Why this wireless connection so slow?

[Josef Lowder]

.
After trying to install kubuntu (and having it destroy my winxp partition), I
installed PCLinuxOS and it not only works perfectly, its installation "fixed"
the problems that kubuntu created with grub.  So now both winxp and Linux boot
fine ... and with PCLinuxOS, everything "just works," including wireless,
right "out of the box." 

However, I have discovered a very curious problem with the wireless connection
in one location.  I am now on a two week trip and I while the wireless
connection worked perfectly on my home router (2-wire) and it worked perfectly
in the hotel where we stayed last night, now that we are staying at our
daughter's home, the wireless connection to the router in her home that works
at 54Mbps when I boot xp is painfully slow when I boot Linux.  For both, I
connected with a WEP key (whatever that means). 

So, any suggestions how to correct this problem?  While it seems to work fine
when I first connect, within a minute, the connection slows down to a complete
halt when I try to view web mail.