How to Speed up Broadband Internet Speeds

A broadband connection will give you better speed and performance than dial up, but are you getting all the speed you pay for? If you think your computer is still sluggish after changing your connection, there are a few tips and tricks to get it running at optimum speed.

Quick Tips

Before tweaking your system, try these easy tricks. Test your actual broadband speed by using an online speed checker. A quick Internet search will bring up several online checkers that will test your individual system and tell you how much speed you are getting from your provider. Keep in mind that a computer will rarely get the speed that is advertised by your provider – but it should be close.

Make sure your router is in a location where there are few obstructions between it and the computer – many things can interfere with your connection, so make it as easy as possible. Hiding the router in an upstairs closet probably won’t get you online any faster. Like the commute, it is best to try to get on the Internet at off peak times. As of this writing, experts recommend staying away between 8 and 10pm which are supposedly peak times, although with the popularity of Twitter and Facebook, daytime hours are getting mighty crowded as well.

Firewall

Microsoft has a Windows firewall that is probably already running on your machine. Many experts suggest disabling the Windows firewall and downloading a good third-party firewall for better protection and increased speed. In any case, you don’t want to have two firewalls running on your machine as this can cause more problems. To disable Windows firewall:

Go to Start and then Run.
At the prompt, type in: Firewall.cpl and click OK.
Find the General tab and choose Off.

You do need one firewall on your machine – to go without is dangerous. There are many quality, free firewalls available for download – check with reputable review sites to find one that will work for you.

File Sharing

If you aren’t on a network that requires File Sharing, turning it off from its default setting can be helpful in getting more overall speed from your system.

Go to Start and then My Computer.
Go to Tools and choose Folder Options.
On the View tab, remove the check mark next to the option: “Use Simple File Sharing”.

Download Accelerator

You can drastically speed up your downloads by using a third-party download accelerator. They will help limit the bandwidth used for a download so that other programs are not impacted as much and are also good if you find your system “timing out” when trying to download a large file or program. There are many on the market – check some online reviews to get the accelerator that is right for you.

Providers

All Internet providers are not created equal. If you are unhappy with your broadband speed, contact your provider and see what they can offer to help you speed it up. If you aren’t satisfied with their efforts, take your business to another company.

Is your computer up-to-date?

This FastFastPC recommended system update tool helps ensure your PC is running fast and error-free ALWAYS!

Download Now, Scan your Registry for Problems and Fix/Clean/Optimize Windows instantly!

16 Ways to Speed-up your PC

home privacy contact