When I have a direct cable from the dsl modem to the main computer, the
internet is super fast. When I click on a link, the page displays in a blink
of an eye. However, when I connect the desktop and my laptop through the
router, the page displays slow and I can watch the graphics of the webpages
slowly pop up almost like they would on 128k. It behaves this way on my
linksys and dlink router.

The thing is, when I run speed tests, the reported speed is what it is
supposed to be. I have expensive category 5e cables. I am not sure if this
is related yet, but it seems to get slow only after I run the "Set up a home
or small office network" thing in Windows so my computer can share files.

Any ideas?