OT, router slowdown

Sorry for OT, but I think this is the place with the most experts.

Comcast Cable => modem => Linksys WRT54G Router => two computers,
1 wired desktop, 1 wireless laptop. Checking speeds at various
web sites, I get about 370 Kbps upload and 100 Kbps download (yes,
only twice dial-up speed) on BOTH computers. When I remove the
router from the system and connect the ethernet cable from the
modem directly to either computer, I get 3700 Kbps downloads.
When the Linksys router was first installed, speeds were fine, and
no changes were made to the settings (have used WEP all along,
etc.) before the speed deteriorated (gradually). Have done power
cycling (of all components), RESET the router to original
settings, upgraded the firmware. No improvement. Called Linksys,
no help. Any ideas? TIA, Steve

Steve wrote:
> Sorry for OT, but I think this is the place with the most experts.
>
> Comcast Cable => modem => Linksys WRT54G Router => two computers,
> 1 wired desktop, 1 wireless laptop. Checking speeds at various
> web sites, I get about 370 Kbps upload and 100 Kbps download (yes,
> only twice dial-up speed) on BOTH computers. When I remove the
> router from the system and connect the ethernet cable from the
> modem directly to either computer, I get 3700 Kbps downloads.
> When the Linksys router was first installed, speeds were fine, and
> no changes were made to the settings (have used WEP all along,
> etc.) before the speed deteriorated (gradually). Have done power
> cycling (of all components), RESET the router to original
> settings, upgraded the firmware. No improvement. Called Linksys,
> no help. Any ideas? TIA, Steve
>
>
First off, make sure you're not running any programs in the background
that may be saturating your upload (like BitTorrent) -- this will kill
your down speed. Have you checked what speed you get when transferring
files between two computers? Also I'd verify that all the cables are
good. Have you tried transferring files using different protocols (eg.
is it also slow when you connect to a FTP or SSH site, or is it just web
sites)? Post your results, and hopefully we can go from there.

"Steve" <> wrote:
>Comcast Cable => modem => Linksys WRT54G Router => two computers,

That router's getting a lot of bad press lately, I suspect they've got
a firmware issue they can't find. Have you tried the beta firmware
from http://wrt54g.com/ just to see if that helps? Also, do the full
reset (hold reset 30s, remove power, wait 30s, apply power, wait 30s,
release reset) after a firmware upgrade to ensure you clear everything
out.

[None of these helped with mine, but those are the only
troubleshooting steps available, other than trying one of the
aftermarket firmwares.]

<William P. N. Smith> wrote in message
news:...
> "Steve" <> wrote:
>>Comcast Cable => modem => Linksys WRT54G Router => two computers,
>
> That router's getting a lot of bad press lately, I suspect they've got
> a firmware issue they can't find. Have you tried the beta firmware
> from http://wrt54g.com/ just to see if that helps? Also, do the full
> reset (hold reset 30s, remove power, wait 30s, apply power, wait 30s,
> release reset) after a firmware upgrade to ensure you clear everything
> out.
>
> [None of these helped with mine, but those are the only
> troubleshooting steps available, other than trying one of the
> aftermarket firmwares.]
>


I would also RTFM the online user's guide, tech support website as well -
and don't rule out phoning Linksys tech support to see if they have any
ideas. DLink support has provided some very good assistance and information
for me in the past on a couple of different models.


Stew