[pxldev]

Have this problem whereas if one of my machines is dowloading something ( such as software, concert on BitTorrent, etc ) all internet access on my other machines comes to a halt.

This is my setup / description of problem:

DSL Cable Modem( Versison Business ) ----> AirportBase ( White 2nd Gen )-EthernetPort --> Linksys 5 switch Gigaport--> This goes to 3 machines described below

The airport provides access to my laptops as well as other machines that have a card. The Linksys Gigaport is hardwired to my Airport Basestation via an ethernet cable. I have a Dell and a G5 Desktop solely hooked up to the Linksys Gigaport, this gives them internet access since they have no airport cards. I also have a G4 hooked upto Linksys switch as well, but it also has an airport card so it can use both of those ports for access. Now when one of my machines is downloading a substantial file using their ethernet port hooked to the Linksys, my network just gets hosed. Pretty much nothing can be accessed. I'm certain my Linksys 5 Port Gigaport switch is the problem, because if I turn off the port ( ethernet) on the offending Mac in SysPrefs and let it download via Airport the problem seems to be corrected. Is there anyway to regulate traffic going in/out of this LinkSys Switch?

This is driving me crazy. If anyone has any insight or tips I would greatly appreciate it. I'm SOL when my wife needs to access her Hotmail account and I have a phatty Phish show coming down the pipes.

[ghporter]

Your switch is unmanaged-that means that it just goes with whatever traffic is requested by the clients. If one client has a big download going, the other clients will suffer.

The solution is to buy a managed switch. Here's the catch: they're expensive and (compared to consumer-grade, set-and-forget switches) difficult to manage.

So, I guess you're either stuck with buying an expensive and hard to learn managed switch, or you'll have to manage your downloads better, so they don't conflict with your wife's surfing needs.

[Turias]

Try Throttled

The other solution is to throttle your bandwidth with an extra machine that would be placed between your cable modem and your other three computers. The cost for this solution would be the same as an inexpensive linux box and a bunch of time learning how to set it up.

[pxldev]

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate it. I'm out-of-town, will give it a try when I get back.