Some free programs and some ideas you should consider:
1.  Netsonic.  A freeware internet accelerator which has some special
advantages because it doesn't work by telling your browsers that it's
a proxy server.  It speeded up my net usage greatly, and seemed to
have no specific conflicts with anything, but I gave up on it because
it destabilized my system.  Adware and shareware versions.
2.  Naviscope.  Real freeware, no ads.  I don't think that the
caching function speeds up my net usage at all, except on search
engines, but this could probably be improved by fiddling with its
keywords.  However, it's a program with a lot of advantages.  Most
important for me, it does effectively block almost all banner ads, so
I don't have to see the revolting things.
3.  Make sure that your MTU and related network settings are correct
for internet use.  Plenty of freeware programs will handle this for
you, including Naviscope, I think.
4.  Most important, and frequently ignored:  there's a simple and
safe way to speed up most home or small office PCs.  They are usually
supplied with RAM shadowing turned off.  This makes sense for people
using ancient hardware or software, but not for most users today.  I
got a big speed boost on ALL of my software by turning on shadowing
for all available address blocks in CMOS setup.  Very easy (even I
did it with no mishaps), but never touch your CMOS settings unless
you've either them up or at least copied onto paper your previous
settings.

Thank you.
David Jonathan Justman

                Curious about the people moderating your
                   messages? Visit our staff web site:
                     http://nospin.com/pc/staff.html