Help Me Speed Up my Mac Pro Internet Connection

[gfhoward]

Hey guys, just bought a Mac Pro Quad. Wondering if I can get an increase in internet speed by swapping out some components or cables. I don't know anything about benchmarking or speeding up internet, so treat me like a NooB. Here's my current set-up:

I use Time Warner cable internet
the cable goes from the wall to to the modem TW supplied
Modem is connected to a D-Link DI-604 Router via ethernet cable
Computer is connected to the router via ethernet cable

Thanks!

[lemonade-maker]

Hey guys, just bought a Mac Pro Quad. Wondering if I can get an increase in internet speed by swapping out some components or cables. I don't know anything about benchmarking or speeding up internet, so treat me like a NooB. Here's my current set-up:

I use Time Warner cable internet
the cable goes from the wall to to the modem TW supplied
Modem is connected to a D-Link DI-604 Router via ethernet cable
Computer is connected to the router via ethernet cable

Thanks!

Try direct connect without the d-link router. Never liked any d-link stuff.

[psingh01]

Hey guys, just bought a Mac Pro Quad. Wondering if I can get an increase in internet speed by swapping out some components or cables. I don't know anything about benchmarking or speeding up internet, so treat me like a NooB. Here's my current set-up:

I use Time Warner cable internet
the cable goes from the wall to to the modem TW supplied
Modem is connected to a D-Link DI-604 Router via ethernet cable
Computer is connected to the router via ethernet cable

Thanks!

nope, that's about all you can do except pay for a faster tier service :)

[goMac]

Nothing you can do besides buy faster internet.

Comcast brought me up to 30 megabits for $20 more a month. Been worth it so far. Thinking about paying another $20 to go to 50.

Some sites can't give me enough bandwidth to fill the 30 megabits, but most can so far.

[forester54]

why do we have 2 internet ports on the back of the case? I just have one plugged in and have never really looked at the back for the res t

[gugucom]

why do we have 2 internet ports on the back of the case? I just have one plugged in and have never really looked at the back for the res t

You can use the other port for networking with other computers or with a time capsule.

BTW try to use another cable if your Gigabit link goes down to 100 Mbit/s. CAT6 cable will definitely avoid such issues. Obviously your router also has to support Gigabit ports. Check the spec of the D-Link. And finally your cable modem has to supply download in excess of 100 Mbit/s to lift the whole chain above 100Mbit/s.

[nanofrog]

nope, that's about all you can do except pay for a faster tier service :)
This is all that can be done.

And it won't help if the system on the other end (or any other in the chain) is on a slower connection than yours or has a very high traffic level for the band it has access to.

[nanofrog]

You can use the other port for networking with other computers or with a time capsule.

BTW try to use another cable if your Gigabit link goes down to 100 Mbit/s. CAT6 cable will definitely avoid such issues. Obviously your router also has to support Gigabit ports. Check the spec of the D-Link. And finally your cable modem has to supply download in excess of 100 Mbit/s to lift the whole chain above 100Mbit/s.
I'd be totally amazed if the ISP connection is anywhere near that though. ;) Nor enough other traffic on the router to use that much band, let alone more, especially with a lack of further details. ;)

[goMac]

I'd be totally amazed if the ISP connection is anywhere near that though. ;) Nor enough other traffic on the router to use that much band, let alone more, especially with a lack of further details. ;)

My cable modem has a gigabit port and can in theory push over 100 megabits, but I don't know of any service that fast right now...

[gugucom]

I'd be totally amazed if the ISP connection is anywhere near that though. ;) Nor enough other traffic on the router to use that much band, let alone more, especially with a lack of further details. ;)

Yeah, on second thought I realized that as well. It crossed my mind because I was puzzled by a slow speed between my MP and TC. That was the cable issue. Gigabyte files make you realize when the connection drops to 10% throughput.

[nanofrog]

My cable modem has a gigabit port and can in theory push over 100 megabits, but I don't know of any service that fast right now...
Not in a residential areas in the US at least. :( Tesselator's using 80Mb/s in Japan though... I'm jealous. :p

Yeah, on second thought I realized that as well.[QUOTE]
ISP speeds in the US suck, and why I don't think much of on-demand services hear ATM. The infrastructure is too inadequate for the necessary bandwidth, even with the latest compression schemes.

[QUOTE=DoFoT9;8642533]Gigabyte files make you realize when the connection drops to 10% throughput.
For something this large, you would notice it. Can you team your ports to 2x the speed?

[gugucom]

For something this large, you would notice it. Can you team your ports to 2x the speed?

No idea, I just got the right cable and up it went again. I put my Winclone files on the 2 TB TC and got a bit curious why the Ethernet was slower than the WLAN.

[nanofrog]

No idea, I just got the right cable and up it went again. I put my Winclone files on the 2 TB TC and got a bit curious why the Ethernet was slower than the WLAN.
Understandable.

I was just thinking, if you wanted to go past a TC (or have other devices that would benefit), that port teaming is a way of increasing throughputs at as little cost as possible (might actually be free, if what you have is capable). But say a NAS box for backups would be an example, so long as it supports teaming (MP too for that matter, but its a driver). You can DIY a NAX (or AoE, iSCSI) for very little funds compared to available products.

Just a thought. :)

[Ace134blue]

My cable modem has a gigabit port and can in theory push over 100 megabits, but I don't know of any service that fast right now...

My neighborhood. :D

[gfhoward]

How do I check what internet speed I am currently getting? Is there a website you go to or something? The internet speeds at the Apple Store were awesome, so I asked them what they were running. They said wireless using a T3 cable off of a cable internet connection. What does T3 mean?

[goMac]

How do I check what internet speed I am currently getting? Is there a website you go to or something? The internet speeds at the Apple Store were awesome, so I asked them what they were running. They said wireless using a T3 cable off of a cable internet connection. What does T3 mean?

T3 means they pay truckloads of money to the internet company every month. Usually you can't even get T3 in residential neighborhoods.

Your options for faster internet are changing your internet plans. There is no way to get faster internet for the amount your are currently playing on the same connection.

[jav6454]

T3 means they pay truckloads of money to the internet company every month. Usually you can't even get T3 in residential neighborhoods.

Your options for faster internet are changing your internet plans. There is no way to get faster internet for the amount your are currently playing on the same connection.

Sorry but you are mistaken. T3 = 45Mb/s. You can easily get that with U-Verse or FiOS. In NY you can even get beyond T3 speeds.

I do agree however with the fact that no matter how much you reconfigure the hardware your limit is going to be whatever you are paying...

[goMac]

Sorry but you are mistaken. T3 = 45Mb/s. You can easily get that with U-Verse or FiOS. In NY you can even get beyond T3 speeds.

I was talking about the price of T3 specifically. I have 30 megabit at home, I'm aware of the high speed options.

T3 is more expensive because it is dedicated bandwidth.

[jav6454]

I was talking about the price of T3 specifically. I have 30 megabit at home, I'm aware of the high speed options.

T3 is more expensive because it is dedicated bandwidth.

Doesn't matter. You can get dedicated T3 lines....

linky... (http://www.broadbandlocators.com/t3.php)

[apfhex]

Doesn't matter. You can get dedicated T3 lines....
Meh. OC12 or bust. :D

Comcast has 50Mb speeds in my area now, for the low low price of more than double what I'm currently paying them. No thanks.

OP, you can go to Speedtest.net to test your connection. Chances are it's not even fast enough to max out a 802.11b wifi connection, if it's anything like typical U.S. broadband speeds.

[gfhoward]

Speedtest is showing I have an download speed of 14.21 Mb/s. How am I doing?

[blacka4]

hehe I have FiOS at home and have like 30 down and 15 up. plenty fast for me. I worked for a school district that had a WAN setup between buildings running OC3 and the tunnel out was OC12..now that stuff was fast when you plugged directly in at the NOC. However the gigabit over fiber they where running between floors in the buildings and 100baseT over copper slowed everything down

[dr. shdw]

Sorry but you are mistaken. T3 = 45Mb/s. You can easily get that with U-Verse or FiOS. In NY you can even get beyond T3 speeds.

I do agree however with the fact that no matter how much you reconfigure the hardware your limit is going to be whatever you are paying...

You can't get T3 upload speeds though yet, 45mbits down and up. Plus it's like guaranteed 99.999% uptime or whatever.

[dr. shdw]

hehe I have FiOS at home and have like 30 down and 15 up. plenty fast for me. I worked for a school district that had a WAN setup between buildings running OC3 and the tunnel out was OC12..now that stuff was fast when you plugged directly in at the NOC. However the gigabit over fiber they where running between floors in the buildings and 100baseT over copper slowed everything down

How? Unless they had crappy switches, OC3 is only 150mbits/s~..

[xlii]

I just upgraded my 9 year old cable modem for a doscis 3.0 compliant modem. Via speedtest.net I was averaging 5 mbs with the old modem and 30 mbs with the new modem.

[goMac]

Doesn't matter. You can get dedicated T3 lines....

linky... (http://www.broadbandlocators.com/t3.php)

I do believe I just said T3 lines were dedicated... :confused:

Speedtest is showing I have an download speed of 14.21 Mb/s. How am I doing?

That sounds exactly right for basic residential cable internet, maybe a bit faster than average actually.

[Adam0306]

How do I check what internet speed I am currently getting? Is there a website you go to or something? The internet speeds at the Apple Store were awesome, so I asked them what they were running. They said wireless using a T3 cable off of a cable internet connection. What does T3 mean?

Connection Speed (http://speedtest.net)

[Adam0306]

Meh. OC12 or bust. :D



PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gfhoward]

That sounds exactly right for basic residential cable internet, maybe a bit faster than average actually.

OK. Seems like that is the fastest speed my provider (Time Warner Cable) offers, so the bottom line ya'll are saying is: I have no way to further increase my speed at this time. No replacing the modem, cables, or router will make any difference?

[Dr.Pants]

OK. Seems like that is the fastest speed my provider (Time Warner Cable) offers, so the bottom line ya'll are saying is: I have no way to further increase my speed at this time. No replacing the modem, cables, or router will make any difference?

From here - (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_internet)

users have attempted to override the bandwidth cap and gain access to the full bandwidth of the system (often as much as 30 Mbit/s), by uploading their own configuration file to the cable modem - a process called uncapping. Uncapping is almost always a violation of the Terms of Service agreement

With a reference here (http://www.timewarnercable.com/carolinas/support/cabletheft/typesoftheft.html). Just saying it can be done, only illegally. However, in the same document, I gotta love how Time Warner describes "Wifi Theft" :rolleyes:

[davidlv]

Speedtest is showing I have an download speed of 14.21 Mb/s. How am I doing?

Well, here in Japan the most common ISP type is ASDL. I had a well-known ISP ASDL provider until recently with an advertised speed of 12Mb/s, got 1/2 or a lttle more of that in actual use (depends on phsical distance to the closest node).
That was not quite fast enough so I changed over to NTT's Flets (Optic fiber net for home use, supposedly 100Mb/s, combined with NEC Biglobe Inc. (rated 3.8 stars /5) ISP. Speedtest.net results showed:
Download 39.24Mb/s
Upload 42.87 Mb/s
(almost 2x the average ISP and a Noticible speed difference from my old ASDL service!)
Pingtest.net
Grade A Ping 17ms, Jitter 1ms 0packet loss
That's about as good as you can get in Japan I think, but I haven't seen results from ISP's providing Cable service (I have heard that speed varies widely on Cable in certain time of day zones, due to heavy use).
If other people could post their results it might help to make informed decisions on ISP providers and connection type, worldwide.

[goMac]

OK. Seems like that is the fastest speed my provider (Time Warner Cable) offers, so the bottom line ya'll are saying is: I have no way to further increase my speed at this time. No replacing the modem, cables, or router will make any difference?

No, unless you want to do what Dr.Pants suggested (which is both highly illegal and could get your internet access cut off.)

[Dr.Pants]

No, unless you want to do what Dr.Pants suggested (which is both highly illegal and could get your internet access cut off.)

Yep. It probably will in this day and age. I wouldn't do it at all - just saying that it can be done. GoMac makes a good point about getting your internet cut off - I wouldn't be surprised if there's a blacklist for this sort of stuff as well.