My broadband Internet connection seems to be slower than advertised and is noticeably pokey at certain times. What might be causing this slowness, and how I can find out how fast my connection really is?
Many factors can affect your speed, like general Internet congestion, slow websites, the number of other users on the provider's network or your computer's own network settings. If you are using a wireless connection, weak signals or interference from microwave ovens and cordless phones could also be slowing things down.
But Internet service providers also advertise higher connection speeds than what you might possibly expect to get in regular use. Many providers give you faster speeds to download data than you get for uploading files to the Internet, but there are ways to test both your download and upload speeds.
One of the best ways to check is to use a website that offers to test your connection speed, typically by sending a small bit of data between the site and your computer and clocking the transfer time. There are several such sites around the Web that can be found with a quick search for “Internet connection speed.” Two options are Speedtest.net, which displays an animation of a speedometer, and the page of broadband tests and tools at DSLreports.com.
Your ISP may also have its own tools you can use to check your connection before you contact the company to report speed or connection issues.
If you use those little desktop programs known as widgets or gadgets, you can usually find a few at your favourite widget site that test your network speed — like the Speed Test sidebar gadget for Windows Vista (free to download). Utilities like the MenuMeters tool for Mac OS X also give you speed and other information about your computer, like current memory usage.
OUTLOOK VERSUS OUTLOOK EXPRESS?
What does Outlook do that Outlook Express doesn't do? Is there any reason to buy Outlook?
They may have similar names, but Outlook Express and Outlook vary widely in what you can do with them besides sending and receiving e-mail. Microsoft has a detailed explanation of its own.
Outlook Express is a free e-mail program that came loaded on just about every Windows-based PC. Intended for home users with simple mail needs, Outlook Express has an address book and can also be used to read messages from Internet newsgroups. On Vista, the free e-mail program was renamed Windows Mail and given an instant search function and the ability to filter junk mail.
Outlook, or as the latest version is called, Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, costs about $110 and is also included in the Microsoft Office suite. It is designed for business users. It includes an integrated to-do list, contact and calendar features, as well as better search and security tools and the ability to send text messages to phones right from the program.
If you want to see if you're missing anything with Outlook, Microsoft has a browser-based “test drive” version, and a free 60-day trial edition of Office 2007 available to download.
TIP OF THE WEEK
Want to quickly add a song in iTunes to a playlist without dragging it? Right-click (or control-click) on the song's title in the iTunes window. Choose the “Add to Playlist” option from the menu and select a playlist; you can also select multiple songs and add them this way. And if you want to see how many playlists contain a certain song, click the song title and choose the “Show in Playlist” option to see a list.
