Question

Why does NAT slow down my internet connection?

Asked by: huntson

I used to have a Linksys device doing NAT and now I have an Xserve doing it with 5gig of RAM.  The apple tech folks tell me that it will always be faster when a hardware device does it.  I can't beleive that with only three clients a dinky linksys beats an intel xserve any day.  Any thoughts

Before i was getting 27mbps and now i am getting 20mbps

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2009-08-13 at 13:28:06ID24651144
Topics

OS-X Server

,

Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard)

Participating Experts
1
Points
380
Comments
7

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. VPN && NAT
    Hi. Is it possible to create a VPN connection with a computer with NAT (without access to a gateway) and a diffrent LAN (with access to a gatway)? Then how. Thanks.
  2. NAT on 2000 server
    Unable to get NAT to alow clients access to internet. Have 2000 server with working DHCP: Clients recieve IP Have DNS Configured: I think it is working Problem might be here? Have checked everything several times.
  3. two questions on NAT
    1. What is the difference between the "port forwarding" feature on low end routers, and "static nat" on cisco routers? Are they the same thing but with different names? Does Cisco have a "port forwarding" type command? 2. Instead of static NAT...
  4. PPTP and NAT
    I've been troubleshooting failed VPN connections to a new Windows Small Buiness Server 2003 that I just built for a client. I think I've narrowed down the problem to NAT being enabled on their Linksys router and therefore preventing the PPTP packets from passing through corre...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: btpringlePosted on 2009-08-13 at 13:42:18ID: 25092709

The more software running on the device and processing each packet, the slower (more latency) it will be.  The linksys device has a limited set of instructions and is therefore able to perform each function faster than a software application can.

It is kind of like the RISC chips in a Mac as opposed to an equivalent speed processor in a PC.  Even though they were the same speed, the RISC chip was able to run faster because it had less overhead.

 

by: huntsonPosted on 2009-08-13 at 15:52:40ID: 25093860

so there has to be some way to mitigate this

 

by: btpringlePosted on 2009-08-13 at 16:14:37ID: 25094015

Not really.  That is the big difference between a software-based (whether Linux, Windows, Mac, or etc.) and a hardware-based router.

The only way to resolve this would be to have whoever wrote the program make their code more efficient.

 

by: huntsonPosted on 2009-08-13 at 16:37:05ID: 25094147

so you are telling me that if someone had a 100meg pipe they would only get 20 going through an xserve?

 

by: btpringlePosted on 2009-08-13 at 17:28:43ID: 25094411

No, not necessarily.  For example, we started a company installing Internet access at hotels.  We tested some stock Linksys routers and then found a Linux distribution that we could install on them.  We tried the same Linux distribution on a computer that had a much faster processor and more memory than the router, but the throughput on the router was higher.  

Never did figure out how to speed up the PC-based router.  We went with a hardware router from ZyXEL and it worked great.

 

by: huntsonPosted on 2009-08-13 at 17:34:16ID: 25094440

this is incredible news and i am just shocked.  to me unless the NAT is using all of the system resources there should be no slow-downs

 

by: huntsonPosted on 2009-08-19 at 17:35:41ID: 31615525

I was hoping for a solution however I guess one does not exist

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...