Tuesday, June 24, 2008

TCP Optimizer - Tips For BEGINNERS

General Settings tab:
Custom settings - check
Modify All Network Adapters - check
network adapter selection - your NIC
MTU ?
TTL - 64
TCP Receive Window - ?
MTU Discovery - Yes
Black Hole Detect - No
Selective Acks - Yes
Max Duplicate ACKs - 2
TCP 1323 Options:
Windows Scaling - ?
Timestamps - uncheck

Advanced Settings tab:
Max Connections per Server - 10
Max Connections per 1.0 Server - 20
LocalPriority - ?
Host Priority - ?
DNSPriority - ?
NetbtPriority - ?
Lan Browsing speedup - optimized
QoS: NonBestEffortLimit - 0
ToS: DisableUserTOSSetting - 0
ToS: DefaultTOSValue - 80
MaxNegativeCacheTtl - 0
NetFailureCacheTime - 0
NegativeSOACache Time - 0
LAN Request Buffer Size - 32768
Then select "Apply Changes" and reboot to take effect

How to get MTU ?
Just use TCP/IP Analyzer http://www.speedguide.net/analyzer.php

How to get proper RWIN ? (TCP Receive Window)

RWIN DEPENDS ON FOLLOWING FACTORS

+ Bandwidth
+ Which country we are in
+ Which country we surf frequently

Formula
Quote:
RWIN = BANDWIDTH (DOWNLOAD) * MAX.LATENCY /8
MAX.LATENCY : we should only assume worst latency to the country we surf to most often and stick with it.

+ We should make RWIN an EVEN multiple of MSS

+ Satellite or Wireless should use larger RWIN values because of the high latency

AFTER ALL THOSE CALCULATIONS, HERE IS A VERY ROUGH BREAKDOWN OF THE ANALYZER RECOMMENDED VALUES...

If MTU = 1500

513920 -- works for ~8 to ~30 Mbps
256960 -- 2 to 14 Mbps
128480 -- 1 to 5 Mbps
64240 -- works well up to ~2 Mbps.

If MTU = 1492

511104 -- works for ~8 to ~30 Mbps
255552 -- 2 to 14 Mbps
127776 -- 1 to 5 Mbps
63888 -- works well up to ~2 Mbps.

If MTU <>

+ LEAVE RWIN BLANK and Uncheck Window Scaling
+ Use WinSockFix
+ Update your modem's firmware to get higher MTU
+ Uninstall tweak programs like cfos Speed


If TCPOptimizer can not adjust your RWIN , try enter the value for DefaultReceiveWindow in Cablenut

Windows Scaling
Check Windows Scaling when RWIN > 65535

Constant Values:
Custom settings - check
Modify All Network Adapters - check
TTL - 64
MTU Discovery - Yes
Black Hole Detect - No
Selective Acks - Yes
Max Duplicate ACKs - 2
Timestamps - uncheck
MaxConnectionsPerServer - 10
MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server - 20
Lan Browsing speedup - optimized
QoS: NonBestEffortLimit - 0
ToS: DisableUserTOSSetting - 0
ToS: DefaultTOSValue - 80
MaxNegativeCacheTtl - 0
NetFailureCacheTime - 0
NegativeSOACache Time - 0
LAN Request Buffer Size - 32768

Host Resolution Priority

LocalPriority - 1
Host Priority - 1
DNSPriority - 1
NetbtPriority - 1

or

LocalPriority - 5
Host Priority - 6
DNSPriority - 7
NetbtPriority - 8


REMEMBER

+ Relocate your router and modem in proper place :
Relocate them to some place that are a few feet away from ALL other electrical devices, including apart from each other.Also, make sure you do not coil up any excess length of signal or power cables.

+ Scan for Spyware/malware:

We recommend

Quote:
Ccleaner
AVG AntiSpyware
Ad-Aware 2007
Spybot Search & Destroy
+ Get MORE 20% bandwidth with Win XP :
Quote:
Run and type “gpedit.msc” > Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > QOS Packet Scheduler > Limit Reservable Bandwidth > Double click on Limit Reservable bandwidth > Enabled reservable bandwidth > Set it to 0.
+ Disable unnecessary items :
Quote:
Start > Run > type "msconfig" > StartUp tab > Uncheck unnecessary items
Quote:
Start > Control Panel > Network Connection > Choose your Network > Uncheck "Client for Microsoft Networks”, “File and Printer sharing for Microsoft Network” , and “QoS Packet scheduler”.
Quote:
Right click on My Computer > Properties > Advanced tab > Perfomance : Settings > Visual Effects tab > Check "Adjust for best performance" (check "Visual Styles on windows and buttons" and "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop" if you want to keep WinXP theme).
+ Disable unnecessary services :
Quote:
Run > Type "services.msc" > Disable "Application Layer Gateway Service", "Automatic Updates & Background Intelligent Transfer Service", "QoS RSVP" > Restart Win !!!

+ Using OpenDNS :
Quote:
Start > Control Panel > Network Connection > Choose your Network > Properties > Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) > Properties > Use the following DNS server addresses => 208 67 222 222, 208 67 220 220.
+ Fake IP and Save Bandwidth with Toonel :
Toonel is an experiment in a technique for conserving network bandwidth. If you are paying a fee based on the amount of data you transfer (e.g. 3G/GPRS/DSL/CDMA) and have monthly download limit, or if you have narrowband connection (e.g. dialup modem) then you are most likely to appreciate the service toonel.net offers (http://toonel.net).

Note : It requires Java Environment (http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp)

Set the following proxy for Browser: 127.0.0.1 Port 8080

Quote:
+ Internet Explorer : Tools > Internet Options > Connections > “LAN settings” > “ Use a proxy server for your LAN” > Address : 127.0.0.1 Port 8080.

+ Mozilla FireFox : Tools > Options > Advanced > Network > Connection > “Settings” > Manual Proxy Configuration > HTTP Proxy : 127.0.0.1 Port 8080.
+ OpenDNS works with Toonel :
Quote:
Start > Control Panel > Network Connection > Choose your Network > Properties > Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) > Properties > Advanced > DNS > uncheck Append parent suffixes of the primary DNS suffix.

+ FireFox Speed Hacks :

Speed Hacks

1. Pipelining: By default pipelining is disabled in Firefox. Usually when we visit a site the browser will make only one request to the server but while Pipelining is enabled it makes more than one request.It works like a download accelerator. You will notice a great change in speed while accessing sites in slow server.

In the filter bar type network.http.pipelining. You will be shown the result that matches your search. The first one will be network.http.pipelining itself with a boolean variable. Check the value, if its false double click and make it true

Next you will find an network.http.pipelining.maxrequests just below the previous line. Its an integer value with 4 as default. Change the value to 10, 20 or even 30. Test different values and see which one is optimum for your connection

2. Rendering Delay: Now create a new integer by right clicking anywhere and selecting Integer from New. Give the name as nglayout.initialpaint.delay and the integer value as 0. This specifies the amount of time the browser waits before rendering the page with information it got. You will find the page loading part by part but this is a useful hack as texts will be displayed first.
NOTE: If you get a lot of “Page not found” error after applying this, then try to increase the value from 0 to say 2 or 3.

Summary:

* Set network.http.pipelining to true
* Set network.http.proxy.pipelining to true
* Set network.http.pipelining.maxrequests to 20 or whatever value you like
* Create a new integer called nglayout.initialpaint.delay and give its value as 0

Optimize

Ever noticed of instances when Firefox’s CPU usage shoots up to 90% and the Memory usage shoots up to anywhere between 200 MB and 700 MB(this happens if you dare to open 200+ tabs like this gal tried )? Read on for some tips to improve the situation.

1. Excellent tips from Zolved (go to the site for detailed instructions)

Check your Extensions and Themes.
Check the Plug-ins.
Clear Download History.
Restart Firefox Periodically.
Assign Memory Cache on Firefox.
Release Memory when Firefox is minimized

2. Disable prefetch: Firefox has a nasty habit (sometimes this is useful) when you search in Google. It automatically loads the sites you are likely to visit like the first result. Disabling these can be a good idea for people with low-speed internet connection or low RAM. You can also disable this if you are bandwidth miser :P. To do this type in network.prefetch-next in the filter box and double click the value to turn it to false.

Summary

* Disable unwanted Extensions
* Disable unwanted Plug-ins.
* Clear Download History.
* Restart Firefox Periodically and don’t hibernate/sleep your computer while Firefox is running
* Set browser.cache.memory.enable to true, create a new integer named browser.cache.memory.capacity and give its value equal to 16 times your RAM capacity in MB (16 X your RAM size which is usually 256 or 512).
* Create a new boolean value named config.trim_on_minimize and set it to true
* Disable prefetch by toggling network.prefetch-next to false


FireFox Add-ons to save bandwidth and faster connection :

+ AdBlockPlus (Block Images , Flash...) https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865

+ AdBlockPlus Element Hiding Helper (block HTML elements, WYSIWYG style) https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4364

+ NoScript (Block Javascripts with Filter and more...) https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722

FireFox Add-ons to hack Google :

GreaseMonkey : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748

Two Column Google (row-wise) places Google search results into two columns row-wise, making use of wasted space on large monitors. http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/8477

(Install GreaseMonkey first then Two Column Google)

More FireFox Usages:

Quote:
+ Disable Cookies (protect yourself from eyes, save bandwidth and Disk space) : Tools > Options > Privacy > Uncheck accept cookies from sites
(note : allow Google.com and Yahoo.com, and of course speedguide.net)
+
Quote:
Large cache (save bandwidth and load pages faster) : Tools > Advanced > Network > Set cache (500 MB is recommended)
More Useful Links :

Dr Tweak

Speedtest

HijackThis

IP Lookup

Monday, June 23, 2008

SG Tweaking tools

SG TCP/IP Analyzer - a tool for analyzing your TCP/IP settings.
SG TCP/IP Optimizer - a program for tweaking broadband-related Registry settings, works with Windows 9x/Me/NT/2k/XP
SG Speed Test v2 - Speed test, we have a number of mirrors you can use to test your current speed from different locations.
SG Registry Patches - simple Registry patches for adding the optimal settings for tweaking broadband internet connections.

Popular Threads you should read

Mnosteele - Mccoffee - Dannjr's take on Tweaking (combined in a single thread).
Lobo's XP Tweaks thread - very informative !
56k Tweaks for all OSes - by mnosteele52


Additional Notes
  • Answers to some of the most commonly asked questions can be found here: Broadband Tweaking FAQ
  • When asking questions about tweaking, please include your Operating System.
  • To return your Registry to its default "untweaked" state, either apply one of our default patches appropriate for your OS, or use our SG TCP/IP Optimizer.
  • Your ISP limits your bandwidth. The only thing you can do is optimize your end of the connection... Uncapping is not going to get you far, for more information read the related posts in our General Cable/DSL Forum or our Uncapping Editorial
To simplify the process of getting help with tweaking your connection, try following the guidelines below, and answer as many of the questions as you can:
  • Copy and paste your results (not URL) from the SG TCP/IP Analyzer. From the word MTU, all the way down to IP type of service field (RFC1349). Make sure you don't paste your IP Address.
  • What Operating system are you running? (Win95/98/2k/XP)
  • What type of internet connection do you have? Who is your ISP and what are your advertised speeds. (56krap/ISDN/DSL/Cable/T1/etc)
  • What (if any) PPPoE software are you running? [Enternet/RasPPPoE/WinPoet/WinXPPPoE/Router] (If you have a DSL connection which requires you to type a username and password before connecting to the internet, then you're connecting via PPPoE.)
  • Post the results of a speed test. There is one in the Members' Menu on the main SG page, here is another sample link: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest
  • Download the SG TCP Optimizer. It's a program for tweaking broadband-related Registry settings, works with Windows 9x/Me/NT/2k/XP/2k3 (it has the option to return your Registry to its default "untweaked" state as well)
  • Learn more about tweaking:
    Broadband Tweaking FAQ
    Broadband Tweaking Resources

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Speedguide.net - TCP Optimizer

SG TCP Optimizer
TCP Optimizer Description: The TCP Optimizer is a free, easy Windows program that provides an intuitive interface for tuning and optimizing your Internet connection. There is no installation required, just download and run.

The program can aid both the novice and the advanced user in tweaking related TCP/IP parameters in the Windows Registry, making it easy to tune your system to the type of Internet connection used. The tool uses advanced algorithms, and the bandwidth*delay product to find the best TCP Window for your specific connection speed. It provides for easy tuning of all related TCP/IP parameters, such as MTU, RWIN, and even advanced ones like QoS and ToS/Diffserv prioritization. The program works with all current versions of Windows, and includes additional tools, such as testing average latency over multiple hosts, and finding the largest possible packet size (MTU).

The TCP Optimizer is targeted towards broadband internet connections, however it can be helpful with tuning any internet connection type, from dialup to Gigabit+ :)

If you need help with the program, check the TCP Optimizer documentation, read our broadband tweaking articles, the Optimizer FAQ, and/or visit our Forums. The program can be freely (re)distributed, as long as you give us proper credit as the author, and it is not sold for profit.

Mirrors:
SpeedGuide.net (recommended)
Download.com
MajorGeeks.com
Softpedia.com
The legacy unsupported version 1 of the Optimizer is still downloadable from -here-.

OS: Windows 9x/ME/2K/XP/XP-SP2/2k3 | version: 2.0.3 | date: 01/06/2006 | filesize: 596 KB

Source : http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php