20mb-broadband-optimisation help Virgin Media

Is your 20Mb connection not as fast as you thought? The default setting on your windows XP PC and in some cases your cable modem can hinder the speed of such a fast connection so we've put together a short guide to get the most from our 20Mb broadband service.

Optimising your 20Mb broadband connection

PLEASE NOTE: These instructions are based on single computers being connected to the cable modem, and alternative configuration changes may be needed for home networked computers. We suggest that you try a website such as practicallynetworked.com for further help.

Change the default settings and optimise your connection

• From the Desktop
• Right click on My Computer
• Select Properties
• Select Device Manager (see below)

• Double click on Network Adapters and then the Network Card (see below)

• Select the Advanced tab
• Select the Link Speed/Duplex Mode property. In most circumstances the best setting for this is Auto Negotiation. However some PC network cards do not auto-negotiate these settings correctly with the Cable Modem so selecting 100Mbps/Full Duplex or 100Mbps/Half duplex may provide a better result for your PC Network card. It is safe to try these two alternative settings to see which setting works best for your PC's Network card.

  If neither of these options appears in the list of options you may have an older Network card which will limit your speed to less than 10Mbps

• Click OK
• Close the Device Manager and return to the Desktop
• Click on Start
• Select Connect To and then Show All Connections
• Double click the Local Area Connection
• Select the General tab and click on Properties
• If QOS Packet Scheduler is installed, click on it to highlight
• Then click Uninstall, and when the dialogue box appears click Yes
• Close the Local Area Connection Properties window, Local Area Connection Status window and the Network Connections window; and return to the Desktop

Tune up your broadband connection

To optimise your connection further, you might like to try using the TCP Optimizer to help you tweak and improve the how your PC connects to the Internet. However, we should point out that this is a third party's software and is not software which we support so we do not guarantee that it will help resolve your problems and we are not liable for any loss or damage which you may suffer as a result of using such software save to the extent that we are not permitted to exclude or restrict our liability.

Do you use Windows Vista? Read this first.

• From the Desktop start Internet Explorer
• Go to http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php and download TCP Optimizer
• Download TCP Optimizer
• On completion of the download, select Run
• Push the slider fully right to 20000 (see below)

• Ensure your network card is selected in the Network Adapter Selection box
• Select Optimal Settings from the bottom of the panel
• Click Apply Changes
• Restart your PC

Windows Vista users:

We've tested the optimisation tool in Windows Vista and haven't seen any significant impact on the broadband speeds. We're thinking this is down to improved optimistation for higher broadband speeds being built into Vista. That said, if you're using Vista then we don't advise you use the optimisation tool.

As a Window's Vista user it'll be worth looking at this Microsoft update http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938979 which should address some issues the system has with networking.

Still experiencing slow speeds?

If you have optimised your PC and are still not receiving full 20Mb speeds, your cable modem might need to be replaced or there may be another issue with your connection.

Please contact Broadband technical support and they will be able to assist you further.