About Octane:

  1. Will OCTANE speed up everything I do on the web?
  2. How fast is OCTANE?
  3. What other features does OCTANE include?

Download and Installation Help:

  1. Where can I download the OCTANE installer?
  2. I downloaded the OCTANE installer but now I can't find it on my computer. Where is it?
  3. Does OCTANE work on Macintosh or Linux operating systems?
  4. I'm having difficulty installing OCTANE. Where can I get additional assistance?

Using OCTANE:

  1. How do I start OCTANE?
  2. How do I change the image quality setting (both for a particular image and for all images)?
  3. What do the statistics displayed in the "Statistics" dialog mean?

Using Other Web Browsers:

  1. Can I use OCTANE with Netscape Navigator?
  2. Can I use OCTANE with other browsers such as Opera or Mozilla?

Product Details:

  1. How do I use Internet Explorer with OCTANE?
  2. Where do I go if I have problems with OCTANE?
  3. Does OCTANE speed up e-mail?
  4. Does OCTANE speed up my secure transactions such as web banking?
  5. What operating systems or platforms can OCTANE be installed on?
  6. What system requirements are necessary to use OCTANE?

Known Issues:

  1. Why does my downstream "Bandwidth Savings Ratio" appear to go below 1.0?
  2. Why do some Java-applets (such as certain games on www.pogo.com) not work?

Responses

About Octane:

1. Will OCTANE speed up everything I do on the web?

OCTANE accelerates certain text and graphics on web pages. With OCTANE you will notice a significantly faster experience when you visit web sites, send and receive e-mail and perform many other Web-based activities. OCTANE will not currently accelerate file downloads such as music files or streaming media.

2. How fast is OCTANE?

The exact amount of acceleration can vary but with OCTANE you will notice significantly faster download times–up to 5X faster. And the more you use OCTANE, the faster it gets!

3. What other features does OCTANE include?

Ritternet Internet service with Octane includes three e-mail addresses, FREE virus and spam filtering, pop-up blocker and local service and support based right here in Jonesboro. And it’s up to 5X faster than regular dial-up, for about the same price!

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Download and Installation Help:

1. Where can I download the OCTANE installer?

Once you have completed the sign-up process, you will be directed to a location to download the OCTANE installer. Click download to proceed to the download or contact Customer Service (888-659-6009) for further assistance.

2. I downloaded the OCTANE installer but now I can't find it on my computer. Where is it?

Use the Windows "Search" tool located in the Start Menu to find the file octane.exe. If you still can't find it, contact Customer Service (888-659-6009) to re-download it and ensure that you save the file to your Desktop.

3. Does OCTANE work on Macintosh or Linux operating systems?

Currently OCTANE only works on Windows OS: Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP. OCTANE for Macintosh is coming soon. Check back often for updates!

4. I'm having difficulty installing OCTANE. Where can I get additional assistance?

Click here for detailed installation instructions. If you are still experiencing problems installing, contact Customer Service (888-659-6009) for further assistance or to obtain an installation CD.

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Using OCTANE:

1. How do I start OCTANE?

OCTANE is launched automatically every time Windows starts. You do not have to launch it manually. The OCTANE icon appears in the Windows system tray to show that it is operating in the background.

2. How do I change the image quality setting, both for a particular image and for all images?

Setting the image quality for all images: The Image Quality setting changes the quality of images that appear in your OCTANE Web Browser. The higher the quality you select, the longer it will take to load. For slower Internet connections, it is recommended that you lower your image quality. This slider can be adjusted any time while browsing.

You can easily obtain full image quality for a particular image (described below), so don't be overly conservative about lowering your image quality setting.

  • Right-click on the OCTANE Web Accelerator system tray icon.
  • Select "Settings...".
  • Select the "Image Quality" tab.
  • Use the slider bar to adjust the image quality setting.
  • Press OK to save the settings.

Changing the image quality for a particular image: While browsing, if you would like to request the full quality image, simply right-click on the desired image from within the OCTANE Web Browser and select "Show Original Image" from the menu. The full quality image will appear in place of the lower quality image.

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3. What do the statistics displayed in the "Statistics" dialog mean? You may view the acceleration statistics and how they change dynamically using the "Statistics" dialog.

  • Click on the OCTANE Web Accelerator system tray icon to access the pop-up menu.
  • Select "Statistics...", to display the Statistics Summary dialog.
  • Click "Reset" to reset the statistics. You may do so at any time while browsing without affecting OCTANE Web Accelerator's performance or operation.
  • Click the "Details" button to view more detailed statistics information (see below).

  • Consult the following table for a description of the values.

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Original Data Size of the original (uncompressed) data.
Actual Data Amount of data sent by OCTANE Web Accelerator.
Savings Ratio Factor of reduction in data. E.g. A savings ratio of 4.00 means your connection is 4 times faster than a normal connection on average.
Text-based This row contains compression information regarding text-based content.
Graphics Contains compression information regarding graphical content.
Others Contains information regarding content that is neither text nor graphical.
Total Downstream Lists the total original and compressed amounts of data downloaded.
Total Upstream Lists the total original and compressed amounts of data uploaded.

 

Using Other Web Browsers:

1. Can I use OCTANE with Netscape Navigator?

Start Netscape Navigator and browse as you normally would. OCTANE is launched automatically every time Windows starts. It operates in the background to accelerate your web connection. No user intervention is required.

2. Can I use OCTANE with other browsers such as Opera or Mozilla?

Yes. OCTANE works with any web browser that allows you to specify an HTTP proxy. You must set the HTTP proxy host to be "localhost" and the port number to be "5500" (without quotes). Consult your browser's documentation for additional information.

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Product Details:

1. How do I use Internet Explorer with OCTANE?

Start Internet Explorer and browse as you normally would. OCTANE is launched automatically every time Windows starts. It operates in the background to accelerate your web connection. No user intervention is required.

2. Where do I go if I have problems with OCTANE?

First try this FAQ section. If you can’t find your answer here, please call us at 888-659-6009!

3. Does OCTANE speed-up email?

YES! OCTANE accelerates e-mail for Outlook, Outlook Express and others. Best of all, OCTANE is seamless–you just activate your usual e-mail program and OCTANE acceleration begins automatically!

4. Does OCTANE speed-up my secure transactions such as my web-banking?

OCTANE does not accelerate secure transactions. Secure web sites will continue to work by bypassing the acceleration component.

5. What operating systems or platforms can OCTANE be installed on?

OCTANE can be installed on any of the following operating systems:

  1. Windows 95b w/ Winsock2
  2. Windows 98
  3. Windows 98SE
  4. Windows Millennium Edition (Windows ME)
  5. Windows NT 4.0
  6. Windows 2000
  7. Windows XP

OCTANE works best with Internet Explorer 4.0 and Netscape 4.0 or any later version of either browser (Internet Explorer 5.0 is recommended).

Newer versions of Internet Explorer are available free of charge through Microsoft.

Note for Windows 95 users: Currently, Microsoft does not permit Windows 95 users to install Internet Explorer 6 or greater; however, Internet Explorer 5.5 is available.

OCTANE for Macintosh is coming soon. Check back often for details!

6. What system requirements are necessary to use OCTANE?

The recommended system requirements are a Pentium 200MHz with 64MB of RAM and at least 5 MB of hard-disk space.

Regardless, OCTANE will work within your current system configuration to provide you with the best content acceleration.

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Known Issues:

1. Why does my downstream "Bandwidth Savings Ratio" appear to go below 1.0?

Accelerating your bandwidth channel incurs a small amount of transmission overhead. In most cases, this overhead is negligible when compared to the actual bandwidth savings provided by OCTANE.

However, strange interactions between Internet Explorer and certain plug-ins (such as the old versions of the Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in) may cause documents to be unnecessarily downloaded twice. It is important to note that this type of behavior occurs regardless of whether OCTANE is used. OCTANE is merely showing the download statistics in these situations.

2. Why do some Java-applets (such as certain games on www.pogo.com) not work?

Older versions of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) cannot display certain image types (such as 'PNG'). To fix this problem, simply set your image slider to the maximum quality level or upgrade to the newest JRE.

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Call locally: 870-974-9100 Toll-free: 888-659-6009
E-mail: support@ritternet.com

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