TCP Optimizer

Finally, v4 is out of beta! Now works with all Windows versions

http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php

Please click on the backup button as shown below to backup your current settings just in case you decide to go back in the future.

 

Just learning about this here. Is this a program to enable faster broadband? Exactly what does it do?

Edited post to add that I visited their website and learned this: "Windows program that provides an intuitive interface for tuning and optimizing your Internet connection."

Now I need to know if it really does what it advertised. Have you had the time to do a comparison test to see if you notice any difference?

 

I have been using this for years, I was having wifi problems slow download speed even though i was connected at 300mbps but i was only getting 25mb/s after running tcp optimizer and rebooting i got 35mbps i pay for 38mbps

I updated my wifi driver the other day, and now my connection speed is 400mbps when i have only ever seen 300mbps at 5ghz and i have upgraded my wifi driver many times.

John.

 

well I've been using it for years as well and my internet feel snappier and so download speeds. Don't know if it's real or placebo effect but it has never failed me so this is one of the tweaks I always do when I install windows, it optimizes all the settings according to your bandwidth speeds and remove any limitations in Windows default settings. Make a backup and try it.

 

Remember to check network's actual MTU first:

Spoiler: finding MTU with CMD

Default with Optimizer is 1500 bytes, but not every ISP uses that. Standard Windows setting is 'automatic' and you don't want to force your modem/router to fragment packets unnecessarily. With CMD you need to add 28 (for the headers), so 1472+28 = 1500 again (example).

TCP Optimizer's 'MTU/Latency' tab provides that feature, too:

Spoiler: finding MTU with Optimizer

 

Thanks a lot for this! I never knew that! I always just had the default MTU which when I pinged using your command gave me lost packets. I then finally found the perfect MTU for my PPPoE connection. In my case, it was 1492!

Rep given to you for this great tip! Cheers Bro!

 

Good thing you started this thread, then .

Spoiler: Some background on non-1500 MTU

All about MTU

The internet as a whole generally works with 1,500 byte packets with no problem, but there are cases where smaller MTU links are used.

One is a VPN (Virtual Private Network). These create links that connect computers (routers) virtually. The link is not real but involves taking packets and wrapping them up in another packet which is sent over the internet to the other end where it is unwrapped. Much like putting a letter in an envelope and then putting it in another envelope - you need a bigger envelope on the outside. This means that if the outside envelope has to fit in 1,500 bytes, the inner one can't be as big, and that makes a link with a small MTU.

The other main example is dialup and broadband links. In practice a broadband link works much like a dialup line as it uses a protocol called PPP (Point to Point Protocol). Part of this is each end telling the other its MRU. I.e. how big a packet it can receive. There are a number of reasons a router might decide to say it cannot handle the full 1,500 bytes:

• The router could be using PPPoE (PPP over Ethernet) bridging which requires an extra 8 byte header for PPP and then sends the packet over 1,500 byte Ethernet, so the packets sent in the PPP layer can be at most 1,492 bytes.
• Some part of the link could require the use of a smaller MTU, typically because PPPoE is being used within a back-haul network (e.g. Be lines), so the router has to be set to use 1,492.
• The router could simply have a default of 1,492 as PPPoE is common in many countries as the standard way to connect broadband lines. In the UK we usually use PPPoA (PPP over ATM) which allows the full 1,500 bytes.
• The router could be stupid and not even allow you to change the default to the normal 1,500 bytes even though using PPPoA.
  
• The router could have been deliberately set to a lower MTU by the owner for reasons of their own.
• The router could be fine and BT could have messed up (see below)

Having a lower MTU is not necessarily a problem - as we said, either way the data gets through. But as soon as you don't have the standard 1,500 byte MTU you can run in to issues.

Why do things go wrong?

If everything worked as it should a smaller MTU would not be any problem, but there are reasons why it does not:

• Some people running web servers (notably some banks) set up their network so that they block the error message that is sent back when a packet is too big. This would not be too bad if they did not also try and send 1,500 byte packets with the DF bit set. The result is the packet gets dropped when it hits a sub 1,500 MTU link and has to retry. Eventually it may try a smaller packet size but this could be 20 seconds later. This is a stupid network setup on the part of the person running the web server.
• Some people set up their firewalls to block any fragmented packets. This is because it is hard to tell what a fragmented packet is as you don't have all of the data. However, it means that fragments don't work. Not everyone sends packets with DF to start with (a process called Path MTU discovery) so fragmentation happens. If you have a broadband link with less than 1,500 MTU and a firewall (or even the router) blocking fragments you are likely to have a problem with some places (notable MSN messenger).

Fragments are bad

Fragments are bad anyway, which is why IPv6 insists you always take option (A) and send an error message. Fragments create extra overhead as each packet has headers that have to be copied in to each fragment. They also work badly when a link is congested as dropping any fragment in a packet means the whole packet is lost. They also take up CPU time creating the fragments and putting them back together. All in all it is better if the sending end creates the smaller packets in the first place. This means Path MTU Discovery being used and the error message not being blocked! Fortunately IPv6 mandates this, so the next generation of internet protocol should not have the same issues.

 

After further testing, I noticed that when using the optimal settings, my VPN disconnects randomly.

 

Matrix Leader, play around with it a bit more, these network tuning programs can be frustrating, until you get it tweaked just right, and then you will be happy you stuck with it.

VPN is tricky, look for settings that apply to that link. If the VPN is disconnecting there should be clues in the log - turn on diag logging.

Also the TCP Optimizer site has good forums, and there are other forums that support network tuning and TCP Optimizer is often mentioned.

http://forums.speedguide.net/

https://www.dslreports.com/forums/all

The new 4.0.1 works fine for me on Optimized settings, cable internet, 180+Mbps, Windows 8.1.

So far so good

 

Avast always gives me server not found or some other twaddle in my browser a couple of times a day, but i like Avast so i grin and click refresh the page.

John.

 

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