[oivindi]

I have a network setup that looks like this:

* Cisco router connecting me to the internet (ADSL)
* router goes into hub, and two Macs (iMac G4 and Powerbook Pismo) go into hub

Everything works fine when on the internet. Both Macs get great speed.

However, when transferring files between the two Macs locally, things are going pretty slow (about 3-4 secs for 1 MB transfer).

Both Macs are running OS X 10.2.6.

The Powerbook Pismo is using a RealTek ethernet card (internal ethernet is broken) that´s 10/100.

The hub is also 10/100.

So, I´m guessing perhaps the two Macs aren´t conncting to each other using 100...because of, what?

The iMac has File Sharing turned on, and I´m transferring from the Pismo to the iMac. Used "Connect to server..." from the Finder in Pismo to connect to iMac.

What am I doing wrong? Why is transfer speed so low, when it´s screaming fast when I just connect the two machines using a normal ethernet cable (bypassing the hub completely)?

Any help greatly appreciated!
...
Øivind.

[AssassyN]

Are you sure they're sharing a single IP distributed by your ISP? It's possible that if they're on different IPs, the info. is actually getting sent on to the internet and then back to the computer, causing the slowness. Also, check to be sure your HUB is set to "100" rather than "10", as well as the Pismo's card.

[oivindi]

Well, no, they're not sharing a single address. I'm not really sure how one could connect two separate machines to the same ADSL-connection using the same IP-address for both machines. That would conflict with the TCP/IP protocol, wouldn't it?

Both are getting their IP through DHCP. Usually the Pismo gets 10.0.0.2 and the iMac 10.0.0.3, which, of course, isn't their "real" address, but one distributed via the router.

But it could very well be that the files are sent over the net. How can I prevent this? Do I have to change my network setup in some way before doing this?

Could I for example make a new network setup on both machines with two completely different IP-addresses (not in the range allowed by the router, for example), then try the transfer?

The Hub uses autosensing, same with the ethernet card in the Pismo (100 light is on, by the way), so I don't think that's the problem.

Thanks for your help!

Øivind.

[AssassyN]

I didn't mean they actually use the same given address, I simply meant they need to share the same ACTUAL IP address given by your ADSL provider, which by what you've said, they do.

Hmmm...I'm a bit stumped then. You may try arranging it where the hub goes into the Router instead, so that data hits the hub FIRST, and then if it needs to access the internet, it'll access the router last. Thus, when sharing locally, files should hit the hub first & see it can stop there w/o accessing the router/internet.

[oivindi]

I see re. the IP - sorry for the misunderstanding.

I don't really see how I could connect things any other way.

Right now the cable from the router is going into the "uplink" port of the hub. The Pismo is going into the third port of the hub, while the iMac connects to the fourth.

It has to be "cable-from-wall" into router into hub, and then Mac#1 to hub and Mac#2 to hub. Where do I move things around...?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding again. I'm quite new to this....

Thanks!

Øivind

[aaanorton]

It seems to me that you've got everything connected properly. How are your Network settings config'ed in Sys Prefs?
It may just be that you're using a hub. These are fairly dumb units. You may want to look into a switch instead. But once you start that, you may as well just get a new multi-port router.

[John Strung]

On some hubs, if you use the uplink port, you have to leave the immediately adjacent straight-through port empty. (These two ports are actually one port, just wired differently). I don't know if that applies to your situation.

[oivindi]

Originally posted by John Strung:
On some hubs, if you use the uplink port, you have to leave the immediately adjacent straight-through port empty. (These two ports are actually one port, just wired differently). I don't know if that applies to your situation.

I know. I found out the hard way. That's why I've got the two Macs on ports 3 and 4 - and not one of them connected to 1 (which didn't work at all, precisely for the reason you mention above).

Øivind

[kampl]

What duplex and speeds are being negotiated on the computers' interfaces. Run ifconfig en0 on both and see what you've got. Maybe they are only coming up as 10half. I've that problem before.