Improving Internet Connections

[sAlt_sHaKer]

I don't know what's wrong with my internet connection nowadays. It's slow sometimes and fast sometimes. Can anyone tell me what's wrong with it, and how I can improve it?
Another problem I have is that some webpages completely stops loading halfway, even though the indicator on the bottom left corner of my browser, IE 5.5 says "Done". What is wrong? When I return to the previous page and try to access the page that loaded halfway, the page loads normally again.
I'm using a 56k ISP.

[bailey]

what you are saying is what happens when there are a lot of people on the line at your server, in other words heavy traffic, very bussy at times, it is normal with the type of connection you have, you must live with it, or get a differnt type of connection like dsl.

[glc]

Try deleting your Temporary Internet Files. Control Panel, Internet Options, General tab.

What kind of modem do you have, and what is its indicated connect speed?

[ylen13]

how much memory u have. Could it be that your system doesn't have enough memory to load page as fast as your modem download them?

[sAlt_sHaKer]

I'm using a 56k modem too, and my computer has 64mb RAM.

[glc]

What KIND of 56K modem? All modems are not created equal.

Exact brand and model would be helpful, and so would your indicated connection speed. Can't help ya if you don't answer the questions.

[Harry]

What type of modem do you have? And when your Web page doesn't completely load up, you don't have to go back to a previous page. You can just press the reload button. As was stated, your ISP could be your problem as well but I also don't really like winmodems and some modems can be defective and not allow you to get the best download speeds possible. A few years ago I dumped my winmodem, which gave me connections of 41,000 and downloads of around 3.5k to 4k per second, for a USR nonwin modem. Since then I always connect at 50,666 and often get download speeds of 5.6k to 5.7k per second. It was an amazing difference and saves a lot of time.

[SARGE]

Used a USR winmodem in multilink - talk about a turtle crawling backwards.

[Xayd]

When we played with multilinks at that ISP I worked for we used a Rockwell HCF and an LT Winmodem, on a K6-2 450 box originally.

That turtle didn't even crawl backwards, I think he shifted his weight once, that was about it...

;)

Xayd

[sAlt_sHaKer]

I'm using a Prolink 56k v.90 fax/data/voice modem

[jeresimo]

It really depends with your ISP, but you could help improve it by removing all those icons that show up in your System Tray. Go to Start/Run/Msconfig/StartUp then uncheck all those program loading "except" ScanReg and SysTray. Then increase your Temporary Internet Files Settings by going to Tools/Internet Option/Setting/Increase the amount of Disk Space to Use. ( I increased mine to 500MB)

[glc]

Okay - now, *what is your indicated connect speed*?

Which *model* Prolink?

S/N
MODEL
DESCRIPTION
Prolink Modem (Back to top)
1.
1456VE
V.90 56Kbps External Voice Modem
2.
1456PCI-L
V.90 56Kbps PCI Internal Fax Modem-Lucent Chipset
3.
1456PCI-M
V.90 56Kbps PCI Internal Fax Modem-Motorola Chipset
4.
1456C
56K PCMCIA Modem Card
5.
1456C-I
56K PCMCIA Global Modem Card
6.
TORNADO
V.90 56Kbps External Voice Modem

Sorry to give you a rough time, but we really need details to help you!

[sAlt_sHaKer]

It's a 1456VE V.90 56Kbps External Voice Modem and the indicated connected speed is 44000bps. I'm using a specified initstring from Prolink.

[bailey]

my steady connection speed is 52000 and like I said , I can have the same problems at varies times of the day, like at 8:00 to 9:00 pm the net is very heavy with traffic at my server isp and it does slow things down a bit. sometimes I can't even get a phone line to dial out on, I also live in a small town out in the country and I have to use a info-link line to the next big town where my isp is located at, there has been times that I had to dial as much as 30 times before I could get connected,
try your sustem late at night when the load is light and see how things run, surfeing should be a lot faster. if what I am thinking is correct.

[BlackHoleSun]

people will disagree, but try setting your packet size to automatic. My connection became much better, even better than setting it at small.

[glc]

Thank you. Could you share the init string with us, please? If you are connecting at 44000, that indicates an "average" quality phone line, which can get a bit rough at times. That should be a decent modem, being that it's external and is hardware controlled.

bailey is probably correct, but we can certainly try some things to make sure the modem is operating most efficiently.

[sAlt_sHaKer]

it's at+ms=,,,44000

[glc]

Let's try this - remove that string from Extra Settings and try this one:

S202=32S95=1

Post back with your results - and please indicate the connect speed and any problems this may cause.

[reboot]

Actually, try this whole string:
+MS=V90,0,,,,44000;S202=32S95=1
If it works, try this:
+MS=V90,0;S202=32S95=1
If it works but is too laggy for game play, try this:
+MS=K56,0;S202=32S95=1
If all else fails:
+MS=V34,0

[sAlt_sHaKer]

the string that glc gave me worked, and there was a significant increase in performance. webpages loaded faster and downloading increased to 4.7+. previously 3.9+. the connect speed was 48000.

but the strings that reboot gave me didn't work at all. my modem couldn't be detected, even after several restarts.

[BlackHoleSun]

Maybe all the time, it pays to be conservative with the string addon.

[reboot]

Just reverse the order then.
Put the S registers befor the +MS commands and try it all again.
Providing this modem has a Rockwell/Conexant ACF or ACFII chipset these should all work.

[G3]

I know you got a better connection, but one place to check for some good tweaking on modems is http://www.tweak3d.net
I have experienced great results by using his techniques.

[glc]

reboot gave you strings for firmware 3.x, if you have 2.x there is a slightly different command set.
1. +MS=12,0,300,44000;S202=32S95=1
2. +MS=12,0;S202=32S95=1
3. +MS=56,0;S202=32S95=1
4. +MS=11