Internet Advice

by the_classicist 7 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  the_classicist

  Ok, so I'm asking y'all for some computer advice as I am partly computer illiterate.

  First of all, my internet connect is painfully slow. I'm currently using Shaw Cable Internet and I'm getting download speeds of around 3000-4000kbps. I'm thinking of moving to Telus ADSL, though, because of a free digital camera offer. Is this a good idea?

  Second, I recently purged Norton Internet Security from my computer. Instead, I run Sophos Anti-Virus and I have some sort of firewall in my DLink DI-524 router. Is this a good security set up?

  Thanks for everyones' help.
• 

  professor

  
  If you are getting download speeds of 3-4 megs per second, your Internet connection is not slow. Perhaps there is something else slowing down your experience, such as spyware or low memory. If you are running on Windows XP or 2000, download Microsoft Windows Anti-Spyware here. If you're not using XP or 2000, then use Ad-Aware. Download it here. Both of these anti-spyware applications are free, and Microsoft's is unfortunately the best out there right now. You should also consider if you have enough RAM installed on your computer, and how many programs load up automatically when you start up you computer, eating your ram.

  DSL is kind of hit or miss. There are really good DSL connections out there, and really crappy ones. Usually, they lock you into a contract, so know what speeds they are promising you before you commit. Any free digital camera is probably not that good! Personally, I have been switching back and forth every six months from one high speed connection to another, just because these companies like to play that game of doubling your price after a period of time. I have had the best success with cable Internet, and, as I said, 3-4 megs per second is not slow at all, athough it could be faster. DSL most likely will not beat the speeds you are getting now.

  As far as anti-virus, the best free one by far is AVAST! download that here. It is probably a bit better to be running Norton or McAfee, if you have the $40/yr. or so to spend. I'm not sure what firewall is on your DLink router, but all you really need if you are running XP is to make sure you have downloaded servicepak 2, which includes Microsoft's firewall. Otherwise, the old standby free firewall is ZoneAlarm available here. Yes, these days if you are on broadband, you need all three: Anti-Spyware, Anti-Virus, and Firewall. I hope this information helps. If you have more questions, PM me. -pro
• 

  Simon

  and Microsoft's is unfortunately the best out there right now

  yeah, getting the best one for free sure does suck
• 

  professor

  yeah, getting the best one for free sure does suck

  Only as it eliminates the competition and stifles progress I guess.
• 

  Sam the Man

  Your D-Link router should already have firewall on it. As for Norton, get shot of it, it's useless and only slows everything down. If you are running XP make sure to open the Bandwidth pipeline http://www.flexbeta.net/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t4250.html

  Also make sure no nasty spyware is clogging up your bandwidth! Use Spybot or Ad-Aware, making sure to download all the updates first, both programmes are free - Spyware can limit your bandwidth by 40%.
• 

  Joel Wideman

  I'm surprised noone has mentioned the inherent problem with cable - your bandwidth is shared. Many people have reported being the first in their neighborhood to get it and enjoying the amazing speed, only to have it slow to a crawl as all their neighbors jumped on the bandwagon.
• 

  tetrapod.sapien

  telus adsl is quite good, especially if you are sharing your cable with other people on the same node (apartment building). i am on telus, and no problems there.

  and i agree. it doesn't sound like your connection is slow at all. perhaps you have a bunch of unneeded processes running on your computer, slowing your experience down, not your connection. the only way that you can know what is needed and what isn't, is to learn a bit about the programs you have running when you go ctrl+alt+del and click on the "processes" tab. a lot of these programs are needed. do not stop any programs that you don't recognize. but you can google search the ones you are suspicious of, and "end" them if you find out that they are not required for daily purposes. for example, i have a scanner. the software that came with it will run in the background of my computer 24/7 even though i only use the scanner once a week. so i disabled it. this does not uninstall it. and when i want to use the scanner, i just fire the software up from the start menu. and if you want to stop a software from starting up in the background, just go start>run> and type "MSCONFIG". this will bring up a little window. click on the startup tab, and deselect the programs that you know forsure you do not need to start up every time you reboot. if you don't know forsure, then don't touch it. google it.

  a router with a firewall, and some free antivirus on your computer is all you should need. sophos is fine too.

  TS
• 

  the_classicist

  Thanks for the advice.

  I was running the speed tests around 3 in the morning so that explains why they were so fast. During the today, my connection has gone down to between 700-2500 kbps and I can't even break the 3000 kbps mark (my ISP advertises 5mbps). Telus over here runs at about 1.5-2.0, so it's basically the same. (Plus, my ISP also throttles p2p programs and bit torrent downloads, which now take forever and now there's no reason to really stay with cable).

  PS. The camera looks okay. Sony Cyber-Shot (4.1 megapixel).