New Internet Service: Half-Second Lag for Every Webpage Load

[jason.siegel]

I recently moved to a new apartment and have new service with RCN: 10Mbps download, 2Mbps upload. There are a decent amount of wifi signals in the area, and I have the latest version of Airport Extreme.

Every time I click a link or submit a URL, there's a half-second or so lag before anything begins to load. Once a page begins loading, it is very quick. However, that lag significantly slows down my browsing. Would this be a wifi issue? An Internet service issue? Something else?

Thanks.

 

[chrfr]

I recently moved to a new apartment and have new service with RCN: 10Mbps download, 2Mbps upload. There are a decent amount of wifi signals in the area, and I have the latest version of Airport Extreme.

Every time I click a link or submit a URL, there's a half-second or so lag before anything begins to load. Once a page begins loading, it is very quick. However, that lag significantly slows down my browsing. Would this be a wifi issue? An Internet service issue? Something else?

Thanks.

It's likely a DNS issue.
Try changing your DNS servers to something like OpenDNS which uses the following addresses:
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
You can set these on your computer or in the Airport so that all the devices on your wifi get the same settings.

 

[jason.siegel]

Can you explain a bit more? I don't feel entirely rerouting my traffic to an unknown address.

 

[chrfr]

Can you explain a bit more? I don't feel entirely rerouting my traffic to an unknown address.

This isn't rerouting your traffic. DNS is how your computer translates, for example, www.apple.com to a specific IP address. The one you are using is slow; RCN's DNS servers have not been especially reliable for me. OpenDNS is a reputable DNS provider.

 

[jason.siegel]

Ok, thanks. I changed my DNS servers and it seems marginally better. I wouldn't exactly call things immediate, but maybe it's just the time it takes the code to download.