What may be causing this fluctuation in my internet speed

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Hello. I'm trying to download os x updates to newly installed mac os x leopard and as you can see my internet speed fluctuates crazyly. One minute it shows "15 minutes to completion" next "6 hours"

What may be causing this?..

Screen shot 2011-11-16 at 8.38.46 PM.png
 

pigoo3

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For starters...three possibilities:

1. It could be your internet connection. If you have "cable modem"...this is a shared service...bandwidth is shared with your neighbors.
2. It could be on the other end (Apple's end).
3. A combination of both.

- Nick
 
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Since I'm on an DSL router which I only share with my sister and she has no problem with internet (she's on an windows xp machine) that leaves only Apple problem..

Thanks..
 

BrianLachoreVPI


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March 2011 15" MBP 2.3GHz i7 Quad Core 8GB Ram | Mid 2011 27" iMac 3.4 GHz i7 16 GB RAM 2 TB HDD
Since I'm on an DSL router which I only share with my sister and she has no problem with internet (she's on an windows xp machine) that leaves only Apple problem..

Thanks..


That's a huge leap without any intermediate troubleshooting steps. You say your sister isn't having any problems - but you weren't either - until you went to download that large file. It's fluctuating because your data rates are fluctuating between you and the router. If you want to pin it on the Mac - do about 10 speed tests in a row from the problem location and then do 10 in a row with your sister's machine - and see what the results look like.

I'm assuming you're on a wireless link? There are too many things that can impact performance there to talk about in a single thread.

Could your ISP be throttling you after the 1st 100MB of download? That's not unheard of. I'd be very surprised if the problem was with Apple - as they're not hurting for bandwidth for their servers.
 
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You're right.

1- I checked countless times from my ethernet connected windows 7 pc. Appr. 7 Mbps (down) to 1 Mbps (up) with 15-20 ms of latency

2- I checked from my sister's 54 Mbit windows xp laptop countless times and it was the same: Appr. 7 Mbps (down) to 1 Mbps (up) with 15-20 ms of latency

3- Also no problem with 2 iPhones and an iPad.

4- Tries downloading files from http ed2k and torrent p2p networks.

All the results were the same. So it was not Apple's server problem but my Macbook Pro's problem somehow. So I had been meddling with it for a day and somehow I got it fixed by one of these: (I do not know which)

- Deleting the password for the wireless network
- Changing the WEP password to a more secure WPA 2 Personel version
- Deleting the whole keychain
- Doing the CMD OPT P R thing (until you hear to startup sounds) to reset all cached settings.
- Moving laptop very close to the router.
- Resetting router for a dozen times
- Resetting Airport for a dozen times.

Hope helps someone in the future if they have the same problems.

Thanks everyone..
 

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