You can always have more speed, right?  Even with today’s super-fast broadband connections you can still make pages load even faster by making some quick simple changes to your PC.
1. Test Your Current Speed

The first thing you need to do is test your current broadband speed.  The best way I’ve found of doing this is to use the following broadband speed test.  It’s very simple and the results are nice and clear, showing what speed you acheived and what speed you should have achieved based on the information you provided.  Below are my results for my 10Mb broadband connection:

Run the test three times and calculate your average.   Hopefully, you should be getting near to what your ISP claims to be selling you.  If not, then the first thing you need to do is get on the phone and complain!  Some of the tweaks below should help in the meantime.  Even if you are getting your quoted speed, implementing the tips below will help.

2. Run TCP/IP Optimizer

TCP/IP Optimizer is a great tool for tweaking your connection settings quickly.  To run the tool do the following:

• Download and install
• Click the General Settings tab and select your Connection Speed (Kbps)
• Click Network Adapter and choose the interface you use to connect to the Internet
• Check Optimal Settings then Apply
• Reboot (Don’t forget to bookmark this page first or subscribe to the feed so that you can carry out the other steps once you’ve rebooted)

3. Use OpenDNS for your DNS Servers

OpenDNS is a great free service that will speedup your web surfing sessions, as well as providing phishing protection.  DNS servers basically tell your PC how to get to particular pages on the internet - like a map.  What OpenDNS provide is a huge ‘map’, so that rather than having to ask lots of DNS servers for directions, your PC only has to ask one.  This can significantly improve page loading times, regardless of the speed of your connection as pages are found that much faster.

OpenDNS provides free DNS server addresses which you can enter on your home router so that all connected devices can benefit, or within your computer’s network settings. It even works with a smartphone or a PDA.
To setup OpenDNS in XP do the following:

• Select “Control Panel” from the Start menu
• Click “Network Connections” from the “Control Panel” choices
• Choose your connection from the “Network Connections” window
• Click “Properties” button
• Select “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” and click “Properties.”
• C. Click the radio button “Use the following DNS server addresses” and type in OpenDNS addresses in the “Preferred DNS server” and “Alternate DNS server” fields
• Click “OK”.

To configure other devices and routers then click here and find your make and model.

4. Turn Off File Sharing

Microsoft leaves this on by default, so if you’re not running a home network then turn it off.  It will also help to protect you from hackers. To turn it off:

• Right click on ‘Network Neighborhood’ and select ‘Properties’
• Click on the ‘Configuration’ tab
• Click on the ‘File and Print Sharing’ button
• Uncheck both checkboxes

5. Install Google Web Accelerator

In Google’s own words, Google Web Accelerator is:

Google Web Accelerator is an application that uses the power of Google’s global computer network to make web pages load faster. Google Web Accelerator is easy to use; all you have to do is download and install it, and from then on many web pages will automatically load faster than before.

There are some webmasters who don’t like users who use Google Web Accelerator, but at the end of the day - it works.  To install Google Web Accelerator, then click here.

If you found this guide useful, please share it with your friends.  Don’t forget to subscribe to the feed to get my daily tips, or that you can use the search engine to browse through older tips.

Subscribe To RSS Feed Updates (What is RSS??)

Bookmark & Share

Related Posts

• Free Broadband Speed Test
• Optimize Your Internet Connection
• Improve Your Website’s Speed With 13 Simple Steps
• How To Increase Your Internet Speed By 20%
• 10 Simple Ways To Speed Up Windows Vista
• Speedup Windows Settings By Increasing The Double-click Speed

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.