X wrote on Jul 6
th, 2010 at 4:38pm:
Try changing out the cable (if not wireless)
Try changing the ports on the router (if not wireless)
Stewie, for your lack of reading comprehension, I sentence you to 27 consecutive pictures of failure:
Sorry, Stewie. ;p
Typically, this type of horrible throughput is caused by one of two issues. First, and probably somewhat unlikely in your situation, is an issue with speed and/or duplex auto-negotiation. If the router port is constantly flopping between 10/100 or 100/1000 or even half-duplex/full-duplex, your throughput will be virtually non-existent.
The more likely issue is either b0rked hardware (e.g. the NIC) or crufty drivers. I've seen the exact same throughput issues before that occurred immediately after a driver upgrade.
Here are a couple of things to try that will help with the troubleshooting process:
- Try pinging the good workstation from the bad workstation. What is the average latency? It should be <1ms over the LAN.
- Try pinging the router's internal interface. Again, the average latency should be <1ms.
- Try pinging the router's external interface. Latency should be around 1-2ms at the most.
- After an extended ping (ping -t IP), are you experiencing any packet loss? Any unusual swings in latency? You should see minimal latency (<1ms) and virtually no packet loss for devices on the LAN.
If you see high latency or packet loss between the busted PC and anything else on the LAN, you can pretty much discount the Internet connection as the problem. Try throwing another known-good NIC into the rig and see if that eliminates the problem. If that doesn't fix it, boot off any Linux "live CD" (I recommend Knoppix) and fire up the web browser to see if that eliminates the problem. Between those two tests, you should be able to definitively determine whether or not you have a hardware problem or a software problem.