Internet in iMac suddenly exceedingly slow?

[brkwrn]

Hi,

I bought the best iMac on the market almost exactly a year ago. It's performed excellently until recently, and I'm thinking one year is way too soon for it to be whacking out on me.

Recently, I left for about a 3-4 week trip back home for the summer. I turned off my iMac and left it in my apartment during this period. I left the air conditioning on at room temperature (about 73-75 degrees).

When I returned, the internet which had always been exceedingly fast had turned utterly slovenly. It takes even simple pages a long time to load.

Is the problem my iMac or my internet provider? I've never had issues with my provider before, but I just no what to do.

Any advice would be appreciated. Also, if you have any tips for clearing out disk space (and what I should start tossing first) in order to make my little baby run faster, I'd appreciate that as well.

Thanks!

 

[-tWv-]

.

When I returned, the internet which had always been exceedingly fast had turned utterly slovenly. It takes even simple pages a long time to load.

Is the problem my iMac or my internet provider? I've never had issues with my provider before, but I just no what to do.

Maybe call your ISP and explain the problem and ask if they have had any problems recently. If you are using a wireless connection, try resetting your router by unplugging and plugging it back in. This may help, the router just could be sluggish and need a reset. Also you could check out this thread. This shows you how to change a few DNS settings to help internet speed. This made a noticeable difference on my mac but on older macs it seemed to make an ever larger difference just by looking over the thread.

 

[upinflames900]

Also try an internet speed test to determine what speed your internet is and compare it to what it should be. The company providing you internet access should list what speed the access is, so compare the two and if they are way out of wack...well then you know for sure something is wrong lol. Here is a link to one of many speed tests

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

 

[-tWv-]

I like this speedtest:
http://speedtest.net/

It also has an iphone app for download. You can test internet connection speeds on the go if you have an iphone/ipod touch

 

[upinflames900]

I like this speedtest:
http://speedtest.net/

It also has an iphone app for download. You can test internet connection speeds on the go if you have an iphone/ipod touch

Is there really a difference between all the tests? Not trying to be rude or anything, I'm actually just curious.

 

[-tWv-]

Is there really a difference between all the tests? Not trying to be rude or anything, I'm actually just curious.

Probably not, I'm not completely sure. I just like that one because it has the iphone app and because the interface looks cool when its testing the connection speed .

It also has more servers to choose from and it is easier to get a more accurate result from a closer server. Probably the best feature about speedtest.net is it lets you see your results compared to your ISP average and also to other users results. This helps if you want to see if your connection speed is normal or slower than average.

 

[upinflames900]

Probably not, I'm not completely sure. I just like that one because it has the iphone app and because the interface looks cool when its testing the connection speed .

It also has more servers to choose from and it is easier to get a more accurate result from a closer server. Probably the best feature about speedtest.net is it lets you see your results compared to your ISP average and also to other users results. This helps if you want to see if your connection speed is normal or slower than average.

Ohhhh....that probably is better. Ok thanks for the tip lol (not even my thread)...to the OP listen to him not me because he knows what he is talking about.

 

[brkwrn]

Yikes!

Hey, all.

Thanks for your help. I hate to tell you this, but I get a little lost with the technical terminology.

My results from speedtest.net are:

Downloads - 5.72 Mb/s
Uploads - 1.82 Mb/s
PING - 56 ms
5MB MP3 files - 7 sec
35MB Video Clips - 49 sec
800MB Movies - 19 min

My result is 1/3 of my ISP average and I am 50 miles from the server.

I also ran a test with another close server, but this one was 100 miles away and yielded 7.62 Mb/s downloads, 2.69 Mb/s uploads, 57 ms PING, and my ultimate result was over 1/2 the ISP average.

Now, I'm not sure what any of this means, and I checked out the thread that touchdownjesus linked to me... but that part of settings on my iMac doesn't function the same. The TCI/IP doesn't have a location for DNS, the DNS is a tab unto itself and I'm not able to change it at all like in the example.

Sorry I'm so slow with this stuff, folks. Words I get, but the minute numbers and periods and acronyms start getting thrown in, my brain freaks out and escapes my skull.

 

[celticpride678]

Hey, all.

Thanks for your help. I hate to tell you this, but I get a little lost with the technical terminology.

My results from speedtest.net are:

Downloads - 5.72 Mb/s
Uploads - 1.82 Mb/s
PING - 56 ms
5MB MP3 files - 7 sec
35MB Video Clips - 49 sec
800MB Movies - 19 min

My result is 1/3 of my ISP average and I am 50 miles from the server.

I also ran a test with another close server, but this one was 100 miles away and yielded 7.62 Mb/s downloads, 2.69 Mb/s uploads, 57 ms PING, and my ultimate result was over 1/2 the ISP average.

Now, I'm not sure what any of this means, and I checked out the thread that touchdownjesus linked to me... but that part of settings on my iMac doesn't function the same. The TCI/IP doesn't have a location for DNS, the DNS is a tab unto itself and I'm not able to change it at all like in the example.

Sorry I'm so slow with this stuff, folks. Words I get, but the minute numbers and periods and acronyms start getting thrown in, my brain freaks out and escapes my skull.

Those numbers are not that bad. I really can't explain it that well, but someone else can explain it.
To change the DNS' in the DNS tab, make sure that the lock on the actual Network Prefernce Pane is unloked. Then, enter the DNS tab and select that little plus at the bottom of the column. The reason it is different is becuase the OS in the thread is Tiger, however, you are most likley running Leopard.

 

[dnusbuam]

if comcast is your ISP, their "blazing fast" internet is like a big hose, the more people that tap into the "hose" the less "water" they will get. this can make your connection slow if there are many comcast internet users near you.

 

[-tWv-]

Downloads - 5.72 Mb/s
Uploads - 1.82 Mb/s
PING - 56 ms
5MB MP3 files - 7 sec
35MB Video Clips - 49 sec
800MB Movies - 19 min

My result is 1/3 of my ISP average and I am 50 miles from the server.

Wow, comcast must be a good ISP because those numbers are about three times the speeds I get. thats really good