Router cripples my speeds
 

I own a Linksys BEFW11S4, and if I choose to use it, my speed is practically cut in half.

I just don't know how to remedy this. I know that it is a common problem, and nobody seems to have a real solution. I've heard about adjusting the MTU, and that did absolutely nothing.

Apparently, some people haven't run into these problems with a wired, rather than wireless router. Before I go off and buy a new router, I'd like input.

Regardless of the theoretical throughput of say 54 Mb/s, a wireless router will bottleneck your 1 Mb/s broadband connection. There's a lot of crap in the air, so even with an "excellent" signal, you're not getting even close to the reported speed. Performance is sacrificed for convenience.

You'll still take a hit with a wired job, but it won't be nearly as bad. Why not pick one up at a brick-and-mortar, give it a test run, and return it if you're not happy?

Oy, that thing's 802.11b? That's definitely part of the problem.

Are you talking about torrent speeds, or browsing speeds? If you're having poor speeds with bittorrent, or other P2P applications, there could be something you can do about that. Try reading about port forwarding on this site to help with P2P speeds.

http://www.portforward.com/

If your problem is purely a product of the limitations on wireless technology, then there's not a damn thing that can be done. I don't use Wi-Fi unless I have to for exactly that reason.