But it may happen that your hardware and software are updated and yet you are experiencing a slow connection. In such cases you need to understand that the problem lies with the connection provided by your internet service provider. Especially when you are using the computer during peak hours of the weekdays your connection can be much slower as the bandwidth is being shared with your neighbors in the range of same IP.

Why Run An Internet Speed Test

An internet speed test is necessary to monitor improvements in your internet connection. To run an Internet speed test you can make use of various free online software utilities which will help you perform a connection test while others enable you to get much more detail. Using such software you can check your internet speed in real time. This is an effective and easy way to find out problems like slow servers, unused bandwidth and also to check the speed between your computer and a web server. While performing the tests online you need to change the various settings to get better results.

The easiest way of testing the speed of your internet connection is by conducting broadband speed test. A great site to do this is SpeedTest.net. To get accurate results it is important to know both upload and download speeds.

Internet Speed test determines the speed of internet connection on the basis of amount of time required for uploading and downloading a file. By checking your internet connection speed you can measure the length of time required for uploading and downloading a file. By keeping a history of your internet connection speed you can find out the best time for downloading or uploading files.

When the server is selected and a speedometer is seen moving over calculating the download and upload speeds, it indicates that the internet speed test is being performed. Once the broadband test is finished, you need to select another test from the top menu. If you find a high test speed and yet there are problems for Internet connection and downloading, you should run a line test to solve the problem. Listing out the identity of the Internet service provider is also important. By running the speed test at various times of the day as well as various days of the week you can get perfect idea.

If you are having problems with downloading big files or watching streaming video you need to check the speed of your internet connection. It has been seen that changing a few settings of the computer the speed of internet connection has increased to a great extent.

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Troubleshooting Internet Explorer Problems

The PING command is a great way to test connectivity. If you can successfully PING a website, this means your physical connection to the Internet is working properly.

To try PINGing a website, go to the Start button and type cmd in the search box and hit OK. At the command prompt, type ping www.google.com and see if you get a response. If the test times-out, you’re experiencing either a physical problem with your connection or improper router settings. Try rebooting your modem, router and computer. Also, check the lights on the router to make sure they are green and active. If you are plugged into the router, there should be a green light at the connection point of the router and the PC. If not, replace your cabling.

You can also try resetting the winsock. To do this, you need to run the command prompt as the administrator. To do so, go to the Start button and type cmd again. This time, right-click the cmd entry in the menu and select Run as administrator.

At the command prompt, type netsh winsock reset and hit enter. You will be prompted to restart your computer. The winsock can be damaged by a virus and will often need to be reset after malware removal.

If you still having Internet Explorer problems, try disabling all of your add-ons. Add-ons from third-party developers can break IE. Disabling them may help restore your IE to working condition. To do this, click the little gear icon in IE or, if available, click the Tools menu and select Internet Options, then click the Programs tab. Under the Manage Add-ons button, click on each add-on and select the disable option.

You should also check under the Connections tab in the LAN settings to make sure malware hasn’t enabled a Proxy server to route your connection through their servers. This is often the case when a browser is hijacked or a sign of spyware type infection. Under the connection tab, click LAN settings and make sure the proxy server box is unchecked.

When all else fails try resetting Internet Explorer. Under the Advanced tab, click the Reset button at the bottom of the Window and IE will be reset to a pristine state. Or if you find you’re not running the latest version of IE, visit the IE website to download and install the latest version.

Internet Explorer Problems Concluded

To recap, Internet Explorer problems can be tricky to resolve. You should be able to quickly determine if your Internet Explorer problems are the result of a bad connection or a problem with IE itself. You can then use the methods above to resolve the issue. If you continue to have Internet Explorer problems, read through our other Internet tutorials or visit our free forums and post a question.

However, the popularity of video sharing services has also created competition between all of the services. The most popular among users of high speed Internet are YouTube, Vimeo and Oculu, though users of these sites have noticed that each respective service have their positive and negative aspects.

(Photos Courtesy of Flickr Users: mauritsonline and webtreats)

For example, YouTube has the benefit of being one of the first streaming video services to hit the Internet. Because it was the first, it has become well-known among avid Internet video watchers. Because of the large user community on YouTube, a video upload is more likely to find its audience. YouTube features high definition capabilities, with an unlimited amount of uploads that are up to 1 gigabyte in size for free users.

However, YouTube has faced criticism based on the fact that the service has become flooded with videos and is becoming harder to attract an audience. Video quality is sometimes full of compression artifacts that make the video hard to watch. Also, a YouTube watermark is displayed in the bottom right corner of videos, similar to station identifiers seen on TV. Videos are limited to 10 minutes in length, though long-time users will be allowed to upload 15 minute long videos.

These criticisms are why Vimeo has become a leading competitor to YouTube. Vimeo’s streaming video quality is much higher in quality than YouTube, especially for high definition content. It also lacks the intrusive video player that YouTube forces upon their users and does not have a watermark placed on any videos. It has become increasingly popular with independent filmmakers, as it delivers a much higher quality channel for their work.

Vimeo does have some restrictions that make it hard to compete with YouTube. For example, free users on Vimeo are limited 500mb of uploads per week and only 1 HD upload during that time. To get an unlimited amount of uploads, you will have to upgrade, which costs $59.95 a year. The community on Vimeo is much smaller and it is harder to get as many hits as you might if the same video was uploaded on YouTube. Also, Vimeo has a policy against uploading any kind of promotional video clips, such as commercials.

The frustration caused by the war between YouTube and Vimeo is why Oculu was created. This service offers much more than video hosting and bandwidth for high speed Internet users. In fact, it is geared more toward professional users, especially those who want the high quality of Vimeo, but cannot share their company’s promotional videos. There are absolutely no restrictions to what videos you can upload, though Oculu does have a policy against pornography (which is shared by Vimeo and YouTube).

Other great features of Oculu that are not present on Vimeo and YouTube include multiple play options, advertising free hosting, human customer support, search engine optimization and detailed video statistics. You can even customize the video player to match your website when it is embedded to your website.

Unfortunately, Oculu is a service that you must pay for, unlike YouTube and Vimeo’s offering of basic free accounts. But if you need the best quality video uploading for high speed Internet users, Oculu is much better than those services. However, it’s up to you to decide which one is most suitable to your needs.

This is a guest article by Ruben Corbo, a writer for the website Broadband Expert where you can find internet service providers in your area and compare prices on different deals for your wireless internet necessities.

Having your music online to stream over your phone or computer is an enticing offer. Amazon is making it easier for consumers to buy and stream content online. In addition to Amazon Cloud Drive, Amazon recently gave Amazon Prime members free streaming movie capabilities similar to Netflix.

You can buy more space, if necessary. The plans range from 5GB for free or 1000GB for a wacky $1000 a month.  Even if you’re not interested in using the Amazon online music player, it’s good to have 5 GB of free online storage for backing up your music and other important documents.

Back up to Amazon Cloud today.

How To Increase Broadband Speed

The very first thing you should do to increase broadband speed is to look at the type of service you have. If you’re using Satellite, DSL or ever worse dial-up, then you already now where the bottleneck is happening. You need to begin with a fast connection coming in. When gaming, you want both a fast download and upload speed. Watching television content online or downloading movies via Netflix requires a service with primarily a good download speed. Satellite Internet can be expensive, DSL can be okay under the right circumstances. But if you really want the best type of service, you should look into your local Verizon FiOS or cable Internet provider.

Increase Broadband Speed Tips

• Reboot your router. You should reboot your router monthly to clear its memory. You can power cycle your entire network by shutting down your computers and unplugging all routers, switches and modems. After a few minutes, plug in your modem, then your router, then any switches or hubs, and finally boot up your computers. Be sure to wait a minute between each device.
• Find out what type of service you’re paying for and visit a site like Speedtest.net to get a baseline speed. Try it from a couple computers in your home to make sure the readings are similar.
  
• Scan your computer for viruses. Some viruses will live on your Internet connection, doing whatever evil things viruses do.
• Turn off your anti-virus. Some anti-viruses will actually slow down your Internet speed as they try monitor everything coming in. If the Internet speeds up when you shut down your anti-virus, find a different anti-virus and install it. Microsoft Security Essentials is our pick for a free anti-virus.
• Run general maintenance on your computer. You can increase broadband speed by doing some maintenance. If it’s been a while since you’ve performed a Disk Cleanup or defragged your computer, do both by going to Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools.
• Upgrade your computer. You Internet speed is only as fast as your computer can process it. Adding RAM and investing in a new graphics card is a great way to speed up your computer.
• Optimize your TCP / IP settings. Both Vista and Windows 7 are already optimized, but if you’re running Windows XP or an older Operating System, visit a site like Broadband Reports and run their TCP / IP Optimization tools to tweak your Internet settings.
  

  Sample Result From Tweak Test

• Upgrade your infrastructure. If it’s been a few years since you bought your equipment, it’s time to upgrade to N routers and network cards that support Gigabit speeds. Keeping up with technology is essential to increase broadband speed. Get Wireless N Network Devices here.
• Lastly, we recommend wiring your connections if possible. If this is not desirable, be sure to get a wireless N router and network adapter from the link above. Both the speed and the range will be better with newer routers and cards. But in general, having a hard-wired connection will be faster, more reliable and more secure.

In conclusion, there are a lot of factors used to increase broadband speed. Pay for a fast connection, run basic maintenance on your computer, upgrade your hardware and reboot your router occasionally and you should have a blazing fast connection. 

Halloween Wallpaper

One of the best sites we found with Halloween wallpaper is Desktop Nexus. You can enlarge the image in your browser to fill your whole desktop so it fits perfectly. On most Operating Systems and web browsers, you will right-click the image and select Set As Desktop Background.

Desktop Nexus does a great job of recognizing your screen resolution and can scale the Halloween wallpaper to fit. The above was our pick. Visit Desktop Nexus and let us know which one you chose.

Halloween Pumpkin Stencils

Coming up with fun pumpkin designs is one thing. Transferring the idea to the pumpkin is another. eHow has dozens of printable pumpkin stencils to choose from. Simply click on the one you want to see, then select Print the Stencil and it prints out in full size. Tape the image to your pumpkin and start cutting.

We found it easier to make small perforations in the paper, remove the stencil, then trace with a marker before cutting. It’s also a good idea to have pumpkin carving tools, as they make it easier to make detailed cuts. Visit eHow for your pumpkin stencils.

Halloween Sound Effects

If you want to keep the kiddies and their chocolate-smeared grins away from your house, you can deploy a playlist of terrifying Halloween sound effects. There are several ways to play these. The easiest would be to create a playlist in iTunes and import these .wav files into it. Attach your iPod to a dock or to external speakers and let it play in the window. You can also burn a CD with these Halloween sound effects and play it over your stereo. The best site we found for Halloween sound effects was Partners in Rhyme.

Halloween Avatars

Last but not least, be sure to dress up your online presence with a new Halloween avatar. An avatar is a picture that represents you in forums, on Twitter, Facebook and other community sites. Be sure to temporarily replace your goofy countenance with a spooky Halloween avatar.

We found a lot of great Halloween avatars over at the Design Ora website.

Let us know what your favorite Halloween wallpaper, pumpkin stencil, spooky sound effects or Halloween avatar website is. No matter what you choose for your Halloween wallpaper, be sure to get into the geek spirit and spread the horror to your family and friends.

The Overdrive is mobile, as well. You can take it home, you can take it to the office, and you can take in on trips. Anywhere you have access to Sprint 3G or 4G, this device will give you broadband speed. The specification speeds and the typical real-world download speeds will differ, but 4G will usually be about twice as fast as 3G:

Setup The Sprint 4G Overdrive Router

You will purchase and setup the Sprint 4G Overdrive Router just as you would any Sprint cell phone. You are, after all, using their cellular network. Once you get the device home, you will want to insert the battery and wait until it is fully charged before proceeding. The charging process should only take a couple of hours. You can then press and hold the power button to turn the device on, then double-press the button to reveal the name of the router (SSID) and the password. You will need to use this password to access the Internet so be sure to write it down.

Important: If you have a LAN connection on your PC, disable it. Or unplug your modem if you have DSL.

You should automatically see the router in your wireless network options. Select the router and put in the password you wrote down from the step above and you should immediately have access to the router and Internet.

The first time you access the router, you will see a screen that says “Welcome To Your Overdrive.” From there you can proceed to the Internet or login to the Overdrive router to change your Admin settings, such as password and encryption types. The initial Window will display the default password and the browser address you can use to access the router in the future, so be sure to write that information down.

Of course, this means your computer’s must have wireless cards installed. Most laptops will already have WiFi cards, but most desktop PCs will not. You will need to either invest in a PCI wireless card or a USB wireless card–which plugs into any USB port on your desktop computer. Visit here to buy a wireless card for your desktop computer.

Sprint 4G Overdrive Router

In conclusion, the Sprint 4G Broadband Router is a great alternative to DSL or slower ISP networks. If you have access to FIOS or Cable, you should choose either of those as they currently has faster upload and download speeds. But there are vast areas in the United States that do not have access to services that provide broadband speeds. If you are in this situation, the Sprint 4G Overdrive Router is a fantastic solution.

Tracert is a command line tool that shows the “hops” a network packet takes on its way to a destination address. You can type in an IP address or a website URL and watch as a packet is sent from your PC to various routers along the way. If you are having connectivity problems, using the tracert command can help you check the path to the destination IP address or website to see if there is a problem with a router between you and the server.

The tracert command displays the series of routers being used to deliver packets from your PC to the destination. It also tells you how long each hop took. If the packets are unable to be delivered to the destination, the tracert command displays the last router that successfully forwarded your packets.

How can this help you? If you are unable to reach a website, the tracert command will pinpoint where the request failed. For instance, if your request fails before leaving your router, then you know you have a problem with your network. If tracert fails in between or at the destination, then you know the connectivity problems have nothing to do with your setup.

You can run tracert from the command line by going to Start and by typing cmd in the run box and hitting OK. When the command line appears, just type tracert followed by a space, then the IP address or website URL. For example:

There are switches available with the tracert command. To view them, type tracert -? at the command line. Experiment to see which works best for you. If you don’t have Windows, there are a lot of online tracert tools you can use. If you have a better use for tracert, or if you want to tell us about other valuable command line utilities, be sure to let us know.