If you are reading this then you are looking to maximize your bandwidth by tweaking your computers registry and other settings. There are a few things you must know and understand prior to optimizing your connection.
• Your goal in tweaking is to get 90% of your ISPs bandwidth caps, but remember that sometimes due to factors beyond your control such as routers, nodes, distance from your CO or congestion etc. you WILL NOT obtain that goal.
• You need to know your ISPs caps in kilobits, for example I have Cox Internet Service and my caps are 3000/256. This information is usually found on your ISPs website.
• You need to download CableNut from here, it is the most comprehensive internet connection tweaking app available.
• You need to know what your maximum anticipated latency is by following the instructions here.
• Once you know what your ISPs caps and your maximum anticipated latency are you just need to input it into the CableNut Live webpage. Our own Moderator here j79zlr made this page and it uses the proper formula for finding all you optimum registry settings.
• You need to make sure your MTU (maximum transmission unit) is set properly since other settings are based on this, to check yours do a TCP/IP Analyzer Test. This will tell you what your current TCP/IP registry settings are. The proper MTU values are as follows, make sure yours is set accordingly: Cable – 1500, Normal DSL – 1500, PPPoE DSL – 1492, XP Native PPPoE DSL – 1480.
If you are using XP's native PPPoE setup and your MTU is not set to 1480 then copy and paste the following and make it a .reg file and merge it into your regstry to correct it:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NdisWan\Parameters\Protocols]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NdisWan\Parameters\Protocols\0]
"ProtocolType"=dword:00000800
"PPPProtocolType"=dword:00000021
"ProtocolMTU"=dword:000005c8
• It is important to test your speed properly, the most accurate test is to download a large file from a fast reliable FTP server such as the following two:
OOL FTP TEST
AOL FTP TEST
RoadRunner FTP Test (Tampa FL)
Another fairly reliable test is from Speakeasy, it is a java based test and isn’t as accurate but if you do multiple tests from around the US it will give you a fairly accurate result. Here is a full list of their test sites:
New York City
Chicago
Washington D.C.
San Francisco
Denver
Dallas
Atlanta
Boston
Philadelphia
Los Angeles
Cleveland
Houston
Miami
Minneapolis/St. Paul
Seattle
Make sure you clear your browsers cache prior to each test.
For all the definitions to the values in CableNut read here.
The Windows 2000 White Papers – The official Microsoft papers on how TCP/IP works in Windows 2000 & XP.
Along with properly optimizing your TCP/IP & AFD values there are also a number of other things you can do to help maximize your bandwidth.
• Setting your NIC (Ethernet card) duplex mode properly. Duplex modes are as follows:
Cable Modem – 10mb half duplex*
DSL – ISP dependant
If using a router set it to 100mb full duplex.
*OOL users should set their duplex mode to 100mb full duplex
To set yours do the following:
Open your control panel – select the network icon – right click on your LAN connection and select properties - under the ethernet adapter icon click the button configure - select the advanced tab - in the property box, the property name to be selected varies according to model of ethernet card. Examples are: Network Link Selection, Media Type, Connection Type, Duplex Mode, or any similarly named property which can have Values looking like Auto-Negotiation, or 10BT, or 10BaseT - in the Value box, select a value which either (a) explicitly says half-duplex or semi-duplex, or (b) at least does not say full-duplex [e.g. 10BaseT on its own is OK] – if there is a choice between 10 and 100 with half-duplex, choose the 10. Do not choose 10Base5, 10Base2, or AUI - click OK to exit the Adapter settings - click OK to exit the connection properties.
• Setting your TCP/IP metric setting properly, it should be set to a value of 1. To do so do the following:
Open your control panel – select the network icon – right click on your LAN connection and select properties – highlight Internet Protocol TCP/IP and select properties – advanced – select the IP settings tab – in the interface metric box put the value 1 – ok.
• Speeding up network browsing.
Open regedit and navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace
Delete the key: {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
• Faster webpage tweak by giving priority to DNS lookup.
Copy and paste the following and make it a .reg file and merge it into your regstry:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\ServiceProvider]
"DnsPriority"=dword:00000001
"HostsPriority"=dword:00000001
"LocalPriority"=dword:00000001
"NetbtPriority"=dword:00000001
• Forward buffer memory tweak, this controls how much RAM TCP/IP uses for storing packet data in the router packet queue.
Copy and paste the following and make it a .reg file and merge it into your regstry:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]
"ForwardBufferMemory"=dword:00024a00
"NumForwardPackets"=dword:0000024a
"MaxForwardBufferMemory"=dword:00024a00
"MaxNumForwardPackets"=dword:0000024a
• By default Windows 2K & XP cache everything in the DNS cache service, both correct and faulty DNS lookups. To increase performance by eliminating the caching of faulty DNS lookups, copy and paste the following and make it a .reg file and merge it into your regstry:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters]
"NegativeCacheTime"=dword:00000000
"NetFailureCacheTime"=dword:00000000
"NegativeSOACacheTime"=dword:00000000
• Internet Explorer important settings:
Open Internet Explorer and select Tools - Internet Options - under the General tab in the Temporary Internet files section select the Settings button.
Select "Every visit to the page" and set the amount of disk space to use: to no more than 80MB. Now select the Connections tab and select LAN Settings make sure EVERYTHING there is unchecked and select OK.
For IE6 ONLY - select the Privacy tab and choose Advanced check the box "Override automatic cookie handling" and for First-party Cookies - Accept, Third-party Cookies - Block and check "Always allow session cookies. Now NO MORE SPYWARE COOKIES.
Another thing to do about once a week if you modem is on 24/7 is to power cycle your modem, just completely disconnect power from it for at least 15 seconds and then power it back on.
Set your temporary internet files to 80mb and delete them regularly.
• DSL users may want to check out the DSL Wiring Guide for possibly increasing your DSL speed.
DSL users also want to make sure they do not have any halogen lights close to their modems or 900mhz or 2.4ghz phones in the same room.
• Always connect your modem via ethernet (Network Interface Card) instead of USB, ethernet is faster and much more stable. Also ALWAYS make sure you have the latest drivers for your NIC from the manufacturer NOT Microsoft, usually the drivers from the manufacturer have advanced settings that help optimize the performance of your NIC that the native Microsoft drivers don't have. If you are using a router always keep your firmware up to date.
• Remove any uneeded protocols:
Open your control panel – right click your LAN connection - properties - general tab, uninstall all the protocols there that you do not need. If you are a stand alone pc then all you need Internet Protocol TCP/IP. If you are on a network then you will need them except QoS Packet Scheduler, it is never needed.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Broadband Tools To Measure System Performance And More
If you are in a quandry over how to test the performance of your computer network you're in luck. A little research lead me to an amazing set of tools online availabe to everyone as a free service. You can pretty much measure or analyze anything broadband related with the tools provided via the online techie community forum at SpeedGuide.net. Whatever it is you need to look at.....performance or design related.....you can get it done with the free SpeedGuide tools. Nice little resource you should take advantage of.
Here's a list of what they have available to you:
* SG TCP/IP Analyzer
The SpeedGuide TCP/IP Analyzer is a program designed to display your Internet connection parameters, extracted directly from TCP packets sent by your browser to their server. The Analyzer program then displays recommendations based on the settings extracted from the headers of those packets.
* SG TCP Optimizer
The TCP Optimizer is a free Windows program designed to help optimize your Internet connection. The program makes it easy to find the best MaxMTU value, test latency and tweak the important Registry Parameters. The Optimizer can be helpful with tuning any Internet connection type, from dialup to Gigabit+ :) If you need help with the program, check the TCP Optimizer Documentation, read their broadband tweaking articles and the related FAQs, and/or visit their Forums.
* SG Security Scanner
The SpeedGuide.net Security Scanner audits certain ports on your computer detecting potential vulnerabilities.
Note: Some firewalls might log a potential attack from their server if you choose to test the security of your system since they are testing for vulnerabilities.
* SG Speed Test
A quick download speed test to estimate your connection speed at the time.
* SG Network Tools
The SG Network tools section includes many common network tools such as PING, TRACEROUTE, WHOIS, etc.
* SG Bits/Bytes Conversion Calculator
The Bits/Bytes calculator is a useful tool for quickly converting bits/bytes, etc. It takes into consideration the different conventons while calculating data communication rates and storage space.
* SG RWIN/BDP Calculator
The RWIN/BDP calculator can be used to estimate TCP Window values, based on the Bandwidth
*Delay Product (BDP for short).
It can also calculate maximum bandwidth based on RWIN and latency values, and perform a number of different conversions as well.
Drop in at SpeedGuide.net and test out (no pun intended) these tools. At the very least you may learn something about your current system needs or performance. While you're there I suggest you also check out their community forum. Great place to ask questions and get answers for whatever broadband issues you may have.
Here's a list of what they have available to you:
* SG TCP/IP Analyzer
The SpeedGuide TCP/IP Analyzer is a program designed to display your Internet connection parameters, extracted directly from TCP packets sent by your browser to their server. The Analyzer program then displays recommendations based on the settings extracted from the headers of those packets.
* SG TCP Optimizer
The TCP Optimizer is a free Windows program designed to help optimize your Internet connection. The program makes it easy to find the best MaxMTU value, test latency and tweak the important Registry Parameters. The Optimizer can be helpful with tuning any Internet connection type, from dialup to Gigabit+ :) If you need help with the program, check the TCP Optimizer Documentation, read their broadband tweaking articles and the related FAQs, and/or visit their Forums.
* SG Security Scanner
The SpeedGuide.net Security Scanner audits certain ports on your computer detecting potential vulnerabilities.
Note: Some firewalls might log a potential attack from their server if you choose to test the security of your system since they are testing for vulnerabilities.
* SG Speed Test
A quick download speed test to estimate your connection speed at the time.
* SG Network Tools
The SG Network tools section includes many common network tools such as PING, TRACEROUTE, WHOIS, etc.
* SG Bits/Bytes Conversion Calculator
The Bits/Bytes calculator is a useful tool for quickly converting bits/bytes, etc. It takes into consideration the different conventons while calculating data communication rates and storage space.
* SG RWIN/BDP Calculator
The RWIN/BDP calculator can be used to estimate TCP Window values, based on the Bandwidth
*Delay Product (BDP for short).
It can also calculate maximum bandwidth based on RWIN and latency values, and perform a number of different conversions as well.
Drop in at SpeedGuide.net and test out (no pun intended) these tools. At the very least you may learn something about your current system needs or performance. While you're there I suggest you also check out their community forum. Great place to ask questions and get answers for whatever broadband issues you may have.
Improving broadband speeds
Vista has a different TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) stack than Windows XP. What's a TCP/IP stack, you ask? TCP/IP is the basic language that allows your computer to communicate with other machines. The TCP/IP stack is the software and protocols that make up TCP/IP.
For example, Vista's TCP/IP stack stores configuration settings differently than Windows XP. So, you won't be able to tweak the settings like you can in XP Professional. That's a bummer. But, fortunately, Vista optimizes your broadband connections. It will maximize your broadband speed automatically.
If you're still not happy with your broadband speed, there is another solution. You can upgrade to a faster tier. My tip will help you decide on the right broadband tier. Of course, providers sometimes overstate broadband speeds. To find your connection speed, visit my site. I have a tool that will test your broadband speed quickly and easily.
For example, Vista's TCP/IP stack stores configuration settings differently than Windows XP. So, you won't be able to tweak the settings like you can in XP Professional. That's a bummer. But, fortunately, Vista optimizes your broadband connections. It will maximize your broadband speed automatically.
If you're still not happy with your broadband speed, there is another solution. You can upgrade to a faster tier. My tip will help you decide on the right broadband tier. Of course, providers sometimes overstate broadband speeds. To find your connection speed, visit my site. I have a tool that will test your broadband speed quickly and easily.
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