Internet slows down exponentially when router is REMOVED!?!?!?!

[s1d3fx]

Im having this very strange problem, where when i remove the router from my network, my internet performs at about 1/5 the normal speed. It does this for every computer on my network. The reason im writing this is because i recently purchased a new router, and noticed that internet was exponentially slower when i installed it. So i connected the cable modem directly to my computer and it STILL has the same slow down. I find this very very strange... usually, if anything, it will be the router that slows down the internet. Now I know this wasnt just a fluctuation in performance or anything because the gap is obscenely large in performance, and it happens on every computer in my network. As soon as i hook my old router back up everything works at normal speed again...

I am totally lost on what to try here, and called my cable company, and the manufacturer of the new router (US robotics) to see what the problem might pertain to. I tried release / renewing ip, fooling around with the mac address, etc, it doesnt fix it though. Everything looks fine when I inspect the network data (IP, mac addresses etc. are fine) and I really have no clue where to go from here. I know it has to be some setting in the computer that got messed up, since even when i have direct internet connection with my modem it STILL goes 5x slower than with my old router. It does this on both computers on all three computers on my network. I have had direct connections in the past, after already having used this router in the network and i had no problems, I have no idea why now all of a sudden when i take the router out the internet takes a dive...

Any suggestions, or assistance would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks.

 

[mechBgon]

Any suggestions, or assistance would be MUCH appreciated.

Good. Suggestion #1, do not plug a computer directly into the modem unless the computer has firewall protection! That would leave your computers running exposed to worm and hack attacks. And after they've got a bunch of worms on them, yeah, they might run slow in a lot of ways :evil:

 

[s1d3fx]

Well thanks for the advice, but thats not really related to my problem

 

[savagexp]

It's possible that your old router was handling the DNS requests instead of your ISP and now the new one is. That would also explain why, when you connect your machine directly to the cable modem, it does the same thing.

Just a thought....

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: s1d3fx
Well thanks for the advice, but thats not really related to my problem

If your computer has to do all the packet filtering itself, instead of having the router to shoulder that load, that could have something to do with the slowness. What was your old router, what is your new router, and why did you replace the old one with the new one?

 

[Raj]

these guys are right. you may have a worm or a virus on your PC.

go here

http://housecall.trendmicro.com

this is a free online virus scan. run it and see if it picks up anything.

good luck.

 

[s1d3fx]

Originally posted by: savagexp
It's possible that your old router was handling the DNS requests instead of your ISP and now the new one is. That would also explain why, when you connect your machine directly to the cable modem, it does the same thing.

Just a thought....

Ok, well how would i go about checking/changing this? Seems like it makes sense though, unfortunately im not a guru in networking and wouldnt know how to test this out :

thanks!

 

[s1d3fx]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: s1d3fx
Well thanks for the advice, but thats not really related to my problem

If your computer has to do all the packet filtering itself, instead of having the router to shoulder that load, that could have something to do with the slowness. What was your old router, what is your new router, and why did you replace the old one with the new one?

Old router is a Linksys BEFSR41
New router is a US Robotics Wireless G router

Reason im switching is because i wanted a wireless network. Just so happened that i noticed the ridiculously slow speeds of the new router, and then tried a direct connection as well, which went equally as slow.

 

[savagexp]

On my D-Link wireless router, the option is DNS Relay and it is under the LAN Settings tab. From my router's help file:

"DNS Relay:::
When DNS Relay is enabled, the router will play a role as DNS server that send request to ISP DNS server and cache the information for later access. When DNS relay is disabled, the computer will pull information from ISP DNS server."

So you might want to play around with that. If your old router was cacheing the DNS, it would bring your frequently visited sites up faster than your current one is.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: s1d3fx

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: s1d3fx
Well thanks for the advice, but thats not really related to my problem

If your computer has to do all the packet filtering itself, instead of having the router to shoulder that load, that could have something to do with the slowness. What was your old router, what is your new router, and why did you replace the old one with the new one?

Old router is a Linksys BEFSR41
New router is a US Robotics Wireless G router

Reason im switching is because i wanted a wireless network. Just so happened that i noticed the ridiculously slow speeds of the new router, and then tried a direct connection as well, which went equally as slow.

That's what I thought. Maybe you're unwittingly sharing your router with five or six neighbors, or maybe wireless is just slow Secure your wireless access point, for starters. Set it to only allow your particular machines' MAC addresses onto it, enable encryption, and whatever other security features it has.

 

[Paperlantern]

he says it happens on a direct connection too mech, i think they are onto something with the DNS issue, let us know if that works please, s1d3fx

 

[mechBgon]

Another option would be to plug the new router into the old router, and plug the old router back into the modem, and see what happens then. If the modem just likes the old router better, then that might be a good workaround.

 

[mechBgon]

Oh and to help with the general astonishment that the performance is better with a router:

Scenario 1 (computer without router): your phone number is known to five of your biz associates and 5000 telemarketers. You answer your own phone every time it rings. How much work do you get done inbetween dealing with all the telemarketers?


Scenario 2 (computer with router): your phone number is known to the same set of people as in Scenario 1, but you have a secretary (router) screening your calls for you. She only forwards the phone traffic that you actually want, and dumps the rest efficiently so they're not tying up your time or your phone line.


 :light:
:Q

If the US Robotics has SPI, do enable that.