Increase the Speed of your Internet connection- Broadband Hack

Previously I was thinking like we cannot increase the broadband speed. The reason is we are getting a fixed bandwidth from ISP so there is no way to improve the speed due to this fixed bandwidth. Later I found one tweaking program while searching in forums called TCP/IP optimizer. After using TCP/IP optimizer I feel a noticeable increase in download and upload speed so I would like to share the same idea with my readers. I would like to let you know at the beginning itself that I am not a part of this program development but I just used this program and experienced improvement in my Internet speed. I know it would be better if I show some results from my PC itself. So I provide screen shots of my Internet connection speed before and after using this program for your reference.

----------> Updated Steps <-----------

Many readers asked me about more manual steps to increase their Internet speed rather than rely on third party tools. So I update this article with some manual steps to increase Internet speed.

Manual Steps to Improve Internet Speed

If you are not impressed with the idea of installing a third party software and run on your computer, you can follow the manual steps provided below to improve your Internet Speed.


1. Remove Reservable Bandwidth limit in your computer

Many are not aware of a Windows feature to keep 20% of Internet connection bandwidth as reserve for applications running on the computer. If you remove this bandwidth reservation, you can add the not using 20% Internet speed to the current Internet speed you are enjoying. In order to do this you have to edit group policy edit and change the bandwidth reserve from default 20% to 0%. Follow the steps below to perform this and increase your Internet speed up to 20%.

1. Type gpedit.msc on Run and click OK

2. Select Computer Configuration and go to Administrative Templates

3. Click on Network

4. Double Click on QOS Packet Scheduler



Now the "Limit Reservable Bandwidth" Window opens and you can see it as not configured. If you read the note there you can see "If you disable this setting or do not configure it, the system uses the default value of 20 percent of the connection." We have to enable this and change the default 20% to 0%. This will increase your Internet speed up to 20%.



Reboot your computer after closing the window.


2. Perform a Power Cycle

Most cases a proper power cycle on your network can improve the Internet connection speed currently you are getting. To know more about this follow the link below.

How to Perform Power Cycle

3. Remove Temp files and cache

It is advised to delete temp files and browser cache in your computer occasionally to speed up your Internet connection.

How to Delete Temp files

4.Make sure no one else is Sharing your Internet Connection

If you are using Wireless Internet connection, it is better make sure there is no Internet sharing with unauthorised users. To ensure this you have to use best wireless key encryption to protect your wireless network from hackers and intruders.

5. Make sure no unwanted Programs consuming Internet Bandwidth

Many users complained about getting slower Internet connection than the ISP offered. After checking their computer, we found many back ground programs consuming considerable protion of their Internet bandwidth. One example is torrent (peer to peer software). After denying the Internet access to those applications, users feel considerable improvement in Internet speed.


6. Make sure Network components are working fine

Faulty network swith, Ethernet cable, modem etc can slow down your Internet connection. So you should check your network devices thoroughly and make sure they are working fine.

7. Make sure no Network worms and malicious programs running

Malicious programs like network worm etc can consume the Internet bandwidth. So you have to run periodic scan to avoid the presence of these type malicious infections.

----------->End of Update<-----------

Results of Increased download speed after tweaking the system

The pictures I provide below show the Internet speed I was getting (throughput) before installing TCP/IP optimizer and the current Internet speed I am getting.

The Speed I was getting before installing the TCP/IP optimizer

This picture shows my old broadband speed before installing the optimizer.



The two things we need to notice are download speed and upload speed.
Download speed: 0.46
Upload speed : 0.24

Improved Broadband speed after installing TCP/IP optimizer

This is the screen shot of the Internet speed test after installing optimizer in my PC. I found a huge improvement in my broadband connection speed.



You can understand the improved broadband speed from the details below.

Download speed: 1.00

Upload speed : 0.44

The result shows now my computer has almost double the speed compared to the previous broadband speed. How it is possible? Anyway I am getting the same connection from the ISP with same bandwidth. So the change is not from the ISP side but from my computer side. So what would be the possible reasons for the improved broadband speed ?

The possible reasons for the better broadband speed:

1. It changes the Windows registry value for the optimum performance.

2. TCP Optimizer works by tuning up all the important TCP/IP parameters (MTU, RWIN,QoS,ToS/Diffserv prioritization). It optimizes the TCP/IP suit for better MTU and so the stateful connections(eg:video streaming, downloads) will be faster.

Further Reading and Resources

To check your Internet connection speed click on the link below. Check your Internet Connection Speed

To download TCP/IP optimizer click on the link below.
http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php

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