I have no Internet Web connection after boot, for some minutes

[ValterV]

It's happening in the last months: after startup, I have no Web (HTTP) Internet connection for some minutes. Any website I try to open, no data gets received, until the browser goes into timeout.
This happens for - like - 2-3 minutes after boot, then everything goes back to normal.

Please notice that this issue only concerns the Web connection (HTTP): everything else Internet-related (mail reception, BitTorrent connection) works normally just after boot.

I'm using an iMac Early 2009 with OSX 10.6.8. I have a 6 Mbit ADSL connection (via Ethernet, not WiFi) that for several years has been working flawlessly.
I've been using this iMac with OSX 10.6.8 for three years, and it never happened until some months ago.
Googling this problem didn't find anything similar.

- It isn't a browser problem, because it happens in Firefox, Safari and Opera.
- The problem seems at the software level, because when I boot in a different O.S. (OSX 10.9, Windows 7 via Bootcamp), the connection works as it should. So the hardware is fine.
- I tried changing DNS Server in Network preferences, nothing changed.

I checked the system logs, but I couldn't find anything relevant.
It's quite odd, and I can't think of any reason... any idea?

 

[chscag]

If the connection is working OK with OS X 10.9 and Windows 7 and not with 10.6.8, it may be network settings. Try completely removing the connection in 10.6.8 and setup a new one. I'm assuming you're referring to booting Snow Leopard and Mavericks from the same machine (partitioned)?

And welcome to our forums.

 

[ValterV]

I'm assuming you're referring to booting Snow Leopard and Mavericks from the same machine (partitioned)?

Yes, it's the same iMac. I love partitions

Regarding removing the connection, do you mean going into System Preferences / Network?
Could really be the connection, since other Internet services (e.g. mail reception) work straight away?

 

[lclev]

So the issue is only in Snow Leopard. Do you have BitTorrent also available on the Windows 7 and Mavericks partitions? Assuming that is what you are doing.

Also I am a little confused with what you mean by time out? Do you mean when the browser indicates that it can not find a website due to no connection?

Lisa

 

[ValterV]

So the issue is only in Snow Leopard. Do you have BitTorrent also available on the Windows 7 and Mavericks partitions? Assuming that is what you are doing.

Yes, it happens in SL only.
I don't have BitTorrent clients running elsewhere - and I can't see the point, since that is working fine.

Also I am a little confused with what you mean by time out?

I mean it happens just like when your connection is dead: you tell the browser to go to a website (via a Bookmark, say), the browser attempts the connection, it seems working or receiving data, but after a while it says it couldn't reach that site (or something like that).

Oh, I forgot: sometimes the issue doesn't appear at all: after boot, Internet works fine. But it happens more often than not.

 

[lclev]

My question about the BitTorrent clients had me wondering if those apps could be creating a temporary delay with the browser's ability to establish a connection. Easy way to test that is to stop the BitTorrent clients from loading and see if that makes a difference with the browser. Snow Leopard is an older OS and while I realize it was quite popular and some still need it to run older apps but I just wondering if it's a potential aging issue.

You have already established everything is working fine in W7 and Mavericks. So that leaves either Snow Leopard or the BitTorrent clients or even a possibility of older browser issues.

Lisa

 

[harryb2448]

May pay to check if Snow Leopard OS X.6 is set up as WEP encyption, rather than a much more secure WPA2 Personal.

 

[ValterV]

May pay to check if Snow Leopard OS X.6 is set up as WEP encyption, rather than a much more secure WPA2 Personal.

Since I'm connecting the Mac thru Ethernet, and not WiFi (as I stated in my question), I think this doesn't apply.

 

[ValterV]

My question about the BitTorrent clients had me wondering if those apps could be creating a temporary delay with the browser's ability to establish a connection. Easy way to test that is to stop the BitTorrent clients from loading and see if that makes a difference with the browser.

I don't think that's the issue, since email works from the start, but it's worth a shot.

Snow Leopard is an older OS and while I realize it was quite popular and some still need it to run older apps but I just wondering if it's a potential aging issue.

Digital doesn't get old (at worst it gets obsolete)
If it works, it keeps working.
And if it was SL aging, then many people would have the same issue (SL is still relatively popular).

Maybe some OSX component got corrupted (a library, a preference...) thus the issue. But I have no idea how to check for those (maybe in the logs?).

So that leaves either Snow Leopard or the BitTorrent clients or even a possibility of older browser issues.

Firefox is always updated, so it's not the browser.

Most likely it's something _inside_ OSX... I wonder if installing the 10.6.8 combo update could fix anything broken....

 

[harryb2448]

Regardless of wifi or ethernet you will be using WEP, WPA etc.

 

[ValterV]

Regardless of wifi or ethernet you will be using WEP, WPA etc.

I don't think so.
According to Wikipedia, WPA etc. are protocols "to secure wireless computer networks".

My iMac has Airport and Bluetooth disabled, so I presume no wireless protocol is active.

 

[ValterV]

My question about the BitTorrent clients had me wondering if those apps could be creating a temporary delay with the browser's ability to establish a connection.

Lisa, it seems your hunch was correct

I have done several attempts in the last days, and having Transmission (the BitTorrent client I'm using) off seems having solved the issue: Internet browsing works fine after boot.

I'm not 100% sure yet, because I also applied a system update (App Store Update for OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 - January 2016), that installs a renewed intermediate signing certificate - that may have helped in solving my problem as well.

Anyway, thanks to everybody for their help. I'd never get it alone

 

[lclev]

Glad you have a direction to pursue now. Hope you can get it all working well again.

Lisa