OK this is something I see springing up quite a bit on various forums so I thought I would write a simple how-to to make sure you are getting the most out of your ADSL broadband connection.

Check Your Line Quality
First things first, you need to check your line quality as this is the biggest influencing factor on your speed. It’s very simply to do just locate the master socket for your BT line where it enters your home.

Carefully unscrew the master faceplate and ease it off the retaining box. Behind the faceplate there should be a socket that is for testing purposes. Plug an analogue telephone into the socket and dial 17070 and hit option 2. You will then carry out a quiet line test. There should be no or minimal hissing, crackling or popping noises on the line. If there are, ring BT and complain until they sound out an engineer to sort it out. Don’t mention your ADSL speed, just the noise on the line.

Set a Benchmark Speed
Assuming you’ve done the quiet line test, we next need to set a baseline speed to measure against. First plug your modem directly into the test socket above and run a speed test at somewhere like www.speedtest.net. Do a couple of tests to get an average and note the result. Next do the same with your faceplate screwed back together and make a note.

There’s a good description of this here:
http://adsl.yesyes.info/modules/edito/content.php?id=3

If the second set of results is significantly lower then the problem may be down to your internal wiring so read on…

Remove Your Bell Wire
This is used for older style bell ringers which if you don’t use are pretty useless. Its simply an orange wire in the back of your faceplate and removing it can improve your speed:

http://www.draytek.co.uk/support/kb_vigor_linefaults.html

Fit a New Filtered Faceplate
The standard face plate that comes with the socket is unfiltered. Most ISPs will supply a micro filter but it is well worth replacing the master faceplate with a filter built in. They are not expensive and can be purchased here:

http://www.adslnation.com/products/xte2005.php

Filter All Other Extensions
On all your other extensions, make sure you either fit a faceplate as above or add a micro filter to the line. This especially important if you have a sky box.

If you carry out all of the above then you should see an improvement in speed. The biggest factor outside of your control though is the distance to the exchange will can dramatically reduce your speed.

An excellent way of checking the location of your nearest exchange is to use Sam Knows:
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php

This will tell you all sorts of handy information about your local telephone exchange.

Finally look at your provider and consider whether they are giving you the best possible service for your money. http://www.thinkbroadband.com is an excellent resource for switching…

OK I actually completed this project some time ago but hadn’t got round to posting the last section which was simply putting the last few bits together and tidying up.

This was actually the easiest bit in terms of jumper identification as the Asus motherboard manual is so clear and concise so it didn’t present any great difficulty. Some parts like fitting the cables round the case to help airflow were tricky but the pictures below show the system with the final few parts added:

Well the motherboard finally arrived so I now have all the parts to crack on and finish this beast! A pic of the motherboard contents is below…

The “scariest” part for me was fitting the CPU as this is where it could all of gone horribly wrong. Luckily both the CPU and socket have notches to prevent incorrect insertion so that fear was largely unfounded.

Fitting the fan above the CPU was very tricky as I had to use some force to ensure the fan was secure over the CPU so I’m glad I did that before installing the board into the case. I also fitted my 4x1GB RAM sticks before wiggling the board into place on the built in risers and aligning the rear ports.

As you can see from the pic below, there wasn’t a lot of space left after I did this!

Now it’s just a case of plugging all the bits into the right place!

How do you get a square peg into a round hole? With great difficulty!

This is what I found today trying to squeeze this puppy into the case.

Although the Antec case has excellent routing and ducting to allow cables to move around the case without disrupting airflow, getting the bugger into the PSU cage is a feat of endurance!

On the plus side it’s incredibly solid and fully grommeted to eliminate vibration. Plus it has oodles of power for all the fans and the processor so this will all help keep the speed up.

The pic above shows the two raptors installed and the cables looking a little messy at the moment.

I’ll be tidying it all up tomorrow when the motherboard finally arrives…

Now surprising as this may seem from a geek like me but I have never actually built my own computer system from scratch although this has always been one of the things I’ve always wanted to do.

Faced with rising temperatures and sluggishness in my current system, I made the decision to upgrade the core components and custom build my own system.

Now before starting I decided to draw up a list of wants and needs. This obviously dictated what parts I purchased and the spec so…

• Cooling is paramount due to the heavy usage
• Multi-tasking speed due to the large nbumber of applications
• Sufficient storage space for multiple disks
• Ability to upgrade further in the future

With the fantastic help of Simon at Computer Products Limited, who also supplied all the parts at an excellent price, I settled on the following spec for the new machine:

• Antec P182 Case
• ANTEC PSU/TruePower Quattro 850W 80PLUS C
• Asus P5N32-E SLI Socket LGA775 motherboard
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 socket 775 processor
• 2 x WESTERN DIGITAL HD Raptor/74GB SATA150 100

The remaining components such as the RAM, graphics cards and two other disks were taken from the existing system to be added to new beast.

At the time of writing I’m just waiting for the motherboard to appear and then I can really crack on. I’ve have made a start and took some pics though:

Next job, fitting the PSU…

Following on from the 300 things blog post (which generates an obscene amount of incoming traffic through Google weirdly enough), my beloved sent me this today on the email thang and it does tie in quite nicely…

Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled ‘Gentlemen Only…Ladies Forbidden’…and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S. Treasury.

Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.

Coca-Cola was originally green.

It is impossible to lick your elbow.

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.

The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from
history:
Spades – King David Hearts – Charlemagne Clubs -Alexander, the Great Diamonds – Julius Caesar

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?
A. Obsession

Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter ‘A’?
A. One thousand

Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?
A. All were invented by women. (Of course)

Q. What is the only food that doesn’t spoil?
A. Honey

In Shakespeare’s time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.
When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase……… ‘goodnight, sleep tight.’
(hmm don’t know if I believe this one either)

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride’s father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts… So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them ‘Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.’
It’s where we get the phrase ‘mind your P’s and Q’s’ (or this one)

Many years ago in England , pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. ‘Wet your whistle’ is the phrase inspired by this practice. (hmm)

At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!

I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in what oredr the ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the first and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

And finally you know you are living in 2008 when…

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.
2. You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don’t have e-mail addresses.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
12. You’re reading this and nodding and laughing.
13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.
14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn’t a #9 on this list.

Rumours abound that the blog is a source of malware. Well we did find a couple of naughty links in some of the posts so we’ve cleaned them up, deleted users, updated passwords, spun round three times on our heads and sacrificed a live chicken.

Oh we’ve also told Google to stop blocking us so hopefully normal service should resume shortly 😉

We are very pleased to announce the launch of Open Mind Commerce v1.1.1, our second major release in just six weeks of being live!

This release brings two major enhancements to the system, a host of minor upgrades and some essential tweaks and fixes to the core files. So what’s new?

KashFlow Integration
KashFlow is a award winning web based accounting package designed specifically for UK businesses to help control their cashflow as well as manage their accounts. As it is web based, it offers a considerable saving over traditional accounting packages and has the added benefit that you can access it from any computer in the world!

We have worked closely with KashFlow over the last couple of months and have tightly integrated the Open Mind Commerce system into their accounting package. Not only will our system automatically insert customers and new orders but it will even mark those orders as paid once an authorised order is completed!

This represents a significant time saving for any web retailer in that they don’t have to worry about entering data twice. A quick check of the orders being added is all that is required as we’ve the done the leg work for you…

For more details about KashFlow, take a look at their site and we’ve also negotiated a special discount of 20% just for OMC users!

Multi-currency Options
This has been a major request from our users and now its here. The OMC system now checks over ten major currencies including USD and Euros every day and stores the rates within the system. Shoppers can then choose to display the prices in the favourite currency for convenience…

Store owners can even elect to check out the orders in that currency saving money through transaction fees due to no conversions and offering their customers even greater choice!

Other Enhancements
We’ve been beavering away adding extra newsletter sign up options, shortened and improved search engine friendly URLs and various other tweaks to make sure the OMC becomes the leading weapon of choice for web retailers.

Existing users can upgrade their installation free of charge through their account area downloads. If you were thinking about buying into the system, now is the time to make that choice as we have an even bigger upgrade planned before the end of the year with masses of new features! Just take a look at our development roadmap and see where we’re going…
http://www.openmindedsolutions.co.uk…newpost&t=1012

Don’t forget that every license includes 12 months free hosting, 12 months free upgrades and support and a twelve month SSL secure certificate for just £299 inc vat so there has never been a better time to launch your own online store…

As always if you have any questions, comments or concerns then don’t hesitate to get in touch…

Tomorrow on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, remember those that died for us…

These people gave the ultimate sacrifice to our liberty and freedom, they died protecting our future, there can be no bigger sacrfice…

Rest in peace…