How to achieve 100Mbps performance in home networking?

[blahsome]

Hi, I have two Pentium III computers, both with 100Mbps LAN cards, connected to a Linksys Cable/DSL 4-port router via Cat-5 cables.

I thought I had everything required for 100Mbps transmission; in addition, the two cards are configured as "100Mbps Full-Duplex".

However, a transfer of a 23MBytes file between the two computers takes about 30 seconds. My calculation is that the speed is roughly 6Mbps, which is typical of that of a 10Mbps network only.

Is there something terribly wrong with my calculation, or my networking settings?

Thanks.

 

[CoolTech]

not necesarily, but i think it might be the brand, I would go with only Intel or 3com network cards, bar none. I have gotten 7 Megabytes/second before and i have the same switch/router that you do. are the cables you are using retail? I have Intel pro network cards, they work nice.

 

[shiznut123]

I got a 10megabit network which transferres at 1.1megabytes per second. Try to get new 3com nic's. That will probably help.

 

[bex0rs]

Before you begin to purchase new networking hardware as has been recommended by others, be sure that your other hardware is up to spec. I am assuming that since you have two P3 computers you also have fairly quick hard drives in them. Is DMA enabled on each computer? Do you have the most recent drivers installed for your network cards? Have you let the cards autonegotiate link speed? Occasionally, manually setting link speed will lead to duplex problems which will significantly reduce throughput. Have you tried file transfers with just a crossover cable between the two hosts? Perhaps there is an issue with your Linksys router. And finally, how have you been testing speeds? Try testing ftp transfer speeds if you haven't already done so. On my network, Windows file sharing only runs at ~ 4 MB/s, while I've had FTP transfers over the same hardware at > 10 MB/s. LMK what you find.

~bex0rs

 

[RC5Bri]

You can also use NetCPS, which will send 100MB of data, and check the speed that it is sent. Just do a search for it on the net. Also, the cables you are using, did you buy them, or make them? I made my own cables, but if I "jiggled" the cable in the connector, my connection would drop. So I made poor connectors.

 

[TungFree]

I also wondered if your linky is a duplex switch or a hub router? and the Idea of a crossed wire is excellent as it has no stops just your hard drive speeds.

I have not yet measured mine for time but my barricade router and the same SMC company's Nicks in 4 computers are all getting great results I open files as fast as if it were on the same computer so fast I cannot see the difference.
TungFree

 

[convex]

run crossover from one pc to the other and then benchmark it.

 

[blahsome]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Some of them I can't follow right now because of lack of equipment. But here's I've done in the mean time. I used FTP instead of Windows file sharing to transfer the same file, and the speed effectively went from 6Mbps to 11Mbps! Wow! So at least now I'm officially running a >10Mbps network.

And it turns out that one of the computers involved is a laptop with a 4800rpm hard drive. That probably contributes to the low speed as well.

Again thanks for the suggestions!