Painfully slow network connection

Question

I am trying to evaluate the prospect of installing OS X Server 10.5 on a G5 tower at my workplace, and one of the primary issues is the speed of the office network. Perhaps due to the fact that we are physically located in two different buildings, we not infrequently have problems with some computers connecting to the server (currently running OS X 10.4 [Client]). When connecting via AFP, for example, some computers time out trying to connect or grind to a halt trying to open or save a Word document or something. The server also tries to back up all of our machines using Retrospect, and while some computers transfer files at around 100Kbps, some are around 2K or, again, just time out.
I'm trying to get the network folks to look into these issues, but my basic question is this: if I want to have people able to log in and use their home directory on any computer, can I set things up such that if a given computer has a terribly slow connection to the internet, they can at least login to some local account instead? Ideally, if on their own computer, the fallback would be a cached copy of their own home directory, a la Portable Home Directories. I'd probably be happy with just a vanilla account, though.
In the same vein, if someone logs in using their network home directory, but the network connection goes to ****, will they be unable to do anything? Will they at least be able to log out and switch to a local account? I suppose that this would only work if each computer archived a copy of the user account of any user that logged in using it.
Thanks for any advice you have on implementing this sort of scheme,
Greg

Answer 1

{quote}With the AirPort Extreme, in the AirPort panel, Wireless tab, click on the button for "Wireless Network Options", check the box for "5 GHz Network Name", and enter a different network name. (That can be trivially different, such as the name of the main network suffixed with an underscore and the digit 5.) Once configured that way, connect your "N" gear to each network in turn to see if one is any better than the other. (If you're wondering what effect this would have, it allows segregating your "N" gear from the older gear to prevent the older gear from slowing down your network. However, distance and interference from things like walls may negate any advantage.){quote}
William: I was gone most of yesterday, but had a chance to implement your recommendations today. I added the 5 GHz network as you suggested, but in order to connect to that at all with my 802.n11 MacBokk Pro, I need to be within a few feet of the AE (base station). If I try to access that network even from the next room (well within reach of both the AE and the livingroom AX, I get one bar and "failure to connect" messages just trying to logon to that network.
However, I did some experimenting that (as of right now, anyway) resulted in much faster network access, not only from my MacBook, but also from the older iMac which is the furthest Mac from the AE. According to my wife, that iMac is "loading web pages faster than I've ever seen them!"
Here's what I did:
1. Moved all three units to places where it seemed they would have the least amount of interference with the clearest path from unit to unit, also raising the height of both AXs from about 2-3 feet from the floor to about 5-6 feet from the floor.
2. Changed one setting on the AE (base station): Wireless Tab > Wireless Network Options > Multicast Rate ---> Changed this from Low to High.
I have a feeling the location shifts made the real difference, but I will try changing the multicast rate back to "Low" just to see what happens.
Paul