Browser settings, the number of people who share your connection and capped services are all reasons why you might experience poor performance.

By knowing where to look you stand a better chance of solving the problem, which is important as there's nothing more frustrating than a dodgy internet connection .

You don't want to wait for hours to download audio or video when you're paying for a high speed connection!

Browser settings

If you've just upgraded from a dial-up connection to broadband, your computer might still think you are using a standard modem.

This is because the internal settings need to be changed for broadband.

Normally this is done for you when you install your new modem, but sometimes old settings get left behind and cause problems.

For example, once your broadband connection is active, Internet Explorer needs to be told that it doesn't need to 'dial a connection' every time you want to use it.

In Internet Explorer you open the 'Tools' menu, choose 'Internet Options' and then Connections. You then click 'Never dial a connection' and then 'OK'.

Now if you reboot your computer, you should find that opening Internet Explorer automatically loads the home page.