For more details, click on the appropriate question below, or scroll through the list of questions and answers underneath.

I have a fast modem. Why do I connect to CCSInet at such low speed?  

There are a number of conditions which must be met for high speed (28.8K+) connections to be successful:

PC COM Port Speed (Windows only)

The COM port is the place where the modem connects to your computer. If you are using an older computer your COM ports may not be fast enough for the high speed modem.

The older, slower ports are called 8250 UART and can run at a maximum of 19,200bps (bits per second). The newer, fast ports are called 16550 UART and can run at any speed up to 115,200bps.

To check the speed of your COM port:

Double-click on My Computer, then Control Panel, then Modems. Select the Diagnostics page, click on your modem, and click on More Info. Look for the line near the top that says UART.

Good Quality Lines

High speed connections are highly dependent on line quality. Most telephone companies are only under an obligation to provide a phone line which is of sufficient quality for voice transmission.

Line quality can be affected by:

- The age of the telephone cables.

- The number of devices on the same telephone line (including answering machines, fax machines, etc.).

- Whether the cables pass overhead or underground to the local exchange.

- Whether your telephone company has fibre-optic or copper/aluminium cables between the end of your street and the local exchange.

- The weather: If you have old underground cables, line quality can deteriorate after a spell of wet weather. In very windy weather, overhead cables may rattle in the wind, increasing the noise on the line.

- Other factors such as large appliances (including washing machines, TVs, big loudspeakers etc.) near the telephone cables in your house may also have an effect.

What about my 56K modem? 

In addition to a fast Com port and good quality telephone line, you will need to check the following:

Dialup Number

CCSInet supports both 56K standards - x2 and K56Flex - using the 3Com's Total Control Platform.

Local Digital Exchange

Your phone line must be connected to a digital exchange for 56K to work. If your local exchange is analogue based, then 56K will simply not work.

Up to date Modem Code

Many 56K modems made it to the shelves with early versions of the K56Flex/X2 modem code, which deliver less than optimal performance. You should contact your modem manufacturer's help desk and confirm that you have the most up to date software on your modem.

Because you cannot influence some important factors, such as the quality of your telephone line, achieving 56Kbps is currently very unpredictable. Realistically, you can only expect connections of between 40 Kbps to 46 Kbps on average phone lines.

Does CCSInet support ISDN connections?  

Yes. CCSInet supports single channel ISDN connections - including BT Home Highway - up to a maximum speed of 64kbps.

All the CCSInet modem banks support ISDN so you can use any of the .

CCSInet does not currently support dual channel connections up to 128kbps.

Why does my modem connect at a fast speed but then slow down?  

Initial connect speed is a convenient benchmark, but it can be deceiving. V.34 and 56K modems can and do shift their speeds up and down during the course of the call to respond to changing line conditions.

Some modems connect very aggressively at high speeds, but are then forced to lower their speed to a more stable level. Others may connect conservatively and move up gradually.

Why are download speeds slow when my modem is connected at a fast speed?  

Download speeds are affected by a whole range of factors: the physical location of the site you are connecting to or downloading from, the time of day, the speed of the server hosting the file, the size of the link connecting the server to the Internet, etc.

A point that often causes confusion is the unit of measurement used to measure the download/modem speeds.

Modem speeds (e.g. 33.6K) are measured in Kilobits per second

Download speeds (e.g. 3K - as displayed in the browser) are usually measured in Kilobytes per second

8 bits = 1 Byte

1024 bytes = 1 Kilobyte

Therefore 33600 bits = 4 Kilobytes

Another point to note is that the maximum speed quoted by modem manufacturers is often only achieved in laboratory conditions, and very rarely achieved in the real world.

What can I do about my phone line?  

If you've got noise and a low line level, you need to contact your telephone company.

Explain to them that you are using a modem on your line and that you want AGC (automatic gain control) turned OFF and the gain increased. Make sure that you say there is nothing wrong with your normal voice communications (if that is the case), otherwise they will just do a normal line check.

Q. How do I speed up browsing and downloading of web pages and files? 

Here are a few tips to speed up your connection and download times:

Modem Speed Settings

Modem Type   Maximum Speed

14.4         19200

28.8         38400

33.6         57600

56Flex,X2 or V.90       
115200

Check that your modem's speed settings are correct:

Windows: 1. Double-click on My Computer, Control Panel, then Modems. 2. Highlight your modem and click the Properties button. 3. Check that your modem is set to the appropriate speed (see the table opposite).

MacOS: 1. Open the PPP or Remote Access control panel from the Apple menu. 2. Open the Modem control panel from the PPP or Remote Access menu. 3. Make sure that the correct modem and modem speed is selected from the list (see the table opposite).

DialUp Networking Settings

Check that your dialup networking settings are correct:

Windows: 1. Double-click on My Computer, then the Dial-Up Networking folder. 2. Right-click on the CCSInet (or My Connection) icon and select Properties. 3. Select Server Types and make sure that ONLY the Enable software compression option is ticked under Advanced options (and NOT the Log onto network option) and that only the TCP/IP option is ticked under Allowed network protocols.

MacOS: 1. Open the PPP or Remote Access control panel from the Apple menu. 2. Click the Options button then the Protocol tab in the Options window. 3. Check that the first two options (Allow server correction and compression in modem and Use TCP header compression) are selected.

Proxy Server Settings

Check your browsers' proxy server settings:

Internet Explorer 4 for Windows: 1. Open Internet Explorer and from the View menu select Internet Options. 2. Click the Connection tab and check that the Access the Internet using a proxy server option is NOT selected.

Internet Explorer 5 for Windows: 1. Open Internet Explorer and from the Tools menu select Internet Options. 2. Select the Connectionstab and click the LAN Settings button towards the bottom of the window. 3. Check that the Use a proxy server option is NOT selected.

Internet Explorer for MacOS: 1. Open Internet Explorer and from the Edit menu select Preferences. 2. Scroll down to the Network section in the left-hand list and click on the Proxies option. 3. Check that the Disabled option is selected (IE4) or that the Web Proxy option is NOT selected (IE4.5 or IE5).

Browser Cache and Temporary Internet Files

Internet browsers are designed to store - or cache - frequently accessed graphics and text - temporary Internet files - on your computer's hard disk. Although the cache will speed up the loading of a page if you return to it within the same session, a large number of temporary Internet files may also slow down your computer.

To edit the browser cache:

Internet Explorer 4 for Windows: 1. From the View menu, select Internet Options. 2. Click on the Settings tab.

Internet Explorer 5 for Windows: 1. From the Tools menu, select Internet Options. 2. On the General tab click the THe Delete Files... or Settings... buttons.

Internet Explorer for MacOS: 1. From the Edit menu, select Preferences. 2. Click on the Advanced option, under Web Browser, in the list on the left-hand side of the window.

Try the following to speed up your connection to CCSInet and the Internet:

• Increase the size of the browser cache (if you have sufficient hard disk space).
• Clear out the cache periodically using the Empty or Delete option.
• Set the Check for newer versions of stored pages option to Every time you start Internet Explorer (Windows) or the Update pages option to Once per session (MacOS).

Hard Disk Capacity

If you find the capacity of your hard disk reducing over time, this may be because your system is storing temporary Internet files described above which may result in a slowing in speed of your system. Deleting these files can make a significant difference to the performance of your computer when accessing CCSInet and the Internet.

Other Applications

If you have other applications running at the same time as Internet Explorer, such as word processors, spreadsheets, games, etc., you may find that closing some or all of these applications speeds up your browser.

Upgrade Modem

CCSInet recommends 28.8K or faster modems for best results. Although CCSInet can be accessed with slower modems, the content-rich nature of the Web will mean result in slow browsing and long download times.

Work Offline

Where possible, compose and read email and newsgroup messages offline. This will give you more time online to browse for the information you want.