speed tests to objectively test the | | | | Windows default settings. |