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webROCKET
webROCKET Internet Optimizer is a powerful, easy-to-use program for Windows® 95, 98, NT, 2000, and Me which boosts your Internet connection speed by up to 200%.
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ModemMax
You can increase dialup modem connection reliability and performance by as much as 200%.
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Optimizes
Dial-up(56k), DSL And Cable Modems
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No
Expensive Hardware Needed
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with All Browsers
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Life time Upgrades
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to Hack with your Computer's Registry
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ModemMax
MemoKit
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Make Your Computer Fast And Stable In 5 Minutes!
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- Optimize your Computer Memory, Recover all Memory Leaks
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Modem Bonders: Two Is Better Than One
Unlike browser accelerators, modem bonders harness the brute force of the modems themselves. They're pricier than browser accelerators because they require two modems, two phone lines, and two separate ISP accounts.
But at least the bonders deliver what you pay for. With two 56-kbps modems working together, you can realize combined throughput rates upwards of 90 kbps. (Despite marketing claims, the promised land of 112-kbps access is still a dream, since even 56-kbps modems seldom hit their maximum potential.)
Two modem bonders we tested (Diamond Multimedia's $149 Suprasonic II software and hardware kit, and the free Windows 98 Dial-Up Networking) took advantage of the multilink point-to-point protocol, or MLPPP, the Multilink option built into Windows 98's Dial-Up Networking. Both delivered smooth, fast performance, loading a static version of PC World Online's home page up to 62 percent faster. Unfortunately, these modem bonders require that your ISP support MLPPP--a potential problem if you use a national provider. Among the few national ISPs that currently support MLPPP: Netcom (recently purchased by Mindspring) and A+Net. Several regional and local providers support it, however.
The second type of modem bonder relies on the older point-to-point protocol, which all ISPs support. PPP has one other advantage over MLPPP: Though you still need two accounts, they can be with different ISPs--very handy if one service temporarily goes down. We tested three PPP-based modem bonders for this review: the Imass portion of Amquest's $69 Comsuite Software, MidCore Software's $49 MidPoint Teamer version 3.11, and Ragula Software's $49 FatPipe Internet Home Software version 3.0.
In our tests, bonded modems using Imass and MidPoint Teamer showed virtually no speedup versus a single-modem connection when loading the static version of PC World Online's home page. But they accelerated downloads of big graphics (four files totaling 1.1MB) and text (a 172KB file) by at least 70 percent.
FatPipe, on the other hand, produced healthy performance boosts across the board. Though less impressive than Imass or MidPoint on large graphics and text files (offering a modest 21 percent enhancement), FatPipe matched the MLPPP-based products' record of accelerating the download time of PC World's Web site by 67 percent versus a single modem. And the configuration process was as painless as Diamond's setup.
The MLPPP Gotcha
If your ISP does support MLPPP--and that's a big "if"--Diamond Multimedia's $149 SupraSonic II modem kit with Shotgun technology, or Windows 98's Multilink option, is the way to go. Windows 95 users can get into the act, too, by downloading the free Dial Up Networking 1.3 for Windows 95; to obtain a copy, go to www.microsoft.com and instruct the site's search engine to find "Dial Up Networking 1.3."
Diamond Multimedia's Web site lists ISPs that support MLPPP. Most of these providers are regional and local companies.
In our tests, both of these MLPPP-based bonders demonstrated significant performance boosts across the board compared with Web surfing on a single modem line. Most impressively, they increased the download speed of large graphics files by 70 to 80 percent.
Diamond's Shotgun Technology software, part of the SupraSonic II kit, is available as a free download to current users of any 56-kbps Diamond SupraExpress modem. (At least one of the two modems you're using must be a SupraExpress. We tested the SupraSonic II's performance using its pair of included modems.) The SupraSonic version of Shotgun adds a voice-priority feature that senses incoming telephone calls or fax transmissions and allows them to ring through on your second phone line.
With a free Windows option available, does it pay to buy the $149 Diamond kit? If you don't already have a 56-kbps modem or don't want to fuss with Windows' Dial-Up Networking, Diamond does the dirty work for you--and the $149 price tag also covers a matched pair of modems. Plus, the two modems on one board take up only one ISA slot. If you aren't daunted by Dial-Up Networking, buy one modem and use the built-in Windows 98 Multilink option.
Modem bonding won't answer all your prayers, but it offers a viable alternative to ISDN. And it beats waiting until cable or DSL come to your town.
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