internet problem that doesnt make sense.

ok so like the past week my internet has been runing really strange. it like has a 5-10 second delay before it actually starts loading a page. It looks like the internet isn't connected but then suddenly it starts loading. But was trying to download updates for osx. and they were going at least 300 kb/s and i know its not my router because i went to my friends house and used his wifi and it did the same thing, and he has the same computer but it loaded web pages just fine. just wondering is it like some problem with my airport card?

Try clearing out your browser cache and then perform some routine maintenance on the machine. "OnyX" is free and will perform many procedures for you including repair permissions. You can download it from this Link.

Regards.

One thought: if your primary DNS happens to be down, it would take about that long to give up and cycle to the next DNS in the list, which would cause a delay in websites loading the first time you attempt to reach them during a browsing session. If you visit the same website twice in the same browsing session, does it load faster the 2nd time?

If you have manually specified your DNS servers (under System Preferences/Network) and your friend hasn't (or visa versa), that could explain why you saw different behavior even when connected to the same network. If, on the other hand, you and your friend are both just allowing your DNS to be set automatically via DHCP, then this probably isn't the issue.

i tried do thing onyx thing, and it hasnt worked, i have yet to try and figure out what mystic fm said. but would the program "little snitch" have anything to do with it?

The DNS servers of your ISP essentially take your URL (say for example mac-forums.com) and change it into an address that is mapped to the computer (ie. the IP address). If one of the DNS servers is down/slow for your ISP, it will take longer to translate your URL into an IP and thus, your page resolving will be much slower.

Think of it this way - you speak language A and are trying to talk to someone who speaks language B. You have a translator who is proficient in A and B. When it is said that your DNS servers are slow/down, it would be like your translator either translating your conversation really slowly or not at all. I hope that explains it.

If you went to a friends house and it was still slow and it was fine for him/her (thus, you are both using the same ISP) then it might be something on your Mac unless your friend has manually changed his/her DNS servers (they are usually assigned to you automatically by your ISP). If the problem persists, it probably isn't the DNS servers.

What browser are you using? Have you attempted to clear the cache for that browser as suggested by chscag?

i already tried emptying the cash for safari and i did a bunch of stuff with that onyx program and im not sure if it made a difference

OK, problems solved! i dont know what worked though. i did a ton of stuff, with Onyx. im not sure if that was it or just the restarting it or emptying cache or w/e. ty for the advice though