Often Internet performance can be further improved. Here's a collection of tips and tricks that you may want to review.

• Can you get a faster modem? Older modems can cause slower connection speeds. It is recommended to as high a speed modem as is available, so-called 56K modems.
  
• Check the quality of your telephone cord. Cheap phone cords can reduce signal strength and quality, thereby contributing to slower connection speeds.
  
• Check the quality of the telephone wire between the phone company’s terminator block and the phone jack inside the house. Be sure to a data-quality, twisted pair wire was used.
  
• Minimize other equipment on the line. If possible, use a dedicated phone line. If you are sharing a phone line with a fax machine, plug the modem into the wall and then the fax machine into the "phone" plug on your modem so that no other equipment is between your modem and the phone line out. Basically, anything you can do to reduce other equipment on the same phone line will improve signal strength and quality to some (usually slight) degree.
  
• Does your ISP have digital lines? When you place a call, its analog signal is routed from your home to one of your telephone company's central offices. From there, it can be sent digitally to the local company of the person or modem you are calling. Finally, your call is either reconverted into an analog signal, or forwarded directly as a digital signal. Check with your ISP.
  
• When you dial-up to your ISP, try to use a phone number close by. The distance between your local company and the number you are dialing may affect your connection speed, especially if older switching equipment is in use.
  
• Make sure your ISP isn’t overloaded. Occasional lag, or lag to certain Web sites is common on the Internet. But if your throughput is significantly less than your connect speed, your ISP may be serving more users than it can handle. This may manifest as slower-than-expected file download times or surfing speed.

If you have Propel Accelerator enabled you can test your throughout using Propel Accelerator Diagnostics, steps 2-4. If you do not have Propel Accelerator installed try the C/NET bandwidth meter. Try to identify the optimum throughput for your connection and system so you can quickly identify a slower connection. Sometimes simply hanging up and reconnecting to your ISP will get you a faster connection.