Fixing Slow Internet Connection on Home Network

[ahrkron]

I have a small network at home (with all machines running Windows XP and norton internet security). One machine is connected to the internet and shares the connection with the rest.

I find it odd that all machines have a decent speed when accessing the web, except the one that serves the connection, which has the fastest processor speed and performs pretty well otherwise... is this something I can fix?

 

[Evo]

I have a small network at home (with all machines running Windows XP and norton internet security). One machine is connected to the internet and shares the connection with the rest.

I find it odd that all machines have a decent speed when accessing the web, except the one that serves the connection, which has the fastest processor speed and performs pretty well otherwise... is this something I can fix?

Is Norton loaded on the main machine? Do you have automatic live update selected? I know when Norton starts to run that my computer slows down drastically.

 

[ahrkron]

Yes, it is loaded, and yes, automatic update is selected.
However, the problem is that the machine is *always* slow for internet access (not only when the liveupdate is active).

 

[braindred]

Well, could you tell us how many machines are connected through the one?
couse bridging multiple connections through one machine can be a pain in the butt, as all computer are sucking up your Bandwidth
so actually you shouldn't expect anything more than slow connection.
i don't know if there are any 'routing' software out there to increase/decrease each computers max bandwidth according to the priority, haven't really studied the subject..
but maby i can help with google, moment...OH! it just hit me, your problem is this! -> http://www.speedguide.net/read_articles.php?id=1497
Windows XP has A TCP limit on '10' connection, to prevent your computer from turning into a zombie or something, so try that one, and if it doesn't help, you can read around on google on 'ICS' (internet connection sharing) and you will probably fint tweaks,tips and answers

blimey the tcp thing didnt hit me at once, i must be getting old ;)

 

[Anttech]

i don't know if there are any 'routing' software out there to increase/decrease each computers max bandwidth according to the priority, haven't really studied the subject..

Nope.. But you can implement a type of quality of service and ensure that a minimum amount of Bandwidth is reserved for either a application, or a system. The generic (and actually not so correct term) for this is QoS.

Windows XP has A TCP limit on '10' connection, to prevent your computer from turning into a zombie or something

ermm TCP handshake attempts / sec and TCP connections are not the same thing...

I would first start with the system itself and see if there is anything wrong with it, then look at the network level of things.
--> What is different about the PC that is connected to the internet compared to the others? Do you have any other applications that are resource heavy on it that you don't else where?

By the way, I hope you have a router/modem on the outside of your PC that shares its connection with the others, and it isn't visible on the internet. If it is, you are asking for trouble, and perhaps have some malware on it.

Some tips:

From CMD prompt on xp do a "netstat" if you have millions of stuff here you could have had your system compromised.

 

[ahrkron]

Thanks a lot!

Braindred: That fixed it! :)

Anttech: I get between 50 and 100 lines out of "netstat"... is that excessive? I ran spybot and an antivirus, neither of which detected anything. What else would you recommend to check my system?