The Need for Speed

Surf the Web more quickly and efficiently with the help of these shareware programs.

Linda L. Grubbs, PC World

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Digital Subscriber Line not available in your neighborhood? Don't fear. The Internet tools on this week's top ten list can help you pump up your browser by diagnosing network bottlenecks, optimizing download times, and checking on your TCP/IP ports. Many of the programs are free and can do anything from improving your dial-up speeds to maintaining a domain-name cache of the sites you visit.

1. Webcelerator: Speed up your surfing with this free tool, which boosts browsing times by maintaining a DNS cache of the sites you frequent. Features include TCP/IP optimization, download management, offline browsing, and site verification.

2. Download Accelerator: This free plug-in accelerates download speeds from both FTP and HTTP sites. It uses multiple connections to retrieve files and can simultaneously download fragments of files. Download Accelerator plugs into your browser and functions automatically when a file is downloaded.

3. Net.Medic: The free demo version of this diagnostic tool works with your browser to identify the source of network bottlenecks--whether it is the PC, modem, Internet Service Provider, Internet backbone, or remote Web site server. Net.Medic then offers recommendations for solving the problem and, in many cases, automatically fixes it.

4. FTP Explorer: Modeled after the Windows Explorer interface, this free utility includes all the standard features of an FTP client and allows you to resume a file download after an interruption. The site manager feature saves your user name, password, and working directory for each remote site.

5. Genius 2: This $20 suite includes an FTP client, a trace route utility, telnet and whois clients, and an IP scanner. It has calendar, to-do list, password generator, and clock-setting tools, and can also download weather maps and MSNBC news stories.

6. Inter Quick: This Web accelerator speeds up your download times by automatically loading and caching links contained within open sites. Features include ad blocking and content filtering for young users. This is a free 30-day trial version that offers updated documentation, enhanced installation, and bug fixes.

7. Ping Plotter: This $15 trace route utility lets you troubleshoot your Internet connections. Ping Plotter graphs Internet performance so you can identify bottlenecks and evaluate ranges of responses and trends. Its multiple-thread technique offers a significant increase in speed and accuracy over standard trace route programs.

8. Lapcelerator: Lapcelerator uses Digital Robotics' Terminal Overdrive accelerator to help laptops achieve the highest possible connection speeds, whether the PC is operating on a network or on the road. Web sites will load faster, and e-mail, downloads, and other data will transfer more quickly as well. You can use the trial version for 15 days, then buy it for $30.

9. SpeedConnect: This $12 Web accelerator prevents fragmentation in data transfer, greatly increasing modem throughput, and optimizes your Windows TCP/IP settings for faster Web browsing, e-mail, and downloads. Version 3.1 features extended support for AOL connections. Users will have to download and install a serial key to try out the software.

10. Port Detective: Maintain multiple Internet servers from your home with this free utility. Port Detective allows you to run a comprehensive status check on your TCP/IP ports to see which ones are available for hosting. The program will also let you know if you can run a Web server, FTP server, or mail server.

11. GoZilla: Schedule downloads by dragging URLs from your browser to GoZilla, so it can retrieve those files for you during off-peak times. GoZilla will even resume aborted and failed downloads. New features include smart updates for your favorite programs and better integration with Internet Explorer and Navigator. GoZilla is a sponsored product (so you'll see a lot of ads and you may be taken to advertising sites at random), but you can purchase an unsponsored version for $20.

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