You don’t need to switch to a
different ISP to speed up your broadband. Here are five easy ways to improve
your existing connection
Refresh your router
Sometimes problems with your
router lead to a slower internet. Try unplugging the power cable, wait at least
10 seconds, and then plug it back in.
Also, periodically check the
router manufacturer’s website to see if new firmware is available and, if so, follow
the instructions on the site to download and install it. This might make a difference
to the speed you get.
Boost BitTorrent downloads
Your ISP is likely to throttle
BitTorrent traffic, making your downloads much slower than they should be. You can
encrypt the traffic to fool your ISP (In Torrent, for example, go to Preferences,
select the BitTorrent tab, choose Protocol Encryption and select Enabled or
Forced). You can also try changing the port in Options or Preferences
(depending on your BitTorrent client). ISPs are getting wise to these tactics,
though, so if your speeds don’t improve it might be time to find a different
(less restrictive) broadband supplier.
Add new features to an old router
If your router is getting on a
little, and you can’t afford to buy a new one (or you have a spare router to
play around with) you can try transforming it with DD-WRT (www.dd-wrt.com). This is
Linux-based firmware which upgrades your router and adds additional features,
such as the ability to boost the wireless signal and prioritize which programs
use what bandwidth. It isn’t available for every router, but you can check if
yours is supported at bit.ly/routerbase326. You can also use DD-WRT to turn an
old router into a wireless repeater to help improve your signal around the
house.
Prioritize certain types of internet traffic
Some routers let you adjust the
QoS (Quality of Service) of your broadband. This lets you prioritize certain
types of traffic - such as online games or Skype to make sure they always get
the bandwidth they need, regardless of what else is using your network. You can
also assign priorities to specific Internet- accessing hardware such as a games console. Look for a QoS option
on your router page. It might be under Advanced Settings (or similar). If you
can’t find it, check your manual, but it’s possible that your router simply
doesn’t offer that feature.
Turn on Direct Cache Access
Direct Cache Access, or DCA, is a feature
introduced in Windows 7 (and also available in Windows 8) that lets your
network controller transfer incoming data directly to your processor cache.
This reduces system overheads and can make tasks, such as streaming YouTube
videos, faster and more efficient. The feature is turned off by default,
because hardware in older systems may not support it. To turn it on, go to
Start, type CMD. Right-click the CMD.exe entry and run it as an administrator.
Type: netsh int
tcp
set global dca=enabled into the box,
and restart your PC to activate the feature. Use =disabled to turn it off again
if it causes problems.
