Member Avatar for pulsewidth16

Hi, we're having online bandwidth speed problems in our office.

We have two computers in the office using an Earthlink aDSL connection via a Linksys Wireless B router. My boss's computer is using the router while my computer recieves my internet from him via the adapter. We're running Windows XP on our machines.

However my boss's online browsing using the router is much slower. Surprising, considering I'm using a wireless adapter, one would think my online connection should be slower than his. Yet mine is much faster. We do have a WEP Key so that our wireless network is secure. He regularly scans his computer for viruses and spyware. We recently defragmented his computer. And his online browsing is still significantly slower.

We're at our wits end here. Is there anything we haven't checked for? Could the router itself be a problem? Any potential answers would be greatly appreciated.

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Dani AI

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Thanks to for the follow-up and to for the browser-side pointer. For anyone else who sees one workstation much slower than another on the same LAN, this short, practical checklist isolates whether the problem is the PC, the router, or the path to the Internet.

Run quick network tests from each PC and compare results. Example commands for Windows XP:

ping -n 20 8.8.8.8
ping -n 20 google.com
tracert -d 8.8.8.8
ipconfig /all
ipconfig /flushdns

Interpretation: identical latency/packet loss on both machines points at the network/router; wildly different results point at the client.

Check the client itself for background bandwidth use and driver/settings problems. Use:

netstat -b -o

(on XP run as Administrator) to see which executables hold connections and cross-reference PIDs in Task Manager. For a live GUI view try TCPView. Also verify the NIC link speed in Network Connections -> Local Area Connection -> Support and update the NIC drivers if the speed is stuck at 10 Mbps or shows duplex mismatches.

Isolate the router/AP next. Temporarily connect the slower PC directly to the modem (if possible) to see if performance changes — this separates client issues from NAT/router problems. Check router firmware, any QoS/bandwidth controls, and wireless channel congestion. When testing, avoid leaving firewalls or AV disabled for long, and re-enable them after testing.

If tests still don’t point to a cause, post the ping/tracert outputs and the top netstat lines (process names and PIDs). Those numbers usually make the next step obvious.

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Member Avatar for antioed

Have you cleared his cache lately? In Internet Explorer go to Tools-->Internet Options and on the "General" tab click "Delete Files". You should also check to see if the cache size is small...under "Settings" on the same tab. 512MB would be a good size.

Member Avatar for pulsewidth16

Have you cleared his cache lately? In Internet Explorer go to Tools-->Internet Options and on the "General" tab click "Delete Files". You should also check to see if the cache size is small...under "Settings" on the same tab. 512MB would be a good size.

I think we solved the problem. It seems that our ISP (Earthlink) had created some toolbars on Internet Explorer. They were actually slowing down the speed on the browser. We even tested the web speed on different browsers that didn't have the attached Earthlink plugin toolbars and sure enough page navigation was faster.

So now we've turned off the toolbars and pop-up blockers from Earthlink on IE, which is fine because we already have MacAfee anti-virus and pop-up blocker toolbars on.

Member Avatar for DMR

Thanks for the follow-up info pulsewidth16 :)

I've marked this thread as solved, but please repost if that turns out not to be the case.

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