Often the default settings for your network card are not optimized for the maximum potential of your Internet connection, especially if you have high-speed broadband.
There are a some useful tools on www.dslreports.com that can help you optimize your Internet connection. The following tutorial is on how to use these tools.
First check your current connection speed so you can compare it to the speed achieved after optimization.
1. Go to DSL Reports Speed Test and click on the "Test your speed using..." link
2. Then click Start. I recommend turning off as many unused programs as possible before clicking start for the most accurate test of your connection speed.
3. Make a note of the results. These are your download and upload speeds respectively.
Now run the Tweak Test.
1. Go to DSL Reports Tweak Test and click Start to begin the test.
2. Fill in the details for your specific Internet connection. It is important that you fill this in correctly as suggestions are based partly on this information. Advertised speed is the download speed you signed up for with your ISP.
3. RWIN (Marked 1) and MTU (Marked 2) settings are important for tweaking your connection. Make note of your current settings and recommended settings. The following example shows an already tweaked connection with everything in the recommended range. Remember this varies per individual connection.
4. If there are no recommendations your network card settings are within the optimized range for your connection already. However if there are recommendations made, DR TCP is a program for making the modifications easily. [url=http://www.dslreports.com/front/DRTCP021.exe]Download DR TCP here[/url].
Run DR TCP.
1. Change the Adapter Settings box to the network card that your are optimizing.
2. Fill in the RWIN box (Marked 1) with the recommended setting from the Tweak test. There is usually a range, start with the highest number and if the results are not as expected, try the lower end of the range instead.
3. Fill in the MTU (Marked 2) with the maximum setting from the Tweak Test also. For cable connections this is usually 1500 and for DSL it's typically 1492.
4. Click Save and then Exit. You will need to either reboot your computer or restart networking (2k,XP) for these changes to take effect.
Run the Speed Test again to compare your current results to your previous ones.
