This document will provide you with an introduction to all of the features of the PenTeleData Accelerator in a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) format. For anyone who is interested in taking full advantage of their PenTeleData Accelerator, this is the beginners guide for you.

How do I Disable/Enable Accelerator?

To enable or disable the Accelerator, simply click on the small green box with the blue "X" located in the Windows taskbar by the system clock. If the Accelerator is enabled, the menu item will appear as "Disable Accelerator." If the Accelerator is disabled, the menu item will appear as "Enable Accelerator." By default, the Accelerator is enabled, meaning that your Internet experience is accelerated. When you choose the Disable option, the Acceleration Service will be bypassed and you will access the Internet at regular speed.

NOTE: Even if the Accelerator is disabled, the Accelerator menu is still active. You can check performance or change settings in "Options." To completely inactivate the Accelerator, choose "Stop Accelerator" from the Windows Start menu.

Why am I seeing so many pop-up balloon messages?

Balloon messages are designed to deliver useful information to you about the state or performance of the Accelerator. The messages should disappear automatically if you don't take any action — or you can just click them away. Balloon messages tell you:

  • If the installation of the Accelerator was or was not fully successful.
  • If you did not get any acceleration during your most recent session.
  • The performance of the Accelerator during your most recent session.

Does Accelerator work behind a firewall?

If you're behind a corporate firewall on a dial-up connection, Accelerator may not work. If you have a personal firewall product installed on your PC, Accelerator should work. Running "Diagnostics" from the Accelerator icon will indicate if you are successfully accessing the Internet through your current Internet connection. The Accelerator icon is represented by a small green box with the blue "X" located in the Windows taskbar by the system clock.

I use McAfee Privacy Service to filter content. Is it compatible with Accelerator?

At this time, Accelerator is not compatible with McAfee Privacy Service. (Testing has shown the Accelerator IS compatible with other McAfee products.) If McAfee Privacy Service and the Accelerator are both installed, you will not be able to browse the Internet. Please either uninstall McAfee Privacy Service or uninstall Accelerator.

Are ad blockers, popup stoppers, personal firewalls and other utilities compatible with Accelerator?

Accelerator IS compatible with most ad blockers, popup stoppers, personal firewalls, and other utilities. In some cases, minor configuration changes are needed. Unfortunately, there are some cases where Accelerator is not compatible with other applications.

PenTeleData's Pop-Up Stopper and Norton Internet Security 2003 are compatible with the Accelerator.

Some applications may require small configuration changes to work with the Accelerator. Below is a list of documents we have created to assist you in configuring some of these applications to work with the Accelerator.

Will I ever see out-of-date web pages when using the Accelerator?

There is a small possibility that your web browser may display out-of-date information while you are running the Accelerator. If you feel that the information on the page that you are viewing in Internet Explorer is out-of-date, press the "F5" function key on your keyboard while holding down the "Ctrl" key. This will force a refresh of the page from the originating site. (Netscape users should click the "View" menu and select "Reload" to view fresh content).

What type of Web content does Accelerated Internet Access accelerate?

The Accelerator accelerates Web page text (including plain text, HTML, and JavaScript) and the most common forms of graphics such as Gif images, animated Gif images, JPEG images, and Flash. PenTeleData Accelerator does not accelerate other forms of Internet content, including streaming media (such as video and audio streams), secure pages (such as those used for online banking and credit card forms), file downloads (including MP3 files), and executable programs.

I travel. Does Accelerator work anywhere I use my PC?

Yes. If you are accessing the Internet through a dial-up connection in the U.S. or Canada and your system conforms to the requirements of Accelerator, you should be able to obtain an accelerated Internet experience.

How does Accelerated Internet speed compare to DSL or cable modem speeds?

Accelerator is an affordable software-only solution designed to significantly enhance Web access over low-speed (less than 200 kbps/second) connections. By contrast, DSL and cable modems provide high-speed Internet connectivity using hardware solutions that work with special telephone or cable lines and are usually much more expensive than accelerated dial-up.

Accelerator is a good option for those customers who do not want to purchase high-speed Internet service or who live in areas where high-speed Internet service is not available.

How does PenTeleData come up with the "up to 10X acceleration" claim?

Web page performance is measured by the amount of time it takes to download an entire Web page into your browser. So, when comparing the performance improvement delivered by Accelerator with an un-accelerated Internet connection, we configure two identical computers. Both are connected to the Internet at the same dial-up connection speed and both have the same PC and Internet browser configuration. Using an automated browsing measurement tool (i.e. a surfing "bot"), both computers visit the same Web pages multiple times. In order to eliminate variations in download speed caused by various network factors, we take the average times for downloading the same page with and without the Accelerator. The two averages are then compared in order to determine the improvement factor for a specific Web page.

Does Accelerator speed up the retrieval & delivery of email as opposed to just speeding up Web surfing?

Accelerator software accelerates Web pages, Web-based email (such as Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.), text (including plain text, HTML, JavaScript), and the most common forms of graphics (most Flash graphics, GIF, animated GIF, and JPEG images). In regard to email that is not Web-based (such as Outlook Express), the Accelerator will speed up embedded HTML images. This can be significant in the case of mass mailings that include embedded GIF, JPEG, or Flash graphics.

Does Accelerator software accelerate DSL or Cable Modems?

Accelerator works with connections operating at speeds up to 200kbps. Therefore, this service will not accelerate high-speed DSL or Cable Modem connections. If you have installed the Accelerator, you can check your current connection speed by using the Accelerator diagnostics, available from the Accelerator taskbar menu.

How does the Accelerator work?

The Accelerator is designed to provide maximum acceleration for the Web sites you visit regularly. So, the more you surf, the faster your favorite pages will load! Specifically, Accelerator speeds up the delivery of Web pages in three ways:

Compression:

  • Accelerator delivers text and graphics more efficiently, using a proprietary compression technology that significantly reduces the size of Web pages and page elements sent to your browser.

Caching:

  • Accelerator improves upon your browser's caching ability. Accelerator intelligently retains and reuses Web pages and page elements that have previously been sent to your PC. That's why the longer Accelerator is in use on your PC, the faster your Web pages will load.

Persistent Connections:

  • Accelerator uses proprietary techniques to carefully manage and optimize the communication between your modem and our network of servers through a persistent connection. This eliminates the time wasted re-establishing and closing TCP/IP connections.

Will the Accelerator work on my PC?

The Accelerator has been through rigorous third-party testing to ensure that:

  • It runs on most Microsoft® Windows™-based PC systems, including virtually any new PC purchased within the last 4 years.
  • It does not in any way interfere with other software or applications that you use. Please check the requirements below to make sure your PC will work successfully with the PenTeleData Accelerator:

Download Information:

  • File Size: Approx. 2 MB
  • Download time: 5 - 10 minutes on a typical 56k connection

Compatibility:

  • PenTeleData Accelerator works with most Microsoft® Windows™ - based personal computers in use today, including virtually all new PCs purchased within the last 4 years.

Platforms:

  • Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 (sorry, no Windows 98/ME/NT 4.0 or Macintosh support at this time.)

Connections:

  • Any Internet connection under 200 Kbps per second, including Dial-up, ISDN, DSL, and Wireless connections.

Browsers:

  • Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome and Firefox.

System Requirements:

  • Available Hard Disk Space: 25 MB (135 MB recommended)
  • Total System Memory (RAM): 32 MB (64 MB highly recommended)

What is Accelerated Internet Access?

Accelerated Internet Access is a service that uses various software techniques to speed up the delivery of web pages to your web browser. This is done by significantly reducing the size of information received by your browser as well as intelligently retaining and reusing information from previous visits to the same web sites.