How
To Improve Your Crappy Connection
To Freeserve, BT or NTL
Okay,
so we all know that Freeserve, NTL & BT are rubbish, but hey, they're cheap!
If you're frustrated by a poor connection rate, here are a few tips (the ones
that these two lovely ISP's can't be bothered to tell you).
1.
Do you have a clean phone line? Disconnect all the phones
in your house. Attach a phone to the line you use for your modem and listen
to the dial tone. If you can hear any crackles contact your telecom provider
and report a fault.
2.
Maximise the gain. If you have a BT line, call them and ask
for your gain to be increased. This can make quite a difference, and won't
affect the quality of your voice calls. (It's free, by the way!)
3.
Do you have a V90 modem? This is VERY IMPORTANT. Neither ISP
works well with a 56k modem. Either update your driver to V90 or replace your
modem. Internal software modems can be bought for under £15 from auction
sites (QXL.COM , ebay.co.uk etc.). An external serial port modem is even better,
but costs a little more.
4.
NTL users only. Don't use that awful Gearbox software! Uninstall
it and use manual settings.
5.
The tweaks:
Double
click the My Computer icon.
Double
click the Dial Up Networking icon.
Right
click on the icon corresponding to your connection. (Freeserve, NTL, etc.).
Click
Properties and verify that you are using the correct modem.
Click
Configure.
Set
the maximum speed to 115200 and ensure that the Connect Only At This Speed
box is UNCHECKED.
Click
the Connection tab.
Set
8 data bits.
Set
no parity.
Set
one stop bit.
Click
Port Settings.
Ensure
that the 16550 box is CHECKED.
Move
both sliders to the far right.
Click
Close.
Click
Advanced.
Use
Error Control: CHECKED.
Required
To Connect: UNCHECKED.
Compress
Data: CHECKED.
Cellular
Protocol: UNCHECKED.
Use
Flow Control: CHECKED (set to hardware.)
Modulation
Type: STANDARD.
In
Extra Settings, type: S11=50
Click
OK.
Click
OK.
Click
Server Types.
Verify
that Dial Up Server Type is: PPP:Internet,Windows NT Server, Windows 98.
Click
Advanced Options.
Log
On To Network: UNCHECKED.
Enable
Software Compression: CHECKED.
In
Allowed Network Protocol, TCP/IP should be the only option CHECKED.
Click
TCP/IP.
Use
IP Header: CHECKED.
Use
Default Gateway: CHECKED.
HOPE THAT HELPS!
