New member, 2012 iMac Wireless is slow

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Cage1970


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2012 iMac 21.5", 2.7GHz, 8GB Ram
Hi everyone,
Not sure if this issue should be posted here, hardware, or O/S section, but anyway here goes: just recently got my first ever 21.5" iMac, and I must say, I love this machine!! Still getting used to the Mac o/s as I'm a Windows user. Had no issues connecting to my wireless router, and while everything seems normal surfing the 'net, downloading movies seemed to take much longer than the 6 year old XP laptop I was using. Sure enough, using speedtest.net confirmed that the iMac is only getting 1/10th the upload/download speed compared to my old laptop, wife's 5 yr. old macbook, ****, even my Blackberry Playbook!!! (all devices in my house are wireless BTW).
Any suggestions on what I should check? I plan on running an ethernet cable directly to the router to see what the difference is. Still, I'm dissappointted in the wireless speed....
 
ljbaumer

ljbaumer


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That seems very strange... I did a couple google searches and found a thread on this issue except they didn't mention that any other devices were getting better speeds as you did. You can check out the thread here. Bellow I quoted a helpful post from that thread... to diagnose the issue you are probably going to have to run an ethernet cable to your computer so we can see if it is a wireless hardware issue on your mac or just your network being overloaded or ISP issues etc...



pigoo3 said:
There is no "normal" download speed for a MacBook Pro or any computer. Download speed many times is dependent on what sort of internet connection you have:

- dial-up
- DSL (asymmetric or symmetric)
- cable modem
- or faster connections via universities or corporate locations

And then if you have a cable modem...many times it depends on how many other users are on the system at the same time as you...since cable modem service in many places is a "shared" service.

If you connect via a wireless network...you have to factor in what sort of wireless devices (routers, modems, etc.) you have (brand, quality, and setup) & what wireless version you are using (b, g, or n).

It is possible that you have a problem with your computer or wireless hardware. Also consider that the website that you're downloading from could be over-loaded with other users doing the same thing.

Considering all that is involved...it's hard to determine (with the info you provided)...what it could be:

- internet connection type
- wireless technology used
- computer or network hardware
- over-loaded websites

HTH,

- Nick
Click to expand...
 
harryb2448

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Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
Did you do a router reset when connecting the iMac and are you usingWPA2 Personal encryption? Also is your router/modem 802.11N and actually set to N only and not to a sometimes default setting for 'all'?
 
OP
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Cage1970


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ok, so I just rebooted the iMac, wireless I got 2.54 down, 8.66 up.
Ethernet: 31down, 8.4 up

Old laptop wireless: 7.54 down, 6.72 up
 
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Cage1970


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harryb2448 said:
Did you do a router reset when connecting the iMac and are you usingWPA2 Personal encryption? Also is your router/modem 802.11N and actually set to N only and not to a sometimes default setting for 'all'?
Click to expand...

Router has been reset, using WPA2 personal.
Router is set to Compability mode (B,G,N), not just N

Network setting on iMac shows connected at 144Mbps
 
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Cage1970


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It appears that I've resolved the issue by changing the wireless channel from 1 (default) to 8. I had previously tried channel 11 which didn't help, and I have no explanation why channel 8 is so magical. Speedtest is now showing 19.73 down, 6.25 up. Also noticed my d/l speed on pirate bay instantly skyrocketed. So happy right now!!!
 
chscag

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Also noticed my d/l speed on pirate bay instantly skyrocketed. So happy right now!!!
Click to expand...

A bit of a warning here..... we do not discuss anything illegal in our forums. So for future reference please obey the forum guidelines which you can find in my signature line. Thanks for understanding.
 
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Cage1970


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Apologies, got a little too excited. I'd delete the reference but you've quoted my error.....still hoping my findings can benefit others......
 

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