Most recent kernel where this bug did not occur: 2.6.15.6 (there could be a
later kernel which it works well with too). If you really need this information,
 just mail me (jonassa@gmail.com) and I will try every kernel and find the
latest working for you.
Distribution: Debian 
Hardware Environment:
00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333]
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333 AGP]
00:05.0 Multimedia audio controller: C-Media Electronics Inc CM8738 (rev 10)
00:0d.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3cSOHO100-TX Hurricane (rev 30)
00:0f.0 Multimedia audio controller: Ensoniq ES1371 [AudioPCI-97] (rev 08)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233 PCI to ISA Bridge
00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc.
VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
00:11.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
(rev 1b)
00:11.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
(rev 1b)
00:11.4 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
(rev 1b)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV280 [Radeon 9200 PRO]
(rev 01)
01:00.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV280 [Radeon 9200 PRO]
(Secondary) (rev 01)

Software Environment:
X11, firefox

Problem Description:
Comparing linux kernel 2.6.15.6 and 2.6.18 or 2.6.18.1,  the former works fine
while the latter ones do not. The problem is that the network is simply very
slow. I can never reach high download speeds, browsing is slow etc etc. If I
take the 2.6.15.6 kernel source code module and put it in the 2.6.18.1 tree and
compile a new kernel, I can run with a non-problematic network. Otherwise, I
have to run a 2.6.15.6 kernel in order to have a non-slow network. I think
12kB/ssecond was the faster download speed I had with the 2.6.18 kernel. With
the 2.6.15.6, I get my regular 900kb/s. 

Steps to reproduce:
- Use a computer with the 3c59x network card
- Notice the download speed with a 2.6.15.6 kernel
- Notice the download speed with a 2.6.18 kernel