Double Your Broadband Speed

You can potentially double the speed of your ADSL broadband connection, at no extra cost, and with very little technical skill. This is not magic; it is just improving the efficiency of your current ADSL broadband connection.

Firstly, the XP and Vista operating systems’ default settings are still stuck in the dark ages of dial-up internet connections. It's like driving a Model T Ford down a modern high-speed highway.

Your computer can be easily fine-tuned by using free software tools available on the internet. It is like removing the stop lights and roundabouts, and turning your internet road into a faster highway.

These tricks can also be applied to those of you using Linux and Apple Mac computers, although the speed increases probably won't be as dramatic, because Linux and Apple Mac systems are already tuned better for broadband connections.

Mozilla Firefox

Everyone can get up to a 40% increase in speed and internet security, whether they are using Windows, Linux or an Apple computer, by downloading and installing an alternative web browser called Mozilla Firefox.

Note:
Linux users will already have Mozilla Firefox installed.

Once Mozilla Firefox is downloaded and installed on your computer, and you are connected to the internet, click on the menu item “Tools”, and in the pop down box, click “Add Ons”.

When an “Add-On” box appears, click on the “Get Extension”link at the bottom right-hand corner of this box. This will take you the extensions website, where you can find and install Firefox extensions.

In the search box at the top right of this page, type in Fasterfox and click the “Search” button, then navigate to the page where the green “Install Now” button appears. Click the install button and the Fasterfox extension will be installed.

Once it is installed, you will need to shut down and reopen the Firefox browser. After you do this, your web browsing experience will be up to 40% faster and a lot safer than using Internet Explorer.

TCP Optimizer & Unblocka

These tools will work for most versions of Windows except Vista. Using either TCP Optimizer or Unblocka, can potentially double your Windows Broadband speed!


To get the best performance for both the TCP Optimizer and Unblocka programs, you will need to know the ISP download and maybe the upload speeds of your broadband connection. You can get this information from your ISP, or the info sheet they sent you when you signed up.

If you choose to use TCP Optimizer, move the speed selection slider in the opening window to your broadband download speed value. Then click on the "Optimal Settings" button and the "Apply Changes" button at the bottom right hand corner or this window.

This is all the average user needs to do in TCP Optimizer. If you have more computer skills, you can explore some of the advanced settings.
Restart your computer.
Using Unblocka:

Select the values in the selections boxes for your download and upload values in the Unblocka window, and then click the “Tune” button.

Restart your computer.

Open DNS

The third item is a bit more technical.

Navigate to the network connection settings in your operating system.

In the DNS settings, substitute these Open DNS numbers. (Note: You don't need to sign up to use the Open DNS system, plus all these settings are reversible if you don't like the result).

Primary DNS; 208.67.222.222
Secondary DNS; 208.67.220.220

This will also give every operating system broadband connection a speed boost.