Internet speed
To all those handling their own router setup: Make sure to test the speed with and without router. The router may be a major bottleneck if misconfigured. We got about 900 kb/s, but when I looked at one of the bills (that we'd had to pay by mistake, getting it fixed now), I noticed that our nominal speed was 4 Mb/s. Trying a direct connect without the router, I indeed got 4.5 Mb/s. My speed is apparently being further upgraded as I have asked my new job for 8/2 Mb/s, and the speed tests are now topping out at about 7 Mb/s. The yum!
Unfortunately, my fiddling with the router has led to a loss of wireless network, so our "entertainment machine" is not on teh interwebs anymore. Not that big an issue, though, it just means that our iTunes downloads need to be done on the main machine. Quickly.
If your router does cut your speed, a likely culprit is the MTU (Maximum Transfer Unit). Setting this to either 1492 or 1462 on both the router and the connected machines can cure the ailing router. It did for me.
Unfortunately, my fiddling with the router has led to a loss of wireless network, so our "entertainment machine" is not on teh interwebs anymore. Not that big an issue, though, it just means that our iTunes downloads need to be done on the main machine. Quickly.
If your router does cut your speed, a likely culprit is the MTU (Maximum Transfer Unit). Setting this to either 1492 or 1462 on both the router and the connected machines can cure the ailing router. It did for me.