Dell Vostro A860 slow network in Windows XP

Simptoms

Copying files from the network is very slow on the Vostro A860 under Windows XP. This laptop is based on the Realtek RTL8102EL chip.

Solution

Set the MTU (Maximum Transmit Unit) for the LAN card to a lower value.

In order to change the MTU under Windows XP:

1. Open the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces

2. Indentify the subkey that matches your network adapter. To do this, open each subkey and check on the right for the corresponding IP address.

3. Under the correct subkey, create a new DWORD value named MTU with the value 1400 (decimal).

4. Reboot