This week we covered the launch of Autobahn Accelerator for MySpaceTV: the speed boosting tool now works with the video sharing site to increase download speed. But that's not the only tool that can speed up your web experience: over the last 17 days, Google Web Accelerator has saved me about 1.8 hours of download time. While that might not seem like much, it’s approximately 38 hours per year, or roughly a day and a half. From changing your DNS settings to blocking advertising, here's our guide to faster web surfing.
Feel free to add your own tips in the comments.
Google uses a variety of methods including its vast computer network to speed up your Web browsing. Once installed into your browser, Google Web Accelerator compresses data, stores frequently viewed pages, and helps manage your Internet connection. It’s designed primarily to speed things up for broadband users. However, Google Web Accelerator only accelerates Web pages, not downloads or streaming audio/video. Technically, it’s still a part of Google Labs.
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By changing your Preferred DNS Address to OpenDNS’s IP, you will essentially be using their network to connect to web sites, where they run what they claim are some of the Web’s largest DNS caches. Versus looking up a web site’s IP address each time you visit, a DNS cache stores this information which saves time. By using OpenDNS, you also get the ability to block web sites, an address bar that corrects common typos, and phishing protection. OpenDNS provides detailed instructions on how to setup your machine to utilize its services for all major operating systems.
An extension for Firefox, Fasterfox speeds up browsing by “prefetching” – which is loading links on a web page in the background while you’re sitting idle (or reading) a given site. Additionally, Fasterfox provides tools for tweaking your network settings and includes a pop-up blocker. Fasterfox is a project of the non-profit Mozdev Community Organization.
Graphic heavy advertising can slow down load times. Adblock, an extension for Firefox, hides advertisements on web pages based on filters that the user can define. For example, you can disable a URL with “/ad” in it, or filter out images served from doubleclick.com.
SpeedBit offers software to accelerate the pace of downloads. They claim more than 100 million users have tried their product, which uses the company’s algorithms to most effectively utilize bandwidth. For SpeedBit’s latest release, Download Accelerator Plus 8.5, the company claims up to 400% faster downloads. Download Accelerator Plus also allows you to resume broken downloads. SpeedBit has been offering download acceleration tools since 1999 and offers premium versions with additional benefits.
Once downloaded, SpeedBit Video Accelerator works to speed up video streams on most major video sites including YouTube, Metacafe, and MySpace. The Video Accelerator works using what the company calls “multi connection” technology that eliminates the hiccups that are frequent in streaming video, especially on slower connections. Additionally, Video Accelerator includes a desktop app that you can use to search most of the major video sites and stream content.
Autobahn is an application for accelerating downloads on popular sites. Currently, Autobahn can improve speeds on iTunes and MySpaceTV. The technology is a similar concept to SpeedBit, creating multiple simultaneous connections to help prevent the hiccups common in a typical audio or video stream. Autobahn is a product of Swarmcast.