why is 54 mbps faster than 100mbps for me?

I'm a noob when it comes to the internet. recently we got cable setup and i was happy. However, my desktop with 100mbps ethernet (an old emachine) is always slower in surfing and downloading than the 54mbps laptop (P3 at 700mhz) on wireless. Does the hardware affect internet speed at all? I didn't think so because the old PII at the library's surfs just as fast or faster than my 2.0ghz celeron. Any helps is greatly appreciated, otherwise i need a new system just for surfing the web...

Your WAN connection most likely is 10mbps, but your internet connection is probably a 1.5mbit or a 5mbit..

Either or, you're not tapping 54 or 100.. so, it's not how fast your connection is but how fast your computers are. It takes time to process what you're looking at and what not and run the software (browser) which is probably one of the reasons.

Different Operating Systems would cause differences in speed.
Spyway, or programs running the background would also make changes.