Software modems offload all of the work that a hardware modem does itself onto the rest of the computer. As a result, your Internet connection may be competing with your other software and hardware for the limited resources of your computer, forcing your computer to juggle between your Internet connection and anything else that may require its attention. If everything seems slow while you are on the Internet, you may have a problem with your modem. In addition to the fundamental design of software modems, other aspects of the modem may slow down a dial-up Internet connection. Specifically, every modem, regardless of whether or not it is a software or hardware modem, requires a driver. A driver is a piece of software that directly controls the hardware. If the driver is misconfigured, does not match the make and model of the modem or is an early revision, you may realize faster Internet connections by updating your modem driver. However, this is something that should only be diagnosed and performed by a your qualified repair person.

Other software can slow down an Internet connection as well. Some of it, such as viruses, worms, adware and spyware may be on your system without your knowledge. Viruses and worms often use Internet connections to spread themselves. Adware and spyware use the Internet to display ads and track where you go on the Internet. If you suspect that any of these may be running on your computer, you will want to have your computer, call our WCOIL Technical Support staff and we can assist you in installing software to control adware and spyware.

Last but not least, file sharing applications (i.e. music swapping programs) will use up as much of your Internet connection as they can. Most of these programs run constantly in the background. Whenever you are connected to the Internet, people may be downloading files from your computer, using up the bulk of your Internet connection.

To troubleshoot this, disable your file sharing application so that it does not appear in the 'system tray.' Your system tray is in usually in the bottom right hand side of the screen. In addition to the time, the system tray displays a small icon for every program that is currently running in the background. To be on the safe side, you may want to disable any program that appears in the system tray except for your antivirus program, sound (which looks like a small yellow speaker), and mouse (which usually looks like a white mouse).

If your Internet connection feels faster, then you know that one of these programs is the culprit. To avoid having to disable them every time you restart your computer, you may need to contact please contact WCOIL Technical Support and have them permanently disable the programs as the process involved is only something advanced users should attempt.