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McAfee Speedometer
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Features Vs Benefits
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McAfee
Speedometer Introduction
Internet connection speeds can
vary greatly from computer to computer but also from minute to minute
on the same computer. There are a large number of factors that combine
to generate an Internet connection speed. This is particularly true in
the case of 56k connection users. The standard and type of telephone
line as well as the type of switches used by your telephone company
can have a serious impact on download speeds and connection speeds.
There may be precious little you can do immediately improve your
connection but it does give you a rough idea of how files will take to
download (including web pages).
Double Testing
The Speedometer will perform
either one or two tests on your computer in order to generate an
accurate snapshot of your connection speed. Initially it will attempt
to send a 150KB file to your system and calculate how long it took to
be delivered. If it took longer than one second then this figure will
be used to give you the connection speed and no further testing or
downloading will be done. If your computer received the file in under
a second it will proceed to send a second, large file to your
computer. The actual size of this file will depend exactly on how your
connection performed in the first test but will be 600KB, 1.5MB, or
3.0MB.
One Test For
Slower Internet Connections
If you have a slow connection
then a 600KB file alone could take two to three minutes to download,
hence why the test stops, in order to prevent a lengthy wait for
results. However, in order to gain more accurate results for quicker
connections, the McAfee Speedometer uses the second test to gain a
more accurate depiction of your actual Internet connection.
Testing
Over Time
McAfee Speedometer essentially
provides a snapshot of your Internet connection speed. However, this
speed can be affected by a lot of different factors. Fortunately,
though, the speedometer can be used regularly to gain a more accurate
insight into your connection. By building up a profile it is possible
to get a longer-term view of your actual connection speed.
How It Helps To
Know Your Connection Speed
Determining your connection
speed can help you determine whether you need to upgrade your Internet
connection package. Your connection speed determines the speed that
most operations take on the Internet. Downloading files is only one of
these factors, even opening web pages and waiting for website content
to fully download are affected by your connection; the slower the
connection, the worse the results.
Another possible use of the
Speedometer is to check you’re getting what you paid for with your
Internet package. You should bear in mind, that you are unlikely to
receive your full quota of connection speed. Some loss will almost
always occur because of a number of environmental and general factors
concerning your connection. However, you can expect to get around
three quarters of that amount.
The Web Based
Utility
The McAfee Speedometer is a
handy little utility that is entirely web based. You do not need to
download anything to your computer even to perform the test. The test
is conducted by downloading a web page of a specific size rather than
a file or application. There’s no need to worry about deleting any
unnecessary files or using up valuable system resource.
McAfee
Speedometer – Test Your Internet Connection
McAfee Speedometer is a free
web based Internet connection analysis tool. By redirecting your
browser to pages of varying sizes it can calculate how long it took
your system to download that page, thus giving an accurate depiction
of your running Internet connection speed. This information can be
used to determine whether to change Internet package or if you have
any problems on your machine.
Test
your Internet Connection now with the
McAfee
Speedometer
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