Why Are My Speeds Slow? 1

[Jon80FLT]

Hi All,

I hope someone here has dealt with, and solved, the problem I am having.

I am connected to the internet by way of Cable modem. I am using the Linksys Cable/DSL Router (excellent device!) and an 8-port 10M/s hub. I have 5 computers connected to the hub. All cableing is Cat5.

My question deals with the 3 computers that I can locate in the same room for testing purposes.

Computer1 is a PII/350Mhz, 128M RAM, with a Netgear311 10/100 NIC.

Computer2 is an AMD K6-III/333Mhz, 64M RAM, with a Netgear311 10/100 NIC.

Computer3 is a Dell Laptop, PII-300MHz, 128M RAM, with a Xircom RealPort 10/100 PCMCIA NIC.

All 3 computers are running the SAME version of Win98SE, with IE5.5 and all the updates are current. The Laptop has just had a complete reformat and reinstall of the operating system and only has the most needed components installed.

I have TCP/IP and NetBuie and File/Printer sharing ON.

My problem is with the speeds I get when I use the MSN Broadband Speed Test:

http://msn.zdnet.com/partners/msn/bandwidth/speedtest500.htm

When I run the test on all three machines at the same time (I wait for one to finish before starting another test on another machine), Computer1 and Computer2 consistently show speeds of about 1800Kb/s (give or take 100Kb/s), but Computer3 will only attain speeds in the 350-400Kb/s range. I have swapped cables and ports on the hub, but no change. I even swapped out the Xircom Realport NIC with a Linksys 10/100 combo NIC, but the speeds stay the same.

It's pretty obvious it has to be something in the laptop, but I don't have a clue. All the NIC settings are set to "auto" and my browser settings are the same in all 3 computers.

What am I missing?

Thanks for the help,
Jon

 

[wybnormal]

I'll bet money on the fact the laptop was configured to use a dial up ISP internet connection? Almost everytime I hear this complaint, it comes back to Windows does not enable the TCP sliding window for the dial up IP stack and doesnt change it when connected to a LAN. I've done sniffer traces that show this very clearly that for each packet there is a ACK and each packet stays a fixed size(small) where on the LAN, it can send 2,3,4, or more before the ACK and the packets will adjust from 64 bytes to 1500 bytes( roughly)

There are a few shareware apps that will let you tweak the reg settings or you can just re-install the IP stack while connected to the LAN.

Check here for various tools that help with this.

http://www.tweakfiles.com/networking/

Look for DUN utilities or tweak2000

Hope this helps

Mike S
"Diplomacy; the art of saying 'nice doggie' till you can find a rock" Wynn Catlin

 

[Jon80FLT]

Thanks WyB...

You hit it on the head!

My TCP/IP buffer size was set to "0", I was able to set it to 32K and now my speeds approach those of the first 2 computers.

Thanks again.
Jon

 

[wybnormal]

Excellent Have fun with your newfound speed.

Mike S
"Diplomacy; the art of saying 'nice doggie' till you can find a rock" Wynn Catlin