Stuck with ADSL speed problem

I'm having real hard times to diagnose the cause of a connection speed
problem... the same computer connected to different routers performs
very bad or very good.

I have a Ubuntu 5.10 installed on a Dell PowerEdge SC420 with a network
card (eth0) connected via ADSL to my HOME ISP (fastweb).

When I download a file I get a really low speed (wget starts with 20K/s
and then goes down to 9, 3, stops then restarts a few seconds later, and
then slows down again).

On the same router (the one supplied by my ISP) I have a laptop (Dell
C840) with Ubuntu 5.10 installed. The same wget of the same file keeps
downloading at a the amazingly speed of 200 K/s).

I checked the configuration of the two computers and it seemes to me
that they are identical (at the end of this post you'll find the config).

I then tried to connect the same PowerEdge at the OFFICE router (which
is still supplied by my office ISP, fastweb, but it is a different
router at a different location)) and, surprisingly, the download of any
file from the PowerEdge computer goes at full speed.

Now, I really don't know what else I can do to fix the problem (and even
to diagnose it). It seemes that the problem is not the NIC, since the
PowerEdge works nice at OFFICE but not at HOME. It seems that the
problem is not with my home router, since my laptop (and another Windows
computer) goes at full speed.

I really don't have any idea of what's causing this mysterious
performance problem.

I'm not a networking expert and if someoane could help I'd really
appreciate. Even if someone could at least say "hey, try using command
or tool XXX, it might help" that would be a great help.

For any help, thanks in advance.

Mario.

*** Computers Config ***


* IFCONFIG for eth0:

Power Edge:
Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:13:20:3B:99:3E
inet addr:1.244.132.241 Bcast:1.244.135.255 Mask:255.255.248.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
Interrupt:16

Laptop
Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:08:74:E5:96:24
inet addr:1.244.132.242 Bcast:1.244.135.255 Mask:255.255.248.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
Interrupt:11 Base address:0xec80

* "iptables -l" gives me (for both computers):

Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination

* "mii-tool eth0" gives me (for both computers):

eth0: no autonegotiation, 10baseT-HD, link ok

* "route" gives me (for both computers):

Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
1.244.128.0 * 255.255.248.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
default 1.244.128.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0

Mario wrote:
> I'm having real hard times to diagnose the cause of a connection speed
> problem... the same computer connected to different routers performs
> very bad or very good.
>
> I have a Ubuntu 5.10 installed on a Dell PowerEdge SC420 with a network
> card (eth0) connected via ADSL to my HOME ISP (fastweb).
>
> When I download a file I get a really low speed (wget starts with 20K/s
> and then goes down to 9, 3, stops then restarts a few seconds later, and
> then slows down again).
>
> On the same router (the one supplied by my ISP) I have a laptop (Dell
> C840) with Ubuntu 5.10 installed. The same wget of the same file keeps
> downloading at a the amazingly speed of 200 K/s).
>
> I checked the configuration of the two computers and it seemes to me
> that they are identical (at the end of this post you'll find the config).
>
> I then tried to connect the same PowerEdge at the OFFICE router (which
> is still supplied by my office ISP, fastweb, but it is a different
> router at a different location)) and, surprisingly, the download of any
> file from the PowerEdge computer goes at full speed.
>
> Now, I really don't know what else I can do to fix the problem (and even
> to diagnose it). It seemes that the problem is not the NIC, since the
> PowerEdge works nice at OFFICE but not at HOME. It seems that the
> problem is not with my home router, since my laptop (and another Windows
> computer) goes at full speed.
>
> I really don't have any idea of what's causing this mysterious
> performance problem.
>
> I'm not a networking expert and if someoane could help I'd really
> appreciate. Even if someone could at least say "hey, try using command
> or tool XXX, it might help" that would be a great help.
>
> For any help, thanks in advance.
>
> Mario.
>
> *** Computers Config ***
>
>
> * IFCONFIG for eth0:
>
> Power Edge:
> Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:13:20:3B:99:3E
> inet addr:1.244.132.241 Bcast:1.244.135.255 Mask:255.255.248.0
> UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
> Interrupt:16
>
> Laptop
> Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:08:74:E5:96:24
> inet addr:1.244.132.242 Bcast:1.244.135.255 Mask:255.255.248.0
> UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
> Interrupt:11 Base address:0xec80
>
> * "iptables -l" gives me (for both computers):
>
> Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
> target prot opt source destination
>
> Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
> target prot opt source destination
>
> Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
> target prot opt source destination
>
> * "mii-tool eth0" gives me (for both computers):
>
> eth0: no autonegotiation, 10baseT-HD, link ok
>
> * "route" gives me (for both computers):
>
> Kernel IP routing table
> Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
> 1.244.128.0 * 255.255.248.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
> default 1.244.128.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
It looks (to me) as if your router is giving your laptop a non-private
internet address and there is probably a "real" route to 1.244.128.1 out
there on the internet which is getting your IP responses.

The DHCP configuration on your router should be set up to give you an
internet address which is in one of the ranges:

10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255
172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255
192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255

of which the last is the most popular (see RFC1918 for the details).

Robert

Robert Harris wrote:
> Mario wrote:
>
>> I'm having real hard times to diagnose the cause of a connection speed
>> problem... the same computer connected to different routers performs
>> very bad or very good.
>>
>> I have a Ubuntu 5.10 installed on a Dell PowerEdge SC420 with a
>> network card (eth0) connected via ADSL to my HOME ISP (fastweb).
>>
>> When I download a file I get a really low speed (wget starts with
>> 20K/s and then goes down to 9, 3, stops then restarts a few seconds
>> later, and then slows down again).
>>
>> On the same router (the one supplied by my ISP) I have a laptop (Dell
>> C840) with Ubuntu 5.10 installed. The same wget of the same file keeps
>> downloading at a the amazingly speed of 200 K/s).
>>
>> I checked the configuration of the two computers and it seemes to me
>> that they are identical (at the end of this post you'll find the config).
>>
>> I then tried to connect the same PowerEdge at the OFFICE router (which
>> is still supplied by my office ISP, fastweb, but it is a different
>> router at a different location)) and, surprisingly, the download of
>> any file from the PowerEdge computer goes at full speed.
>>
>> Now, I really don't know what else I can do to fix the problem (and
>> even to diagnose it). It seemes that the problem is not the NIC,
>> since the PowerEdge works nice at OFFICE but not at HOME. It seems
>> that the problem is not with my home router, since my laptop (and
>> another Windows computer) goes at full speed.
>>
>> I really don't have any idea of what's causing this mysterious
>> performance problem.
>>
>> I'm not a networking expert and if someoane could help I'd really
>> appreciate. Even if someone could at least say "hey, try using command
>> or tool XXX, it might help" that would be a great help.
>>
>> For any help, thanks in advance.
>>
>> Mario.
>>
>> *** Computers Config ***
>>
>>
>> * IFCONFIG for eth0:
>>
>> Power Edge:
>> Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:13:20:3B:99:3E
>> inet addr:1.244.132.241 Bcast:1.244.135.255 Mask:255.255.248.0
>> UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
>> Interrupt:16
>>
>> Laptop
>> Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:08:74:E5:96:24
>> inet addr:1.244.132.242 Bcast:1.244.135.255 Mask:255.255.248.0
>> UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
>> Interrupt:11 Base address:0xec80
>>
>> * "iptables -l" gives me (for both computers):
>>
>> Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
>> target prot opt source destination
>>
>> Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
>> target prot opt source destination
>>
>> Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
>> target prot opt source destination
>>
>> * "mii-tool eth0" gives me (for both computers):
>>
>> eth0: no autonegotiation, 10baseT-HD, link ok
>>
>> * "route" gives me (for both computers):
>>
>> Kernel IP routing table
>> Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
>> 1.244.128.0 * 255.255.248.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
>> default 1.244.128.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
>
> It looks (to me) as if your router is giving your laptop a non-private
> internet address and there is probably a "real" route to 1.244.128.1 out
> there on the internet which is getting your IP responses.
>
> The DHCP configuration on your router should be set up to give you an
> internet address which is in one of the ranges:
>
> 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255
> 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255
> 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255
>
> of which the last is the most popular (see RFC1918 for the details).
>
> Robert

Thanks for your help Robert. However, I'm having the problem with my
PowerEdge and NOT with my laptop. Both the PowerEdge and the Laptop are
configured with DHCP (client) and they respectively get a 1.244.132.241
and 1.244.132.242 IP.

If the problem were the IP address assigned by my ISP to my computers, I
would have problems on both of them, not on only one. Does that make sense?

Beside that, I can't probably do much about the IP address which my ISP
assigns me... I can only accept it (at least I suppose, as far as I
understand).

Do these considerations make ane sense?

Mario wrote:
> I'm having real hard times to diagnose the cause of a connection speed
> problem... the same computer connected to different routers performs
> very bad or very good.
>
> I have a Ubuntu 5.10 installed on a Dell PowerEdge SC420 with a network
> card (eth0) connected via ADSL to my HOME ISP (fastweb).
>
> When I download a file I get a really low speed (wget starts with 20K/s
> and then goes down to 9, 3, stops then restarts a few seconds later, and
> then slows down again).
>
> On the same router (the one supplied by my ISP) I have a laptop (Dell
> C840) with Ubuntu 5.10 installed. The same wget of the same file keeps
> downloading at a the amazingly speed of 200 K/s).
>
> I checked the configuration of the two computers and it seemes to me
> that they are identical (at the end of this post you'll find the config).
>
> I then tried to connect the same PowerEdge at the OFFICE router (which
> is still supplied by my office ISP, fastweb, but it is a different
> router at a different location)) and, surprisingly, the download of any
> file from the PowerEdge computer goes at full speed.
>
> Now, I really don't know what else I can do to fix the problem (and even
> to diagnose it). It seemes that the problem is not the NIC, since the
> PowerEdge works nice at OFFICE but not at HOME. It seems that the
> problem is not with my home router, since my laptop (and another Windows
> computer) goes at full speed.
>
> I really don't have any idea of what's causing this mysterious
> performance problem.
>
> I'm not a networking expert and if someoane could help I'd really
> appreciate. Even if someone could at least say "hey, try using command
> or tool XXX, it might help" that would be a great help.
>
> For any help, thanks in advance.
>
> Mario.
>
> *** Computers Config ***
>
>
> * IFCONFIG for eth0:
>
> Power Edge:
> Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:13:20:3B:99:3E
> inet addr:1.244.132.241 Bcast:1.244.135.255 Mask:255.255.248.0
> UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
> Interrupt:16
>
> Laptop
> Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:08:74:E5:96:24
> inet addr:1.244.132.242 Bcast:1.244.135.255 Mask:255.255.248.0
> UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
> Interrupt:11 Base address:0xec80
>
> * "iptables -l" gives me (for both computers):
>
> Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
> target prot opt source destination
>
> Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
> target prot opt source destination
>
> Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
> target prot opt source destination
>
> * "mii-tool eth0" gives me (for both computers):
>
> eth0: no autonegotiation, 10baseT-HD, link ok
>
> * "route" gives me (for both computers):
>
> Kernel IP routing table
> Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
> 1.244.128.0 * 255.255.248.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
> default 1.244.128.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
>
>
>

Hi Mario,

just for a test case, configure your WAN device eth0 with MTU 1492,
restart network and try again.
The change can easily be done with Yast2 in the NIC configuraion screens.

greetz,
Eric

Mario wrote:
> I'm having real hard times to diagnose the cause of a connection speed
> problem... the same computer connected to different routers performs
> very bad or very good.
>
> I have a Ubuntu 5.10 installed on a Dell PowerEdge SC420 with a network
> card (eth0) connected via ADSL to my HOME ISP (fastweb).
>
> When I download a file I get a really low speed (wget starts with 20K/s
> and then goes down to 9, 3, stops then restarts a few seconds later, and
> then slows down again).
>
> On the same router (the one supplied by my ISP) I have a laptop (Dell
> C840) with Ubuntu 5.10 installed. The same wget of the same file keeps
> downloading at a the amazingly speed of 200 K/s).

Hi Mario,

just for a test case, configure your WAN device eth0 with MTU 1492,
restart network and try again.

I actually do not know, how to configure the MTU on Ubuntu, but you
should get hints at google.

greetz,
Eric

> just for a test case, configure your WAN device eth0 with MTU 1492,
> restart network and try again.

Another possibility that comes to mind is a full/half duplex problem.
These sorts of things come in pairs, so it's consistent with what you
are seeing. If you can borrow a hub, try putting it between your
machine and the modem.

Mario wrote:

> I'm having real hard times to diagnose the cause of a connection speed
> problem... the same computer connected to different routers performs
> very bad or very good.
>
> I have a Ubuntu 5.10 installed on a Dell PowerEdge SC420 with a network
> card (eth0) connected via ADSL to my HOME ISP (fastweb).
>
> When I download a file I get a really low speed (wget starts with 20K/s
> and then goes down to 9, 3, stops then restarts a few seconds later, and
> then slows down again).
>
> On the same router (the one supplied by my ISP) I have a laptop (Dell
> C840) with Ubuntu 5.10 installed. The same wget of the same file keeps
> downloading at a the amazingly speed of 200 K/s).
>
> I checked the configuration of the two computers and it seemes to me
> that they are identical (at the end of this post you'll find the config).
>
> I then tried to connect the same PowerEdge at the OFFICE router (which
> is still supplied by my office ISP, fastweb, but it is a different
> router at a different location)) and, surprisingly, the download of any
> file from the PowerEdge computer goes at full speed.
>
> Now, I really don't know what else I can do to fix the problem (and even
> to diagnose it). It seemes that the problem is not the NIC, since the
> PowerEdge works nice at OFFICE but not at HOME. It seems that the
> problem is not with my home router, since my laptop (and another Windows
> computer) goes at full speed.
>
> I really don't have any idea of what's causing this mysterious
> performance problem.
>
> I'm not a networking expert and if someoane could help I'd really
> appreciate. Even if someone could at least say "hey, try using command
> or tool XXX, it might help" that would be a great help.
>
> For any help, thanks in advance.
>
> Mario.
>
> *** Computers Config ***
>
>
> * IFCONFIG for eth0:
>
> Power Edge:
> Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:13:20:3B:99:3E
> inet addr:1.244.132.241 Bcast:1.244.135.255 Mask:255.255.248.0
> UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
> Interrupt:16
>
> Laptop
> Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:08:74:E5:96:24
> inet addr:1.244.132.242 Bcast:1.244.135.255 Mask:255.255.248.0
> UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
> Interrupt:11 Base address:0xec80
>
> * "iptables -l" gives me (for both computers):
>
> Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
> target prot opt source destination
>
> Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
> target prot opt source destination
>
> Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
> target prot opt source destination
>
> * "mii-tool eth0" gives me (for both computers):
>
> eth0: no autonegotiation, 10baseT-HD, link ok
>
> * "route" gives me (for both computers):
>
> Kernel IP routing table
> Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
> 1.244.128.0 * 255.255.248.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
> default 1.244.128.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
>
>
>
When you tried it at the office, did you use the same cable you used at
home?

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.

Mario wrote:
> Robert Harris wrote:
>
>> Mario wrote:
>>
[snip]

>>>
>>> * "route" gives me (for both computers):
>>>
>>> Kernel IP routing table
>>> Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
>>> 1.244.128.0 * 255.255.248.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
>>> default 1.244.128.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
>>
>>
>> It looks (to me) as if your router is giving your laptop a non-private
>> internet address and there is probably a "real" route to 1.244.128.1
>> out there on the internet which is getting your IP responses.
>>
>> The DHCP configuration on your router should be set up to give you an
>> internet address which is in one of the ranges:
>>
>> 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255
>> 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255
>> 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255
>>
>> of which the last is the most popular (see RFC1918 for the details).
>>
>> Robert
>
>
> Thanks for your help Robert. However, I'm having the problem with my
> PowerEdge and NOT with my laptop. Both the PowerEdge and the Laptop are
> configured with DHCP (client) and they respectively get a 1.244.132.241
> and 1.244.132.242 IP.
>
> If the problem were the IP address assigned by my ISP to my computers, I
> would have problems on both of them, not on only one. Does that make sense?
>
> Beside that, I can't probably do much about the IP address which my ISP
> assigns me... I can only accept it (at least I suppose, as far as I
> understand).
>
> Do these considerations make ane sense?
If you have a normal setup, your router assigns your PCs' IP addresses
(and your ISP assigns your router a different one); your router is
probably a firewall and a switch and a network address translator all in
one little box. You probably set it up by telnet-ing to it (at
1.244.128.1) or by http-ing to it through your browser. Your ISP will,
in any case, know how to set it up and possibly what might be wrong with it.

CJT wrote:
> Mario wrote:
>
>> I'm having real hard times to diagnose the cause of a connection speed
>> problem... the same computer connected to different routers performs
>> very bad or very good.
>>
>> I have a Ubuntu 5.10 installed on a Dell PowerEdge SC420 with a
>> network card (eth0) connected via ADSL to my HOME ISP (fastweb).
>>
>> When I download a file I get a really low speed (wget starts with
>> 20K/s and then goes down to 9, 3, stops then restarts a few seconds
>> later, and then slows down again).
>>
>> On the same router (the one supplied by my ISP) I have a laptop (Dell
>> C840) with Ubuntu 5.10 installed. The same wget of the same file keeps
>> downloading at a the amazingly speed of 200 K/s).
>>
>> I checked the configuration of the two computers and it seemes to me
>> that they are identical (at the end of this post you'll find the config).
>>
>> I then tried to connect the same PowerEdge at the OFFICE router (which
>> is still supplied by my office ISP, fastweb, but it is a different
>> router at a different location)) and, surprisingly, the download of
>> any file from the PowerEdge computer goes at full speed.
>>
>> Now, I really don't know what else I can do to fix the problem (and
>> even to diagnose it). It seemes that the problem is not the NIC,
>> since the PowerEdge works nice at OFFICE but not at HOME. It seems
>> that the problem is not with my home router, since my laptop (and
>> another Windows computer) goes at full speed.
>>
>> I really don't have any idea of what's causing this mysterious
>> performance problem.
>>
>> I'm not a networking expert and if someoane could help I'd really
>> appreciate. Even if someone could at least say "hey, try using command
>> or tool XXX, it might help" that would be a great help.
>>
>> For any help, thanks in advance.
>>
>> Mario.
>>
>> *** Computers Config ***
>>
>>
>> * IFCONFIG for eth0:
>>
>> Power Edge:
>> Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:13:20:3B:99:3E
>> inet addr:1.244.132.241 Bcast:1.244.135.255 Mask:255.255.248.0
>> UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
>> Interrupt:16
>>
>> Laptop
>> Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:08:74:E5:96:24
>> inet addr:1.244.132.242 Bcast:1.244.135.255 Mask:255.255.248.0
>> UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
>> Interrupt:11 Base address:0xec80
>>
>> * "iptables -l" gives me (for both computers):
>>
>> Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
>> target prot opt source destination
>>
>> Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
>> target prot opt source destination
>>
>> Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
>> target prot opt source destination
>>
>> * "mii-tool eth0" gives me (for both computers):
>>
>> eth0: no autonegotiation, 10baseT-HD, link ok
>>
>> * "route" gives me (for both computers):
>>
>> Kernel IP routing table
>> Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
>> 1.244.128.0 * 255.255.248.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
>> default 1.244.128.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
>>
>>
>>
> When you tried it at the office, did you use the same cable you used at
> home?
>

At the office I used a different cable. However, just in case, I did
just switch the cables between the laptop and the PowerEdge and, still,
my laptop goes at full speed while the PowerEdge doesn't.

Anyway, thanks for your halp... After reading your post, I hoped that
the problem was with the cable but unfortunately it isn't.

Robert Harris wrote:
> Mario wrote:
>
>> Robert Harris wrote:
>>
>>> Mario wrote:
>>>
> [snip]
>
>>>>
>>>> * "route" gives me (for both computers):
>>>>
>>>> Kernel IP routing table
>>>> Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
>>>> 1.244.128.0 * 255.255.248.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
>>>> default 1.244.128.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> It looks (to me) as if your router is giving your laptop a
>>> non-private internet address and there is probably a "real" route to
>>> 1.244.128.1 out there on the internet which is getting your IP
>>> responses.
>>>
>>> The DHCP configuration on your router should be set up to give you an
>>> internet address which is in one of the ranges:
>>>
>>> 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255
>>> 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255
>>> 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255
>>>
>>> of which the last is the most popular (see RFC1918 for the details).
>>>
>>> Robert
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks for your help Robert. However, I'm having the problem with my
>> PowerEdge and NOT with my laptop. Both the PowerEdge and the Laptop
>> are configured with DHCP (client) and they respectively get a
>> 1.244.132.241 and 1.244.132.242 IP.
>>
>> If the problem were the IP address assigned by my ISP to my computers,
>> I would have problems on both of them, not on only one. Does that make
>> sense?
>>
>> Beside that, I can't probably do much about the IP address which my
>> ISP assigns me... I can only accept it (at least I suppose, as far as
>> I understand).
>>
>> Do these considerations make ane sense?
>
> If you have a normal setup, your router assigns your PCs' IP addresses
> (and your ISP assigns your router a different one); your router is
> probably a firewall and a switch and a network address translator all in
> one little box. You probably set it up by telnet-ing to it (at
> 1.244.128.1) or by http-ing to it through your browser. Your ISP will,
> in any case, know how to set it up and possibly what might be wrong with
> it.

I tried to follow your suggestion and I did HTTP-ed the router but got
no response. I did try to telnet-it but it asks me username/pwd (which
Imy ISP doesn't provide me).

I did contact my ISP a few days ago but all they said is: "if Windows
works and another Linux PC works, the problem is with your computer (or
NIC)... we can't help".

What I did not say in this post, to keep things simple, is that my
PowerEdge has a second NIC (eth1) and I also did try to connect this
second NIC to Internet, but I got the same problem.

The NIC at eth0 supports rates of 1000, 100 and 10, while the NIC at
eth1 supports only 100 and 10. Both of them have the same behaviour and
when the NICs autonegotiated with the router/hub they got a 10Mb speed.
I did also turn of autonegatiation and I did force a 10Mb speed, but it
did not solve any problem.

One question: I'm thinking about purchasing a low-cost router/hub to
replace the one provided by my ISP. Do you think that this migth help?