The setup:[list=1][li]Win98 Pentium 200Mhz with 10/100BaseT PCI card[/li][li]WinMe Celeron 800Mhz with USB 10/100BaseT adapter[/li][li]Linksys 5-port switched hub[/li][li]Cat-5 cable connecting both machines to hub[/list=1]When I first set up the system (about a year and a half ago), file transfers were getting good throughput (on the order of 5-10MB/second). I recently became aware that things were no longer working so well, and spent a good deal of time this weekend fighting with it. I’m now getting about 5 megabit/second throughput, which is a Bad Thing[sup]TM[/sup]. Both NICs report via LED that they are running at 100Mbps, the hub says that both machines are connected at Full Duplex 100Mbps, the device properties for both NICs are set to Full 100Mbps, and still the throughput is lousy.[/li]
Any ideas for what to try before I start swapping hardware/cables and generally suffering the agonies of the (semi)damned?
Failing hubs are often the cause of slowdowns like the one you describe. To test this get a $ 5.00 crossover cable and try transfers without the hub.
astro, thanks for the suggestion. IANANEAAD (I am not a network engineer, actually a DBA), so I will ask a stupid question; if I go to a Comp-Micro-Etc.-Superstore, will a CAT-5 crossover cable be something labeled as such so I can buy it and test this out?
Yes, it should be labelled as something like that - they’re common things, so you can probably just ask someone that works there.
Also, I’d recommend trying these transfers after both systems were freshly booted - sometimes with memory leaks and stuff, the memory to store transferred data isn’t there, and it has to slow down.
Just a q :
Are ya shaing the network line with a phone ?
When My dsl was slowing down Becuase I was sharing the line with my phone
When we moved the phone line the speeds increased although to hear verizion tell it it was all the hub and the shared connections with other comps fault
But with some testing from dsl reports it seems to be smooth now …
Uhm… usually only switches and not hubs allow you to run FullDuplex - perhaps you should try in HalfDuplex and see if that helps.
Many many of the network problems I’ve seen where rooted in trying to run fullduplex on cheap hardware.
The Linksys in question in the OP is a true switch, not a hub.
I think astro probably has it, but don’t underestimate the effect of a failing cable, expecially if the end has come loose. I’ve seen a 10-MBit network go to about 56 kbit due to a bad end on a cable…
Yeah, maybe you could try reconnecting all the stuff in case its a loose connector?
Thanks to all for the suggestions. I’m at work now, and I’m going to hit up our IT network guys to borrow a crossover cable and I’ll try that when I get home. I have checked all the connections, and everything looks good as far as I can tell, so it’s a matter of isolating out which bit (hub, cable, card) is bad and replacing it.
Problem (more or less) solved. After talking to my IT folks, I find out that USB 1.0 can’t do more than about 5Mbps throughput. I replaced the USB adapter with a PCI card, and I’m now up to about 25Mbps, which is definitely livable. Thanks for the suggestions.
Mods, feel free to close.
Linksys products hubs. Without a model number it is impossible to say whether it is a switch or a hub in the OP.
A hub also allows full duplex, but the bandwidth is shared across all the connections.
What does USB have anything to do with the set up as described in the OP?
Urban Ranger, as stated in the OP (bolding added):[list=1]
[li]Win98 Pentium 200Mhz with 10/100BaseT PCI card [/li][li]WinMe Celeron 800Mhz with USB 10/100BaseT adapter [/li][li]Linksys 5-port switched hub [/li][li]Cat-5 cable connecting both machines to hub[/li][/list=1]The Linksys switched hub in question is an EZXS55W.