Speed up your Internet connection with Auslogics Internet Optimizer

Auslogics Internet Optimizer is a free Windows tool that changes system and browser settings to get more speed and reliability out of your Internet connection. It can’t give you more bandwidth than your plan includes, but it can make sure Windows and your browsers are set up to use the line you pay for.

Test your speed first

Before changing any settings, run a few speed tests at different times of the day. If your results already match your plan, a tweaking tool won’t help much. If they fall clearly short, the Internet Optimizer is worth a try. Note your numbers so you can compare them after the changes.

Two ways to optimize

The program is also part of Auslogics’ paid BoostSpeed suite, and it offers two modes.

Automatic mode

This mode is for people who don’t want to learn what each setting does. You just pick your connection speed and let the program do the rest:

1. Install and start Auslogics Internet Optimizer.
2. Choose your connection speed: Slow (128 kbps or lower), Average (1 Mbps or lower) or Fast (over 1 Mbps).
3. Run the optimization. The program adjusts Windows and your applications for the speed you selected.
4. Restart the PC if asked, then run your speed tests again.

Manual mode

Manual mode shows every setting and value the program can change. The most important ones are at the top, followed by detailed lists of global and application-specific parameters. Most of them come with a short description.

For browsers, a click on Internet Explorer, Firefox or Opera opens around ten settings. Examples include:

• the total number of connections and connections per server;
• turning off prefetching or IPv6 in Firefox;
• the network buffer size in Opera;
• turning on TCP Autotuning for Internet Explorer.

Manual mode gives experienced users full control, but picking the right value for each setting is not easy if you don’t know what it does. When in doubt, stay with automatic mode.

Is it worth using?

The tool makes most sense when your connection is slower or less stable than it should be and the problem isn’t on your provider’s side. Because it offers both an automatic and a manual mode, it suits beginners and power users alike. Keep a note of what you changed, so you can undo a tweak if a site or program starts misbehaving.

If your PC itself feels slow rather than the connection, look at what runs in the background: our Task Manager performance guide shows how to spot apps hogging the network, and you can disable startup programs that download updates as soon as Windows starts.