To advertise on this page, email info@tigertom.comSPEED UP YOUR MODEM Last Update: 2nd April 1999 This page is now a little out of date. It caters mainly to Windows 95 users. QUICK TIPS 1. The default 28.8k modem driver in Windows will work reasonably well, if you don't know or aren't sure which branded drivers to use. Select the voice-view option if your modem supports it. Set it up the same as a 56k or 33.6 modem. Otherwise get the latest drivers at the manufacturer's website, if you have an internet connection established. 2. Right click on My Computer, then System Properties, then Performance. Under File System change the 'typical role of this machine' to Network Server. Under Virtual Memory specify your own settings to 100 - 180 Mb of HD memory IF you have plenty to spare on your hard disk (i.e. a gigabyte or more, in case you install lots of new software and overrun your allocation here.) The idea is to get your computer running without accessing the hard disk all the time. Also, get Cacheman to further this end. It's a great little utility. 3. Set up two different modems Go into Modem Properties in Control Panel, and ADD a new modem, dont let Windows look for it, but do the 'Have Disk..' and set it up on the same COM port as your existing one. You should then have two modems the same, one with '#2' at the end of it. Now you can try out your new experimental settings without deleting your old modem driver set-up. Make a separate DUN connection (under 'My Computer' - Dial-Up Networking) , selecting modem #2 4. Add a comma and some hashes after your ISP telephone number to give your modem a chance to make a faster connection e.g. 0845 3456666##, 5. If you're are upgrading to V90, be sure to get the correct firmware for your country. If you try to upgrade a UK modem attached to a UK telecom with US firmware you may damage your modem, and at best it will give you a 33.6k connection only, which is hardly the point. Upgrading my own modem involved downloading five different bits of software and installing/using them in the correct order, so make sure you've got the instructions to hand. 7. Winmodems are a bad idea. The pimp off your computer's cpu to operate, and are slower for online gaming. And lastly: Tell your telecom provider to turn up the gain and turn down the gain control or echo on your telephone line. Also, get them to turn off 'call-waiting' if you have that service on your line. And get a cable telephone line installed if you can - the signals are much 'cleaner' Resolve All System Conflicts
Backup Your Registry and System Files
FIFO Buffers and Port settings The first step to successfully tweaking your modem is downloading the newest drivers. Check out the drivers headquarters. If you're experiencing BAD lag in Quake 2 and you have an X2 56 K modem, check out The X2 Quake Workshop. Here are some more tips to follow for setting up your modem connection. (This mainly pertains to 33.6 and 56k users). Follow these steps carefully: Modem Setup 1.Go to your modems control panel. 2.Under the General tab set your modems speed to 112500 for x2/56k/v90 and 57600 for 28.8/33.6 3.Next goto the options tab and make sure your data bits are set at 8, no parity, 1 stop bit. 4.Then go to "port settings" and make sure your FIFO buffers are set to full (all the way to the right). 5.Select the "advanced" option and be sure to have error control, compression and flow control set on "hardware" 6.Then make sure if you have the correct init string set. If you dont know if you need one or not check out http://www.56k.com or http://www.x2.com 7.Now select "OK" until you are out of the modem properties.
The next thing to tweak is your MaxMTU. It may not do too much, but some people have gained a lot from it. Instead of hacking at the registry, you should really just download a program to do this for you. This way if things don't go right you can always go back into the program and change it back.
With these programs, you can tweak the following: MTU, (Maximum Transmission Unit). By default windows uses a MTU of 1500. This is aimed at LAN connections, and so is not optimised for the Internet. RWIN, (Receive Window Size) Basically RWIN is the overall speed of data transfer. This is the reason why it should be a multiple of the packet size (MTU) minus the header information. TTL, (Time To Live), is the number of routers that a packet of data will pass before giving up. Using PPP-Boost: READ THE TEXT FILE FIRST BEFORE PROCEEDING! It's got some good tips in it. 1.) Click on MTU & set this to 576 2.) Click on RWIN & set this to a multiple of 536 (40 bytes are used as a header from the MTU setting) With a 56K (40000 or above) try setting RWIN higher. Remember to keep it as a multiple of 536. See the text file for the optimum setting for your modem.
3.) Set the TTL to 32. 4.) Save these settings & close PPP Boost. You will need a reboot for these setting to take effect. COM Port SetUp 1. Right-click on My Computer, click on 'Properties' Go to the "System" control panel and select the "Device Manager" tab. 2.Then select COM and LPT and then goto your COM port used by your modem, 3. Under the General tab set your modems speed to 112500 for x2/56k/v90 and 57600 for 28.8/33.6 4. Next go to the options tab and make sure your data bits are set at 8, no parity, 1 stop bit. 5.Then go to "port settings" and make sure your FIFO buffers are set to full (all the way to the right). COM Port SetUP (Alternate method if not shown on you device manager tab) 1.Select Run from the start menu and type SYSEDIT and select ok 2.You will see a bunch on window pop up and from here go to the window labeled WIN.INI 3.Select 'Find', under 'Search' option, in the Sysedit menu bar, type "ports" and select Next. 4.Under the 'Ports' section, locate the COM port that corresponds to your modem and change the values to the following: COMx:=115200,n,8,1,p (For x2/v.90 modems.) COMx:=57600,n,8,1,p (For 28.8/33.6k modems.) (Replace 'x' with the COM port number you wrote down earlier.) 5.Select 'Save' from the SysEdit 'File' menu. 6.Select 'Exit' from the SysEdit 'File' Menu.
Experimental Settings Here are some other ideas that may help performance. Go into your system.ini file. Locate the following: [386Enh] If your modem is on Com 1, on the line directly below the [386Enh] add this: Com1Irq4Buffer=1024 If your modem is on Com 2, on the line directly below the [386Enh] add this: Com2Irq3Buffer=1024 If your modem is on Com 3, on the line directly below the [386Enh] add this: Com3Irq4Buffer=1024 If your modem is on Com 4, on the line directly below the [386Enh] add this: Com4Irq3Buffer=1024
Initialization strings To customize your modem even more you should use an initialization string that fits your needs. For more information on this, check out your modem's manual. It will have all the info you need. Here's how you use initialization strings: Go to your START menu, go to Settings, go to Control Panel. Double click Modems. Click Properties. Click the Connection tab at the top. Go to Advanced. In the box under Extra Settings type your new initialization string. Also, stop by this site for optimized modem initialization strings for nearly every modem out there. This can REALLY boost performance. One caveat: tweaking your initialisation strings can be a frustrating process, until you get the right one. If it's not, it may make your connection worse, 'though not permanently, obviously. Examples Add the following to your 'extra settings' box under My Computer>Control Panel>Modems>Properties Connection>Advanced>Extra Settings AT&F+MS=56,1,300,42000 . This is for 56k modems only. It stops modem retrains. Online gamers should change the 300 and the 42000 to a range you think your modem can handle comfortably. For downloading or browsing you can change the latter number to one a good bit higher. 56000 is a theoretical limit, and modems cannot easily reach or sustain it over an ordinary telephone line. Try AT+MS=12,1,38667,42667,1,0,33600%E0 for a V90 modem. This string would suit online gamers, as it tries to keep the modem between the two speeds and stop it 'retraining' too much. Change 42667 to 46667 or a higher value for ordinary browsing. Try these also... AT\N3%C3 (try this one first, it works ok on its' own) or AT\N4%C2-K0 AT\N5%C2 AT\N5%C1 ATZ\N7Q3 and in combination with a +MS command to select the right modulation and cap the connection rate to something reliable. Run hyperterminal, make up a bogus or test connection (click on the test icon in the hyperterminal folder in the 'accessories' directory), and then connect (direct to the COM port, in this instance), then type AT+MS=? on the white screen and press enter, and check the options it returns. For instance would... AT\N3%C3+MS=12,1,44000,46000,1,0,33600%E0 work? If not lose the 33600 and/or the %E0 on the end and try the changing the last two options around (the 0 and 1's). The manual that came with your modem should list the commands that might improve your connection when joined together in an init string as shown here. Here's another one: AT&FS95=47S91=15+MS=12,1,38667,54667,1,0
Install Windows 95 Updates
Here are some more tips to follow for setting up your modem connection. (This mainly pertains to 33.6 and 56k users). Follow these steps carefully:
1.Open the DUN folder and select your ISP you dial into by right right clicking on it and selecting properties. 2.Under the "General" tab, unmark the use area code and dialling properties box. 3.Next under the "server types" tab unmark the "log onto network", "enable software compression", "net BEUI" and "IPX/SPX compatiable" and select ok. Network settings 1.Select the 'Network' control panel. 2.Select the properties for the 'Dial-Up Adapter'. 3.Under the 'Bindings' tab, only TCP/IP should be marked, unmark everything else. 4.Under the 'Advanced' tab, click on the Property 'Use IPX header compression' and change its Value to 'No'. 5.Then select Ok to exit the 'Dial-Up Adapter' properties. 6.Next select the properties for 'TCP/IP' 7.Under the 'Bindings' tab, make sure everything is unmarked 8.Under the 'WINS Configuration' tab select 'Disable WINS Resolution'. 9.Under the 'DNS Configuration' tab select 'Disable DNS'. 10.Under the 'IP Address' tab, select 'Obtain an IP Address Automatically', if your ISP supports the function. 11.Select Ok to exit from the 'TCP/IP' properties. 12.Select Ok to exit from the 'Network' control panel. Windows 95 updates can be obtained at http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/info/updates.htm
Setup/Recertify DirectX Components
And that's it. I hope to update this page regularly, as additions occur to me. Thanks for stopping by!
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