W2K computer only sees 10M connectivity

Has anyone ever experienced this problem and what is the solution??

I have two PC's; one XP and the other 2000. The XP PC is an HP Pavilion 7955 with onboard 10/100 connectivity on the MB. The 2000 PC is self-built with (2) 3Com 3C905B-TX 10/100 PCI cards.

They both go to a LinkSys 5-port workgroup hub and then go into a Westell wirespeed modem, (DSL).

The XP PC when connected to the internet runs at 100M and 2000 PC runs at 10M. Both 3Com cards are good, while only one card is currently enabled -- to be used for a 3rd PC w/o internet connectivity at a later date.

I've changed the cat5e cables between the two machines, swapped the hub connections, I even tried to get newer drivers for the 3Com cards; but still I can't get the 100M connection!

The 2000 PC's MB is a GigaByte GA7IXE with 1.5GRAM, running 2K SP3 with all the windows updates.

I know that less than 5 years ago, the 2K PC did have 100M connectivity, but then it also had SP1, and one NIC card: a NetGear FA311 10/100 PCI.

Does the bandwidth split because of two NIC cards, even though only one card is enabled?

I really need the 100M connectivity and the 2nd NIC card!

Any ideas and THANKS!

 

Check the settings on the linksys, if you change ports does it still run at 10M. Try disable the current NIC and enable your other one. Does it still run at 10M

 

Even if I connect only the W2K PC directly to the DSL modem and with either NIC card disabled and the other one enabled, I still get only 10M.

So it is not a LinkSys issue, nor a cat5e cable issue, and I have tried these NIC cards in other machines, so I know they are 100%.

I reiterate, does the bandwidth split because of two NIC cards, even though only one card is enabled?

I really need the 100M connectivity and the 2nd NIC card!

 

Bandwidth is set up for each connection. If set to auto, the speed is negotiated between the NIC and the hub/switch. I expect this may be an auto-negotiation problem. Try setting the connect speed manually both at the hub (if possible) and in the NIC drivers.

Running with two network cards is not a trivial task. Unless the two cards are teamed using two cards at the same time results in an infinite loop. Standard network cards do not have teaming functionality.

On top of that a hub is a shared media device, so only one of the network cards would be able to send data at any one time. Using two NICs in one PC will only make your system slower not faster.

If speed is everything for you, I'd suggest you invest in two (one for each PC) gigabit ethernet cards and a gigabit ethernet switch.

 

Maybe not crucial, but think you should have SP4 for 2K.