Well, I have finally got connected to the Internet using ADSL.
It's not the best speed, but 400/100 is much better than 56K dial-up.

Here's my piccle:

I have doze workstations running one the network, which are all working great, I have a linux server on the same network and that also works amazingly well.
I'm able to browse using lynx, download files, and everything appears to be OK.
BUT...
(I just tried this):
wget http://www.powertech.no/apache/dist/..._1.3.33.tar.gz
--20:45:07-- http://www.powertech.no/apache/dist/..._1.3.33.tar.gz
=> `apache_1.3.33.tar.gz'
Resolving www.powertech.no... 195.159.1.4
Connecting to www.powertech.no[195.159.1.4]:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 2,468,567 [application/x-gzip]

100%[====================================>] 2,468,567 42.29K/s ETA 00:00

20:46:15 (35.84 KB/s) - `apache_1.3.33.tar.gz' saved [2468567/2468567]


Once I try and install something I have downloaded everything fails.
tar zxvf apache_1.3.33.tar.gz
....
...
working for a few seconds then...
------ CUT FROM CONSOLE --------

tar: Archive contains obsolescent base-64 headers

gzip: stdin: invalid compressed data--crc error

gzip: stdin: invalid compressed data--length error
tar: Read 6085 bytes from apache_1.3.33.tar.gz
tar: Child returned status 1
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors


This happens everytime.
So I try and get Slackware packages using the same method...

Everything says the same during download, but when I install:

------------- CUT FROM CONSOLE -----------
Installing package apache-1.3.33-i486-1...
PACKAGE DESCRIPTION:
apache: apache (The Apache HTTP Server)
apache:
apache: Apache is an HTTP server designed as a plug-in replacement for the
apache: NCSA HTTP server. It fixes numerous bugs in the NCSA server and
apache: includes many frequently requested new features, and has an API which
apache: allows it to be extended to meet users' needs more easily.
apache:
apache: Apache is the most popular web server in the known universe; over
apache: half of the servers on the Internet are running Apache or one of
apache: its variants.
apache:
Unable to install apache-1.3.33-i486-1.tgz: tar archive is corrupt (tar returned error code 2)

I tried inserting the slackware CD, and installpkg from that... Works A-OK

I'm at a loss.. Even reinstalled the server thinking it was something happened during a power-down.

Anyone want to give me their thoughts on what this might be?
(I connect using a SpeedTouch 510i as a router and DHCP)

-Geir

Well, my guess is, that the data gets corrupted on the way. (doh) .. Perhaps download something that you know a md5 sum for, and then verify (md5sum -c) if the file got thru to you ok? That would verify this theory.

Have you monitored packetloss / collisions with your current setup? (ping, your router or via ifconfig..)

And one thing worth testing is, that you get a package off a slackware CD, create an md5sum for it, then shove it on another machine on your lan, download it back, and chek the sum.. Maybe narrow the problem to the WAN, or your cabling / router and so on..

Thank you !!!!!!!
That put me on the right track.

After numerous downloads on the server, where the md5 checksum didn't match the checksum-file... I tried using the same commands on my laptop..
I rebooted and used Slack instead of do$e and voila... on my laptop the checksums were correct.

Shut down my server, removed the NIC (3C905C-TX)... Inserted another (RTL8139B) configured my network up again...
Another test....... Hey, the checksums match up.

Tomorrow will be a good day. (Lots of configuring, testing and pure joy..)
Right now it's quite late here (1:10am) and I have to get up in a couple of hours for work.

Thanks again for pushing me in the right direction.

-Geir