My ethernet connection is TOO SLOW!

I have an iMac powerpc g4 running 10.5.8 and the ethernet connection is too slow. It is hooked up to a router which is hooked up to a cable modem. I also have a pc laptop and when I download things on it, the dowload speed is about 200-300 kb/s but on my iMac, it's not even 20 kb/s. How do I get the internet speed I was hoping to have? Thank you guys!

Man edit your email address out of that post ! Your going to give your spam filter a heart attack !

Good advice from clayneal - never put your email address in an open forum. Let's hope you haven't been invaded by spammers.

To your download speed issue - "router hooked to cable modem"? A confusion of definitions here ... you have two computers hooked to an ethernet hub (a.k.a. switch), which in turn is connected by ethernet cable to a cable modem (a.k.a. router). Do I have that right? I have a similar situation here, three computers via a hub (switch) to a cable router.

1. What happens when you turn off your PC laptop and have just the Mac using the ethernet connection?
2. What are the Mac's network (SysPrefs > Network > Built-in Ethernet > TCP/IP) preferences?
3. If you have both computers operating simultaneously, what activity is the PC doing while you're using the Mac on the internet?

Running Leopard on a G4 iMac - how fast is the G4 and how big is the HD? If there is little room on the HD it could be caching frequently and that will slow things down. As hughvane says your troubleshooting may be better served by setting iMac to modem by Ethernet so they are the only units in the process while trying to sort what is causing your slow down. What plan do u have with the ISP and is it capped/limited.

Ok let me revise, My dads computer, upstairs, is hooked up to a cable modem through a usb chord which works perfectly for internet. To the same modem there is an ethernet chord connected to a hub/router. I'm not sure what it's called but it splits the internet from one source into 5 or 6. It's only split off once so my dad's computer has internet upstairs and I have internet downstairs. So I just plug a 50 ft chord into the router thing (split 1) and plug the other end into my laptop and it downloads like a champ but when I plug the same chord into my iMac, the connection is pretty slow. Web pages load at a normal pace but watching videos on youtube or hulu and dowloading things, it's very choppy and slow. What specs do you need to know for me to further help you understand to get this problem dealt with? I'm always checking.

Oh I also even tried to just run the 50 ft. chord straight from the modem to my imac with my dad's usb connection to the modem unplugged and it was still slow. Also, my dads computer is always on and plugged into the internet (except for this one test procedure) and when they aren't using the internet on it, it's quite slow and when they are, no change.

Okay, well done, the extra info is helpful.

From what you tell us, the problem is at your iMac, so you need to check your System Prefs > Network prefs, proxy settings in particular. Then check System Prefs > Sharing > Firewall. How you set things is up to you, but for simplicity and stability - and, hopefully, your connection speed - have as few facilities checked as possible. I have Personal File Sharing ONLY checked.

50 ft cable - hmm. You can expect a slight drop in speed over that length, but not glaringly so. I think 15m is the recommended maximum, so 50' is neither here nor there.

Next - run a few ping and traceroute tests with Terminal. Do you know how to do that? If not, I'll PM you with the info. These tests are to determine if there's a problem with a server with your ISP, maybe a latency (congestion) issue. I don't think so, because your dad's computer and your laptop don't have this speed problem.

Last thought - have you and your dad considered going wireless?

We have considered going wireless but he doesn't want to pay the money but I think I'm going to sneak around him and just go ahead and get a wireless router. I don't know how to run the ping and traceroute tests however so if you could give me the info that would be very helpful. Thank you so much!