Travel Technology - Can anyone recommend an online networking "primer"?

My home network now consists of three Linux-based set-top Dreamboxes (kind of like a combination satellite receiver and Slingbox) connected via a D-Link router/hub to an iMac and the internet. There are a couple of XP Pro machines linked to the network as well via Wifi, but they aren't normally connected.

Everything works fairly well except that my transfer speeds on the internal LAN between the Linux boxes and the Mac are pitiful (usually only around 300kbps). The Mac HDD is "mounted" to one of the set-top boxes (using CIFS) so I can use it as a PVR and I'm certain that I should be getting better transfer rates to/from the HDD (others using the Dreambox are getting 3.5+ Mbps). I can connect from the Mac to the internet at speeds over 1 Mbps.

I'm convinced that the problem is network related, but I know little about LAN networking. Can anyone point me to a good introduction to home networking that I can peruse in the hope of getting everything fixed? Cheers.

While I'm totally salivating at the chance for shameless self promotion (not saying anything about the fact that I haven't updated in a few weeks...)...
It doesn't sound like your problems are 100% network related...or at least like we know enough.

For instance, what kind of liunx box do you have? Linux is amazing for its ability to conform to any need, but it has to be optimized to do so. In other words, a Linksys NAS box may run a Linux file server a lot better than a 1995 PC from the attic....man it pains me to say that :D

Also, as I learned the hard way a few years ago, the physical connection does matter. Check the diagram in my (SHAMELESS) link below, make sure you are wired correctly.

More than anything, give us more info.... how are you mounting the drives (appleTalk, cifs/smb....clicking GO-->connect... anything will that will help us get a better feel for the network.

One thing you can do to trouble shoot is use the ping command. With windows, OS X or linux you can try to 'ping' from one machine to another. One of the data elements that is reported by default is the response time. Let us know what you are seeing with ping...that can help

never the less....

part 1 - wiring (http://www.archatechs.com/blog/files/06a9005fad0ace6c9290a2580cf9eaae-1.html)
part 2 - firewall (http://www.archatechs.com/blog/files/pimpin2.html)
Part 3 - security and Wifi (http://www.archatechs.com/blog/files/network3.html)

sorry...late night for me! :D

Many thanks for the quick reply. Nice looking articles - I shall plough through them!

Regarding what type of box it is, the Dreambox (http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/Bereiche/Produkte/DM500_featurelist.php) is, in its most basic sense, a simple satellite set-top box. They're linked to a moveable dish on the roof and allow me to watch upwards of 20 sats from here.
What makes them a bit more interesting is that they are network-aware (is that the correct term?). I'm able to stream live video from the Dream via the LAN to any PC on the network (and if I lived in a country with better upload speeds, via the 'net). Similarly, I can stream from the PC to the box and thus onto my TV. The Dreams also connect to the Internet for EPG etc.
Some models have built-in HDDs to make the box act as a PVR - my model doesn't, but I am able to mount the drive on my Mac: I've done this using CIFS.
From a telnet prompt, the command was "mount -t cifs -o user=macusername,password=password //192.168.1.6/macusername /hdd". /hdd is the folder that the Dream uses for "internal" recording.
All Dreams and the Mac have static IPs on the network, but the router still has DHCP enabled for the 2 PCs that connect via 802.11g (but the dynamic address start safely above where the static addresses end, if you see what I mean).

Regarding my network - I think everything's wired up correctly (trying different CAT5 cables gives me the same results). The Dream and Mac are directly connected to a D-Link DSL-G604T which in turn connects to the 'net via PPoE. Cable lengths are all less than 1m (just working with the nearest box to my Mac).
I can ping no problem - results from the Mac to the Dream or vice versa typically give me min 0.3ms, avg 0.3ms, max 0.4ms.
One thing I did read was that if I execute the Linux command "route" on the box and don't get an instant reply, something isn't set up correctly (but I can't find out what!). When I execute "route", it takes about 8 seconds! The output is:
~ > route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.1.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
default mygateway 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0

I have absolutely no idea what any of that means, anyway! As I said initially, everything works - just not as quickly as I believe the network should! Hmm...I've just done another couple of internet speed tests, and suddenly I'm only getting around 300kbps there now as well. I seem to have messed something up big-time...

Edited to add: Rebooted the router, and internet speeds are back up to 2Mbps - LAN speeds still stuck at around 300 kbps. I hate networks!

Very cool stuff!!

Now, can I ask why you need three of these... :D

Very cool stuff!!

Now, can I ask why you need three of these... :D

Normally I don't, but occasionally they're needed! I was watching England win a cricket match against Australia (finally) on my laptop in the garden this evening - streamed from the Dream in my study. Mrs. Meerkat was watching er...well it certainly wasn't the cricket in our bedroom and one of the Meerkittens was watching Cartoon Network (well, it's after school on a Friday) in the living-room.

These boxes are amazing, but they need some coaxing (as I'm rapidly learning)...