5 Tips for Speeding Up Your Dial-up connection

So you're stuck on dial-up for one reason or another, and there's days you're about to go out of your mind. Many websites are being made with interactive banners and ads, streaming audio and video clips, and colorful flash programs that dial-up can barely load, or not at all. Here are a few things you may not have thought to try before. These tips will help you maximize your online experience.

Focus your surfing. Keep your browsing to one window at a time. Or, toggle between two pages. While your email homepage is loading, you can log into your bank account. Close any tabs and pages that you are no longer using as soon as you get the chance. Create favorites or bookmarks so you load the page you want right away. Some welcome screens and ad pages give you a small link to click of you want to skip it. You don't always need the whole web page to load. Click the stop button at the top of the browser if you already see the part of the page you want. If you see the link you're looking for, you don't need to wait to click on that link.

Eliminate programs running in the background. Your anti-virus program or Window's updates could be downloading updates when you're trying to check your email. Your messenger program could be automatically connecting every time you go online to pay a bill. Try to install updates and download programs at a time that you aren't trying to view web pages. Close the weather programs, messengers, etc., that require an Internet connection if you are not using them. You can often change the options in these programs to not start up automatically or change the schedule of the updates.

Save big downloads for when you're not surfing. You can connect first thing in the morning and update your anti-virus, etc., while you're eating breakfast or getting ready for work. When you're checking your email or reading the news later, you don't have to worry about sharing your bandwidth with your necessary updates. Let your large downloads run overnight and install them the next day. You can also save large files to a flash drive while you're at the library or a coffee shop with free wireless service and install them when you get home.

Clear your caches frequently. Your Internet browser saves files, cookies, history, etc., every time you open a web page. This is handy for going back and forth between the pages you visited that day or week, but eventually your browser becomes bogged down with all the extra files. It's good practice to completely clear out all your stored files every six weeks or months, depending on how much you surf on a daily basis. You should find these options on your tools menu of your browser.

Try a different browser. If you have a Microsoft Windows, your computer came with Internet Explorer and you probably surf with this browser. There are other browsers, most of them free to download, that are compatible with most websites. Your surfing speed could be transformed simply by using a faster browser. Some browsers come with accelerators and features that load web pages faster. Three of the most popular browsers include; Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera. Try all three or ask around to figure out which one is the fastest or best for your surfing needs.

There are more ways to boost your connection speed that you may find helpful. Your ISP may offer accelerators or different access numbers you could try. You may also need to upgrade to a better modem (V.92 is the latest) or replace your phone lines. You may also need to clean up your computer by uninstalling unnecessary programs or defragmenting the hard drive. Check with your local computer technician for more information.
Written by Hannah Miller, Director of Online Marketing and Customer Service Rep, Copper.net.

Copper.net is a provider of nationwide dial-up Internet and is all-American owned and operated. Call today, 1-800-336-3318 or sign up online. Check out my blog! http://hmiller1234.wordpress.com/