How to Boost and Increase Your Internet Speed

Need to increase your Internet connection speed/ There are a number of tweaks out there that will enable you to maximize your system’s performance and likewise, there are lots of things you can do to tweak your Internet connection to boost Internet speed. There are tons of them out there, but this article just lays out two of the most useful ones.

Tweak 1: Un-reserving bandwidth

By Default, XP reserves 20% of your bandwidth for it’s own use. This is a crying shame and should be undone immediately. To do this, you will not require any additional software, just follow the steps below.

1. Access the Group Policy Editor. This can be done by typing gpedit.msc in the Run box (Start, and then Run). You will now be looking at something like this.
   
   
   
2. Navigate to Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Network/QOS Packet Scheduler using the pane on the left side.
3. In the left pane, there should be a Setting with the name Limit reservable bandwidth, right-click this and select properties.
4. Now this might seem a bit weird, as the State will say “Not Configured” but Windows by default will reserve 20%. So the trick is to set it to reserve 0%. You can do this by clicking enabled and then setting the Bandwidth Limit % to 0. It should look like the image below.
   
   
   
5. Hit OK then close the Group Policy Editor.

That’s it! You’re done with the first tweak. Just a quick side note here, there are lots of other little things you can change easily using the policy editor. Feel free to wander around!

Tweak 2: Optimizing TCP/IP settings

This next tweak is going to require a piece of freeware called SG TCP Optimizer. This nifty little utility will optimize the manner in which your PC sends and receives data packets, which will as a result speed up your connection. Though It is most effective for broadband connections, it works for just about any type of connection.

1.  Download SG TCP Optimizer. You don’t need to install it, just double-click and it will run. Once you run it, you should be looking at this :
   
2. That is quite an intimidating interface, but we won’t be touching most of it. Under the General Settings tab, just drag the slider to match your connection’s download speed. Then, at the bottom of the same window, select the “Optimal Settings” radio button and click “Apply Changes”.
3. You will now be looking at a window like the one below.
   
   
   
4. Make sure that the “Backup” tick box is ticked and then click OK.
5. All that’s left is to reboot your system, in order to apply the changes. You will be prompted to do so.
6. Once your system has rebooted, surf around for a while. If for whatever reason you feel your connection has been affected negatively, then fear not, for the changes you made can be undone. Start SG TCP Optimizer, click File and choose restore backed up settings. This will bring up a dialog box where you can navigate to where you downloaded the program. There, you will find a file with the extension .spg with a filename containing the date.
   For example If you applied the changes on the 21st of February “sg_backup_2008-02-21-xxxx.spg” would be the filename, where the xxxx is any number. Once you find this file select it and press open. This should bring to a dialog box similar to the one shown above. Click OK and reboot. Your original settings are now restored.

   How to increase browsing speed: 7 ways to work faster on slow connections

   1. Send multiple files faster by compressing them
   If you're sending multiple files—for example, several files related to a single project—you can reduce their combined size by using a compression utility. Compressing your files can dramatically reduce the time needed to send files online, and compressed files don't take up as much space in your (or the recipient's) email Inbox. WinZip is one of the more common compression tools.

   Compress files

   • Windows 7
   • Windows Vista
   • Windows XP

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   2. Increase browsing speed by turning off graphics in Windows Internet Explorer

   Graphics are important to web pages, but they also take time to download if you're online. You can turn them off to speed your Internet browsing.

   
   

   Disable graphics in Internet Explorer

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   3. Send email using Contact Groups (Distribution Lists)

   If you're sending an email to multiple people, create a Contact Group (previously known as a Distribution List) instead of listing each recipient separately. Messages are sent more quickly and efficiently when you're using a Contact Group. Your company may have established procedures for creating mailing lists. If not, learn how to create and edit a Contact Group in Microsoft Outlook.

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   4. Reduce email size with simple email signatures

   Email signatures leave a professional stamp on your messages, but elaborate signatures that include multiple images take up a lot of unnecessary storage space in each email. Ultimately, they can slow down the time needed to send each message. Instead, create distinctive text signatures combining fonts, type sizes, and colors to make your email signature smaller and quicker to transmit and receive. Learn how to create email signatures in Microsoft Outlook.

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   5. Work offline using Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook

   Even if you lose your network connection, you can continue working in Microsoft Outlook if you're using Cached Exchange Mode. With Cached Exchange Mode, a copy of your mailbox is stored on your computer. This copy provides quick access to your data and is frequently updated with the mail server. If you work offline, whether by choice or due to a connection problem, your data is still available to you instantly wherever you are. Cached Exchange Mode does require you to work with a Microsoft Exchange Server email account. Learn more about using Cached Exchange Mode.

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   6. Browse offline by saving web pages on your computer

   If you use or reference a specific webpage often, save it locally to your computer. If you lose your connection or are working on a slow connection, you'll still be able to read and find the information you need.

   
   

   Save a web page on your computer

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   7. Open webpages faster by increasing your cache

   If you increase the size of the temporary Internet files cache in Internet Explorer, your computer won't have to work so hard when you revisit webpages. Many of the images will already be downloaded on your computer, decreasing the amount of time it takes to open a page.

   Increase the Temporary Internet Files cache in Internet Explorer

   1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
   2. On the General tab, in the Browsing history section, click Settings.
   3. In the Temporary Internet Files dialog box, under Check for newer versions of stored pages:, click the Automatically button. Then, set theAmount of disk space to use: to at least 250 megabytes (MB).
   4. Click OK.
      

There you have it. Your connection is now tweaked and ready to go! Any questions, post a comment!