[funkboy]

Using Mac OS 10.2.4, I can't listen to streaming 128k mp3 streams over my college's LAN in iTunes, even when I set the buffer to max. It will play a couple seconds, then go into the progress bar, waiting for info, then play for a couple more seconds, repeat.
Also, copying files over the network is much slower for me than my Windows counterparts. It takes me around an hour minutes to copy 600MB, while Windows machines can go at about 20 minutes or less.

What could be the problem with my iMac? Is it Mac OS X settings? My LAN? I'm thinking it may be the switch I'm hooked up to in my room - the switch has Airport and my iMac plugged into it, and it uplinks to the ethernet plug in my room.

Any ideas how I could get speed?

[aaanorton]

Sounds to me like you're not connecting locally to the LAN. Instead, your going the long way around, through the internet. Transferring files then would need to upload and download across the web.
Is it a switch or router in your room? Is it distributing IPs? Is the iMac wirelessly connected to Airport or plugged into switch? Is Airport distributing IPs? What do you have as DNS server in Network pane?