Improving Connection Speeds

If you have a slow Internet connection and are using a graphical browser (a browser that has pictures as well as text), there are a few things you can do to improve your connection speed:

1. If you have a very slow connection, turn images off.
Images can take a long time if your connection is slow. The easiest, most noticeable option is to turn off images in your browser. The way to do this is slightly different in every browser, but you can usually access this feature through an Options or Preferences menu item. You can always turn the images back on and reload a page if you want to get all the graphics.

In Internet Explorer:

  1. go to the TOOLS menu
  2. select Internet Options
  3. click on the Advanced tab
  4. scroll down the list to turn images on or off.

2. Don’t dither colors.
Your computer may not be able to read all colors. Your browser either automatically finds the closest substitute or uses a process called dithering, which tries to create a color that comes as close as possible to the intended shade. Dithering takes more time than automatic substitution, so if you don’t mind some odd-looking colors occasionally, make sure dithering is turned off. Usually you can turn off dithering in an Options/Preferences menu item.

In Internet Explorer:

  1. go to the TOOLS menu
  2. select Internet Options
  3. click on the Advanced tab
  4. scroll down the list to turn ‘smart dithering’ on or off

3. Make your cache smaller.
Browsers usually store Web pages in both memory caches and disk caches, and your computer checks each newly requested document against both of these caches. This can take unnecessary time. In most browsers you can set your cache option to check “once per session.” If you notice that it takes an especially long time to shut down your browser, try reducing the size of your disk cache.

To clean out your cache in Internet Explorer:

  1. go to the TOOLS menu
  2. select Internet Options
  3. click on the General tab
  4. click on the Delete Files button to empty your cache. It’s good to do this every once in awhile to reduce download time.

To reduce your disk cache size in Internet Explorer:

  1. go to the TOOLS menu
  2. select Internet Options
  3. click on the General tab
  4. click on the Settings button and use slider to reduce your disk cache space and/or select another drive space for it.

Information adapted fromEngenderHealthweb source. EngenderHealth worldwide to improve the lives of individuals by making reproductive health services safe, available, and sustainable. We provide technical assistance, training, and information, with a focus on practical solutions that improve services where resources are scarce all over the world.

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