How to Speed Up a Broadband Download

How to Speed Up a Broadband Download thumbnail
Broadband is not one speed.

Broadband is by definition faster than dial-up. Dial-up can only get up to 56 Kbps, and the slowest broadband connection is about 760 Kbps. Broadband, however, encompasses a large variation of connection speeds up to 20Mbps or more. Whether you have a slower-than-average broadband connection or a relatively fast connection, there may be times when a faster download can save you significant time, especially if you want to download very large files or more than a few files at the same time.

Instructions

    • 1

      Close any programs that are open on your computer. Open applications and Web browsers can take up a lot of computer resources, including bandwidth. Additional tabs in a browser take up about as much memory as opening a whole new browser.

    • 2

      Install and use a download manager. Download managers can more efficiently handle the downloading of files than Web browsers, especially if you have a problem and need to restart the download.

    • 3

      Download the same file from another location. Some files exist on other sites and servers, called mirrors. Read the download instructions on the webpage to see if the file is hosted on another server or mirror. If another site exists the file may download faster from there. You may have a fast connection, but the computer on which the file is hosted may be slow or have many people accessing it at once and slowing it down.

    • 4

      Increase your connection speed. Talk to your broadband provider to determine if you can get a faster connection and how much more it will cost. Check your connection speed with a speed test website as well. You may not be getting all of the speed for which you are paying.

Related Searches:

Resources

  • Photo Credit speed image by Kevin Chesson from Fotolia.com

Comments

You May Also Like

Related Ads

Featured