Increase Dialup Internet Speed

Your 56 K Dial up modem can be a very annoying piece of computer hardware. It seems like ancient technology today, but for those who do not have access to high speed Internet, it is a necessary link to the Internet. Let's face it, even at slow dialup speeds, the Internet is still an awesome experience. Of course slow connection speeds reduce the fun somewhat. We hope this page helps you find a faster Internet. Please read on.

Modem Tweaks - A Few Basic 56K Tweaks

Here are a few basic modem tweaks that may or may not give you a minor speed increase. Remember... there are many PC system configurations, etc., so of course we can NOT guarantee the modem tweaks below will work for everyone. You will be continuing at your own risk as this information is for your consideration only and is NOT guaranteed to be accurate. These are old tweaks from Windows 98 days but some have claimed success using them on Windows XP. Proceed at your own risk. For XP and Vista users, we recommend PC optimizer software that improves dialup Internet speed safely and easily.

Most of these tweaks require you to open the Control Panel.

1 - Communications Port
The VERY first thing you need to do is write down all of your default settings before you change anything. You are proceeding at your own risk. In the Control Panel, click on System and select Hardware, Device Manager. Open up Ports [COM & LPT] and select the port your modem is on (COM2 on our system) by highlighting it and clicking Properties near the bottom. Now click Port Settings and move on to the next paragraph. NOTE - if your modem is not listed on one of these ports, please move to step 5.

2 - Bits Per Second Settings
We need to change these settings because your modem speed is usually optimally set up for 115200 bits per second. So if this port is set at 9600 bps (the default), you may be losing valuable Internet speed. Change the Bits per second to at least 115200 for 56k modems. You may be able to set it higher, but if you experience problems, just drop it back to 115200. Remember, these tweaks will not work for everyone - I hope you are keeping track of your default settings. Now keep everything open and move on to the next paragraph.

3 - Flow Control
The flow control (near bottom) is usually set by default to Xon/Xoff which is the software control. Change this to Hardware to receive the full benefit of your modem. Keep the box open and move to the next step.

4 - Receive-Transmit Buffers
Now click the Advanced button. The default value usually has the Receive Buffer at the 2/3 mark. Slide the Receive Buffer fully to the right (High) to match the Transmit Buffer which should already be fully to the right. This should increase performance but if you do experience problems, simply return it to the previous value. We're done with the Communications Port, so set all the values by click OK in all the open boxes - but keep your Control Panel open.

5 - Modem Settings
From your Control Panel window, click and open modems. Highlight your modem (already done if there's only one to choose) and click on Properties (NOT Dialing Properties). You should be in the General tab.If you are annoyed by that annoying dialup sound, here's your chance to silence it. Simply move the Speaker volume slider all the way to the left. If you do experience problems, simply return here and put it back up and accept my condolences. Also, some people like to hear the modem dialing in when tweaking to hear if the dialing is successful. It's best to change this after you are comfortable that your modem is functioning properly.

Now make sure the Maximum speed is set to 115200. Now make sure the Only connect at this speed box is NOT checked.

Now click on Connection tab. Data bits should be set to 8, Parity to none, and Stop bits to 1. Then click on Port Settings and move the Receive Buffer slider all the way to the right (High). Now click OK to close the Port Settings and then click Advanced and continue to the next paragraph.

6 - Advanced Connection Settings and INIT String

See if you have the optimal settings and correct as needed.

Use error control should be CHECKED.
Required to connect should be UNCHECKED.
Compress data should be CHECKED.
Use flow control should be CHECKED.
Hardware [RTS/CTS] should be CHECKED (actually a dot).
Software [XON/XOFF] is therefore blanked.
Modulation type should be set to Standard. (If option available)


INIT String
What about the Extra settings you say? This is for an initialization string that you can add. I never experienced any performance boost with the init string. What it did do was take control of my modems sound setting so I couldn't turn the sound off. I removed it to get relief from the annoying dialup noise. If you're still interested, you'll need the make and model of your modem before you run to Google to search for your init string.

Don't forget to bookmark this page. After you have completed the modem tweaks, you should reboot your machine for the changes to take effect. If you found this page useful, please tell your friends about inboost.com

There are many more tweaks that require some knowledge of your registry. It is far beyond the scope of this simple modem tweak page to dig into the inner workings of the registry. All of these very sensitive registry settings are very important for optimization. However, due to the great potential for disaster, we highly recommend you do not try to edit your registry. Just changing one value incorrectly within the registry, can cause your computer to behave miserably. In some cases, the PC will no longer reboot. A much better option is accelerator software solutions which automatically perform registry tweaking among its long list of optimizing routines.