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Monday, December 20, 2010

Top 10 Facebook tips

Below is a listing of our top 10 tips for the popular social networking website Facebook.
Hide users, games, polls, etc.
It quickly gets annoying seeing some users posts, game invites, polls, etc. Hovering your mouse to the right of the post and clicking the Hide button as shown below can hide any post. Once this button is pressed you'll be prompted with the option to hide that user or in the case of a Facebook application the option to hide that application from ever showing up on your profile.
Hide Facebook users, games, polls, etc.
To unhide someone or unblock an application click the Edit Options link in the bottom right corner of the news feed as shown below.
Facebook unhide friends
Greasemonkey and FB Purity
Although Facebook does not allow the ability to hide friends getting new friends messages, friends becoming fans of something, and some application messages they can still be hidden with browser add-ons. If you're running Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, Opera, or Safari we suggest installing the Facebook Purity add-on.
Update your privacy settings
Click Account in the top right corner of the Facebook window and then click Privacy settings to adjust who is capable of seeing what on your Facebook profile. We highly recommend going through all the privacy settings to verify your privacy is properly protected.
Anything that is not set to friends only or friends of friends can be seen by anyone searching on the Internet. Below is a few things we recommend for most users.
  1. Under Search in Privacy settings uncheck Public Search Results. This will prevent users from finding your account and profile picture in search results such as Google
  2. Under Application settings, make sure you're only allowing applications you want to have access to your information. Applications that you grant rights to can have access to your Facebook profile information.
  • If you're curious to see how a program or web page connect to the Facebook API can see your profile see Tip135.
Use the Facebook top bar for navigation
Facebook navigation
Knowing how to properly navigate is vital if you want to get the most out of Facebook. Below is a brief description of each of the available options in the top bar as shown above.
 Home (facebook logo) - Clicking this logo will take you to your wall (News Feed) that shows all friends recent posts.
Friend requests - If any friend requests are waiting to be approved this icon will show a notification of how many friends are waiting for approval. This icon can also be clicked when you want to view any friend recommendations or search for friends on Facebook.
Messages - This section allows you to send and receive private messages between one or more people you're friends with.
Notifications - Any time a friend or Facebook application creates a new post you'll be notified in this section. Clicking this icon will show all recent notifications. If you wish to change what is capable of sending you notifications including any Facebook applications or games click the See All Notifications link at the bottom and check or uncheck what you want to be notified on.
Search - Finally, the search box in Facebook can be a powerful tool that can be used to quickly find any current friends or people on Facebook. In addition searching for terms such as a company name, product, sports team, music band, etc. will find fan pages and groups that can be joined.
Modify your account notifications
Keep your e-mail and/or your cell phone clean by updating or eliminate Facebook notifications or keep more up-to-date by adding new notifications. Facebook notifications can be added and removed by clickingAccount link in the top right corner, then Account Settings, and then clicking the Notifications tab.
Top News and Most Recent
Facebook News and most Recent
By default Facebook will display your wall postings in the News format, which means it only displays posts it believes are most relevant to you. These results are based on your past interaction with your friends. If you want to see every post made by all your friends that are not hidden click the Most recent link in the upper right section of your news feed as shown in the above picture example.
If you want to adjust who shows up manually click the Edit Options in the bottom right corner of your news feed.
Facebook unhide friends
View High School work friends
If you've added your High School and/or previous Work locations to your profile, quickly see all classmates and co-workers on Facebook by clicking the link in your Info tab under your profile.
Quickly change profile picture
Your profile picture can be quickly changed to any other picture by visiting your profile, hovering the mouse over your current profile picture, and clicking the Change Picture link that appears in the top right corner of the picture.
Don't post private information on friend's walls on in comments
When you make a post on a friend's wall or in any of their comments realize that any of their friends are going to be able to see that post. If you wish for something to remain only between you and a friend send them a Facebook message instead.
Suggestions and random friend invites
As you get more friends on Facebook it will begin making friend, groups, and fan suggestions. These are suggestions made by Facebook and not your friends. Unless these are something you're interested in they can be ignored.
This same rule can be applied to people who may want to be your friend that you don't know. If you don't know someone don't accept his or her friend invite. Once someone becomes your friend they'll have access to any information your friends are capable of seeing.
Tag your Facebook friends in your photos
Always make sure to tag any of your Facebook friends that are in pictures you upload. However, never tag someone who is not in the picture. When someone is tagged in a photo that picture is automatically added to that persons profile and is a great way to share pictures with all friends.

Top 10 unknown Google tricks

Below is a list of our top ten Google tricks many users don't know about.
  1. Definitions - Pull up the definition of the word by typing define followed by the word you want the definition for. For example, typing: define bravura would display the definition of that word.
  2. Local search - Visit Google Local enter the area you want to search and the keyword of the place you want to find. For example, typing: restaurant at the above link would display local restaurants.
  3. Phone number lookup - Enter a full phone number with area code to display the name and address associated with that phone number.
  4. Find weather - Type weather followed by a zip code or city and state to display current weather conditions and forecasts for upcoming days.
  5. Track airline flight - Enter the airline and flight number to display the status of an airline flight and it's arrival time. For example, type: delta 123 to display this flight information if available.
  6. Track packages - Enter a UPS, FedEx or USPS tracking number to get a direct link to track your packages.
  7. Pages linked to you - See what other web pages are linking to your website or blog by typing link: followed by your URL. For example, typing link:http://www.computerhope.com displays all pages linking to Computer Hope.
  8. Find PDF results only - Add file type: to your search to display results that only match a certain file type. For example, if you wanted to display PDF results only type: "dell xps" filetype:pdf -- this is a great way to find online manuals.
  9. Calculator - Use the Google Search engine as a calculator by typing a math problem in the search. For example, typing: 100 + 200 would display results as 300.
  10. Stocks - Quickly get to a stock quote price, chart, and related links by typing the stock symbol in Google. For example, typing: msft will display the stock information for Microsoft.

View two windows side-by-side using Smart Window

Smart Window or Snap, allows the user to view two windows side-by-side in Windows 7 without having to manually re-sizing either window.  This is also useful if you don't want to use Alt-Tab between 2 windows. If you are running a different version of Windows such as Windows XP or Windows Vista and want a similar feature see Tip138. Below is an example of what this looks like in Windows 7.
Windows 7 Smart Window
  1. Click and Drag on the top title bar of the first window so your mouse pointer hits either the left or right side of your screen. Let go of the window when you see the outline of the window re-size to ½ of the screen.
  2. Then choose the other window you wish to view on the side of the first window. Click and Drag the 2nd window to the opposite side of the screen until the mouse pointer hits the side of the screen and resizes to the other ½ of the screen.
These steps can also be done using the Windows key and the right and left arrow keys by doing the below steps.
  1. While pressing the Windows button on your keyboard, press either the Right or Left arrow.  This will move the open window to either the left or right portion of the screen.
  2. Choose the other Window you wish to view to the side of the Window in step one.  When using the Windows key for this step, as described in step one above, use the opposite (right or left) arrow button that you used in step one.
There are three different ways to get out of this view, below are some of the different methods this can be done.
  1. Click and drag the window so the mouse pointer hits the top of the screen and let go.  This will put the window back to regular size.
  2. If you just want to view one of the minimized windows that was in side by side view, simply click and while holding the mouse button down shake the window you wish to view and it will minimize all other widows to the Taskbar.  To reopen windows that were minimized by this step, simply click and shake the window you are using again, and they will re-appear.
  3. Press the Windows key on your keyboard, and at the same time, press either the up arrow or the down arrow.  The up arrow will maximize the screen; the down arrow will put the screen to minimize.

Top 10 free PC programs everyone should have

There are millions of free and open source projects available, many of them better than any commercially available product. Below is a short listing of what we think is the best out there, broken down into ten categories.
Anti-virus and malware protection
Most PC users realize that they need some type of protection on their computer or may have an installed anti-virus program from their computer manufacturer. What most don't realize is that there are free programs that are just as good and in some cases better than the commercial products. Below are our recommendations
Anti-virus program: Avast! or AVG
Malware / Spyware protection: Malwarebytes
Backup solutions
There are dozens of free and commercially available backup programs for computers. Unfortunately many of those backups are stored locally, meaning if your house were to catch fire, get robbed, or if you simply lost your backup discs all your data would be lost. This is why when dealing with important data we suggest users use online backup services.
Online backup solution: Mozy * or Dropbox
* Free 2GB of online backup for personal use
Browsers
Although Microsoft Internet Explorer comes pre-installed on Windows computers. There are several excellent free alternatives that everyone should try. These free alternatives can often be faster, have more options, and in many cases be more secure than Internet Explorer.
Internet Browser: Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome
Compression utility
When downloading files on the Internet you'll eventually encounter a .zip, .rar, or other compressed file. Dealing with these files can be easy with our below free file compression utility.
File compression utility: 7-zip
Disc ripper and creation utility
Creating an audio or data CD/DVD, ripping the data from an audio CD, or creating a CD from a .ISO file can also be done freely using our below free recommendation.
CD burner / ripper utility: CDBurnerXP
E-mail
E-mail is yet another service that can be done freely. Most users today use online e-mail solutions like the one listed below. However, for those still using an e-mail client such as Microsoft Outlook we strongly suggest one or both of the below suggestions.
E-mail client: Mozilla Thunderbird
Online e-mail: Gmail
FTP, SFTP, and SSH Utility
Users who maintain their own web page or need to upload / download files to or from a server will have to use an FTP utility and/or a SSH client. There are many commercial programs capable of doing this but our below free recommendations beats them all.
FTP client: Filezilla
SSH client: Putty
Image editor, paint program, and picture organizer
There are many great free solutions for editing, creating, and organizing your images on your computer. Many of the alternative programs capable of doing these types of tasks can be several hundred dollars, but all of the below programs are completely free.
Image editor: GIMP
Paint program: Paint.net
Picture organizer: Google Picasa
Multimedia
There are dozens of different multimedia programs with different capabilities and limitations. Below are our top free multimedia programs for watching video files and recording audio.
Audio editing and creating tool: Audacity
Video and DVD Player: VLC
Office Suite
An Office suite such as Microsoft Office is often one of the most expensive programs that a user can install on their computer. Why install these expensive programs when there are free solutions that are just as good.
Office suite: OpenOffice

Top 10 keyboard shortcuts everyone should know

Using keyboard shortcuts can often cut the time it takes to do something on a computer in half. Below are our top 10 keyboard shortcuts we recommend everyone memorize and use.
Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert
Copy the highlighted text or selected item.
Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert
Paste the text or object that's in the clipboard.
Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Y
Undo any change. For example, if you cut text, pressing this will undo it. This can also often be pressed multiple times to undo multiple changes. Pressing Ctrl + Y would re-do the undo.
Ctrl + F
Open the Find in any program. This includes your Internet browser to find text on the current page.
Alt + Tab or Alt + Esc
Quickly switch between open programs.
F1
Open help for the program you're in.
Ctrl + P
Print what's currently being viewed in programs such as Microsoft Word or your Internet browser.
Ctrl + Left arrow / Right arrow
Move the cursor one word at a time instead of one character at a time. If you wanted to highlight one word at a time you can hold down Ctrl + Alt and then press the left or right arrow key to move one word at a time in that direction while highlighting each word.
Ctrl + Home / End
Move the cursor to the beginning or end of a document.
Page Up / Space bar and Page Down
Pressing either the page up or page down key will move that page one page at a time in that direction. When browsing the Internet pressing the space bar will also move the page down one page at a time.

Computer Tips & Tricks How to Improve Your Computer’s Performance

computer tips

Tips for Speeding Up Your PC

Few things are as frustrating as dealing with a slow, sluggish computer. When a computer is brand new, it works wonderfully well. Over time, though, its performance can slowly begin to worsen. This happens for a number of reasons, but the biggest culprits are things like spyware, adware and other computer threats that are unwittingly downloaded along with other content while online. You don’t have to download thousands of MP3s, movies or other items to experience these problems, either – nobody is immune to them. Instead of accepting the situation, there are plenty of techniques and strategies that you can use to make it better – a few of the best ones are outlined below.

Strategy #1: Clean Your Computer’s Windows Registry

The biggest cause of slow, sluggish PC performance is errors and problems within its Windows registry. Adware, spyware and other threats usually target the registry, damaging or misplacing important files within it. When it comes to PC cleaning, a daily Windows registry cleaning should be at the top of your list of priorities. However, this should never be done manually – there are too many opportunities for major errors that could seriously damage your PC’s operating system. Instead, invest in a high-quality Windows registry cleanup program and configure it to run once per day – you won’t believe the difference that it makes.

Strategy #2: Remove Unneeded Files

Every time you log on to the Internet or otherwise use your computer, temporary files are generated. They are usually only needed once; however, they don’t disappear on their own. Instead, they accumulate over time until they are cluttering up your computer’s file system and affecting its performance. While it’s possible to remove these files one-by-one, it’s much easier and quicker to use a PC cleaning tool that’s designed for the purpose. Try to do so about one time per week to keep your computer humming along with ease.

Strategy #3: Remove Unneeded Programs

Like many people, you probably download and try out many different programs each month. How many of them do you actually end up using on a regular basis? Chances are, not very many of them. By getting into the habit of uninstalling unused and unneeded programs, you can keep your computer’s file system a lot less cluttered. In turn, your PC’s performance will improve dramatically. You can optimize your computer in this way by using its Add/Remove Programs feature. Its location varies by operating system, but you should be able to find it somewhere in the Control Panel.

Strategy #4: Empty the Recycle Bin

When you click “delete” on a file or a program, it doesn’t go away for good – not immediately, anyway. Instead, it sits in a kind of purgatory in your computer’s Recycle Bin. As things pile up in the Recycle Bin, your computer can start exhibiting some very annoying problems. If sluggish startups and frequent crashes are occurring with increasing frequency – and your computer’s recycle bin is very full – go ahead and empty it. From then on, get into the habit of doing so about one time per week. This small but important strategy can make a huge difference.

Strategy #5: Perform a Disk Defragmentation

Windows isn’t very efficient when it comes to storing files. It actually splits them up, depositing them into whatever spaces are available. The more spaced apart the pieces of a file are, the harder your computer has to work to make them run. The Windows disk defragmentation system tune-up utility works to piece all of those files back together again. The process is a long one, though, and only needs to be done about four times per year. Set it up to run automatically once every three months. By doing so, you’ll be able to keep your computer running in tiptop shape.
When it comes to keeping your computer running optimally, small but regular maintenance is the best way to go. Protecting your PC only does so much; even the most careful Internet users in the world unintentionally download malicious software from time to time. By using basic system tune-up tools, cleaning your computer’s Windows registry regularly, performing regular file-cleaning maintenance and otherwise optimizing your PC, you should be able to keep it in like-new condition for a lot longer. Even if your computer has been performing slowly for some time, beginning this regimen is sure to produce results. In the end, you’ll be able to enjoy a computer that flies along – instead of one that spins its wheels.

What is a Virus and how do I know if I have one?

When your computer gets infected with a virus it can be a devastating experience. A virus can consume your precious computer files and even damage your computer hardware. Is this worth ignoring? I don’t think so! Anything you can do to avoid a computer virus has to be a good thing and is well worth spending your time on. We all know prevention is better than a cure so I am going to share my top 10 tips on how to protect yourself against computer viruses.
  1. The first thing that I recommend is to research and become knowledgeable about viruses. How can you protect your computer from viruses if you don’t even know what they are. Here are some previous tutorials I have written about viruses. SeeWhat is a Virus and how do I know if I have one? and  What’s the difference between a virus, spyware, Malware, and adware?
  2. Arm yourself with the best Antivirus software to suit your needs. Not everyone can get away with using free antivirus software because it depends what you do on your computer. It depends on factors such as if you download files or not, if you open email attachments, and if you surf suspicious websites. See my reviews for the best Virus Removal Software. Lets face it, if you do not have protection against viruses installed on your computer, you will without a doubt, get a virus within the first hour of surfing the internet. It is that easy.
  3. Having a great Antivirus program installed on your computer to protect you against viruses is great, however if you do not regularly update the virus definitions, then the program is useless. New viruses are produced daily and this is why we constantly have to update the viruses definitions and stay ahead of the bad guys.
  4. When surfing the internet avoid websites that contain illegal software downloads, sexual references, free screensavers, cracks or serials, etc. I am sure you get the picture. If you go near these sites you are immediately asking for trouble.
  5. Always update Windows. These updates contain security updates that will help in your fight against viruses. If you do not perform regular Windows updates you are leaving your computer in a vulnerable state.
  6. Be careful when opening emails. There are obvious emails that you know you shouldn’t open, however what about the ones you get from people you know? What if your friend has a virus and it is spreading itself through emails? An email cannot be important enough to risk getting a virus. Delete the email and send a fresh email to your friend asking them if they actually did send you the email.
  7. If you are really serious about protecting your computer you can change your email settings and receive text emails only. You can also disable the ability to open email attachments. Virus travel in HTML enabled emails and file attachments. They cannot travel in text email messages.
  8. Do not use peer to peer (p2p) file sharing programs. These include programs such as Limewire, Bearshare, Gnutella, Morpheus, Torrents, etc. These program let you download files from other computer users connected to their program network. You have no way of knowing what you are actually downloading until it is on your computer. Even if you share files from a cd from a friend, it may have a virus.
  9. Do not download files from websites. Again, there is no way of knowing what you are downloading. The file can appear to be named like the file you want, however it could be anything. Most of the time, this is how a virus is unleashed, it usually seems like a harmless, familiar object.
  10. Make sure you have a firewall enabled on your computer. Windows comes with an inbuilt firewall or you can use a third party firewall program like Zone Alarm. Either way, make sure the firewall is on…To check the Windows Firewall go to the security settings in your control panel.
If you are careful and are serious about protecting your computer from invading viruses, it is possible to stay safe. My top 10 tips will help you keep your computer running smoothly, and virus free.

Virus Removal Software

The word ‘virus’ is the most talked about word in the computer world, along with it’s partner, ‘spyware’. They are both equally disliked by every computer user, especially if you are unlucky enough to have one. Even if your computer hasn’t been infected with a virus, most problems are usually blamed on them.
The sure fire way to avoid any confusion is to ensure that your computer has proper virus removal software installed. By ‘proper’ I mean if you are going to buy any software it should be virus removal software. Get all your other programs and software for free but do not skimp on your antivirus program.

How do I choose the right antivirus removal software for my computer?

Good Question! Every computer is different and each computer user requires a different amount of protection. For example if your computer does not even have an internet connection and you do not share files, then I do not see a need for you to install any virus removal software. On the other hand, if your computer connects to the internet for even a second, you need protection.
The level of protection varies. If you download files and programs from the internet then you should be protecting your computer with the best anti virus software available. That does not mean you have to spend hundreds of dollars though. If you read through the reviews below you will be able to choose the right antivirus removal software for you.

What is virus removal software? Is it the same as antivirus software?

Virus removal software and antivirus software are the same thing. Each software developer calls their particular program a different thing. In the end, all antivirus software is meant to do the same thing, alert you about viruses, quarantine them, or remove them. Many antivirus software also now include complete internet security. This means it will include an antivirus program along with other security features such as a internet firewall.

Tips4pc Top 4 Antivirus software programs for 2009/2010

I am just going to give you my honest opinion and review on my top 4 antivirus programs. The reason I have chosen these particular programs is I have actually used them and tested them for myself. Each banner leads to more information about the antivirus program in question. If you do buy a program after pressing one of these banner Tips4pc will get a commission as we are affiliates for all programs. At least 3 of the banners offer either a free program or a free software trial before you buy. This is great if you are short on cash at the moment.

AVG Antivirus 

AVG Internet Security - Tough on threats.
Most people know about AVG because there is a free version available to download that does a really good job. I would gladly install the free version on AVG on a persons computer if they were not willing to buy an antivirus program. I have tested the free version for about two years and it did the job, although I did eventually end up with a virus and had to reformat my computer. This was no acceptable in my case and therefore I had to upgrade to the paid version. If you are just using the internet to check your emails and buy stuff on Ebay then you should be fine with this program. AVG Free includes an email scanner.

Avast Antivirus Professional

 avast! 4 Professional Edition
This is what I use now. I actually downloaded the free 60 trial and then ended up buying the program. It was absolutely amazing. It would update itself, and other than that you would not even know it existed, until the warnings came through… WOW.. This program picks up everything! Even if I put a disc in the disc drive it would find a virus on that..Even though the disc is old and no other virus checkers had picked it up before.. You do not have to take my word for it because you can download the trial version and try it. It has no limitations but expires after 60 days. So you get to try the full program. Not like some programs that scan your computer for viruses and then tell you to buy the program to get rid of them.

Norton Antivirus 

Symantec's Norton AntiVirus 2010
If you buy a new computer you will most likely have a trial version of Norton Antivirus installed for you. I did use this program for countless years, however it was a resource hog. That means it slowed your computer down considerably, however I believe that the new 2010 version has improved greatly. This is one of the best antivirus programs out there but is not completely user friendly. This is why I recommend this program to the experienced computer user.
Save 10% on Symantec Multi-tier Protection 11.0
United States – Symantec Multi-tier Protection 11. Offer Expires 01/10/10
Coupon Code: 08EPPromo

ZoneAlarm

 ZoneAlarm Extreme Security
I started using ZoneAlarm when it was just a plain old firewall program. It was the absolute best. Now it incorporates a complete internet security suite including antivirus. Of course it is and always was a great program but I unfortunately found something else in the mean time. This is one of the best security programs you can install on your computer, however it is not for the newbie computer user.

How to connect two computers to a broadband modem

If you have a broadband modem or one that is supplied from your internet service provider (ISP), you can most probably connect two computers to it without needing a router. If you look at the picture of my modem below, it has a USB (blue) and a ETHERNET (yellow) port.
My service provider, Telstra Australia, supplied this modem to me. It came with an installation disc, which you should use to connect to the modem through the USB.
connect two computers
Now if you do not have a router, but have a similar modem to the one shown, you canconnect two computers off the one broadband modem and thus both accessing the internet.
One computer can connect through the USB port and the other through the Ethernet.
A USB cable and and Ethernet cable come with the modem, however to connect the second computer you may need to buy a longer Ethernet cable. Get a blue cable.. NOT yellow or red. The blue one is a CROSSOVER cable, the others will be PATCH cables. They have the same connections on them but do entirely different jobs. (this colour coding applies in Australia, I don’t know about other countries.)

How to connect two computers to a one broadband modem?

In this tutorial I will show you how to connect two computers to the same broadband modem.

What do you need to connect two computers?

  1. You will need two computers to connect to one modem.
  2. You will need an ethernet cable and a USB cable.
  3. You will need a modem similar to the one pictured above.
  4. You will need an internet connection.
  5. You will need an installation CD to install through USB connection.
To connect a computer to a broadband modem through USB, it is recommended that you use the installation cd. It will ask you to choose how you want to connect and you select USB. Make sure you know your user name and password for your internet service provider.
To connect the second computer to the same modem but through the Ethernet, just plug it in…It usually works straight away. If it does not, use the installation cd, but choose to connect with Ethernet.

Notes on how to connect two computers:

  • If you do not have an installation cd, phone your internet service provider and they will send one to you.
  • If you run into any problems, phone your internet service provider and they will help. It is perfectly OK to connect two computers to a broadband modem.

Checking Your Internet Connection Speed

Checking your internet connection speed is not really on the list of the most important things to do on your computer, however it won’t kill you to check it out.
When somebody asks me how big the engine is in my car, I usually hold my arms about shoulder width apart and say “roughly this.” It’s usually not what they meant and you might have had one of these embarrassing moments yourself when somebody inquired how fast your Internet connection was. At the next wine tasting when somebody asks “What’s your download speed?” you should have a better answer than “Well, movies like 5 minutes but pictures only a few seconds.”
I’m not really sure why somebody would pry into these intimate details that should only be shared with your service provider but what they’re asking about is the rate at which data is sent from the Internet to your computer. The faster that the information comes from the ‘net, the faster it’ll appear on your screen. A number of factors go into determining your speed including your modem, service provider, and other users trying to access a particular file.

Checking Your Internet Connection Speed

When checking your Internet connection speed you can go to a number of sites like:
  • speedtest.pk
  • pingtest.net
  • speedtest.net
And many more. These sites perform a ‘ping’ to your computer, which sends a file to be downloaded, and the results are then tested and displayed for you. It’s a good idea to check your Internet connection speed not only to fit in with the crowd at your next hors d’oeuvres sampling party but also to ensure you’re receiving the proper service as promised from your Internet provider.

What do the results mean when checking your Internet connection speed?

Lets not get technical here, but when I was testing my Internet connection my ISP and connection rated poorly. My connection received a 2.5 start rating and fell well under the ISP average. This means that I have a good provider but I am not getting a great connection like most other customers.
checking your internet connection speed
There are a few factors that might effect my Internet connection, one being that I live in a rural area, and the other being recent heavy rains. However there is no harm in performing a few more tests throughout the day and then ringing your ISP with the results. they can than test it from their end and see if there is a problem.
checking your internet connection speed
In the screen shot below I received an average of 3.35 Mb per second and my ISP average is 6.98 Mb/s.
internet connection speed test

Why is checking your Internet connection speed a good idea?

I think that checking on anything that you are paying for is a good idea. If you pay for a certain Internet connection speed then you should be getting it. By checking your Internet connection speed you can keep an eye on your service and make sure you are getting your money’s worth.