Top Five Bandwidth Utilities

Beef up your Internet or modem connection with these shareware utilities.

Linda L. Grubbs, PCWorld.com

1. Download Accelerator Plus 4.0 Beta: Have a bunch of files you want to download? No problem. This free utility lets you gather all the files, and then schedule when you want the download to begin. Look for files using the predefined search categories (games, MP3 files, and programs, for example) or add specific URLs to the program. Once you locate your file, a list of the best locations (mirror sites) to retrieve the file is generated so you can find the most reliable connection. Multiserver connections are also supported, and an Always Resume feature finishes downloads that are interrupted due to lost connections. What I like best about the program is how quickly it is able to download multiple files simultaneously.

2. Internet Turbo 99: I have high-speed access at home and at work, so I wanted to try out a program that would increase my modem connection speed. I wasn't disappointed. This utility changes certain Windows settings to prevent data fragmentation during transfer, resulting in an increase in Internet connection performance. Although my modem still wasn't as fast as my digital subscriber line connection, it performed noticeably quicker than it did without the program. I downloaded programs and checked e-mail without having to wait for long periods of time for the download process to finish. A ping function that lets you check your Internet service provider every couple of minutes so you won't be disconnected for inactivity. I set the program check every 5 minutes, and spent 2 hours online without being disconnected once. The program can be used with a dial-up modem or local area network connection, and will configure your system according to the setting you use at startup. A trial version is available for 30 days.

3. Modem Booster: Wondering if your modem is performing up to par? This program optimizes your modem settings so it performs at its peak level. It's compatible with America Online, Compuserve 2000, and Windows Dialup Networking. A configuration wizard takes you through the setup process: Just select a dialup profile, or create one with the program's wizard, and the program does the rest. You'll need to have your Internet service provider login name and password handy; the whole processes took less than 10 minutes. Once you're set up, use the Auto Tune-Up feature to analyze your modem and generate a report telling you how well your modem performed. I ran the test on a 56K modem; the report showed the modem's speed level before and after optimization with an overall improvement of 15 percent. A registration fee of $20 is required after the 21-day trial period.

4. SpeedNet: This $25 shareware program has Download Manager, Internet security, and InternetBoost features. The Internet Security feature alerts you when someone is trying to access one of your ports, and the IP Resolving setting adjusts the connection speed, and lets you save for future use the URLs of sites you'd like to connect to faster. If you don't see a speed improvement after using the program, you can just switch back to the default setting. I tried out the program with a graphics-heavy site, and it did load faster than when I tried accessing the site without using SpeedNet. Note: This version does not contain visual basic files. To get them, download the Visual Basic 6.0 Runtime Module.

5. ModemMonitor Graph: This free program has several useful features: a graph displays details of CPU and modem performance, including number of bytes transmitted or received, connection speed, and information about available memory; a Dialup Manager can configure dial-up settings for different users; a Sampling Rate function lets you increase the transfer rate for a downloadable file; and a Launch List will automatically launch the programs you choose when an Internet connection is established. I used this last feature to have ICQ open automatically, for example.

For more bandwidth utilities, visit our Internet Tools Library.