Time it Takes to Load a Page in COL

Check the "Number MS" at the bottom of your page (right next to your login name) to see how fast your page in Connections is loadidng.  The number displayed in Connections Online is how long it took the server to put the page together and send the response back to you.  Other times that influence the page load speed are how long it takes for your request to go from your computer to the server, how long it takes the response to travel from the server to your computer, how many separate objects make up the page (graphics, style sheets, etc.), and how long it takes your computer to display the web page after it has received the response.

So, the full time is something close to: ping time + server time + (page size * download speed) + browser display time

The number shown is representative of the server time only. We can make the page load time faster by keeping that server time low, by minimizing the number of objects returned (mostly graphics), and by making the page size as small as possible.  The biggest variable we cannot control is the speed of the client browser.

In general, the newer browsers are much faster than older ones, so keeping your browser up-to-date with the latest version is a big part of keeping it fast.

Doing a quick Google search, this site seems to have some good tips on speeding up a slow Internet Explorer: http://bootstrike.com/Articles/SpeedUpIE/