Slow Network Connection

[thegooch49]

Hi all, I have a question/problem. I have a Toshiba laptop, with built in ehternet. When I plug it in at work, most of the time I get a baloon pup up saying it's connected at 100 mb/sec. Occasionally (1/3 of the time), it will say it's connected at 10 mb/sec. It's definatley a 100 connection.

Anyways, when I'm working on the internet, trying to download something, my connection slows to a crawl! I'm trying to download a file. It will start off displaying the download at 50 K/Sec, and slowly creep down to something like 5K. It can sometimes take 20 minutes to download a 1MB file. It's a company LAN, I don't notice the slowness on other computers. It's not the site i'm getting the files from, I have experienced this many time, at random sites.

Anyone seen this? Any ideas? FYI, I'm using Firefox, Win XP, sp2.

Thanks for the help.

[z3ncha0s]

I have been having the same problem with my laptop. It is an IBM thinkpad with a P4. I have narrowed the problem down to the router being used on my network. It was a Windows 2000 NAT and now it is a Linux MNF. With the Linux firewall it is a little better, but not much. Did you ever find a solution to your problem?

[thegooch49]

No, I haven't figured this out yet. I actually haven't used the computer for a few months, so I haven't been around to notice any problems.

[scuzzman]

You'll want to check the duplexing mode of your network interface card.

• Click Start > Connect To > Show all connections
  
• Right click the Local Area Connection and select Properties.
  
• Click Configure
  
• Select the Advanced tab
  
• The NIC hardware settings will be displayed
  
• Duplex: The Duplex Rate (Half vs. Full) setting will vary by manufacturer.
  
• The Duplex Rate is commonly identified in the settings window as on of the following: Media Type, Duplex, Half/Full Duplex, or Duplex Rate. The NIC should be set to Half-Duplex.
  
• Connection Type: The Connection Type refers to the Ethernet "speed" or "mode" of the card (10 MB/sec vs. 100 MB/sec.) Most cards are equipped with an "autosense" mode, which will automatically determine the maximum capable speed of the DSL Modem's Ethernet port (or the Router's Ethernet port) and adjust the speed setting of the NIC accordingly. The Connection Type is most commonly identified in the settings window as: Connection or Connection Type. The NIC should be set to 100MB/sec (or Autosense)
  
• Note: The Duplex rate and Connection Type may also be grouped as a single value in the Advanced properties list. (i.e.: 10MB/Half Duplex, 10MB/Full Duplex, 100MB/Half Duplex, etc.)
  
• You'll want to set this to 100MB/Half Duplex
  
• Click OK
  
• Click OK
  
• Restart the computer.