Web Browsing is Painfully Slow

[Canoetripper]

I'm a Mac newbie...just bought an Intel-based iMac with Leopard installed and immediately upgraded to 2GB RAM. Browsing the web on the iMac is painfully slow as compared with my 4 year-old Windows laptop, which has all sort of junk installed on it. So slow, in fact, that my wife and kids refuse to use the iMac, and I'm beginning to wonder why I popped the $1200+ for it. I have done side-by-side tests, typing URLs into the iMac and laptop, and hitting "enter" simultaneously, and the iMac consistently takes 5 to 10 times longer to load a page (and sometimes it even times out).

I have tried connecting to my router with both Airport and Ethernet, with the same result. I have run Speedtest.net from both my iMac and laptop, and the speeds come back equal. I have loaded Firefox on the iMac, but it is just as slow as Safari.

Any thoughts on what else I can do? It seems like there must be some sort of network or protocal setting that just isn't right, but I'm not sure where to start.

Thanks in advance!

 

[toolbox]

Have you tried another browser? Like Firefox?

Have you tried putting in static ip assignments in? I have seen slow internet caused with incorrect ip and dns settings.

 

[Canoetripper]

The browser wasn't the issue (I had already tried Firefox as well), but for some reason forcing an IP number seems to have done the trick--THANKS! I've never had to do that on any of my PCs...any thoughts why on the Mac?

 

[Canoetripper]

Static IP Didn't Solve Problem

Okay. Last night I switched to a static IP, and everything seemed to be running quickly. Today, however, it's back to the same thing... 2-5 minutes to load a web page, if it even loads at all. Often the progress par freezes halfway across, or I get something like a "failed to load page" message. My old Toshiba laptop, on the other hand, loads the same pages just fine (in a few seconds). I've tried changing the static IP to other addresses, and it doesn't help. I've tried both Safari and Firefox--same issue with both. I am BEYOND frustrated and am about ready to declare my brand new iMac to be little more than a boat anchor. Please Help??

 

[hughvane]

Could you please post (screenshot if possible, Cmd-Shift-4) your Network settings, Built-in Ethernet, including the following:
•TCP/IP
•Proxies
•Ethernet

In the meantime, disable cookies, clear cookies (which will slow initial connections - temporarily), reset Safari and empty the cache. I suggest too that you take up the matter with your ISP, and insist on talking with someone who is Mac-savvy.

Have you got any security measures other than the Apple firewall in place eg. third-party firewall software?

 

[Canoetripper]

hughvane - Thanks! Here you are (attached).

 

[wrldwzrd89]

hughvane - Thanks! Here you are (attached).

Looking at those screenshots, the first thing I'd check is to make sure that you're using a manual IP address outside the range of IPs the router assigns but still within the subnet.

For example: If your router is set to give devices IP addresses from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.100, using 192.168.1.140 is completely safe. However, if instead you have it set with 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.200, then 192.168.1.140 is within this range, and could cause IP address conflicts. If that's the case use something like 192.168.1.40 - this is outside the range in question but still within your subnet.

 

[Canoetripper]

As you guessed, my DHCP was set for 100-199. I tried two IP addresses below 100 (99 and 49) with no improvement.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

As you guessed, my DHCP was set for 100-199. I tried two IP addresses below 100 (99 and 49) with no improvement.

Try restarting your computer as well as the router. This is often required when doing manual IP address changes, to get the network to recognize it.

 

[Canoetripper]

Voila! Zipping along again. Maybe it will stick this time. Thanks a bunch!!

 

[hughvane]

Voila! Zipping along again. Maybe it will stick this time. Thanks a bunch!!

Great! Well done wrldwzrd.