A. If you’re an AT&T subscriber with one of these domains in your e-mail address (@sbcglobal.net, @swbell.net, @ameritech.net, @pacbell.net, @nvbell.net, @prodigy.net, @snet.net, @wans.net, @flash.net or @att.net), do the following:

• Connect to the Internet.
• In the address bar, type in: helpme.att.net and press Enter or click on the “go” arrow. This takes you to the AT&T Yahoo Help page.
• In the Search box located at the top of the left column, type the words: Speed test.
• Internet Speed Test will be the first help topic link in the list that appears. Click on it.
• AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet Throughput Test is the title of the next page, and you are asked to select from the drop-down menu the location closest to you such as MO: Kansas, and click on the Start button beside the list.
• Throughput is the speed or amount of data that is sent between your computer and the Internet.
• Give the Speed Test a few minutes to complete, and you will see a result that looks like the illustration below.
• This is what I got with my Elite DSL service.

The above procedure is the "quick and dirty" way to check your connection if you are sure that everything else is okay. However, when you’re at the AT&T Help page, you can click on Connection—Connection Problems—Slow Connection/Slow Browser and there is a detailed troubleshooting guide. There were two things on the list that I did in order to speed up my connection, and that was to clear the browser cache and cookies and lower the size of the cache.

There is a video for checking the connections of your hardware here.

A. The browser cache is a reserved folder with a designated size on the hard drive where your computer automatically saves a website when you visit it, making revisiting that site much faster because it doesn't have to download it all over again. Over time, the folder gets full and the browser automatically deletes the oldest files. Clearing the cache manually may help speed up your system.

To do this in Internet Explorer 6 or 7, follow the path: Tools—Internet Options—General tab—Temporary Internet files or Browsing history—Delete button. This deletes temporary Internet files, history, cookies, saved passwords, and web form information.

To change the size of the cache folder, follow the same path as for clearing the cache, but click on the Settings button instead of Delete. Under Disk Space to Use, reduce the size of the cache. Click OK. I first changed the setting to 250 MB, but later allowed Windows to put it at 1024 MB*.

*I also ran the AT&T Self Support Tool and it adjusted the cache to 2007 MB, so I put it back.