Improving Web Speed in the DR

If, like me, you've been complaining about the slow web speed provided by our ISP, CODETEL, I can tell you how I significantly improved mine. Previously, with my 56K modem, I was getting speeds of somewhere between 19 and 35 (rarely the latter) when I tested the speed (see http://msn.zdnet.com/partners/msn/bandwidth/speedtest50.htm to test your present speed.) CODETEL is still my ISP, but for no cost and no bad "side effects" my scores on the speed test are now running between 49-52 and download time has SIGNIFCANTLY improved. The difference is that my internet traffic is now routed through servers on the Netsetter Network, and in a variety of ways they enhance access speed. There is no advertising connected with this, my personal profile is not made available to anyone else, and I get no information from anyone else unless I authorize it. All that is involved is that Netsetter, which is an internet rating company similar to a TV rating service, is able to track my internet usage. The info gotten from me and the others participating is made available to clients in the same way a tv or radio rating service makes its information available. If you'd like to know more about my experience and how to improve your own web speed, send me an email.

Speed improvements have been made possible by an improved international connection which codetel has been deploying. International bandwith for codetel is more than twice of what it was before. DSL users will specially notice the better conection and that investment will start to pay off.

Using an external network router is useless because you still have to go to codetel's pipe. Throughput tests like the ones featured on zdnet are also quite unreliable because of all the in between factos no one controls.

You are entitled to your opinion, Marcos, but--based on my experience--I don't agree. So that I would have a before and after comparison, I made the bandwidth test just before signing on with Netsetter. It was 35, which was certainly better than when I checked several weeks ago. Approximately 5 minutes later, after completing the netsetter sign-up process, I checked again. This time my time was 51.7, much closer to the ideal of 56, given my modem. Also, I had postponed making a download until after signing on with netsetter. This time I noted, with pleasure, that my download speed was 6 or 7 per second, rather than 2 to 2.5 as previously. Why not make the same test yourself? If signing up with netsetter makes no change, or slows you down, then cancel your participation. By the way, I don't have DSL; I have a dial-up connection like the majority of CODETEL users.

What REALLY boosts your surfing experience is to implement
a proxy cache. Any computer will do. Even a 486 is ok.

We implemented proxy caches for quite some clients with crappy
codetel links using a simple computer with linux and squid, both free.

People tend to visit the same sites often anyway so this will
speed up performance enormously. The clients have been very
happy with it!

Marco