Download Accelerators

[seskanda]

I'm really fed up w/dial-up, and was wondering whats the best 'download accelerator' program out there. On average, my downloads are about 4.45 Kb/s with a maximum of about 4.8 kb/s. If somehow that could be increased to at least 6 Kb/s, i'd be happy. Thanks a lot!

[locustfurnace]

What is your connection speed?
You won't get faster downloads if you connecting at 48kbps.
If your connecting at 56k, then you might get 6kbps, but depending on line quality, your speeds can and will flucuate

[Artemus]

As locustfurnace said, dial-up speeds are limited (primarily) by line quality.

IIRC Also, in the U.S., the FCC limits dial-up speeds to prevent cross-talk.

There are a few tweaks you can try (assuming you haven't already):

Go to "Control Panel > Modems"
Select the "Properties" button.
Make sure "Maximum speed" is set to 115200.

If you have a software modem (WinModem):
Go to "Control Panel > Modems > Properties > Connection > Port Settings"

Make sure the "Use FIFO buffers" box is checked.
Set all buffers to maximum.

If this causes problems (rare, but possible) simply select the "Defaults" button to restore the FIFO buffers to their original settings.

[seskanda]

What is your connection speed?
You won't get faster downloads if you connecting at 48kbps.
If your connecting at 56k, then you might get 6kbps, but depending on line quality, your speeds can and will flucuate


What do you mean by 'line quality?' Actually, my dial-up usually connects at 44-45 kbps. HOW can i connect at 56k, anyways? Yes, the speeds for most d/l acclerator apps always flucuate, why is this? I tried everything Artemus suggested, but it made NO difference.

[Artemus]

"Line quality" is the quality of your phone line (noise).

I browsed my ISPs' website, and found the following. You may or may not find it useful:

__________________________________________________ ____________________

General Reasons for Sub-56K Connections

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) set a law pertaining to high-speed phone communications. The law limits the send and receive speeds to 53k, meaning anything higher than that is unattainable. This law was put in place to prevent the "bleeding" of signals across copper phone lines, commonly called "cross-talk". The 53k Federal regulation does not mean that cross-talk is eliminated. Essentially, anything which can disturb the phone line (birds, branches, high winds, rain, home appliances, wear and tear, etc.), can cause cross-talk or "noise", which will cause lower connection speeds and/or dropped connections. The three major reasons for low connection speeds (i.e. 33.6, 28.8 or lower) with a 56k modem are:

1. Analog to Digital Conversions
2. Modem Drivers
3. Phone Line Conditions

Analog to Digital Conversions
Originally, telephone lines were 100% analog. Today, phone companies are trying very hard to switch the analog lines to a digital line to be able to send more and more signals over the same physical line. The phone lines inside most homes today are still considered to be Analog lines. That line from your house goes to what is called the "CO" or Central Office. It is the place where all phone lines from the neighborhood gather. It is here that the analog signal is converted to a digital signal. This now digital signal is sent over what are called "Trunk Lines" to another Central Office. From that CO, the signal is sent to another, and continues doing so until it reaches its final destination. While traversing this spider's web of Trunk Lines and CO's, the signal might be converted back to analog so it can travel through an analog trunk, then back to digital again. If this happens, where the signal is converted multiple times, 56k speeds will not be achieved. In order for 56k to work, there can not be more than one analog to digital conversion. This kind of a problem is due entirely because of the way your call is routed through the phone system, and very little can be done to avoid this kind of problem. You could try dialing a different phone number if one is available. A different number could very well give you a different route through the phone system and potentially yield higher connection speeds. You could also try dialing at a different time. If more and more people are making calls, a trunk line could become full, causing your call to be re-routed through the phone system and traverse other trunk lines and CO's.

Modem Drivers
Modem Drivers is the software which allows your computer's operating system to communicate with your modem. Today, modem drivers have become more important than ever, as the drivers have become responsible for much more than simple command interpretation. Many of today's modems rely on the drivers to do Error Correction, Error Control, Data Compression, Flow Control, and several other functions that the hardware of the modem used to handle. Today, if your modem has older drivers, you modem might not know how to properly perform these functions which in turn would cause a rainbow of different problems. It is strongly suggested that you obtain the latest drivers for your modem.

Phone Line Conditions
The physical state of a phone line has a great impact on its performance. If a fiber-optic line is kinked, it could easily loose information which is traveling along it. A copper line could get wet, basically grounding out its signal. There is a whole slew of other possible scenarios that could adversely effect the line quality, like temperature (too hot, too cold), animals (mice and other rodents messing with the lines), disasters, high winds, electrical storms, accidents, etc. The list goes on and on.

__________________________________________________ ____________________

You may also want to visit this site:

56K Modem Troubleshooting Guide
http://www.56k.com/trouble/

[locustfurnace]

An analog signal is stronger the shorter the cable run. Depending on how far you live from the CO, and telephone company, the more cable is between you.
If you live in a very rural area, the telephone lines could be very old. When I lived in a rural area, the telephone wires were very old, 50 years old or more. The quality, purity of the copper used was not great either.

If your telephone lines are old. Some of the insulation on the lines could have eroded away, thus exposing the copper to the weather - not a good thing, this corrodes the copper, and can be susceptible to AC power line induction interference.

Think of how your Television looks, if you run a vacuum sweeper while the TV is on. The image is snowy, this is static in the signal causing the snow.
Now, if your telephone lines are in poor shape, this static, just like with the TV will happen. You will still have a signal - just as you do on the TV, but it will be a poor picture.
Think also of the old days in broadcast television - if you're old enough. How one used "rabbit ears", to receive a signal. You had to get the antennae just so for a good strong signal, since it was a analog signal. Slightly twisting the antennae, and you would end up with a fuzzy picture. Thats analog.
Same applies to dial-up access. You are using a analog signal.

Sound waves are analog, think, the further you are away from the speakers, the softer the music. Because over distance, the signal weakens.
The same applies to your dial-up access, the further you are away from the CO, the weaker your signal will be without a boost. But using a booster causes its own problems.

If you ever heard someone using a microphone, holding it too close to their mouth, and speaking into it. Its muffled and sounds terrible. Usually this is because they have caused the vocals to be over modulated.

A MODEM, is a modulator/demodulator.

To answer your question, you will not be able to reach 56kbps. Unless you move closer to the CO. What speeds your reaching now is normal.
When I lived in a rural area, I was only ever getting 26kbps.

The reason speeds fluctuate is usually due to the server you are connecting with. If someone downloaded the same file right before you, then the file may still reside in the servers RAM. thus making initial connection speeds seem faster than normal, then when the file is no longer occupying RAM and must be accessed from the hard drive, then the speeds will dip lower.
Now, once more people connect to the server, and overload it, then speeds will usually drop lower.
So downloading, surfing, and general access to other computers will always be a mixed bag of speeds. Nothing can be done about that, thats the way things are.
The only thing that can be done is to get a digital connection, such as DSL or cable internet.
Digital signals don't weaken, since it is a digital signal from the start to finish, a 01010 is always an 01010.
This is why DVD (Digital) movies are better than VHS (Analog). Each play on the DVD will always be as sharp as the first play, but not so with a VHS. The more plays to VHS, the worst the picture becomes.

Actually your speeds aren't terrible, if you want to improve your experience using the internet, I can suggest a few tricks.

One, is to use a DNS cache. This will eliminate the need for your computer to access your ISP's DNS servers each time you access a webpage you've already visited. This will store a copy of the DNS address on your computer, thus reducing one time killer.
On my servers and desktop machines, each one uses a DNS cache, even though I have a 5.0 Mbps connection I still use this. Mainly because if the ISP's DNS server hiccups or is offline, I am still able to access websites I've been to already.

Next speed up would be to use a content proxy cache. Thus it will keep copies of previous web content. and each time you access a webpage you've been to in the past. it will not need to constantly download the same images, webpages, but use a local copy stored on your computer.
Internet Explorer caches webpages, as does most web browsers, but not many do it efficiently.
Another benefit of using a content proxy cache, is it can help reduce ads, and junk content. By reducing the downloading of banner ads and junk content, you are reducing the time spent downloading a webpage, thus making it appear as if your speed is faster.


FastCache (http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network/fc.htm) a free DNS cache
Privoxy (http://www.privoxy.org/) Content Filtering proxy

[seskanda]

Whoa...you guys gave a ton of info! My house is about 15 years old, so corroded telephones should NOT be a problem. Anyways, do the DNS cache and/or content proxy cache programs take up hard drive space? BTW, my ISP is Netzero, and if all you stated is true, then how can Netzero HiSpeed claim to achieve connections as fast as or near that of DSL through dial-up?

[Artemus]

My house is about 15 years old, so corroded telephones should NOT be a problem.

The miles of wiring outside may be.


Netzero HiSpeed claim to achieve connections as fast as or near that of DSL through dial-up?

Is that what they claim?

Having just seen their ad on TV, they claim you can surf up to 5 times faster.

Their website (http://www.netzero.net/) claims:

"The fastest dial-up surfing you can get!"

Browsing their page I found this claim:

"Surfing so fast, you won't believe it's not broadband.
NetZero HiSpeed 3G is now faster than ever. In fact, with 3G technology,
NetZero HiSpeed 3G is the fastest surfing you can get without paying
the high price for a broadband connection."

Notice the repeated reference to "surfing"? Not connection speed.

IIRC Web "accelerators" use software which compresses text and graphics before they are sent.

The effectiveness depends on the particular website being downloaded/viewed. That is why these web accelerators (most often) claim to increase surf speeds "up to 5 times faster".

"Up to" is a range, which includes "ZERO times faster".

[the gaffer]

why is the world in such a rush anyway ? is it really that important ,i still use dial up and apart from the odd file that is too large i just a download accellerator ,not to speed up the download but just so that i can resume if my connection is lost,i can understand business needs for it but everyday people i think its not that important,where i live i dont think it is really worth the extra expense,some people as with cars think faster is always better,as with fishing bigger is always better,what a mad fast in a rush world we live in.

[Goslow]

why is the world in such a rush anyway ? is it really that important ,i still use dial up and apart from the odd file that is too large i just a download accellerator ,not to speed up the download but just so that i can resume if my connection is lost,i can understand business needs for it but everyday people i think its not that important,where i live i dont think it is really worth the extra expense,some people as with cars think faster is always better,as with fishing bigger is always better,what a mad fast in a rush world we live in.Oh I know,It may depend on your requirements for high end graphics,gaming or other large data transfer aplications , however for posting to forums and email it is usally not, thats why your computer doesnt make a very good television/whiteware while on dialup or any other pre "spike" service.

[locustfurnace]

Whoa...you guys gave a ton of info! My house is about 15 years old, so corroded telephones should NOT be a problem. Anyways, do the DNS cache and/or content proxy cache programs take up hard drive space? BTW, my ISP is Netzero, and if all you stated is true, then how can Netzero HiSpeed claim to achieve connections as fast as or near that of DSL through dial-up?

Don't always count on the contractors who built the house to have invested in high quality materials. Most homes are built by bids, whoever can bid the lowest, which usually means not the "top of the line" goods for the most part.
Telephone wiring has definitely become cheaper. Some contractors, who are builders, could incorrectly place electrical lines near telephone lines, which can cause RF interference. Also likely the telephone carrier installed lines after the house was built, Which could also have been placed in close proximity to the electrical lines.
Anyways...

Besides, you have to rem that computer ratings, are achieved in a lab, which perfect conditions exist. If a modem hits 56kbps in the lab, then its marketed as such. CD-ROM drives are notorious for this as well.

Netzero, AOL, Earthlink, etc... All offer some sort of "Hi-Speed" dial-up access I am sure. They do this with as stated already; compression.

Most web servers, which serve you web pages, can handle gzip compression. With newer web browsers, dial-up packages, they are all on the compression bandwagon. It works simply be telling the web server, of the web site you are visiting that your browser can accept data in gzip format. So now the web browser, will gzip what info it can, such as html, and send it to your web browser slightly smaller than its original size. In theory, this could save you some time. But if your adding the time it takes for the web server to compress and your web browser to uncompress, it's sometimes not that much faster. but the illusion of faster speeds is present.
Certain items on the web page are already compressed, such as jpegs, which may or may not be able to be further compressed, so there may not be a savings there.

As for the DNS cache, sure it takes up disk space, everything you do on the computer will and does take disk space. As for how much, its going to be small, very small. Less than a high quality jpeg or mp3.
you do realize that each time you surf the net your using disk space. Each web page you view gets stored on the computer in a cache. It can remain there til the cache completely fills up, or until you purge it.
If you are using Microsoft's default web browser settings, than it usually eats up 10% of the hard drives total space. Might be a large chunk if you have a larger hard drive. So its wise to adjust this setting to around 20 megs.