Internet Speed Test » Internet Connection

TCP/IP Optimizer

markd — Tue, 25 May 2010 13:23:09 +0000

A TCP/IP optimizer is generally a program for optimizing the TCP/IP settings of a computer to ensure maximum performance. Though this is dependent on the operating system and the connections type there are usually a dozen settings located in Windows registry capable of affecting the Internet and network performance. The program is capable of aiding both advanced and novice users in tweaking the related parameters of the TCP/IP protocol in Windows registry.

This tool makes use of advanced algorithms as well as the bandwidth’s delay product for finding the most ideal TCP window to be used for enhancing the particular connection speed. The TCP/IP optimizer has a provision for easy tuning for all the associated TCP/IP parameters and this includes RWIN, MTU and other advanced ones. All Windows versions are compatible with this program which is inclusive of additional tools like locating the largest packet size possible.

An improvement on TCP/IP performance guarantees high speeds and latency networks. The speed of all data transfers such as TCP is largely resolved through a line speed. The delay of data packets is referred to as RTT and this delay occurs every time the server is asked a question by the client computer until a response is received. With a TCP/IP optimizer, users can capitalize on their computer usage and make the most out of it.

Fast internet connection has become a necessity

markd — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:14:30 +0000

In these days, having 24/7 access to a fast internet connection is something that many people cannot afford to live without. Sure, there was a time when most people accessed the internet via phone lines, at speeds of 56 kbps or less. Those times are over. Now, having at least a 256 kbps connection has become a standard, even in third world countries. For technologically advanced nations, 1 mbps is the bare minimum internet access speed required by most consumers.

Many people spend a lot of their time on the internet these days. Social networking websites attract a lot of internet traffic every day, indicating that these sites are getting more and more members with every passing day. Users like to share what they do each day with their friends, leading to the huge popularity enjoyed by websites like Facebook, Orkut, and of course Twitter. In fact, the last one has also gained quite good popularity as a business networking site, allowing thousands of business owners to reach a far greater fraction of their consumer base than was previously possible.

Online gaming has gained substantial popularity as well. Back in 1990-s, few users had an internet connection that was fast enough to support online gaming. Frame rates would lag as soon as 4-5 users joined a server, as packet switching technologies were not advanced enough. Today, thousands of players join servers of games like World of Warcraft, Star Wars Galaxies, Warhammer 40k, and Eve Online. Massively multiplayer online (MMO) games are being developed by the leading game development studios, in order to gain advantage of this new tendency among gamers from across the globe.

Some technologically advanced nations have understood the importance of having a high speed internet connection at home for their citizens. They are undertaking measures to make sure that their citizens have fast internet connectivity, 24/7. Recently, Finland even passed a national law declaring that no ISP in the country would have the right to provide internet connections slower than 1 mbps. This is certainly a major indication that even governments are beginning to take notice of the situation. Finnish Government has even predicted that the speed of connectivity may be increased to 100 mbps by 2015.

Finland is not the world’s first country to undertake such measures, and won’t remain so, either. A new era of lightning fast internet connectivity is coming up fast. Now all that remains is for nations to realize the importance of this service in the daily lives of their citizens.

Create Ad Hoc Wireless Network Connection

markd — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:20:39 +0000

Do you have two PCs or laptops with Windows Vista loaded into those? Then why not try to set up an ad hoc wireless network between them? It can be a fun exercise, and quite useful, especially if you frequently play games in multiplayer mode and need to exchange files quickly between the two computers. You can also share an internet connection this way too, although this could result in a decrease in speed.

The best thing is that you can set up the connection if you have a wireless connection adapter in each computer. Simply enable the wireless adapters and go about creating the connections. That’s it. No need for routers or other expensive equipment. Here is how you can do it (assuming you have all the required equipment handy):

Click on Start button, and click on Network.
Click on Network and Sharing Center.
In the left sidebar, there is an option named “Set up a Connection or Network”. Click on it. You will be provided with a list of options. Select the option that says “Set Up A Wireless Ad Hoc (Computer-To-Computer) Network”. Click on Next. In the next window, again click on Next.
In the next window, type a name for your ad hoc network. Then, select the security settings. If you are not sure about which security type you should select, then click on the link named “Help Me Choose”. Select a strong password so that your network would remain secured from intruders. Once you are done with the options, click on Next.
Your network connection will now be ready. Access the Network and Sharing Center to select which files or applications you wish to share using your ad hoc wireless network.
In order to share an internet connection, click on View Status, located next to the connection which you wish to share. Click on the Properties button.
Now select the Sharing tab. Check the box where it is written “Allow Other Network Computers To Connect Through This Computer’s Internet Connection”. Under the option “Home Networking Connection”, select the option “Wireless Network Connection”. Click on OK.
Now the connection you just created is prepared to be shared. Click on Start button and select the option Connect To, in order to enable the wireless connection.
You will see the wireless connection in the list of connections in the other PC/ laptop now. Select the connection you just created and click Connect.

So, now you can browse the internet on both computers, or play games with your buddies, all without any specialized hardware of any kind. If you’re concerned about the speed of your internet connection, try out our free internet speed test above!

Who is using your Wireless Internet Connection for free

markd — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:21:20 +0000

Do you use a wireless internet connection at your home? Does it often appear to work slower than it is supposed to? Maybe someone is tapping into your wireless network connection, browsing the internet at your expense and decreasing your internet speed! Hacking into wireless routers is almost as easy as child’s play these days. Even password protected networks can be hacked into by using some pretty easily obtained malicious tools. So it is important for you to make sure that your bandwidth is not being siphoned away by some techie neighbor.

It is not a problem if your technical skills are not up to the mark. Many of the best tools available are so easy to use that even a child could run those. Zamzom Wireless Network Tool is one very useful tool that you can find on the internet. It is available for free download. Here’s how you can use it.

Download and install the tool in your PC. If you are not planning to do some serious investigation, then get the free version. It will be more than enough for you.
Once the tool has been installed, run it.
Press the button named “Fast Scan”.
The tool will detect and display a list of the IP addresses and MAC addresses of every computer connected to your wireless network.
Simply block the IP addresses that you do not recognize using your router, and you should be able to block any shady user who is trying to tap into your wireless network.

If you have downloaded the Pro version by paying the developer, then you will have an additional functionality. Use Deep Scan instead of Fast Scan, and the tool will display a list of the names of the computers that are connected to your wireless network. This might give you an idea about the owner of the PC. For instance, let us suppose your next door neighbor’s name is Jonathan.

If you find that a PC with a name like Jonathan or Jona0124 (or something like that) is connected to your network, then there is a high chance that your neighbor is blissfully tapping into your wireless network and downloading music and what not, while you are having to pay sky high bills. Well, now’s your chance to get some revenge. Block his IP address using your router and give him a little nightmare.

You should perform an internet speed test before and after blocking any IPs, and notice the difference in performance!

What is Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)

markd — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:14:29 +0000

ICS or Internet Connection Sharing is an important tool that allows computer users to share one internet connection within a local area network. The internet connection is versatile because all the users can carry out different internet activities simultaneously. As one person checks e-mail, another can be browsing the internet or downloading information. This facility was initiated by Microsoft Windows with the release of its second edition of the operating system Microsoft Windows 98. It is useful because it reduces the hassle of having multiple connections, which is not only costly but also requires additional apparatus.

Internet connection sharing allows for one proxy server to be installed catering for all the computers on the network giving full access. This is done through redirection of data packets. ICS enables the management of the internet functions from one location. These management functions are well defined and constant. The only disadvantage of this system could be speed related. Test internet connection speed, by running the application above!

Internet Connection Development happens to be a collection of different technologies and other services allowing the windows embedded operating system to facilitate a gateway linking a local area network to the World Wide Web. ICS enables an automated configuration of the LAN processing relevant information through services that are offered by a DCHP or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Server. ICS also gives name resolution support automatically without the need of reconfiguration via a Domain Name System DNS proxy. Internet Connection Sharing offers demand-dial routing for packets. This is done to and from the World Wide Web using an auto dial function.

ICS has an advantage over hardware routers because of the fact that it is embedded into the OS therefore no additional software is required. Although many of the configuration options in hardware routers are not available with Internet Connection Sharing, there are some setbacks to Internet Connection Sharing. The first setback is that it does not have any logging on or filtering capability. Additionally, operations such as VPN’s and h.323 or netmeeting are not enabled.

When considering having an ICS connection, it should be decided whether the equipment to be used will be wireless or wired. Business premises often prefer networks that are wired because they normally have faster speeds and securing them is considerably easier than with wireless networks. Internet Connection Sharing happens to be an affordable way of saving on money because it avoids the need for several ISP accounts while giving sufficient multiple internet connection. If having a local area network connection, use ICS to share an internet connection.

How DSL Internet Service Works

markd — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:31:27 +0000

When connecting to the Internet, the connection might be via a regular modem, via a connection in the office or LAN (Local Area Network), via a cable modem or a DSL connection also referred to as Digital Subscriber Line. DSL is a connection that is high speed and utilizes similar wires like the normal telephone line. There are several advantages of the DSL. First of which is that they are capable of leaving an Internet connection open and at the same time be able to utilize the telephone line for vocal calls. The speed is a lot higher as compared to the regular modem.

Another advantage is that DSL internet does not necessarily need new wiring because the telephone line being used supports the cause. A company that provides DSL normally provides the modem as part of an installation. It also has some disadvantages like the connection being better when a person is closer to the central office of the provider. The further away one is the poorer the connection is. This service is also not available everywhere. The connection is very ideal in receiving data than it is in sending data across the Internet. Apart from these small setbacks, the DSL is very ideal because while using the phone, the Internet connection is not disturbed and also the telephone communication.

When people are informed of how telephones operate, then it is quite possible that they are aware that a normal telephone installation consists of two copper wires installed in the home. Copper wires can not only carry telephone conversation, but even more data. They can also be capable of handling a great bandwidth, as well as frequency range than a voice call demands. DSL internet access is able to manipulate the extra capacity to be able to carry information on the wire without any disturbance to the cable’s ability of carrying voice conversations.

To be able to understand how DSL connections work, there is the need to have knowledge on a standard telephone line. POTS, which is known by many telephone professionals denoting the Plain Old Telephone Service, is very ideal especially in limiting frequencies that the telephones, switches and other telephone equipment will carry. The wires are capable of handling frequencies that are close to seven million Hertz in many cases. The normal conversation tone can be carried in a range frequency ranging from 0 to 3,400 Hz. Having a DSL connection is very ideal for communicating effectively between employees in an office.

Why does Svchost.exe access the Net?

markd — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:29:16 +0000

When you start up your PC running Microsoft Windows operating system, a number of DLL files need to be loaded one after another, to ensure normal functioning of a number of system services. However, DLL files cannot start by themselves and need some process to call and run those. The svchost.exe is a program that can call these DLL files and load those one after another. The name svchost is simply an abbreviation of the name Service Host, which sort of describes the function of this indispensable component of the Windows operating system right there.

If you have a firewall installed in your PC, you will often receive warnings that svchost.exe is trying to access the internet. Many people make a mistake at this point thinking that the security of their PC has been compromised and that svchost.exe is probably infected with a spyware, or virus. This is not a completely wrong idea, because svchost.exe can be infected by a virus. However, that is not a very common phenomenon.

So, under general circumstances, why does svchost.exe attempt to connect to the internet? The reason is that if you have Automatic Update turned on in Windows, svchost will periodically attempt to connect to the internet and synchronize your system clock with Windows Time Server. This keeps your clock synchronized with the accurate time in your region via internet at all times, but might slow your internet connection speed.

If you do not want this service, you can switch it off by following the process given below:

Right click the clock on the taskbar.
Click on Adjust Date/Time.
In the box that opens, click on the tab marked “Internet Time”.
Notice whether the check box titled “Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server” is checked. If so, uncheck the box.
Click on “Apply” first, then on “OK”.

Your svchost.exe should stop connecting with the internet now, provided that it has not been infected by a virus.

Speed Up Your Internet Connection

markd — Fri, 08 May 2009 09:26:30 +0000

The major cause of a slow internet connection in most cases is as a result of the Internet Service Provider. Whether this is the case or not, it is possible to optimize the internet connection through port functions with the bandwidth that has been provided. A common problem of slowed internet connection is for the router to have been set with a downloading limit without the user’s knowledge and this slows downloading speeds. In order to find out if this is the case, the cable going to the router may be connected directly to the computer and the speed monitored. If the speed is significantly faster, then the router could have been set with a limit.

The ports for the router can also be opened on the computer and under the router settings and port forwarding, the IP address should be input. The router is required to be configured in a way that it can accept ports for the appropriate programs that are being used. Port speed is an important factor and the modem should be set up with the right speed for appropriate internet speeds. Incase modem connection problems still persist; one could try and lower the port speed towards modem speed and turn off the compression. This is done only for those set ups that still utilize old UART’s.

The general connecting ports should be checked for any loose connections or wiring which may be the cause of a slow or breaking connection. The use of cable mapping tools may also play a vital role in ensuring that cables are properly assigned and in addition can show port status, byte counts, and port speed. The use of USB ports for internet connection has served to create a fast and convenient way for broadband internet connection. Wireless USB devices have also shown great performance speed in addition to their portability.