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General discussion

Maximising Broadband Speed

Feb 26, 2008 7:52PM PST

I am based in the UK.

My current computer has a modest 500MB RAM and operates via Windows XP. I currently have an Orange (UK) broadband contract which offers download speeds up to 8Mbps together with a standard Orange modem and ethernet cable cable. (I don't really need a wireless connection at this time). I have installed "OnSpeed" software which purportedly increases actual download speeds by up to several hundred percent and Uniblue software which itself purports to optimise broadband connections.

The above arrangement achieves download speeds of between 2-5Mbps in practice (as measured by thinkbroadband.com) but it still feels "sticky" and even downright slow most of the time. Moreover the system regularly "freezes" for 30 seconds or even more, which disrupts my work flow considerably.

I wish to substantially improve my broadband performance by replacing any - and if necessary all - of the above. Could anyone please advise.

Discussion is locked

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Borrow some other machine.
Feb 26, 2008 8:08PM PST

The sticky part could be use of P2P software or other. Your post is too unclear on details so check the Networking forum sticky and get another machine to test if it's your machine.

-> Download accelerators for years have never done a thing for us or clients. But people keep trying them.

Bob

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For a start...
Feb 26, 2008 10:17PM PST

...remove the "OnSpeed" and "Uniblue" software. Although they may speed up connections, your computer has to work harder, so the gain is not that much.

If you are on cable, the number of users on it makes a difference in speed. If on DSL, the number of users "jumpered" by your ISP to use a line also makes a difference.

For tweaks, see HERE