Your Internet connection seems simple. Your modem dials up the ISP's modem, they connect, and then the two throw data back and forth over the Net. But it's not really that easy; Windows just makes it look that way. In fact, the OS's Dial-Up Networking settings are pretty complex and force you to fiddle with the size of data packets, the duration of data transactions, and mysterious acronyms such as MTU, RWin (see below), and TTL.

But here's the catch: Windows 95/98's settings aren't optimized for dial-up Internet connections. Instead, they're set for PCs connecting to the Internet using Ethernet. This means that your dial-up connection is probably slower than it could be.

Fortunately, you can dramatically improve your throughput with small adjustments to a few settings. You can do this by editing Registry settings, but dealing with the Registry is risky. It's much easier and safer to use one of three outstanding downloadable programs: SpeedTec, Internet Tweak, and TweakDUN. They'll make the necessary adjustments for you and save you the trouble of tampering with the Registry. Remember, it's important to match the program to your operating system because the Windows 98 Registry handles some of these settings differently than Windows 95 does. However, all three programs listed here support both platforms.

To use these programs to optimize your Registry, you must adjust at least one of the four settings below.

MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit)
This IP network setting--known in the Windows Registry as MaxMTU--sets the size of data packets exchanged across the wire. This is important because small packets get through more quickly on a noisy line. With a good connection, however, larger packets are more efficient. By default, a 56k modem connection will be set to 576 bytes. For dial-up lines, most ISPs subscribe to this smaller setting because it reduces the chance of a data packet becoming corrupted on a noisy phone line. If the host and the client computers use two different MTU sizes, the connection runs more slowly because the computers have to negotiate new transmission rates.

It's easy to change the MTU on your PC, and you can do it without using the programs recommended here or going through the Registry editor.

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MSS (Maximum Segment Size)
The maximum segment size is a value that two Internet hosts use to negotiate the size of the MTU they will use to exchange data. It should be set at a value of 40 less than the MTU size (or 536 on a standard dial-up line). A correctly set MSS ensures that packets are transmitted properly.

RWin (Default Receive Window)
This IP network setting (DefaultRcvWindows) is the amount of data that your computer can receive before it has to send an acknowledgment to the host--the Web site you're visiting--to assure that data is being received correctly. If you change the MTU setting in Windows 95/98, you should also reset the RWin to a multiple of the MSS. Opinions differ widely on the proper multiple to use for this setting. The default setting in Windows 98 is 8,192 bytes; SpeedTec recommends a setting of 16 times MSS (23,360 bytes if you're at an MSS of 1,460 bytes); TweakDUN and InternetTweak both recommend a multiple of 4, although they all tell you to experiment.

TTL (Time to Live)
This network setting establishes the number of hops across servers that a data packet can take before it expires. The Windows 98 default is 128, which is also recommended by SpeedTec. TweakDUN and InternetTweak suggest 64.

Windows 95 users: Don't muck with this setting if you have installed Dial-Up Networking. Otherwise, go in and increase the figure to 64.

All three programs we recommend adjust the four Registry settings well. You just change the settings, save the changes to your Registry, and restart Windows. Then check to see how your Net connection runs. In most cases, things should go a lot faster.

Hand-Edit Your Registry Settings
However, if for some reason, you must do things the hard way, you can go into your Windows 95 Registry and edit it yourself. But this is not for beginners. First review "The Seven Commandments of Registry Editing," paying special attention to commandment number 7, "Don't come crying to us if anything gets broken." Once you've memorized all the commandments, you're ready to do the dirty work.

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You're not finished yet, but you shouldn't make many changes to the Registry without testing the system. Restart your system now. If it restarts smoothly, proceed to the next step. If not, restore the old settings from your backup and try again, if you dare.

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If anything goes wrong, restore your original backup of the Registry using Regedit's commands. Refer to the third and fourth commandments of "The Seven Commandments of Registry Editing" for instructions. And if you have any trouble, remember, we told you to use SpeedTec, TweakDUN, or InternetTweak!