Internet Connection Sharing Problem

[MacaroneePenguin]

I have ICS setup and my computer (the host) is working perfectly but the one that is hooked up to me (the client) barely works. It can get onto AIM very slowly, I can get an IP address (very slowly) but it wont open up any pages on the net. I have a 50ft Cat5 cable running between the two computers. I'm pretty sure it's a cross-over because that is what is said on the label of the cable bag but if it weren't a crossover, are these the symptons I would see, or are there other reasons why it's doing this?

Any ideas? Thanx

Update: I just had the client computer ping yahoo and I got a 25% loss. The ms are higher than usual and inconsistent.

[Jeffbx]

If it wasn't a crossover you wouldn't get a connection at all.

Slow connections can be caused by about a million different things. Things to check:

Interference on the CAT5 - make sure you're not running it near any power cords and especially keep it away from electrical motors (1-2 feet away should be safe).

Try switching both NICs from auto-detect to 100Mbps, full duplex.

It's possible you have a bad card and/or cable - do you have another you can test with?

[MacaroneePenguin]

Well I have the cable running under the carpet. I guess I should try to get another one w/o running it under the carpet as see what happens and go from there.

I'll try changing the setting first though.

If anyone has any other ideas, not knowing this will work, please let me know, thanx