Factors affecting the speed of your online access

CCH is continually working to improve the speed of its online services. However, there are potentially a number of issues affecting the speed at which you access your online subscription. There are also a few things you can do to address some of these issues and improve the speed of your Web surfing.

Factors that affect your Web connection speed

These include:

• your modem speed;
• your Internet access number - for example, if your ISP's access number only supports 28.8Kbps modems, then this is as fast as you can connect, even if you have a 56Kbps modem;
• the phone line quality;
• your computer's processor speed, memory, hard disk space;
• your browser's cache - copies of Web pages you have already downloaded are stored here;
• dial-up traffic - ie. between your computer and your ISP's server;
• web traffic - ie. between Web servers.

What you can do to maximise your Web surfing speed

• Use Reload/Refresh on your browser toolbar. If the page does not load when you enter the URL, try clicking Reload/Refresh. This sends a new request from your browser to the Web server.
• Use Stop on your browser toolbar. This often loads all elements of the page except the biggest. If this does not load what you need, click Reload/Refresh.
• If you are upgrading your computer, consider buying a faster processor and extra memory, as this can improve your Web surfing speed.
• Keep open programs to a minimum while surfing: this frees up memory for your browser.
• Free up as much hard disk space as possible by deleting unused programs and files.
• Increase your browser's cache limit.
  • For Internet Explorer:
    1. Click Tools on the toolbar and choose Internet Options.
    2. On the General tab, click Settings.
    3. In the Settings dialog, increase the disk space using the slider or type the number in megabytes (MB) directly into the box and click OK.
  • For Netscape Navigator:
    1. Click Edit on the toolbar and choose Preferences.
    2. Under the Advanced category, click Cache. (If no options are visible in this category, click to expand the list.)
    3. Enter a number in the Memory Cache field.

  There may be periods of heavy site use that slow down access to your subscription. Such delays are only temporary. Back to Help Home