Router slowing me down?

My internet connection and download speeds in particular have been noticably slow as of late. Pages load slowly, streaming video starts buffering after 2-4 seconds, downloads are like molassess. Part of me worried that it was my iBook. It's pretty well established that while a Mac makes a decent internet machine, the page rendering really just doesn't match up to IE6 or Firefox for Windows. I didn't think it would make this much difference though.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) I put it to the test. I went to the CNET Bandwidth Meter Speed Test. My connection rated a whopping 280kbps. I checked it a couple more times with different browsers and got a range of about 260-400kbps. This was not cool! My first thought was that Comcast was pulling the switcheroo! My service is supposed to have speeds up to 6000kbps!

On a whim, I decided to connect my iBook directly to the Cable Modem and test again. While I can do this with my Mac and remain reasonably secure, you Windows folks may want to avoid doing this. If you're running XP SP2 with your Windows firewall on, you're probably ok too, but don't say I didn't warn you. Disclaimer over.

Anyway, I switched over to a wired connection to my cable modem and tried the bandwidth test again. BAM! 3000kbps on the first shot! I ran it a few more times and got a range between 1180-3100kbps. Still, this is not the 6000kbps that Comcast promised, but it is a lot closer and has provided a more enjoyable page-loading experience in the last hour or so.

What does this all mean? I think my MR814 router is finally on its way out. I'll be making a trip to CompUSA this weekend to search out a replacement. Dear Lord, please help me to stay away from 802.11n just long enough to run out with a cheap 802.11g. Oh, and keep me from buying "speedboost," "Super-G," or any of the other gimmicky router "features" that my Airport Extreme card doesn't utilize. Amen.

-Kal