From: bobrankin@ULSTER.NET
Reply-To: TOURBUS-Request@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
To: TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
Subject: TOURBUS - 27 Oct 1998 - Slowdowns and Speedups
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\___/ \___/ T h e I n t e r n e t T o u r B u s \___/
TODAY'S TOURBUS TOPIC: Slowdowns and Speedups
Hi again! In today's issue we'll visit somes sites that'll help you
figure out why the Internet is sometimes slow, then we'll check out
some ways to boost your speed online.
If you've ever wondered why "surfing the web" is sometimes more like
"waiting in line at the post office", then you'll enjoy this one!
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THE INTERNET TRAFFIC REPORT
---------------------------
The Internet Traffic Report monitors the flow of data around the
world. Visit this page and you'll find a map of the world labelled
with numbers between zero and 100. Higher values indicate faster and
more reliable connections. As I write this, the global index is
sitting at 56, down one point from a few hours ago.
If you're having trouble accessing a particular website, check the
Internet Traffic Report, so you can determine if your problems are
global or local. You'll also find a Global Traffic Index, Global
Response Time Index, and a Global Packet Loss chart. Each has 7-day and
30-day graphs so you can check out Internet performance from the recent
past. (It would be nice to see data from one, two or five years ago,
but I couldn't find it there.)
Traffic Report - http://www.InternetTrafficReport.com
INTERNET WEATHER REPORT
-----------------------
This is similar to the Traffic Report, but the data is displayed
differently. This site uses Java to present ongoing animated scans of
conditions within the Internet. Sort of like newspaper or TV weather
radar reports, but it's about conditions inside the Internet itself.
Trouble spots are highlighted with larger circles. I found the data on
this site harder to interpret, but more fun to watch!
Weather Report - http://www.mids.org/weather
TRACEROUTE
----------
Traceroute checks the path between two Internet sites to see exactly
where the bottlenecks are. Yesterday, I was having trouble getting to
the FlowersFast site. I was ready to blame my host ISP, but a quick
traceroute showed the problem was a very slow UUNET link near Chicago.
The best way to do Traceroute is to run it from your own computer,
or on your ISP's server. If you have a Unix shell account, just type
something like this to check the route between your ISP and the site
in question:
traceroute flowersfast.com
I highly recommend the NeoTrace program for Windows users. It gives
an awesome graphical real-time display of the links from here to there
and does color coding for link speeds, and displays special icons for
different types of sites and countries. Very slick!
NeoTrace - http://www.neoworx.com/neotrace
If you can't run traceroute from your own computer, the next best
thing is to visit the website below and find a location close to you
so you can see the results of a traceroute from that site to the site
you want to check out.
WWW Traceroute - http://noc.iccom.net/traceroute.html
You'll learn a lot about the topology of the Net, and the backbone
providers who make it all work, if you examine the results of several
traceroute queries.
DIPSTICK
--------
Dipstick is a little Windows program that helps you figure out the
best download site when you're ready to download a file, but there
are multiple sites listed. Just drag and drop the URL to see which
download site is fastest. This can save you a lot of time if you're
going to download a large file, since some sites are much busier
than others.
Dipstick - http://www.klever.net/kin/dipstick.html
MTUSPEED
--------
This is a great little utility that helps you optimize your Win95
Internet connection. Turns out the Microsoft defaults work well for
LAN users, but are not so great for dialup users. Let MTUSPEED tweak
your Windows registry and you'll probably get a boost of 30% or more.
MTUSPEED - http://www.mjs.u-net.com/mtuspeed.htm
MIDPOINT TEAMER
---------------
If you have two modems, two phone lines, and two ISP accounts,
Midpoint Teamer can combine them to double your surfing speed.
You use your browser normally, but under the covers your modems
share the load. Midpoint Teamer improves performance for receiving
web pages, graphics and file downloads.
Midpoint Teamer - http://www.midcore.com/team.htm
Hope this helps you go faster - see you next time! --Bob Rankin
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