November 2008 - Ever since the internet escaped from a bunker in the Nevada desert much has been made of 'the speed of the web'. When making it's first foray into the consumer world the net was slow. Many factors contributed to limiting it's efficacy, emergent technology running at sub-optimum speeds, basic and unwieldy software architecture, the limited number of connections comprising the net and very importantly the size of the information superhighway. These days 'bandwidth' is a common term- how much you tube we can squeeze down our phone lines. Broadband was a major innovation in internet usability. As the computer hardware got faster and the software more refined, the amount of data transferred also began increase at an alarming rate. Soon the limiting factor was the phone connection, our broadband connections are either ADSL or fibre optics, capable of transferring a much higher volume of bytes of information per second than our aging analogue phone lines capable of a measly 56kbps. As the technology became available the early adopters ie the business community paved the way for Broadband to be the norm not the exception. Now, we all expect to be able to receive broadband at home and if you listen to the adverts your connection speed is now in the tens of Mbps. Is this actually the case however?

Reading the small print it is quickly obvious that the quoted speed in Mbps is the maximum possible speed of data transfer, the actual transfer rate is significantly slower. The telecoms providers have been very keen on consumer uptake of broadband and the connection speed has been a, if not the, major selling point. As the disparity between the aspiration and the actual has become increasingly apparent so has the tendency of consumers to use software to verify the genuine transfer rate. If the global marketplace works as we are told it does, this should push the providers to improving their service or backing down from unrealistic claims. Though, given the speed of technological development, the safe bet would be on the former.

So, if your connection speed is lagging, does that mean your service provider is entirely culpable or are there other considerations that can influence matters? The two most important variables you can adjust to boost your connection speed are the hard/software settings and the wires you use. Check the settings on your internet browser and your router. Older browsers download sequentially rather than concurrently, this can seriously hamper data transfer and for the sake of downloading a browser an easy fix. Check the router as well, open all the ports available to boost signal or invest in a new model. It is worth noting that most Broadband providers now offer a free router so you can get wireless broadband.

Wires also have a big influence on your connection, if the internet arrives at your door quick as lightning and then has to crawl through long, low-quality wires to reach your computer you can be losing 3Mbps of transfer speed. And, if your wires are high-quality and well placed, a lack of wires may be the culprit. You may be sharing your wifi connection with the entire street unless you use WEP or preferably WPA encryption. If you are fully encrypted it can also be worth bypassing your wifi router to see whether it is the signal between the router and the computer is responsible. A good aerial can boost the signal by 30-50%.

If you have tried the above and the bus is still quicker than the net, your providers aspirations don't match their service. Point this out to them and if circumstances don't improve a switch of providers is called for.

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