> ethernet speed is lacking. I searched the forums and it seems this goes back
> to the beginning of PPC mac support with no answer. [...] Running Blue Angels
> test on my Power Mac 3.5 I get ~2.2Mb, on my PC I get 8Mb.

Technically, this problem predates PPC Mac support very much. It's just that in recent years internet speeds got so high that the problem has become more and more evident. Thus, MorphOS on Pegasos or Efika 5200B has this same internet speed issue today as well.
You can find more information in the postings linked there:

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?forum=3&topic_id=6517&start=125