14 Steps to Faster Surfing
By Matt Lake and B. A. Nilsson
Back when the Internet was young, we
waited forever for our favorite Web pages to load. We didn't know any
better.
But now we do. Today, the Web isn't a novelty. It's a
vital tool for commerce and communications, and slow-loading pages are a
real pain in the butt. A lot of that can't be helped, because the
Net--especially in the United States--suffers from massive overload.
Current high-speed Internet lines still can't smoothly handle millions of
users.
It's not all the Internet's fault, however. Part of the
problem may be on your end. Slow hardware, incorrect Windows settings,
even your phone line or ISP can all contribute to sluggish Web
performance. So, although we can't cure what ails the Internet in general,
we will show you step-by-step techniques that you can use to bring
your Internet connection up to warp speed.
Track Your Data
If your Internet connection is slow, perhaps it's simply taking the long
way home. You know those fancy steamer trunks you see in old movies, the
ones that sport decals from dozens of exotic ports of call? There should
be special decals for Internet data. Your computer might relay signals
through ten or more different Internet routers before it reaches the site
you want to visit, and any of those routers could be holding things up.
But which one?
VisualRoute can tell you. This handy little program not
only tracks your data's Internet path but also displays it on a map. It
counts the hops (number of relays) your data takes and gives you IP
addresses for each router (where possible), domain name, and location.
VisualRoute times and graphs each hop, so you get a good look at where the
slowdowns occur. Highlight a domain name, and the program automatically
tells you which person or company owns the node in question.
To get a second, more bare-bones look at this
phenomenon, try Tracert, a Net program that comes with Windows 95/98. Like
VisualRoute, Tracert checks the path your data takes and shows you which
router is slacking off. Tracert sends a signal, or ping, to each
router that your data goes through on its way to the host server.
To run Tracert:
1.
In Windows 95/98, click the Start button and select Run.
Then type command.
2.
At the C: prompt, type tracert,
followed by a space and your site's name (for example, tracert
cnet.com).
3.
Tracert will show you up to 30 hops, indicating both the
response time and the site name or IP address of each stop along the
route.
4.
If you get more information than you need, or if one router
sticks you with repeated "Request timed out" messages, press
Ctrl-C to quit. If you get four such messages, you probably have found a
router that refuses Tracert requests.
The speed of your connection depends on the total
response time of everything along the path. With VisualRoute or Tracert
information, you can pinpoint exactly which router is wasting your time.
It's quite satisfying to be able to direct blame at a specific culprit.
Unfortunately, that's all these programs let you do. If your ISP is speedy
but one of the routers in the chain is slow, you're pretty much out of
luck. If your own ISP's servers are slow, however, consider finding
another ISP.
