Slow Page Loading
If you experience constant or frequent slow loading of web pages, the first thing you should check is your connection speed.  To do this, double click on the "connection" icon at the bottom right of your screen (two small green computer screens or a computer connected to a phone).  A box will open showing your connection speed and options to disconnect or view details of your connection.  If your connection speed is consistently less than 34,000 bps*, you should look for a problem.

Occasional slow page loading can occur when a website is experiencing a lot of traffic.  This happened to most news sites on September 11 and the following days.  This is also a frequent occurrence for web pages with downloadable program files on the first couple of days that a highly publicized program is made available.  Web-page servers have limits for the amount of traffic they can handle.  The smaller the web server, the less traffic it can handle.  
You may notice that some pages load much faster than others.  This is not only caused by the difference in web servers, but also by the content of the site itself.  If there are a lot of pictures on a site, this will cause it to be slower to load because it takes longer for picture files to load than it takes for text files.  

As you know, information transferred to and from your computer during internet connection travels through your phone lines.  If you have a poor phone connection, your internet connection rate will be lower than optimal and you will be more likely to experience automatic disconnects as information transfer is affected by static in the phone lines.  This can only be corrected by having the faulty phone lines serviced by your phone service provider.  
The farther you live from a telephone "hub," the slower your internet connection rate will be.  
Also, your modem capabilities can limit connection rate.  If you are using an older model computer for internet connection, you should check to see what speed of modem is installed in your computer.  Many older models will only have a 28.8 (or sometimes a 33.6) speed modem.  If this is your problem, contact for more information.  Some older computers will not support a 56K modem.  If you would like a faster modem, MWSI offers discount modems and installation to our internet customers.  
The more outdated your computer system is, the slower your connection will be.  The reason for this is the rapid increase in computer technologies.  Newer computers generally have more memory, more disk space and faster processors.  All of these components affect connection speeds.
Even if you have a new computer with lots of memory and a fast processor, all computers have a limit of memory and space.  If you download a lot of files from the internet and/or if you have several computer games and other programs loaded onto your computer system, this limits the computer's ability to process information quickly.  The best thing you can do to keep your computer running at optimal speed is to uninstall unused programs and games and to "clean" your computer of unused and temporary files occasionally.  If you are unfamiliar with how to properly perform these tasks, please consult the computer manual or contact** for directions.  Deleting necessary system files can be devastating to your computer system and can cause you to lose information stored in your system.    
Slow connections can also be related to disk errors.  Try running a thorough Scan Disk (the kind that "automatically fixes" errors).  

If none of the above problems apply to your connection, contact us for assistance.  


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