Networking Macs

[pmkprog]

Here's the situation.

I have a cable/dsl modem that is connected to a Linksys router with eight ports.
Connected to the router is a Dell, an Intel iMac, a dual processor G4, three printers, and an Airport Express box.
The Dell loads the internet pretty quickly. The Mac Book Pro that connects to the Airport connects quicker than the Dell.
The two Macs that are connected through the router load/browse web pages really slow compared to the laptop and Dell.
Even if I disconnect the Airport from the router the Macs don't browse any faster. If I use airport to connect to the internet, it's faster than it was, but still not as fast as the Mac Book Pro.

Any ideas?

[Cory Smith]

are all machines using the same DHCP server?

[pmkprog]

They all have static IPs set.
All using the same DNS servers.
The Intel iMac is working as a server and workstation and the G4 connects to it to work on files.

[javadave]

You mentioned that this is in response to browsing speed. Safari has
a built-in default delay when loading page that, as I understand it,
is intended to make it appear that the whole page loads at once. This
setting can be disabled in the Terminal or with a utility such as
Onyx. I don't remember what the commands are, but it should be easy
to find at macosxhints.com. Or, just use Onyx.

David

[pmkprog]

I did forget about that, but the Safari on the laptop was beating Firefox through the switch.
I tried several different websites.
IE on the PC was faster than the land Macs and the laptop with Safari and Airport was faster than the PC.

[tapdn]

"The two Macs that are connected through the router load/browse web pages really slow compared to the laptop and Dell."

Have you tried these two Macs wireless- assuming they have airport cards? I know it seems contary to logic, but I have found my Macs at home seem to run internet faster wirelessly than wired.

[pmkprog]

It seems that if I keep dynamic IP addresses on the Macs, they browse fine.

Connecting through the Airport was slightly faster than they were.

So I've switched them over and I'll have to manually browse to connect to the iMac.

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

[4stateprint]

Sounds like the ol a train leaving Boston at 10 am and a different train leaves D.C. at 9:45 at different rates of travel one will pass the other at approx...... anyway sounds like your hub may be config'd weird or is one of the computers acting like a gateway for the others? That would definately slow the connections down on the others if they were attempting to connect to the internet through an odd machine. Another possibility that sounds rediculous but I have seen happen is how your printer sharing is set up. If it is not set correctly and "Your" address's to the individual machines are whack that could be a problems too. Good luck if it doesn't work, RTM ha and bang your head off the wall. Not really but thats all I can think of.

[deanb]

Is Appletalk on?

[minch]

Are all computers and printers using static IP addresses?
Are all computers and printers using the same subnet mask ?
Is your router running DHCP and if yes what subnet mask and range of addresses is your router's DHCP using?
Is your router configured to recognise the static IP addresses assigned to these computers and printers?
Is your router configured to recognise the subnet mask assigned to these computers and printers?

If you are using static IP addresses your router needs to be configured accordingly, even if you have turned DHCP off. Obviously the subnet masks can be different, but your router may not be able to handle different subnet masks simultaneously - in which case make them all the same.

What protocols other than TCP/IP are you running on your network?
Are you using IP domain names on the computers and printers or just IP addresses?
Are you using a Microsoft Windows domain name as well as a TCP/IP domain name?
Do any of the above end in .local?

Should keep you busy for a while. . .