If there's one thing 70% of current home web surfers know, it's that the Internet could be faster for them. In fact in all honesty the Internet could be faster for about 90% of home surfers who live in so called 'Internet Poverty' due to the speeds of access. Even with ISDN at 128Kbps downloading an all-important 50mb file from work isn't the easiest of things to watch. This article mainly focuses on the life of a typical Internet user, that of a person with a solitary PC and a 56Kbps modem attached to it.

Modems are just about THE MOST temperamental pieces of kit in the world, by sending an analogue signal of beeps that get converted into binary (digital information) they make a connection with remote computers. The problem isn't really the modem though, although it is true that some methods/models can yield greater connection speeds. This being the case, just where does the problem lie and how can you fix it?

A BT line is forever, not just for Christmas

If you had a 56Kbps modem and attached it to a line such as cable (coax from a cable provider) then you may find greater transfer speeds than that of a BT (British Telecom) line. This is only the case if you choose to have a proper 'cable' line and not just convert a BT one like they do a lot of now. For this article we will put aside modem users on proper coax and ISDN users alike because our advice may not work for such users due to the systems involved.

To start with we can easily dispatch those programs often called by people as 'miracle connection improvers'. Software such as 'TweakDun' or 'NetBoost' that alter the MaxTMU and or associated settings DOES NOT help your connection. Truth be told you can't really say that because for a very few they do work, but only a few and the reasons relate to what ISP you use, what line and various other factors. The point is that for the majority they simply set a trade-off, you can either have faster downloads or faster multiplayer games but NOT both. This is because for better downloads you can set a larger packet size (chunk of information that gets sent to your PC at any one time) but for on-line gaming you need smaller ones.

Without going into further detail, using such programs as those mentioned above could also damage your Win95/98/Millenium registry and so we cannot support them. A biting question remains, now that the most know methods for connection improvement are gone, what else is left?

Improve your speed overall!

The answer lies in that lovely bit of copper that calls itself your BT Phoneline, we have come up with the following suggestions to help you improve your connection to the Internet overall and not just in specific areas.

-Change 'Line Gain':
A BT Operator can quickly set the Line Gain, although this is usually set to automatic. It is the power used to push information down a line depending on the distance from your house to the exchange box. Try phoning BT (No. 152) and see if you're on automatic already, if not then try having it automatic. Chances are it will be on 'automatic' so try for a gain of 7 (can go to 9, anymore is unsafe for stability), if neither automatic or 7 produces any worth while effect then have it changed back.

-Change 'Line Card':
This is a trick known only to a very few, it is now understood that some Line Cards (like a PC/Mac ISA or PCI expansion card etc. but for each phone line) do NOT work well with modems. Most BT Operators won't have a clue what your on about and a lot of Engineers aren't to clued up on this either so keep trying to find somebody who expresses some knowledge on the subject. Ideally you want to have BT replace your line card with a newer one that works better with modems, this can solve ANY slow connections you have so long as it's replaced with the right one.

Our advice is to only consider it if your on a 56Kbps v90 modem (that your ISP supports) and get BELOW 40Kbps connect speeds. BT will only go to so much expense so this is about your limit for what they will do; try to make them understand and they WILL do it (can take a few weeks). Speeds as high as 47Kbps on a normal BT line should now be possible =) (live in hope)

-Shift devices that cause electrical interference:
Keep computers, speakers and especially mobile phones or any electrical equipment well back from the modem line. Everything emits an electrical field and some like mobile phones can cost you 0.3K-ps off your downloads, you might not notice it but it does happen and is proven as such.

-Choose an Internal card (Pace 65Kbps Voice etc.):
Finally try changing from an External modem to an Internal one, this limits the length of serial cable (null modem) needed and thus limits errors in the data stream. Less distance also equals better speeds; reduce the line length as much as possible if you can.

So there you have it, that's our advice for users on a BT Line with a 56Kbps modem (ISP supporting) or less that are having serious troubles. Feel free to try them all if you like and use whatever one or multiple combination suits you best. Don't complain to us if it doesn't work, this isn't a perfect world but we can at least tell you some things to try that WILL work (usually hehe).