Improving Your DSL Connection - Solutions
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By now we have localized the problem. The question remains: how we are going resolve it? You may observe that the Internet is full of software that is named as if it is a dream come true for our problem: "download accelerators." In most cases the name is only a marketing move. The marketing team pumps up interest around the product. But in essence the only way it could make a difference is by sending multiple requests to the server, which ask for the file you are downloading.
You see, most servers still suffer from the bandwidth problem. To solve this issue they incorporate some sort of bandwidth limit. So one computer has only a specific amount of bandwidth allocated, which the owners think should be enough to use the service (in the case of video streams, like the mms protocols), or a speed that will attract most visitors without scaring them away from the site.
If you found a server like this where your download speed is, let's say 100 KB/S, but you have at your command a much faster speed (like 200KB/S) from you ISP, then you can "cheat" the system by using a "download accelerator" of this type. It connects to the server several times and requests your file. For example, let's look at the FDM (Free Download Manager) and a local television station (namely Antena3.ro).
Should you still want more information about download managers, you can check out the article on this site titled "Popular Download Managers Reviewed " by Barzan 'Tony' Antal. It is a comprehensive review of the most popular download managers.
So back to our problem. The local channel offers a FLV (flash-based video) stream of their past television programs, so you can watch them if you missed the live broadcast. Now most of the time, or rather at peak hours, the download speed of the video if you start it in the browser is barely enough to watch the show; screen hang-ups are part and parcel of the experience.
With a little extra knowledge you can "cheat" the system. Let me show you how. The problem is that even if you set the Adobe Flash Player to download files of unlimited size to your hard drive you are limited by the server.
Start up the site. Find your video and just view the Page Source of the site. For Mozilla Firefox follow the View -> Page Source (or Ctrl+U) path, while for Opera Right Click -> Source (or Ctrl + F3). If you are viewing the source then you just need to get the link to the video. It helps if you know the extension, for example flv, and search for the extension. The link you find should be valid. Double check!
In my case it was: http://***.***.***.***:7575/video_show_10_14210.flv (the asterisks stand for the IP of the server). Now all you need to do is copy and paste the link into your download manager. Enter it at the Add Download (or Add URL) part and enjoy the high-speed download procedure. This way you may finish the download in just a few minutes, and after that you can enjoy every second of the show with a player.
In some happier situations the process described above may be skipped with a little help from your manager, as most of them offer video grab for the major sites (like Youtube, Metacafe, etc.). But with this we can say that the performance increase is caused by your download manager.
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