Tech Tips: 6 Ways to Maximize Your Internet Speed

[Sam]

A fast Internet speed comes with many benefits, whether you're a gamer, an artist, or a FarmVille fanatic. When you want to browse at faster speeds, stream media in the blink of an eye, and run several programs at once, you need your Internet to carry you. Fortunately you can do a number of things to get a better browsing speed. Today I'll show you 6 easy ways to maximize your Internet speed and get the most out of your computer . Look into Faster Internet Providers One of the best ways to improve your speed is to look for a faster Internet provider. Think about what you need, where you are, and your ideal browsing speed. A casual user won't need something as fast as a gamer, a web designer, or someone who relies on the Internet to watch TV and movies. That's why providers offer all sorts of speeds and packages. For the best of the best, focus on cable internet options, which will get you both speed and stability. Clear Out All Those Cookies Many websites leave cookies on your computer. A cookie is basically just a message sent to your browser from the servers that host the sites you browse. It's used as identification, so a website's cookies might tailor ads to you or remember some of your browsing preferences and information. Cookies aren't the same as saved passwords and things like that, however. Even if you keep them activated, you don't have to save them. Clearing them out daily or weekly will make your computer run faster , leading to quicker browsing. Delete Your Past History You don't need to keep your website cache around either. While you probably enjoy the ease of having a browser that remembers the addresses to sites you regularly visit, it just takes up space. Take time each week to delete your browser's history. This can also delete any information you wouldn't want anyone else to see —just consider that a pro tip. More importantly, it also increases your browser speed. Toss the Temporary Internet Files Temporary Internet files are like cookies and browser history. You don't need to let them linger on your computer either. Superfluous information and data like this just takes up valuable space, which ultimately makes your computer slow down and start to lag. That can slow down your browsing speed, causing your Internet speeds to crawl. Just kick them to the curb, they're entirely unnecessary. Save Media to an External Drive If you often download music and movies, save text files, create or store pictures, and things of that nature, you're taking up important real estate on your hard drive . Unless you want to keep increasing your computer's RAM, think about changing your habits. There are other places to store your valuable files, such as: • CDs or DVDs, even rewritable ones • Small, easy-to-use flash drives and thumb drives • Or larger external hard drives Back Up Everything You should always back up everything valuable. You can use those same CDs and flash drives. When you back up your information, you can then get rid of anything you don't need right away, which will free up space. Plus, you'll always have access to your files, which protects you if your computer crashes and burns. Quick browsing speed just makes life easier, and there are lots of ways to improve it. What's your favorite way to speed up your Internet?