Router(s) problem?

[Guest]

No one at Linksys can help on this - hopefully someone here can...

Configuration: 5 PC's and 2 printers connected through 2 linksys routers and
1 printserver used as router (2 PC's setup to share P2P). 2 PC's connected to
wired router (BEFSR41), 1 PC connected to wired segment of wireless (WRT54G)
router. 2 PC's are wireless. Printers connected through print server (PSUS4)
which connect to port on wired router. Only the wired router (BEFSR41) has
DHCP turned on

Problem: connect any PC directly up to the cable modem and it is smoking
fast (www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/) with download speeds at over 15,000 KBPS
and upload speeds of 768 KBPS. BUT hook the PC's up through the router and
the speed is cut to 5,000/768 and it's very choppy (if that makes sense).
Adding the wireless router into the network does not effect it one way or
another. Also all three router are on the same network (192.168.1.1).

Linksys had me change the MTU settings and do some other tweaks but nothing
helped. I'm open for suggestions - it's almost unusable the way it is. Any
suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Gerald Vogt]

First: Linksys routers are not necessarily the fastest.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/component/option,com_chart/Itemid,189/

Configuration: 5 PC's and 2 printers connected through 2 linksys routers and
1 printserver used as router (2 PC's setup to share P2P). 2 PC's connected to
wired router (BEFSR41), 1 PC connected to wired segment of wireless (WRT54G)
router. 2 PC's are wireless. Printers connected through print server (PSUS4)
which connect to port on wired router. Only the wired router (BEFSR41) has
DHCP turned on

Which router is connected to the modem?
Is the modem a simple modem or a router/modem?
Are the other routers connected through a LAN port with the main router
(i.e. they are not used as routers?)?
Did you enable anything like "Access Restrictions" or similiar on the
router?
Any other special non-default settings?

Gerald

 

[Guest]

For simple SOHO use tou would think they are exceptable?

The wired "BEFSR" is connected to the modem.
Simple.
Yes - the other 2 (both of which have DHCP turned off)
No
No

 

[Gerald Vogt]

For simple SOHO use tou would think they are exceptable?

The wired "BEFSR" is connected to the modem.
Simple.
Yes - the other 2 (both of which have DHCP turned off)
No
No

Well, there is probably little you can do. You already tweaked the MTU
settings. You could test the maximum speed you can get through the
router using two computers, one connected to the internet port and one
to a LAN port. The computer on the internet port must use a static IP
address. The router must be temporarily configure to a static IP address
on the internet port as well. For example, you could use
192.168.0.1/255.255.255.0 on the internet port of the router (no gateway
and no dns. If you have to enter gateway or dns enter something in
192.168.0.*). Set the computer to 192.168.0.2/255.255.255.0.

Now transfer some larger files between the computers, e.g. access a file
share on the computer at \\192.168.0.2\share (remember to turn off any
firewall on both computers). Other options would be to install an FTP or
simple Webserver for some downloads. There is probably network speed
measurement software available somewhere (which would give a more
accurate measurement) but I don't know myself.

Measure the throughput when the router is in gateway mode as well as in
router mode. With everything else (like access restrictions) turned off
on the router you should get the best results in router mode (as it does
not even NAT). With two computers the MTU size should not be a big issue
and you should be able to run those tests with default MTU (1500 I
guess). The maximum speed you get with this test is the maximum you can
expect.

If it does not vary much from your internet speed tests than the
limiting factor is most likely the router. Maybe there is a newer
firmware available but I would not expect must difference.

If it does vary much from your internet speed tests it is a problem in
the combination of modem and router.

Gerald