Is it supposed to be this slow? (Wireless)

bergamini · Feb 2, 2007

I bought my first Mac in November, a refurbished Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz with the Super Drive and the ATI Radeon x1600 card. It has 512MB of memory.

I set up a Belkin G Plus (G+) wireless router connected to 3MB Charter High Speed internet. The internet, including streaming video, downloads, etc, flies on my IBM laptop from work, which is running a Centrino Duo processor @ 1.66GHz with 1GB of memory. It is much, much slower on my iMac. It's almost intolerably slower.

Have people had a problem with the G+ networks? Is it just that Macs are slower? Should I upgrade to 1GB of memory? When I check system performance it seems to have some memory left and I'm not a big multi-tasker but my internet speed definitely feels more like a fast dial-up than a wireless cable.

Or, should I sell the old one on eBay and get a new one with the N wireless built in? Corded internet is not really an option most of the time, I really want wireless for the aesthetics of my trestle leg desk. I just don't understand how this can be so much slower on the iMac compared to the laptop. The router is maybe 5 feet away from the computer, underneath a bed but with no real obstacles in it's path to the computer.

hclincha · Feb 2, 2007

Wireless access should get you up to 54Mbps, assuming perfect reception. I know I don't have any problems at home, using a D-Link router for my 4Mbps line. Given that your IBM laptop works just fine, either the Belkin router just doesn't play nice (which I kinda doubt, if it were crap, it'd be so for all computers) or the problem is with your Mac. What's wrong though, I cannot fathom. In my experience, Macs and WLAN are a much better match than Windows and WLAN.

cwa107 · Feb 2, 2007

Have you tried a broadband speed test to ensure that you are actually getting the bandwidth to your Macbook that you are expecting? Terms like "slow" are subjective, it would be helpful to see the actual numbers.

There are a number of good tests out there, this is one of them.

I also feel (and this is just my opinion) that Safari tends to be a little bit slower at page rendering than Firefox. If you are using Safari, I suggest you try Firefox instead.

iSebastianGrey · Feb 2, 2007

I had this same problem, I think it has something to do with Charter. Check your DNS server settings, if it's blank put in a public server. I used 4.2.2.1 and my internet speed has increased phenomenally. Hope that helps!

iSebastianGrey · Feb 2, 2007

Oh, to check your DNS server settings, goto the mighty blue apple and click System preferences. From there click Network. And from there, select your connection and click configure.

mac57 · Feb 2, 2007

You should not be seeing any signficant degradation between the Mac and a PC on the same WiFi G link. It runs up to 54 Mbps. Unless your WiFi is compromised, it should run pretty darned fast.

Do make sure that your MacBook is set to its highest performance level. Go to System Preferences, Energy Saver, Options, and make sure that the drop down box on the bottom for Processor Performance is set to "Highest".

bergamini · Feb 2, 2007

I have run speed tests on it and the iMac scored a "Fair" from the site I ran, while the laptop would generally score "Excellent" or "Phenomenal" on whatever secret scale that site had. I'll use the above site for an actual number tonight. I will also adjust the processor setting and the DNS server settings to see if that helps improve it. Here's to hoping!

iSebastianGrey · Feb 2, 2007

My fingers are crossed for you, Bergamini!

cwa107 · Feb 2, 2007

bergamini said:
I have run speed tests on it and the iMac scored a "Fair" from the site I ran, while the laptop would generally score "Excellent" or "Phenomenal" on whatever secret scale that site had. I'll use the above site for an actual number tonight. I will also adjust the processor setting and the DNS server settings to see if that helps improve it. Here's to hoping!

I have noticed that the antenna in my MacBook Pro is not nearly as powerful as the antennas in previous notebooks. I don't know if the same holds true for you, but before you change the DNS settings, I would try to figure out if you've got good wireless signal strength. Once you've eliminated that as a possibility, then start tweaking your Internet settings. The easiest way to eliminate a wireless issue is to just hook your MB up to your router with Ethernet and see if the problems persist.

Also, make sure that your MacBook isn't connecting to someone else's wireless network. OS X is really quick to configure and attach to a wireless network, but sometimes it may be a little to quick to jump on one of your neighbor's instead of your own.

bergamini · Feb 3, 2007

Well, I ran the internet speed test on my iMac and here are my results:

Download Speed: 1560 kbps
Upload Speed: 202 kbps

I then ran the internet speed test on my IBM laptop right next to the iMac and here's what I received:

Download Speed: 2989 kbps
Upload Speed: 337 kbps

So that's pretty irrefutable, the iMac is downloading at only 50% of the speed of my PC and uploading at 1/3 the speed. Something's wrong!

I can't change the processor setting, I don't have one in my Energy Saver options so it must be a MacBook only feature. I'm going to try the DNS customizations and see how that goes.

Kyomii · Feb 3, 2007

bergamini said:
I bought my first Mac in November, a refurbished Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz with the Super Drive and the ATI Radeon x1600 card. It has 512MB of memory.

I set up a Belkin G Plus (G+) wireless router connected to 3MB Charter High Speed internet. The internet, including streaming video, downloads, etc, flies on my IBM laptop from work, which is running a Centrino Duo processor @ 1.66GHz with 1GB of memory. It is much, much slower on my iMac. It's almost intolerably slower.

Have people had a problem with the G+ networks? Is it just that Macs are slower? Should I upgrade to 1GB of memory? When I check system performance it seems to have some memory left and I'm not a big multi-tasker but my internet speed definitely feels more like a fast dial-up than a wireless cable.

Or, should I sell the old one on eBay and get a new one with the N wireless built in? Corded internet is not really an option most of the time, I really want wireless for the aesthetics of my trestle leg desk. I just don't understand how this can be so much slower on the iMac compared to the laptop. The router is maybe 5 feet away from the computer, underneath a bed but with no real obstacles in it's path to the computer.

While you are on the internet, as you only have a 3mb connection, you will NEVER get above around 2.7mb (assuming you get the full 3mb on your line) no matter if you have double G or N wireless.

Where the 54mbps comes into force is file-transfer via LAN only (not WAN), so unless you have your Mac networked and transfer files inbetween machines regularily, getting N will make no difference whatsoever.

Have you tried to see if there is a firmware update for the airport card? As you say it is second-hand, the firware update may not have been applied. Check any settings to make sure it is running at full speed and not restricted anywhere. What is the airport reception like on the iMac? (Not the speed)

bergamini · Feb 3, 2007

I just added that DNS Server and the SpeakEasy test shows 1275 down and 159 up which I actually think is not related to the DNS changes but more of an example of the speed I normally get, that the first test was faster than I normally see. It runs so slow. I feel a bit like I'm running out of options but maybe if I call Apple they can help me on this as I'm under warranty still.

Reel1 · Feb 3, 2007

bergamini, this may offer you some help. Good luck.

http://www.michael-noll.com/2006/07/24/intel-imac-wireless-connection-slowdown-with-wpatkip/

bergamini · Feb 3, 2007

OMG, that's it!

Reel1, THANK YOU. That was it. Switching from WPA to WPA-2 brought my download to speed to 2975 and it's just an amazing difference. I can stream from CNN and my iTunes store downloads are just blazing. SWEET!

cwa107 · Feb 3, 2007

bergamini said:
Reel1, THANK YOU. That was it. Switching from WPA to WPA-2 brought my download to speed to 2975 and it's just an amazing difference. I can stream from CNN and my iTunes store downloads are just blazing. SWEET!

Wow - that's a huge difference. Now I'm tempted to switch to WPA2 and see if that makes any difference when using the latest AirPort driver which I had been having problems with.

EDIT: WOW!!! HUGE difference... anyone using WPA really needs to switch over to WPA2. It's like night and day.

Mactime · Feb 3, 2007

well i did the speed test in the link provided above

download 4800 kbps
upload 482kbps

how good is this?

also what is WPA/TKIP and WPA2/AES?
why does switching from WPA to WPA2 make a diference(i didnt do the change, just what u guys are saying)?

thanks

cwa107 · Feb 3, 2007

Mactime said:
well i did the speed test in the link provided above

download 4800 kbps
upload 482kbps

how good is this?

also what is WPA/TKIP and WPA2/AES?
why does switching from WPA to WPA2 make a diference(i didnt do the change, just what u guys are saying)?

thanks

WPA/TKIP is a form of encryption over the WPA wireless security standard. Same goes for WPA2/AES which is a revision of the previous protocol.

Your download speed is very good. What kind of bandwidth does your ISP promise?

As an aside, I found that switching to WPA2 completely cures my other problem with the 2007-001 update that completely killed my wireless capabilities in certain areas of my house where the signal was weak. My only regret is that I hadn't thought of trying this sooner. <cwa107 smacks himself in the head>

Mactime · Feb 3, 2007

thanks for the response.

as far as what kind of bandwidth does my ISP promise, i realy cant answer that i never asked them( they have 4 forms of high speed internet its via shaw cable you can check their website at shaw.ca)

cwa107 · Feb 3, 2007

Mactime said:
thanks for the response.

as far as what kind of bandwidth does my ISP promise, i realy cant answer that i never asked them( they have 4 forms of high speed internet its via shaw cable you can check their website at shaw.ca)

OK, was just curious to see what you should be expecting vs. what you actually receive. Comcast (my ISP) advertises 6Mb/s, which Broadband speed tests seem to confirm (lately). When they first started advertising it, it was more like 4Mb/s. I like to know that I'm actually getting what I pay for.

Can't wait until Verizon starts pulling fiber into my neighborhood. They just finished installing it at my old house when I sold it, so I haven't had a chance to experience it yet - but I'm told that 10Mb/s is one of the bottom tiers and prices around the same as Comcast.

Mactime · Feb 3, 2007

well i checked their website and they advertise 5Mbs for the internet service that i have, so do the speed test values i posted above confirm that?

They also have high speed xtreme 10Mb/s
and high speed nitro 25Mb/s

thanks