Speeding Up Internet Downloads

Downloading stuff

Downloading stuff from the Internet is a common act of online activity, that happens ever so often when one connects and surfs the Net. Ever wondered how one can speed up the time to download that huge file? Generally, using an appropriate download manager can sometimes increase the speed of download significantly.

Having tried out various download managers over the years, I have recently (past 1 year) settled for the "Free Download Manager" a.k.a. FDM in Windows (I use AXEL for Linux). Besides supporting the usual plethora of features including (a) broken download resumption, (b) HTTP/FTP/BitTorrent protocols, (c) Flash Video download (d) being completely FREE etc, what makes this program attractive is that it allows users to configure just how fast it should perform its download.

Where to Get FDM?

Here is where you can grab the FDM installer.


Get Free Download Manager

After downloading, run a viruscan on the file to ascertain that it is virus free. If so, proceed to install following the on screen instructions.

How To Increase the Download Load Speed?

Once installation is complete, fire up the program by doubleclicking the FDM program icon. When loaded, a program icon resembling a diskette with an arrow will appear in the Windows Taskbar (bottom right hand corner). Click on that and the main program User Interface will appear.

Next, head for the menu bar and click Options > Settings. In the window that pops open, look for Downloads Category in the left window panel and click on Network option.

For my Traffic Usage Mode, I set the Heavy Mode as follows:

     Maximum number of connections: 100
     Maximum number of connections per server: 20
     Maximum number of running downloads: 5

Get FDM to Work With Your Browser

In the same Downloads Category in the left window panel of the program UI, look for and click on the option called Monitoring. A list of supported browsers including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari etc will be shown here. Check all those browsers that you wish to use with FDM.

That's all. Happy Downloading!