I'm not sure I'm getting the best speed from my Internet connection, but the Connection Status window in Windows XP doesn't give me any useful information. And while I'm at it, are the ads I've seen for "faster" Internet connections mostly hype, or is there something I can do to improve my connection speed without spending any extra cash?
Throughput is the practical measurement of bandwidth: the quantity of data you can transmit over a connection in a given period of time. The simplest way to measure your throughput is to visit one of the many bandwidth-measuring web sites, such as Broadbandreports.com (http://www.dslreports.com/stest/ ) or Bandwidth Place (http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/ ).
For the most accurate results, make sure you close all superfluous programs before running the test. In addition to calculating your bandwidth and reporting the results, these services typically ask for your Zip Code and connection type to compile statistics on typical connection speeds in your area. The results should look something like Figure.
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 841x729. 
Now, according to the results in Figure, the download speed is a respectable 1267 kbps (kilobits per second), which means, in practical terms, that it should take about 6.5 seconds to download a 1-MB file under ideal conditions.
However, ideal conditions are rare; real-life transfers are often much slower, due to overburdened servers and busy networks. Since your connection speed (or lack thereof) is most noticeable during file downloads (compared with web surfing or emailing), you can overcome some of these conditions by using a download manager.
So what do you do if your connection seems too slow? First, close all open windows, and turn off all background programs (such as the ones that show up in the System Tray in the lower-right corner of the screen, near the clock). Do the same for any other PCs using your Internet
connection. Next, examine the lights on your router or broadband modem; if they're flashing, it means that some program is still running on your PC, possibly consuming bandwidth. This is a possible sign that a virus, worm, Trojan horse, or some sort of spyware has made its way onto your PC.
There's a little-known change in Service Pack 2 that limits the number of concurrent open TCP/IP connection attempts to 10. This may adversely affect programs that use multiple TCP/IP connections, such as some download managers, port scanners, and P2P software (and, by design,
viruses).
To see if this is happening on your system, open the Event Viewer (select Start --> Run and type eventvwr.msc ), and highlight the System entry in the left pane. In the right pane, click the Event column header to sort the list by event code, scroll through the list, and look for 4226 errors. If
you see any 4226 events, you can fix the problem by downloading a patch for your tcpip.sys file (sorry, no Registry change here) by going to http://www.lvllord.de/?url=tools#4226patch .
Note that only advanced users should attempt this.
Note: For real-time monitoring of your connection's throughput, try a desktop bandwidth monitor. The slickest tools are widgets, fancy plug-ins for the free Kapsules script engine (http://www.kwidgets.com ) For instance, Bandwidth Watcher, Simple Bandwidth Monitor, Mr. Network, and KapMule, all available at http://www.kwidgets.com/forge.aspx , provide pretty graphical displays and up- to-the-second measurements of the amount of data being transferred via your Internet connection .
Of course, it's also possible that you're hitting the upper limit of your broadband connection. But whether or not an upgrade from your ISP is worth the money depends on the bandwidth you're getting now and the amount of cash your ISP is demanding for the faster service. If your
connection measures more than one megabit per second (1024 kbps), it's unlikely you'll notice a huge difference in real-world speed with a faster connection. On the other hand, more expensive connections sometimes offer substantially higher upload speeds, which may be worth the added cost if you spend a lot of time sending files to web servers, or even if you want to host a web site on your PC.
Note: If you're using a router, visit the manufacturer's web site for a possible firm-ware update that might fix some performance problems and may even add new features to your router
Measure Your Internet Connection Speed
Overcome a Bandwidth Limit in SP2
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