Bandwidth on the Mac vs. Windows

[JWFerne]

So I have my Mac Pro with both Windows and MacOS setup... on the Windows side I'm getting about 8 - 9mbps (which is great) and on the mac side I'm getting around 2.5-3 mbps.

I have a Router off my Cable modem which my computer is hardwired to. Since the hardware is the same on both OS's, it must be something in the MacOS thats taking a huge hit on my bandwidth.

Any suggestions? I've tried running a few of those OS tweak programs that supposedly give you higher throughput. Didn't seem to do a thing.

Help me understand why this is happeneing please!!! I was always under the impression the Mac was very efficient as far as internet connectivity.

Thanks!
- JW

p.s. I even went so far as to reinstall the MacOS the other day and that didn't do anything at all

 

[seabass069]

I have a Windows PC and a iMac all connected to the same router. My Windows PC is faster when it comes to the internet. I use Firefox on both and my pages load faster using Windows.

 

[[G5]Hydra]

Funny thing, I noticed the same thing on my 3.0 MP under XP. I am using a D-link 624 router and went to their site and saw they had a new firmware put out last month or so. After upgrading to the newest fw the speeds I got under OSX and XP were nearly identical. It wasn't so much that OSX was being inefficient as it was the router not playing so nice with OSX. Try hooking the cable modem directly to the Mac and see if you get the same speeds on both OSes. I wasn't getting as big a hit as you are though, about 20% lower in OSX, so something else may be at work here.

-Jerry C.

 

[disconap]

I have a Windows PC and a iMac all connected to the same router. My Windows PC is faster when it comes to the internet. I use Firefox on both and my pages load faster using Windows.

Compare the Mac using Safari to the PC using Firefox. Firefox for Mac is a port, so it's not natively built for the OS.

 

[clevin]

to test bandwidth, try downloading some thing, and read the numbers there.
sure you can also check activity monitor to see the income speed.
this should has nothing to do with which browser you are using.

 

[suneohair]

Try Camino: caminobrowser.org

Let us know what you are testing bandwidth with.

 

[disconap]

to test bandwidth, try downloading some thing, and read the numbers there.
sure you can also check activity monitor to see the income speed.
this should has nothing to do with which browser you are using.

Downloading perhaps not. But page loading totally does.

 

[clevin]

well, paging loading maybe looks interesting, but it has little to do with bandwidth if you have high speed connection (>512kbps)

 

[disconap]

Agreed there, I just mean that a slower browser will load a page slower (or, to be more specific, render), giving the appearance that the connection is slower. I agree that a download is a better test.

 

[clevin]

Agreed there, I just mean that a slower browser will load a page slower (or, to be more specific, render), giving the appearance that the connection is slower. I agree that a download is a better test.

ooops, hehe, misunderstood you,
yeah, on my home wireless connection, I didn't see difference between mac and pc tho.

 

[JWFerne]

Yeah I was using Firefox on both machines... should have wrote that earlier. Also I tried downloading the same file on fileplanet which is a good test for me. Definitely about 2/3rds faster on Fileplanet on windows

 

[generik]

Compare the Mac using Safari to the PC using Firefox. Firefox for Mac is a port, so it's not natively built for the OS.

I doubt this'd be the reason.. unless firefox is running MAXED OUT at 100% cpu utilisation it is not like it is starving out the TCP/IP stack in MacOS