The Guide - Slow downloads? Put your modem connection on steroids!

Tweak MTU

	Introduction
	What the heck is an MTU?
	The Nitty-Gritty: Changing your MTU
	The Nitty-Gritty (cont'd)
	User Testimonials

Related Links

1.	TweakDUN- -
2.	MTU Speed Pro
3.	EasyMTU

Slow downloads? Put your modem connection on steroids!:

The Nitty-Gritty: Changing your MTU

Okay, now that I know what MTU is , show me how to change it !!!!

Before showing how to change MTU, there are 2 more terminologies associated with MTU. They are the RWIN and MSS

The RWIN (Receive window ) setting determines how much data the receiving computer is prepared to receive. If RWIN is set too large, it can result in a greater loss of data if a packet is lost or damaged. This should be set at least 4 times that of MTU.

The maximum segment size (MSS) is a value used by two Internet hosts to negotiate the size of MTU they will use to exchange data. It should be set at a value of 40 less than that of MTU.

Okay , There are two ways to change the settings.

The first method and the easiest method. Get a program which can change the settings without getting your hands dirty in the registry.

There are many programs out there which do the job. All of them do the same job the same way. Almost all programs have identical interfaces. So there is no big deal in which program you use. There is EasyMTU,TweakDUN , PPP-Boost , net lightning etc. Most of them are freeware

I recommend EasyMTU ( freeware) ( 340 k) available athttp://members.tripod.com/~EasyMTU/easymtu.zip (home page:http://members.tripod.com/~EasyMTU/). This program has a great interface and it not only has the ability to find out the MTU used by your ISP but also it has the ability to benchmark your connection.

The interface is very simple and all the details are in the help file. Just start the program and select the MTU setting you want- Large, Medium, Small and Custom. The first time you start the program, it will ask you if you want to change the settings to optimum value. Just click on Yes and reboot the system and you are back in business.

Try experimenting with different settings until you get the best possible speed.

Note: Even though Windows has a default MTU of 1500, just setting the MTU to 1500 using the program an rebooting are known to have produced dramatic results.

But I am not using Windows ????

Well, don't feel left out.

This website (http://www.infinisource.com/other_os.html) has details on how to change the MTU settings for Macintosh, Windows 3.x and Linux.

The Nitty-Gritty (cont'd)