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How do I tell if my connection is any faster and TweakMASTER is working?

TweakMASTER Knowledge Base article KB0036

In order to effectively observe whether TweakMASTER is working for you, you need to objectively measure your data throughput with and without it. You need to measure it from various sources and with various combinations of settings. There is no 'one size fits all' approach that can work, regardless of false marketing claims to the contrary. TweakMASTER will make "recommended settings" using the Wizard, but ultimately experimentation with other combinations of settings is the only way to be sure you are getting the most from your internet connection.

PLEASE NOTE: TweakMASTER does NOT affect the speed at which your dial-up modem connects to your ISP, whether that be 33,600, 42,000, 48,000, etc. That is negotiated between your modem and the modems of your ISP and only modem drivers provided by your ISP and occasionally initialization strings provided by your modem manufacturer will affect that connect speed in any way.

TweakMASTER, on the other hand, modifies the data throughput which you can achieve at the speed with which you connect. This varies according to many different factors, including general Internet congestion, phone lines, as well as the the intermediary routers you encounter on the path to any internet server you attempt to connect to. The trick is to try and optimize the AVERAGE data transmission rates you can achieve while surfing the 'Net.

You can use the various buttons on TweakMASTER's "Internet Optimization" screen to restore your original settings for comparison sake, or to set your system to Windows Defaults and compare those settings (as those may NOT be what you had at the outset, depending on what other software you may have installed along the way.) You can easily switch back and forth between Windows Defaullts, your original settings, and different sets of TweakMASTER optimized settings (use the Backup button to save various combinations which you try, if you wish). Just remember that each change in the settings necessitates a system reboot before those new settings are in effect. That is a requirement of Windows and no software can get around that.

To measure your throughput we have developed DU Meter a very handy tool which is included with TM Pro and which is also available for 30 day free evaluation from the DU Meter website. Note that using results from a single speed test is anything but conclusive. there is also a testpad at the Rose City Software website which uses 6 different sites and even THAT is not conclusive. We generally recommend using DU Meter and testing various sites which you normally visit around the Internet to get more overall performance results from a certain choice of settings.

There are also many suggestions in TweakMASTER helpfile to get you started on the road to further experimentation. See the "TCP/IP Parameters Tweaking Tips" in the "Getting Started" section of the TweakMASTER Help File, accessible from the Help Menu in the TweakMASTER program.

Note that no matter what kind of speed boost you get, that you can still enjoy the benefits of DNS Acceleration, something that DOES work for everyone. You should also appreciate the automatic PC Clock Synchronization feature, as well as AOL Disconnect Prevention if you are an AOL user. Generic ISP Disconnect Prevention is also included with the Pro version of TweakMASTER. Restoring your original settings as described above will only affect the MTU optimization settings and not these other features, which many people have reported are well worth the program cost by themselves.