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iMac internet is abnormally slow

E

eckoman11

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Okay, first let me start off by saying that I am not an expert in any sense of the word, so if the answer is obvious, don't flame me.

Alright, I have an aluminum iMac and Comcast as my ISP. I use WiFi to connect to a Linksys WRT160N router. Now the problem.

A few days ago, I noticed the internet on my iMac was really slow. After doing a speedtest through speedtest.net, I saw my connection was around 1,000-2,000 kps, much slower than my previous average of 15,000-20,000 kps. I thought maybe my ISP was just having a bad day, as Comcast normally does, so I waited a day to no avail. Then I noticed that my Macbook was getting around 17,000 kps, with no sign of a slowdown, even when it was right next to my iMac. Well, that eliminated range as a factor. I thought maybe something was wrong with my iMac, so I used a 25ft ethernet to connect to my router, and turned off the airport. Sure enough, I get 17,000 kps, but as soon as I turn the airport back on and disconnect the ethernet cable, I'm back to my 2,000 kps average. After turning to Google, I thought the DNS servers were my problem, so I tried both the OpenDNS servers as well as the 4.2.2.1-5, but that didn't seem to work.

I did everything I could think of to diagnose and fix the problem, but after three days with no change in speed, I'm stumped, and I could use a little help.
 
I've had this too... it's a problem with the router not gettin' the DNS right from the modem, or something like that. I've had this problem for a while, but after I upgraded my router's BIOS, it's happening with a much smaller frequency.
 
Gugalpm said:
I've had this too... it's a problem with the router not gettin' the DNS right from the modem, or something like that. I've had this problem for a while, but after I upgraded my router's BIOS, it's happening with a much smaller frequency.
Click to expand...

So how would I fix it?
 
eckoman11 said:
So how would I fix it?
Click to expand...

Well he said maybe upgrade your router's BIOS. You also could try checking the settings on the iMac and the Macbook and see if the match. If the macbook's settings are working, make sure your iMac's settings match so you can eliminate that variable.
 
touchdownjesus4 said:
Well he said maybe upgrade your router's BIOS. You also could try checking the settings on the iMac and the Macbook and see if the match. If the macbook's settings are working, make sure your iMac's settings match so you can eliminate that variable.
Click to expand...

That's weird. So I checked the Macbook's settings and saw that it had a dynamic IP address. My iMac has a static IP so I thought maybe that was the problem. Turns out, it was. Although I fixed it, I'm kind of upset. I needed a static IP for port forwarding for online gaming, and now it looks as if the only way I can use a static IP is to slow down my online... great. Well, at least my internet is fixed, I've just never heard of a static IP doing that before and it never did it to me before, so does anyone know why it is doing that?

Scratch that... my internet is now back to 2,000 kps, even with a dynamic IP...
 
eckoman11 said:
That's weird. So I checked the Macbook's settings and saw that it had a dynamic IP address. My iMac has a static IP so I thought maybe that was the problem. Turns out, it was. Although I fixed it, I'm kind of upset. I needed a static IP for port forwarding for online gaming, and now it looks as if the only way I can use a static IP is to slow down my online... great. Well, at least my internet is fixed, I've just never heard of a static IP doing that before and it never did it to me before, so does anyone know why it is doing that?

Anyway though, thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

Well I know that on my router.. I can just reserve the IP for my computer and then when it sees my MAC address it automatically gives me the same IP every time. This is a very new router though, it is a Belkin N+ Router. This doesn't require me to set up my mac as a static IP, my router does all the work. I would look in to a new router if you need great online gaming speeds. The Belkin router I mentioned is great and the online interface is very helpful and easy to port forward with.
 
touchdownjesus4 said:
Well I know that on my router.. I can just reserve the IP for my computer and then when it sees my MAC address it automatically gives me the same IP every time. This is a very new router though, it is a Belkin N+ Router. This doesn't require me to set up my mac as a static IP, my router does all the work. I would look in to a new router if you need great online gaming speeds. The Belkin router I mentioned is great and the online interface is very helpful and easy to port forward with.
Click to expand...
I may have to get a new router r something, because I honestly have no idea what is wrong. I'm back to 2,000 kps even with a dynamic IP now.
 
eckoman11 said:
I may have to get a new router r something, because I honestly have no idea what is wrong. I'm back to 2,000 kps even with a dynamic IP now.
Click to expand...

Are you getting those same speeds on your MB?

Maybe try to reset your router. Just unplug it and wait ten seconds and then plug it back in. See if that helps.
 
touchdownjesus4 said:
Are you getting those same speeds on your MB?

Maybe try to reset your router. Just unplug it and wait ten seconds and then plug it back in. See if that helps.
Click to expand...

I've already power cycled everything and it's the same. My Macbook is getting the speed it should be. I checked to see if the firmware on my router was outdated buy sure enough it was new.
 
I guess you could wait and see if anyone else has any other suggestions, or call apple and explain the problem and see if they can offer any advice or help.
 
here was the solution i found

i have a very similar router and i finally found the solution after nearly a month of having issues. my macbook internet was literally unusable over wireless or hardwired to the router, i tried everything, even spent three hours with a tech at apple care. the solution i found was simply upgrading the firmware on my router. prob the easiest way to do that is just use google to find the firmware for your router and then run the update. as soon as i did that that fixed all my internet problems with my macbook...anyways, hope that works, good luck

Tim
 
He said the firmware was up to date. So that isn't an option. I can't think of anything else that could be going wrong..
 
802.11 problems?

It might be an issue with the 802.11n compatibility, though I don't know what would make it so inconsistent. My first MacBook Pro was 802.11n, but it would lock up my computer and my router (Linksys WRT150N) when it tried to connect at N speeds. I have a new MBP now. 802.11n will connect, but ends up slower than 802.11g. I have my router locked at 802.11b/g mode, and am considering a new one.

If the physical cable isn't a problem, stick with it. Not only do you get 100Mbps, you don't have to share the speed with another computer. Wireless has a maximum speed for everyone at once, where the four ports on the router each offer 100Mbps.
 
eckoman11 said:
So how would I fix it?
Click to expand...

Tons of people here have problems with the LinkSys. If you can't flash your BIOS and have to buy a new router spend the extra and buy the :apple: Airport router. I know it don't seem worth the extra costs and I almost bought a LinkSys. I spent the extra and never looked back. Now if you would of bought it first you would of never knew about the problems and still thinking it wasn't worth it but in my opinion it is because I never have had a problem...
 
set the router to b/g mixed

I dropped my WRT150N to b/g mixed mode (no 802.11n) and I get better speed with my MacBook Pro. 802.11g (54mbps) should be faster than almost any Internet connection. The only problem I run into is when I'm transferring a few gigabytes across the wireless to my file server. It's best to plug in and get wire speeds in those cases.
 
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