Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Q : How do I get fast internet?

A : Yeah, here are some simple tips to get fast internet...

1. Most peoples use dial-up access in their home to satisfy their internet needs. Dial-up access is a form of internet access through which the client uses a modem connected to a computer and a telephone line to dial into an Internet service provider's (ISP) node to establish a modem-to-modem link, which is then routed to the Internet (see wikipedia). Dial-up internet is practical. You just need a PC, a modem, and a line cable. Although that, this form of internet connection is very undependable. The maximum speed is 56 kbps, and usually it's only 23-40 kbps. It's very slow either for downloading (transferring file from web to your PC) or uploading (requesting a file to web).
ADSL (one kind of broadband internet access) provides you more speed than a dial-up internet. And the price is relatively affordable. So, I recommend you to use it.

2. Your PC spec is also affect your internet speed. Higher processor and more rams should give you more performance.

3. What is your browser?
- IE (Internet Explorer) > A free browser, comes with windows. No need to download, and free to update. But it consumes a lot of memory. Not recommended if your ram is below 256 mb. Has some stability problems. Fortunately, Microsoft released the latest IE version, IE 0.7. This version looks better.
- Firefox > Free to download and update. Fast for download/upload. Uses less memory than Has got many add-ons to apply in it. The latest version of Firefox is 'Firefox 2.0.0.1'.
- Opera > Fast browser. But, often reduces the appearance of some webpage.
- Maxthon > Freeware browser. Reliably fast.
- K-meleon > A new browser came on 2005. Try it out.

4. Do you really need to see banner images in a music webpage? Or these flash animation about personal insurance?
Before showing these thing, your browser needs to download it. And it make the page appearing slower, very slower.
To solve this problem, change the settings of your browser. All options about image should be unchecked (such as 'Load images automatically' in Firefox). Or, if you a Firefox user like me, you can download some add-ons to block any pictures, flash movies, and pop-up banners. Get it on https://addons.mozilla.org/search.php?q=adblock&type=A&app=firefox.
There are many other add-ons to download here. But, don't install too many add-ons, it will slow down your system, coz they consume large amount of rams.

5. Close other programs, like virus scan or windows media player, when you're browsing. So, some memory will be freed and your browser can run faster. More memory freed = better speed. Less process on task manager can also increase your internet performance. But be careful, don't be rude to end the process tree. It can inflict unexpected system problem.
Or, simply download Free Ram Optimizer.

6. Defragment your PC at least once a week, or after installing/uninstalling large amounts of files.

7. Run disk cleanup at least once every three days.

8. Clean your desktop from any files/shortcut and background image.

9. Update your internet browser recently.

10. Read a cool article from http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2005/02/04/firefox_speed_boost_tweak_tips.htm. Hope this help.

11. And the last is, don't forget to scan your hard disk everyday to keep it clean from viruses. Most viruses can decrease the performance of infected PC.

That's all...