PCI card connects but SLOW

[emlw5]

I have the following configuration:
Netgear router
Netgear access point ME102
Laptop with cabletron PCMCIA based adaptor

All the above works like a charm.

I recently added:
DLink 520 PCI card into a Compaq presario running win98 SE (my son's machine)

The card's admin app says that it connect fine.
The connection shows as excellent

But the browser loads one pixel at a time.

Memeory usage is only 65%.

If I ping a site like Yahoo it times out 25% of the time.

The cable connection is in the wall between the desktop machine and the access point. But the laptop connects fine from mush further away.

DLink tech support is giving me voodoo answers (upgrade the access point firmware, change the channel)

Any ideas?