SBC DSL w/ Linksys Router, Web Pages Hang

[indeedpeculiar]

Hello all,
I hope someone can help me with this because i'm nearly at my wits end.
I've just switched over from Charter Cable to SBC DSL and things work but only sort of. When loading web pages that take more than 3 seconds or so, only part of the page loads and sometimes none of it loads.

current set-up:
speedstream dsl modem ->Linksys BEFSR11 router -> 8-port no-name switch-> 2 pcs and a mac

i'm thinking the problem is with the Linksys since i can connect directly through the speedstream with no problems, but if i take the switch out and connect one machine directly the hang problem occurs.

the router is setup like so:
Firmware v 1.45.6 (the latest)
WAN:
PPoE
Keep Alive: 30 sec

LAN
DHCP: on

Other troubleshooting i've done:
tried the keep alive at different times 20-180 sec
updated the firmware to the latest version
played around with the DMZ settings
none of the above seems to have changed a thing

posible clues:
on my faster machines (the pcs) there is a much higher probability that pages will atleaste partially load if not completely than on the slower mac.
the pages that have problems on the mac don't alway respond the same way, sometimes a "server not found" error pops up right away or it partially loads and then stalls and sometimes it just hangs and nothing loads (oh, btw I use IE 5.2 on the mac)
for instance, npr.org never loads
google seaches almost allways load
but links off the search don't usually load
but then again the google cached pages usually load alteaste partially.

my theory:
there is some sort of regularly occuring disruption which means that depending on how fast I can and exactly when i request a web site the interupt causes different sorts problems.

any advice is much appreciated

 

[bcastner]

You need to manually set the the router MTU to 1492, and set your client to 1492. The router setting is done through its web interface, it may as you are using PPPoE have set the value for you, but check.

The client adjustment is most easily done by doing a "Tweak Test" at broadbandreports.com, and downloading and using their too "DrTcp" available on the site.

http://www.broadbandreports.com/tweaks

And, set your keep-alive back to 30 seconds on the router.

 

[opediggitty]

To make sure that it is not the switch you should take the Linksys out of the equation by plugging your router and one of your PC's into the switch and see if it works that way. Even though that you think that it is the Linksys the switch could still be causing you grief. If that all works fine it could be the link between that particular DSL modem and the router. At that point you may want to see if there is an updated version of the firmware for your modem. If that doesn't work then you may want to invest in a new modem or router. If it comes down to that let me know because I have a cisco 678 router/modem all in one that I have been trying to sell.

 

[indeedpeculiar]

Thanks for the suggestions, the router was allready at MTU 1492 and now all the clients are too. The pcs seem to be ok but the mac is still sucking wind.
Any other suggestions?
thanks