Download speed

[Howard M. Stark]

I am concerned about my download speed. I have two computers on a LAN
whose download speeds vary by a factor of two.The LAN is connected to
the net with a Speedstream 5200 ADSL modem. The DSL service,
Frontiernet, advertises 3000 kb/s. The modem feeds a Linksys 2.4 ghz
802.11b Access point router. The first computer a new laptop downloads
at about 2400 kb/s and is wireless, the second computer, an older
desktop at about 1200 kb/s and is wired to the router.

My question is why is the desktop computer slow?. It runs 500mhz Pentium
IV processor with 512mb of RAM. I'm using W98SE. The NIC is a 3Com
3C905b - TPO. It is quite old but I am using 3Com's latest drivers. The
network adapter reads "3Com Etherlink 10 ISA (3C905b - TPO)" in PnP
mode. There are no other network adapters active. Can the problem be the
NIC?

Help would be appreciated.

Howie

 

[Rotes Sapiens]

I am concerned about my download speed. I have two computers on a LAN
whose download speeds vary by a factor of two.The LAN is connected to
the net with a Speedstream 5200 ADSL modem. The DSL service,
Frontiernet, advertises 3000 kb/s. The modem feeds a Linksys 2.4 ghz
802.11b Access point router. The first computer a new laptop downloads
at about 2400 kb/s and is wireless, the second computer, an older
desktop at about 1200 kb/s and is wired to the router.

My question is why is the desktop computer slow?. It runs 500mhz Pentium
IV processor with 512mb of RAM. I'm using W98SE. The NIC is a 3Com
3C905b - TPO. It is quite old but I am using 3Com's latest drivers. The
network adapter reads "3Com Etherlink 10 ISA (3C905b - TPO)" in PnP
mode. There are no other network adapters active. Can the problem be the
NIC?

http://support.3com.com/infodeli/tools/nic/3c905b.htm
http://www.compnetworkingcentral.co...-3C509B-TPO-ISA-Cards,i3090339399,c51189.html

Going by the name it's a 10 Mbit ISA card, not a 100 Mbit PCI card.
This is really slow, both because it's 10 Mbit and because it's ISA
not PCI. If you shop around you can get a new 100 Mbit PCI NIC
cheaply, the time it saves will quickly pay for itself.



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