On Wed, 21 Jun 2006 14:16:14 +0100, Mike M wrote:

Terry,

What you have connected to your router should have no effect on the
connection your router has with your ISP and the internet. I am using the
same router (DG834G) and have machines running Win 98SE, Win Me, XP, Vista
and variations of Linux connected to the router both wired and using
wireless.

The synch speed with the exchange is controlled by the wiring between your
router and the exchange, not what is connected to the router, with
distance to the exchange and quality of the wiring being factors. Simply
turning on a PC should not cause the problems you are reporting but check
that the problem isn't a faulty power circuit with perhaps the Win Me box
causing a power spike that causes the router to reboot. Remember that the
DSLAM in your local exchange has no idea as to what you have connected to
your LAN, all it can "see" is your router.

Win Me will not limit your connection speed. MTU has nothing to do with
disconnection. There are no settings in Win Me that have any effect on
the state of the connection between your router and the exchange, Win Me
and higher speeds, my router is permanently synched at 7.5Mbps or better
regardless of what I have connected to my LAN. And yes, I am in the UK
and have been on an 8Mbps service for more than a year although not using
a service provided by BT Openwoe.

Mike,
Thanks for teaching me how to suck eggs!
I know and agree basically with what you say but you are not
differentiating between router synch speed and *actual* download speed
achieved on different PCs connected to the same router. Through extensive
testing I have now proved to my own satisfaction that a PC running WinME
will provide an actual download speed much less (perhaps only 55% or 60%)
of that on a PC running Windows XP or Linux for the same router synch
speed. I have tested on 2 similar PCs running WinME but with different
network cards. One of the PCs also double boots to Linux and the
comparative results prove to me that my results are independent of hardware
differences.

I invite anyone who is sceptical to carry out their own tests.

Terry_P

Terry_P