Painfully Slow Networking on Leopard

My day job is being a tech support rep for high speed cable internet services - and we are getting a lot of calls from Mac Leopard users.

From what I'm seeing - if you connect a Mac Leopard into any home networking device - i.e. your router: everything else on the network will get painfully slow.

This includes Windows based PCs and network-attached games such as Xbox and Playstation.

Due to this situation a lot of people think it has to be the Internet Service Provider and may think that they have to upgrade to a faster speed-tier.

But what this really means is that something in Leopard is producing a lot of error traffic on the home network - which uses up the bandwidth and processing capabilities of the router as well as the host computer.

Well, your employer also has to take some responsibility for poor network performance and limiting bandwidth. But that's another topic - not for here.

I know of systems where the user has Leopard as their OS and also several PCs. No slowdown issues. So to make a blanket statement that Leopard is causing errors is misleading and wrong.

I will admit to one thing, however. It is generally easier to setup a Windows PC especially one that's running XP or Vista, to get on the net wirelessly than it is a Mac. That's based on my own experience and that of others I've helped.

Usually the cause of slowdowns where a home network consists of both PCs and Macs has something to do with improperly setting up a security protocol. (WPA, WPA2, WEP, etc.) Other issues include improper DNS settings. At least that has been my observation.

Anyway, it's good to know that some ISPs have tech support personnel who understand something about Macs and their operating system.

Regards.

I've never had a problem, except with my ISP!

Though yes, it is refreshing to hear of somebody who works for one and has even heard of a Mac.