- Speed Up and Fix Up Your Dial-Up
- Bring Me a New Brain, Igor!
- What You Need to Know to Perform Brain Surgery on Your Modem
- Don't Just Call Any Number (Choosing the Correct Dial-Up Number)
- It's Not Your Modem—It's Your Phone Line
- Testing, Testing—Is Your Phone Line Ready to Rumble?
- Tweaking Your System for Faster Speed
- Adding Extra Horsepower to Your Internet Connection
- Software That Makes Tweaking Easier
- Super Glue Two Modems Together with Bonding
- How Bonding Works
- Will Your ISP Approve?
- Upgrading Windows 95 for Multilink Support
- Setting Up a Multilink Connection on Your Computer
- "We Interrupt This Online Session..." (Getting Calls While You're Online)
- Grabbing Messages While You're Online
Tweaking Your System for Faster Speed
Although the speed of your modem is largely dependent on line quality and using the correct dial-up number to support the 56Kbps flavor your modem uses, there are some subtler boosts in performance that brave souls (do I see a volunteer??) can achieve by adjusting modem and Windows Registry settings.
Gimme More!
The preceding tips are similar to some of the speed-up tips given on the Modem Troubleshooting Guide at the 56K modem site: http://www.56k.com/trouble/connect.shtml. Surf there for additional tips and solutions.
Your Mileage Can Vary
Keep in mind that factors such as line condition, distance from the central switch, the quality of your modem, and the compatibility of your modem with your ISP's modems all affect the speeds of your connection. Your 56Kbps modem can make connections at speeds ranging from as high as 52Kbps to as low as 36Kbps on a 56Kbps-compliant line. The same modem can produce different connection speeds when moved from one location to another!
Futzing with the Registry Is NOT for the Faint-Hearted!
Adjusting the Registry is potentially fatal to your Windows installation! Make sure that you BACK UP your Registry before you make any changes. Back up the Registry in any of the following ways:
Make a copy of the USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT files in the \Windows folder. (These files are hidden, so you must enable the View All Files option in Windows Explorer). Use a name like USER073100.DAT and SYSTEM073100.DAT to indicate the date you made the backup.
Export the Registry to a .REG file.