How to Increase Internet Speed

Whether you are at home or at work, having a fast and efficient Internet connection is a vital component of your daily life. Slow speeds and weak connections can be 

frustrating and even costly. As more Internet-ready devices make their way into our 

homes and workplaces, keeping your web speed up is more important than ever. See Step 1 below to increase Internet speed and maximize the performance of your web-connected devices.

Part1

Checking Your Hardware and Service

1. 
   1
   Run a speed test. There are a lot of free tools available online that will test your internet speed for you. Search for “speed test” on your favorite search engine and run tests through several different services. You may need to install plugins in order to get the tests to run.

   • Different tests will give you different results, even if you take the same test twice. This is because test servers are located in different areas and the number of people online can affect your speed. It is best to take a good sample of tests to see what your average is.
2. 
   2
   Compare your speed results against what you’re paying for. Check your service plan to see what speed you are paying for. Many service providers will claim speeds “up to” a certain number. This means that they can’t guarantee that it will always be that high.

   • If you are consistently receiving lower speeds than you are paying for, contact customer service and demand either a lower fee or speeds that match what you pay.
   • If you haven’t upgraded your internet in a long time, you may be able to find faster internet for lower prices. Check all of the providers in your area.
   • Don't fall for the megabit/megabyte trap. ISPs advertise in megabits, not megabytes. There are 8 megabits (Mb) in a megabyte (MB), so if you are paying for 25 megabits per second (Mbps), then that's just over 3 megabytes per second (MBps) of actual transfer speed.
3. 
   3
   Turn your modem off and on. Sometimes a simple reset can significantly increase your Internet speed. You can also turn your router on and off to see if that's helpful. Just make sure that you know your login information in case your computer requires you to enter it after the reset.
4. 
   4
   Change your Wi-Fi channel. If many people in your building are using the same channel, then you could notice a major slowdown in your Internet speed. Use a program such as inSSIDer for PC and KisMAC or WiFi Scanner for Mac to scan for channels that aren’t as populated. Switching to one of these channels will reduce interference and possibly increase your speed.

   • If you see a more open channel, then switch channels to increase Internet speed. You'll need to consult your router’s documentation or look up the support site for your individual router to find out how to do access the router and change the wireless channel.
5. 
   5
   Move your wireless router or computer. If you are connected to the internet via a Wi-Fi router, poor signal can lead to lower speeds and dropped connections. If you can, move your router closer to your computer to boost your signal, or move the computer closer to the router.^[1]

   • If the router is old, it may be time to upgrade. Newer routers can offer much improved connections and speed over older wireless routers.^[2]
   • Dirty, dusty, or loose cables leading from your cable or DSL modem to your wireless router, or computer can cause significant reductions in your internet speed. Pick up a can of compressed air from your local computer store, and use it to blow out the dirt and dust in the connectors.
   • Maintain proper ventilation around all electrical components to avoid overheating.
6. 
   6
   Try to use Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi. If you can, try to hardwire as many of your connected devices as possible. This will lead to higher speeds for those devices, as well as less interference for your remaining wireless devices, such as tablets and phones.
7. 
   7
   Secure your network. If your wireless network doesn’t have a password, not only are you leaving yourself vulnerable to others spying on you, but you are also leaving your network open for anyone to use. This means that other people can be stealing your bandwidth. Make sure that your wireless network is properly secured, especially in crowded apartments.
8. 8
   Check your filters if you have DSL. When you activated DSL, you hooked the line from your phone jack into one side of a rectangular box filter. On the other side, you have 2 lines coming out, 1 for your phone and 1 for your modem. If you are using a DSL connection over your landline, make sure that you have high-quality filters in place to get optimum signal speed.
9. 
   9
   Avoid running multiple devices at once. Turn off smartphones, tablets, Smart TVs, set-top boxes or other devices that you aren't currently using. If multiple devices are attempting to retrieve information from the internet, especially streaming video or gaming, you will see a loss of speed.
10. 
    10
    Check your data cap. Many internet service providers impose a data cap on their customers that may not be immediately visible. Log in to your account page, or contact the customer service department to see if you have gone over your allowance. Oftentimes the penalty for exceeding the allowance is decreased speed for the rest of the billing period.

Part2

Cleaning Up Your Browser and Operating System

1. 
   1
   Run a virus and malware scan. Viruses, adware, and other malware can significantly slow down your internet speed, as well as your computer’s speed. Run regular scans to ensure that your computer is virus and malware free.

   • If you don’t have an antivirus installed, install one immediately and make sure that it stays updated.
   • Antivirus programs don’t always catch everything, so you should occasionally run scans with programs such as Spybot or Malwarebytes to find and remove stubborn malware.
2. 
   2
   Clear your browser’s cache. As you surf the web, your browser stores information about the sites you visit to make the loading process quicker when you next visit. Over time, however, this can actually reduce the speed of your browser as more and more information is stored. Occasionally clearing your cache can help boost the performance of a slow browser.

   • Follow this guide to clear the cash of virtually any browser or device.
3. 
   3
   Remove the toolbars from your browser. If you’ve ended up with a lot of toolbars after years of using the same browser, it may be time to remove some (or all) of them. Toolbars will decrease your browser’s performance, and often take up your bandwidth by requesting ads and information.

   • Follow this guide to remove toolbars from any of the major browsers.
4. 
   4
   Update your browser. Browsers are under constant development, and newer versions often offer performance increases over previous versions. Check to make sure you are running the latest version of your browser, and update it if you aren’t.

   • Update Internet Explorer
   • Update Google Chrome
   • Update Firefox
5. 
   5
   Change your web browser. If you’ve installed a bunch of toolbars and plugins for your web browser, it may be easier to just switch to a new browser instead of trying to remove all of them. Some browsers are natively faster than others as well, so you may see a performance increase regardless.^[3]
6. 
   6
   Clean up your hard drive. If your computer is running slowly, it can negatively impact your browsing experience, making it seem like your connection is slower than it is. Follow the steps in [Clean-up-a-Slow-Performing-Computer|this guide to clean out the old gunk from your hard drive]].
7. 
   7
   Shut down your computer regularly. To prevent future infections or slowdowns, take the time to shut down your computer every day. Turn on automatic security updates for all of your programs.^[4]
8. 
   8
   Uninstall bandwidth hogs. There may be programs installed that are using your bandwidth that you may not be aware of. Browse your installed programs and remove any that you know longer use or don’t remember installing. Be cautious when deleting programs you aren’t familiar with; always check online to see if it is a critical program.

   • Uninstall programs in Windows.
   • Uninstall programs in Mac OS X.

Part3

Change the Bandwidth Speed (Windows 7)

1. 
   1
   Open Run by pressing (Windows logo key + R).Then, type gpedit.msc in the Run window. Hit enter. A new window should open.
2. 
   2
   Select Administrative Templates. Then, select "Network" under "Administrative Templates."
3. 
   3
   Select and double click "QoS Packet Scheduler." You will find it on the right hand side of your screen.
4. 
   4
   Select and double click "Limit Reservable Bandwidth." If you're using default settings, you'll see that the settings are "Not Configured." However, even though the bandwidth limit below shows zero percent and is grayed, Windows 7 still reserves 20 percent of the current bandwidth available.
5. 
   5
   Click "Enable." Drag the bandwidth percent to zero percent and then click "Apply." When prompted, click "Okay."
6. 
   6
   Run Disk Cleanup and restart your browser. Your Computer will now utilize 100 percent of the total bandwidth available. You should notice a slight increase in download speed.
7. Source : Wikihow.com

Read more ...

Declining iPhone sales dent Apple profits for third straight quarter !!

Marking the third straight quarter of declining iPhone sales, Apple has posted quarterly revenues of $46.9 billion and quarterly net income of $9 billion -- down nearly 9 per cent from revenue of $51.5 billion and net income of $11.1 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Announcing the results for the fourth quarter of 2016 on Tuesday night, Apple said it sold 45.5 million iPhones, 9.3 million iPads and 4.9 million Macs in the fourth quarter - a year-over-year decline of 5.2 per cent for iPhones, 6 per cent for iPads and a massive 14 per cent for the Mac, Engadget reported.

International sales accounted for 62 per cent of the quarter’s revenue.

“Our strong September quarter results cap a very successful fiscal 2016 for Apple,” said Apple’s CEO Tim Cook.

In after-hour trading, Apple shares were down 2.8 per cent to $114.99.

“We’re thrilled with the customer response to iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and Apple Watch Series 2, as well as the incredible momentum of our Services business, where revenue grew 24 per cent to set another all-time record,” Cook added in a statement.

For its fiscal 2017 first quarter, Apple forecast revenue between $76 billion and $78 billion and operating expenses between $6.9 billion and $7 billion.

“We are pleased to have generated $16.1 billion in operating cash flow, a new record for the September quarter,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO.

“We also returned $9.3 billion to investors through dividends and share repurchases during the quarter and have now completed over $186 billion of our capital return programme,” Maestri added.

The fall in sales was mostly down to declining sales of the iPhone but the newly launched iPhone 7 and 7 Plus may tilt the figures in favour of Apple in the near future.

The iPhone 7 went on sale from September 16. The current quarter’s sales are likely to benefit from Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 fiasco.

Apple is set to unveil new Mac computers on October 27.

Source : Hindustan times

Read more ...

'Smart' home devices used as weapons in website attack

Image copyrightTHINKSTOCK

Image captionNet-connected cameras are helping attackers in large-scale attacks

Hackers used internet-connected home devices, such as CCTV cameras and printers, to attack popular websites on Friday, security analysts say.

Twitter, Spotify, and Reddit were among the sites taken offline on Friday.

Each uses a company called Dyn, which was the target of the attack, to direct users to its website.

Security analysts now believe the attack used the "internet of things" - web-connected home devices - to launch the assault.

Media captionTechnology explained: What is the internet of things?

Dyn is a DNS service - an internet "phone book" which directs users to the internet address where the website is stored. Such services are a crucial part of web infrastructure.

On Friday, it came under attack - a distributed denial of service (DDoS) - which relies on thousands of machines sending co-ordinated messages to overwhelm the service.

The "global event" involved "tens of millions" of internet addresses.

Media captionEXPLAINED: What is a DDoS attack?

Security firm Flashpoint said it had confirmed that the attack used "botnets" infected with the "Mirai" malware.

Many of the devices involved come from Chinese manufacturers, with easy-to-guess usernames and passwords that cannot be changed by the user - a vulnerability which the malware exploits.

"Mirai scours the Web for IoT (Internet of Things) devices protected by little more than factory-default usernames and passwords," explained cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs, "and then enlists the devices in attacks that hurl junk traffic at an online target until it can no longer accommodate legitimate visitors or users."

The owner of the device would generally have no way of knowing that it had been compromised to use in an attack, he wrote.

Mr Krebs is intimately familiar with this type of incident, after his website was targeted by a similar assault in September, in one of the biggest web attacks ever seen.

• Have hackers turned my printer into an offensive weapon?
• Do smart devices mean dumb security?

---

Media affected by attack - Leo Kelion, technology desk editor

It has emerged that the BBC's website was also briefly caught up in Friday's attack. The BBC is not a customer of Dyn itself, but it does use third-party services that rely on the domain name system hosting facilities provided by Dyn.

I understand that these include Amazon Web Services - the retail giant's cloud computing division - and Fastly - a San Francisco-based firm that helps optimise page download times.

Both companies have acknowledged being disrupted by the DDoS assault. Only some BBC users, in certain locations, would have experienced problems and they did not last long.

But there are reports that other leading media providers also experienced similar disruption.

It serves as a reminder that despite the internet being a hugely robust communications system, there are still some pinch points that mean a targeted attack can cause widespread damage.

---

The incidents mark a change in tactics for online attackers.

DDoS attacks are typically aimed at a single website. Friday's attack on Dyn, which acts as a directory service for huge numbers of firms, affected several of the world's most popular websites at once.

The use of internet-connected home devices to send the attacking messages is also a relatively new phenomenon, but may become more common.

The Mirai software used in these attacks was released publicly in September - which means anyone with the skill could build their own attacking botnet.

Image copyrightTHINKSTOCK

Image captionAny number of home devices could be used in such attacks - so long as they're connected to the internet

On social media, many researchers and analysts expressed frustration with the security gap being exploited by attackers.

"Today we answered the question 'what would happen if we connected a vast number of cheap, crummy embedded devices to broadband networks?'" wrote Matthew Green, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute.

Jeff Jarmoc, head of security for global business service Salesforce, pointed out that internet infrastructure is supposed to be more robust.

"In a relatively short time we've taken a system built to resist destruction by nuclear weapons and made it vulnerable to toasters," he tweeted.

Source : BBC News

Read more ...