Slowness when router is in use, but directly through router

[Sykotron]

About a week and a half ago my network connection to the internet slowed dramatically. I'm always connected to a server where usually get <75 ms ping to it and now I'm consistently getting >200 ms. It's not just this server I now have a slow connection to, but this is just a reference. Without the router in the line I get ~30 ms ping to a local Tampa, FL speedtest server, but with the router I'm getting 150-300 ms. A speedtest.net result without the router yields just under 30Mb/s down while I barely get 10Mb/s with the router.

I've always been under the assumption that routers are good at configuring themselves, but I'm finding this apparently isn't the case. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I'm also posting my TCP Analyzer results.

« SpeedGuide.net TCP Analyzer Results » 
Tested on: 2012.06.15 18:32 
IP address: 72.187.xx.xxx 
Client OS/browser: Windows 7 (Chrome 19.0.1084.56) 
 
TCP options string: 020405b40103030801010402 
MSS: 1460 
MTU: 1500 
TCP Window: 65536 (NOT multiple of MSS) 
RWIN Scaling: 8 bits (2^8=256) 
Unscaled RWIN : 256 
Recommended RWINs: 64240, 128480, 256960, 513920, 1027840 
BDP limit (200ms): 2621kbps (328KBytes/s)
BDP limit (500ms): 1049kbps (131KBytes/s) 
MTU Discovery: ON 
TTL: 118 
Timestamps: OFF 
SACKs: ON 
IP ToS: 00000000 (0)

[bernardc]

Sykotron,
It's funny that no one responded, not even YeOldeStoneCat. I'm having the same trouble with my Cisco RVS4000. Some googling shows that this trouble is increasingly common now that ISP speeds have gotten faster. I've read that the RVS4000 tops out at 26 mbps, which is right in line with what I'm getting. The problem is said to be that consumer routers operate their firewalls and lots of other functions in software. So they're fast enough for a T1, but for fiber and CATV, they're gumming up the works.

So here's the question: What router should I get? Oh I know what the imposters will say: "Tut tut, it depends on your blah blah and you you ... BS." If that's all you've got to say we've all heard it and it's worthless. Let's say it's a very small business needing firewall, VPN, and not much else. Then what, specifically, do I need? Cisco 881? What? Speak.

Thank you to those of you sharing useful information.

[bernardc]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwa...er-charts/view

Some routers are so slow that they will limit the speed of faster ISPs.