Xbox updates never take as long as PS3 updates (from my experience)

the xbox also has a better wifi card than the ps3.

check your router settings

and it also depends on your actual internet speed as well

I just connected a wireless n receiver to my PS3 and set my router to send an n signal only. This has seemed to help slightly

Wait what? I didnt know ps3 had the ability to use a non internal wireless card?

Thought it only had drivers for the internal wireless card, therefore plugging a wireless card in via usb will do nothing

It is a wireless n receiver I bought off of Newegg. You plug it in via ethernet and the PS3 acts as if it is hard wired rather than wireless. The receiver has its own ip address.

You could try doing some digging on forums. Perhaps the D-Link is blocking a port that the PS3 is trying to use but the Xbox doesn't use.

Another idea is to try removing the password on the network and see if that speeds things up, for whatever reason.

I can't think of anything else since I don't have a PS3. Is there a related website that you can connect to via PC that you can use to check that it's not on the server end? i.e. is there a way to make sure the connection is good from a non-PS3?

And of course, run a long ethernet cable to the router to eliminate the wireless itself as the problem, or isolate it.

The issue is the antenna on the PS3 (and even the N adapter... yes, it exists, but only specific models work), they just get crappy signals.

My bro-in-law just moved to his new house, and I ended up stopping by with my cable fish and a box of CAT6 to build him an ethernet cable, because despite buying the most outlandishly expensive Linksys router (which also sucks, no external antenna, but hey, I told him not to) he was pausing every 5 seconds on Netflix. Once the cable was connected, no issues, all a signaling problem.

The DGL-4500 sets the PS3 up properly through device detection, no port blocking unless you went in and changed the profile. Actually a pretty nice router overall (yes, I just gave a thumbs-up to a D-Link. Bite me).

I'm uninformed so I'm going to ask a stupid question: does the PS3 have an external antenna for its card, or can you get one? I know you said you had decent success using an external n-card.

You may also want to try building one of those antenna "concentrators" at www.instructables.com and see if that helps (basically using either a tin can or aluminum foil to help the antenna receive more signal). All it costs is time and about 12c worth of materials.

The PS3 is an internal copper ribbon for the antenna, with no socket. It works, but it is very subject to noise due to fluorescent lights and other radio-noisy sources. The N adapters tend to connect better as N is tighter signaling over the same frequency, and penetrates through noise better as a result. But sometimes you just can't get past it, and an ethernet cable will.

BTW, the best "concentrator" I've used: Pringles can. Knock a hole in the bottom, and tape/glue it so the antenna is inside but not touching the wall, point it to the source (or destination), and you are golden. We actually temporarily rigged a system like this using two cans and were jumping G across 6 blocks (and through an apartment building) between my mother's house and my sister's apartment. But every time a bus drove past her apartment complex, the signal dropped.

Oh, by the way, putting the PS3 upright orients the antenna upright, too, and sometimes noise interference just vanishes. Not a guarantee, but try it and see.

6 blocks???? That's crazy talk!

It's not crazy! Heck, I used to beam the network between two office buildings using a microwave transponder, and that was 4 miles! It's all *cracks knuckles* in the skills, my friend!

Man, I miss my early days, back when I was a hot shot net wizard. What the heck happened?