Slow connection times to FileMaker via ODBC

I know this is an open-ended quesiton, but I was hoping someone might have some tips to improve FileMaker ODBC performance...

Situation: VB.NET application talks to FileMaker Pro Server 11 running on Windows 2008 Server.

Code:

Dim cn2 As New Odbc.OdbcConnection("开发者_开发技巧DRIVER={FileMaker ODBC};SERVER=192.168.1.5;UID=xxx;PWD=xxx;DATABASE=xxx;") 

cn2.Open() 'takes 0.37 seconds (way too slow)?!

For comparison, opening a connection to a MSSQL Server on a different machine takes 0.01 seconds the first time, and 0 seconds any time after that.

Any thoughts? Is this normal for FileMaker?

---

For FileMaker ODBC, it's best to use a separate database file for ODBC for access - it can still reference external tables, etc. but keep only the tables you need in the file. This should greatly improve performance.