Broadband Internet Accelerator

Broadband ADSL Internet Access isn’t always as fast as we’d like it to be. Broadband comes in a range of different speeds. Users on lower broadband connection speeds such as 256K and 1MB still experience slow page load times. Users of all broadband connection speeds also experience slow page load times during busy periods. The Netfury Broadband Internet Accelerator can help. For just £24.99 a year (less than 50 pence a week) a subscription to the Netfury Accelerator can increase your broadband connection speed making for a much more enjoyable Internet experience.

• Just £24.99 per year
• Works with your existing Internet Service Provider
• Most Web pages will load between 3-7 Xs faster and in some case up to 25 Xs faster or more*
• Dynamic Image technology eleminates tradeoff between speed and image quality
• Easy to install
• Simple signup process

* Results vary depending on where and how you surf

Please Note:

The Netfury Internet Accelerator will only accelerate broadband speeds of 1mb and lower

An Intelligent Broadband Internet Accelerator

The Netfury broadband Internet Accelerator is easy to install and works on both Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh operating systems and works with most popular browsers (see system requirements for more details). The more visits you make to specific website the better performance you will receive. Our dynamic imaging technology means that although images appear degraded when a web page first loads overtime the quality improves to near original image quality. This enables web pages to load much faster than normal but there is no trade off in quality.

More than just Broadband Internet Acceleration

The Netfury Broadband Internet Accelerator also includes a user-configurable pop-up blocker for pop-up and pop-under windows (Windows only) and user-configurable blocking of advertisements. Add to that the built-in diagnostics and performance reporting and the Netfury Broadband Internet Accelerator is the best Internet Accelerator available.

Supported End User Platforms

Requirements

• Microsoft Windows Apple Macintosh
• Operating System
• 98/2000/Me/XP Home/XP Pro
• OS X 10.2 or later and 10.4 on
• Intel Mac
• Memory 128 MB RAM
• 128 MB RAM minimum (as per OSX)

Browsers Supported

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or later
• Firefox
• Mozilla
• Opera
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.2 (Mac)
• Safari 1.2 (Mac)

Internet Access

Any Internet connection where speed is a concern, including lower-speed wired and wireless broadband (<1>

Dialup Users Double Your Connection Speed - with simple modem command tweek

Suffering from 52 kbps internet connection?
Follow these simple steps and double your internet connection speed:

• Connect to the internet
  
• Click Start and select control panel
• Click Phone and Modem
• Select Modems tab and then click Properties
• Click the Advanced tab and in the extra initialization commands type AT&FX
• Click Ok and disconnect from the internet
• Connect to the internet again and enjoy your 115 kbps connection!

Source http://www.u-flash.tripod.com/


I am unable to test out this using my current equipments at the moment but if any Trap17 members out there using dial up connections, could you post your results? Maybe you can use bandwidth test to post your results both upload and download. If possible try using one bandwidth testing place like here http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/

And is this United States only or does it work around the world? I'd be interested to find out the results.

 

 

 

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

serverph

Sep 5 2006, 08:59 AM

worth a try! though the connection speed could simply be superficial. using the suggested AT&FX fix, it shows in my modem that i am connected at 115.2 Kbps, but using the speedtest above, it gives me 37.8 kilobits per second.

Double your broadband for free

Posted on 16 Jun 2008 at 12:49

We find ten ways to boost the speed of your broadband connection, many of which won't cost you a penny.

Broadband has become a national obsession on a par with the good old British weather: we all moan about it, connection speeds are horribly unpredictable and everyone feels like the problem is beyond their control. However, we're going to reveal ten measures you can take in your own home to make a significant improvement to your broadband speeds and ensure you're benefiting from every last dribble of bandwidth available to you.

There's no doubt that there's widespread dissatisfaction with broadband speeds. A recent survey from USwitch showed that half of all broadband customers are unhappy with the service they receive. And while there's often little you can do to improve the physical speed of the line entering your house - especially if you don't live in a cable area - it's entirely possible to add 2 to 3Mb/sec to the actual speed of your connection by simply following some of the measures offeared here, effectively doubling the throughput of most home ADSL connections.

Some are little-known fixes and workarounds we've gleaned from talking to experts, some are experimental new technologies such as the BT iPlate that could have huge benefits for those suffering from erratic speeds, others are potential pitfalls with equipment that some in the broadband industry would rather you didn't know about.

Our selection of ten fixes will ensure your home is benefiting from its maximum available bandwidth. Let us know how you get on and share any tips at letters@pcpro.co.uk.

Get faster with your connection!

How To Speed Up Your Broadband DSL Throughput

You may be able to double, triple, or even quadruple your broadband DSL speed without paying additional fees to the carrier.

Twenty-eight million homes in the United States subscribe to broadband DSL. Most DSL subscribers should expect to receive about ninety percent of the speed offered under their DSL service plan. A substantial number of households, however, pay for much higher DSL speeds than they actually experience. Using an inexpensive pots-splitter at the location the telephone line enters the house, many people have doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled their broadband DSL speed without paying more in service fees.

Although the telephone company has many tools to troubleshoot problems with their lines and equipment, they cannot help you much with the phone wiring in your home. A weak DSL signal inside your home can be caused by long wire lengths, poor connections, multiple wires, multiple connectors, improper grounding and other variables. Your DSL speed will be better if you eliminate these issues. DSL modems are good at working around noise on the line, but do so at the expense of top download speed and latency (delay). DSL technicians tell us that many line problems originate from bad inside wiring, so splitting the DSL signal from the telephone line as early as possible would certainly eliminate this problem.

To do that, you can install an inexpensive pots-splitter where the telephone line enters your home or garage at the box called the Network Interface Device (NID). By installing a pots-splitter at the NID, the DSL signal from the telephone company to your modem is as short and uncluttered as possible. No longer does the DSL signal wind through your home over internal phone wiring — even though most telephone company installation instructions tell you to do that. Why do they recommend that? Because installing pots-splitters yourself inside the home saves the telephone company the expense of making a trip to do the installation right. Those “pigtail” pots-splitters you self-install don’t offer the optimum DSL signal path. The excess in-house line length, the phone jacks and the additional phone equipment in your home all contribute to noise and attenuation of the DSL signal — and therefore slower speeds.

Instead, to achieve the shortest, cleanest connection, you should buy a pots-splitter and put your DSL modem next to the pots-splitter at the NID. By installing the pots-splitter at your NID, you keep your home telephone wiring out of the DSL signal path, and consequently your line condition is now the responsibility of the telephone company. The telephone company can then easily use their central equipment to monitor and troubleshoot the condition of the DSL line to your home. They otherwise cannot do the best job troubleshooting the line if the DSL signal also runs through your house. With the DSL signal terminating at the NID, they have no excuse to deliver speeds less than the one offered under your service plan. If the speed is much less than promised, ask your telephone company to fix their line until it comes close to the DSL rate offered under your service plan.

Once you’ve installed your pots-splitter and modem next to the NID, you also need to install your Ethernet router there too. You might wonder how to use your computer when the Ethernet router is in the garage. There are a couple of solutions. You can use a wireless extender or use HomePlug devices. Although these add a little cost, your improved DSL speed should be worth it. If your wireless Ethernet connection is blocked by the walls, HomePlug devices offered by many vendors provide a fast, reliable Ethernet connection to any room in your home.

Tips to speed internet

Speed up your broadband

The most popular question we get asked here at broadband.co.uk is 'how do I speed up my broadband connection?'. So to help answer this we've compiled a list of 14 things to check. We've also included a few tips at the end for improving your wireless network speeds in case this is the cause of your problems.

Good luck with getting the most out of your broadband!

1: Understand what your maximum speed is

Standard broadband over telephone lines degrades in speed the further the line is from the telephone exchange (in cabling length). While most deals are advertised as 'up to 8Mb', most telephone lines will be rated to achieve slower connection speeds. Run a broadband speed test on your line using your postcode. Ensure that the speed you're told to expect is actually higher than the speeds you're experiencing - it may be that you're already achieving the fastest speed your line can expect.

2: Know the difference between bits and bytes

Make sure you're not confusing bits with bytes - Most broadband deals and speed tests are listed in terms of megabits or kilobits per second (Mbps or Kbps) while the progress speeds listed for most downloads are given as megabytes or kilobytes per second (MB/s or KB/s) there are 8 bits in 1 byte and a kilobit is 1000 bits while a kilobyte is 1024 bytes, so there is a significant difference in speeds listed in KB/s compared to Kbps - for example a line testing at 5Mbps download speed should expect to see maximum file download speeds of about 550-650KB/s or 0.6MB/s.

3: Don't use telephone extension cables

Don't connect your modem/router using an extension cable. Poor quality extension cables are probably the number one cause of poor broadband speeds. Extension cables can massively increase interference on your line and cause broadband speeds to be lowered. The simplest way to solve the problem is to ditch the extension cable and connect the router directly to the phone socket and then use a long ethernet cable to connect your computer to the router (these can be purchased in any computer store and cost around £ 1 per metre), ethernet cables will not degrade the speed of your connection.

4: If you have to use an extension cable

If you have to use an extension cable, use a new, high quality cable and ensure you use the shortest cable possible - tangled and coiled telephone extension cables can cause interference. You can easily test if your extension cable is the problem - connect directly to the master socket, if this causes no improvement in connection speed, it's unlikely that the extension cable was the problem (however we recommend performing all tests below without extension cables plugged in if possible).

5: Check for applications running in the background

Many applications run in the background on your computer and some of these will be quietly using your broadband connection for tasks such as installing updates or uploading data. Examples include BBC iPlayer download version. Make sure that all unnecessary applications are shut down to prevent this. If this makes a difference, then add back each application until you identify which one is affecting your download speed. Having large numbers of browser windows or tabs open may also have an effect on your download speeds - try running the speed test with all other web pages closed, does this make a difference to speed?

6: Make sure your anti-virus software is up to date

Having up to date and operational anti-virus software is crucial as viruses, trojans and worms can use your broadband connection which can make your speeds seem to slow. Viruses and adware can also cause your computer to slow considerably which can make your broadband seem slow.

7: Password protect your wireless network

If your router works wirelessly, password protect your wireless network. Make sure that no one is hitching a free ride on your connection and taking up bandwidth which will reduce the speed you see, password protect and encrypt your wireless network to keep unwanted bandwidth hogs away. If you don't need to use your router's wireless network, consider turning it off completely (using your router's configuration interface).

8: Check your download allowance

Make sure your ISP hasn't capped your speed because you exceeded the limits of your monthly usage allowance or traffic management policy. Many ISPs now reduce your speed rather than charging you for exceeding your allowance. You should be emailed a warning if you exceed your usage allowance, however if you've simply exceeded the traffic management allowance (often in place at peak times) you won't be informed, your speed will simply drop for a fixed number of hours (or until the peak period ends). Your ISPs website should give you details of any traffic management policy in place and inform you of the effects of exceeding your usage allowance.

9: Use microfilters

Make sure all other phones/faxes/digiboxes/etc in the house are connected via a microfilter. Microfilters prevent other devices connected to your telephone system from interfering with your broadband signal. Every device connected to the phone system should use a microfilter. If you still have problems, unplug all devices and gradually add each back until you identify which causes the problem. If you're using free microfilters supplied by your ISP or with your router, consider paying for more expensive microfilters with good user reviews - it's possible one or more of your filter is faulty or of poor quality.

10: Use the BT Master Socket

Plug your modem/router directly into the BT Master Socket. The master socket is where your BT telephone line comes into the house. Most master sockets have a split across the front plate. The lower section of the plate can be unscrewed and inside is an engineer's test socket. If you remove the lower faceplate it will disconnect all the extension wiring in your property. You can then connect your modem/router using the test socket. If you get an increase in speed then your internal telephone wiring is causing interference that is lowering your speeds.

11: Fit an I-Plate

If test 10 made a difference, try fitting an I-Plate. Telephone extension wiring can act as a big aerial and cause interference on the broadband signal. An I-Plate is a device that fits into the bottom half of your split BT Master Socket and works by preventing the interference from your internal wiring. This can have significant positive effects on your speeds. An I-Plate costs around £10 and can be DIY fitted. Note, newer master sockets with 'Openreach' written on them will not benefit from an I-Plate as the technology is already built in.

12: Get a good quality router

If you are using a cheap modem or router, consider replacing with a newer higher quality router. A cheap radio gives a poorer sound reproduction than a quality radio, in the same manner a cheap modem or router can sometimes be the cause of a poor broadband experience. Investing in a higher quality router can lead to improvements in speed and reliability, especially on poor quality telephone lines. If you're not sure, look online for user reviews of your make and model of modem or router - if there are problems it's likely that reviews will show this.

13: Check for electrical interference

Electrical equipment can cause interference. Electrical equipment can cause real problems for your connection, anything with a motor or pump can particularly be an issue. Try turning off electrical devices to see if they are interfering. If possible keep your router/modem away from other electrical equipment. BT have shown that faulty fluorescent lighting and even christmas tree lights can drastically reduce broadband speeds in some cases. Experiment with turning off devices.

14: Speak to your ISP

It's always worth speaking to your broadband supplier to see if your speed can be increased, this is particularly relevant for people who have had their connection for a long time and may still be on deals capped at a speed below that which your line can support.

Improving speeds over wireless access

Quite often people blame their broadband provider for poor connection speeds when actually the problem is a poor quality wireless network causing the issues. Here are our top tips for improving your wireless network speeds.

1: Use a wired connection instead

Connecting to your router via a wired connection rather than wireless can improve your speeds. Wireless networks can be subject to interference and are affected by the size and composition of your home. Thick walls on old houses can be a particular problem. A wireless network that has lots of interference can make your broadband connection seem slow. Required security measures, such as encryption, also add an overhead to wireless connections that is not necessary for a wired connection. Connecting using a wired Ethernet (network cable) connection gets round the problem and can improve speeds, but it obviously is less flexible than a wireless connection.

2: Test how much slower your wireless network is

1.If you definitely want to connect via wireless, run speed tests connection directly by network cable and again using the wireless network. If there are significant differences, consider the tests below.

3: Upgrade your wireless equipment

If you are connecting via wireless and are having problems then consider getting a better aerial, using a network extender or upgrading your router and devices to use the newer, more robust 'N'-rated wireless standard. Upgrading the aerial on your wireless router and if possible on your computer can extend the range and reliability of connection. Another option is to use a wireless network extender; these work by boosting the wireless signal into areas of poor signal. The newer 'N'-rated wireless standard (as used in routers like the BT Home Hub 2.0) provides greater range and faster connections, however all your devices will need to support the 'N'-rated networks in order to see the benefit, although USB adapters and expansion cards are available to upgrade older devices and older 'G' and 'B'-rated devices will still be able to connect at their previous range and speed.

4: Change the channel

If other wireless networks are in range, change your wireless router to use a different channel to avoid interference. We recommend using channel 1 as this is usually free and won't interfere with the standard channels used by most popular routers.

Boost your internet speed

Although many people think that their slow internet speeds are all down to their provider, your computer’s settings, the hardware you’re using or a really old PC can all slow you down.

So if you’re frustrated with your slow connection speed, try these tricks to see if you can speed things up before you switch to a faster, more expensive broadband package.

1. Adjust your browser settings

Most people use Internet Explorer, the Microsoft package that’s already installed on your PC. Version 6, which many people are still using, downloads all files on a web page in sequential order. This is inefficient and means that a page with lots of pictures will take longer to download.

By upgrading to the latest version - currently Internet Explorer 7 - or using a different browser, such as Mozilla Firefox, you could reduce the time it takes to download a page. However, you should always be careful when making any changes to the settings on your computer.

Use our Broadband Download Monitor to keep track of your downloading.

2. Talk to your provider

Many people think that by choosing an up to 8Mb package they will get an 8Mb speed, but distance from the exchange, congestion and traffic shaping all slow your connection down and very few people will ever hit their advertised speed.

The average speed from 462,000 speed tests on BroadbandChoices.co.uk was 3.59Mb so why not run your own speed test to see how fast your line really is. Install our free Speed Tester software to see how your ISP performs.

If the speed is exceptionally slow, you might be able to boost your connection simply by asking your ISP if there’s anything they can do to speed things up.

If you’ve been on the same package for a long time, it’s probably outdated too, so ask your provider if you can be upgraded if you agree to re-contract. You could find yourself moved to a faster package for more or less the same price.

3. Tweak your router settings

With so many different routers available, it would be impossible to tell you how to adjust all of them. However, most routers are like your car’s onboard computer and can be tweaked and adjusted to open up ports and increase speeds.

Read your router’s manual for details on how to improve performance.

4. Hate thy neighbour

Make sure that you’re not sharing your wireless internet connection with other people on your street or in nearby flats. Set up a WPA encryption if your hardware is compatible, but at the very least you should have a WEP password to stop unauthorised users connecting to your internet.

Click here to read more on Securing your wireless broadband or use our free Wireless Key Generator to create unique, hard to crack codes.

5. Reduce your bandwidth overhead

There are a whole range of applications that will discretely use your internet connection. Most of these are set to automatically start up when you log into your computer, so while you might just be checking your emails, these programs will still be running in the background and slowing you down.

Applications such as Windows updates, security suite updates, Real Player pop-ups, MSN, Skype and the BBC iPlayer could all be running at the same time without you even knowing.

While some of these are silent, others do ask permission before using up your bandwidth, and almost all can be set so that they don’t start up automatically. If you only spend short periods of time online, these programs will be opening as you log in and could make a noticeable difference to your speed.

To find out which applications are running, go to your task manager (right click on the Task bar). You can see what’s running in the Applications tab, and also see if anything is running secretly by clicking on the Processes tab.

You should always opt to give permission before an application runs, or set things to run at more convenient times - like only downloading podcasts at night.

6. Get an iPlate

BT's (www.BT.com) new iPlate basically gets rid of the bell wire that was used to make old telephones ring. Now that the bell wire isn’t needed, it often just acts as a conductor for electrical interference, so anything from a microwave to a dodgy light fitting can mess with your broadband connection.

Recent research showed that the device could boost speeds by up to 60 per cent in some cases, with one user reporting a jump from 1.9Mb to 3.1Mb within a couple of days.

Although all users won’t necessarily see the same level of improvements, BroadbandBuyer.co.uk, which sells the devices, estimates that around 70 per cent of homes with an ADSL connection could benefit from an iPlate.

iPlates are easy to install and cost from around £9.99.

7. Get a better router

If you’re using the router that you got free from your ISP, you could benefit from getting a higher range one that will give you a stronger signal if you’re connecting wirelessly. A better modem or router will also have better features, such as allowing you to select ports for gaming, or giving you a better firewall.

You should also bear in mind that the less things blocking the signal from your router to your computer, such as doors and walls, the better.

8. Speed up your wifi

If you use wireless and are having problems with the signal, rather than moving your PC closer to the router, you could just replace the aerial. Standard router aerials are usually 2dBi (indicating how long it is), and logically, the longer the aerial, the better the signal and the further its reach. For around £10 you can buy an aerial of 9dBi, which can increase signal strength by 30-50 per cent.

You can also buy a wireless access point, which acts as a second router, sending your signal further. You simply connect the access point to your router using a Wireless Distribution System (WDS), extending the reach of your wireless signal without reducing its strength. Check the specifications of your router to see if it has WDS.

9. Ditch your wireless

Whether you’re using a wireless router or connecting via a cable will make a difference to your speed too. For people who have generally reliable, fast connections, this shouldn’t be a big issue. However, if you’re having speed problems and are using a wireless router you should try connecting directly via a cable to see if it speeds things up. Even the type of cable that you use to connect can make a speed difference - connecting to your router via an ethernet cable will be more efficient than using a USB cable.

10. Get closer to the faceplate

The further your modem is from the faceplate (the socket your modem connects to), the weaker your connection will be. This is because the standard wires used to connect it to the faceplate are usually quite poor.

To reduce quality loss, your modem should be as close to the broadband entry point in your home as possible. If you're on an ADSL connection up to 8Mb, moving your modem closer to the faceplate can increase your internet speed by up to 3Mb. Then, if your computer is on another floor or in a different room, you should invest in a good quality ethernet cable to connect your wireless router or PC to the modem.

11. Monitor download programmes

The new breed of TV download programmes such as the BBC iPlayer and Channel 4’s 4oD continue to run in the background of your PC even after you’ve closed them. Because they continually upload and download data using a legal peer-to-peer system, they are constantly using your internet connection and will not only slow you down - they’ll also use up your download allowance. Make sure you quit them fully when you close them.

With programmes like BBC's iPlayer on your computer, remember to check the settings. Make sure that the boxes marked “peer-to-peer network participation” and “run Download Manager on Windows startup” are both unchecked so that it doesn’t remain on the peer-to-peer network once you’ve exited the programme and doesn’t automatically start up when you turn your PC on.

12. Switch

If you still find that your connection is slow, it might mean that your package just doesn’t support your needs. Use our Broadband comparison service to compare prices and to find a more suitable package.

How to boost your internet signal!!!

This is how I do to boost my signal...try it and you will enjoy it...I combine this trick with my way to cooling down my modem.