why is my iMac so much slower than my macbook on my network?

[davidwarren]

So, I have an AEBS with a 5Ghz network, all my machines have a great signal and speed:

My macbook, a 2Ghz C2D with 4 GB of ram, runs normally. On the same network, my 2.4 Ghz iMac with 4GB of ram is dog slow on the internet. Often, it will not even pull up a page and say that Safari can't open the page because the server is not responding. The exact same website works fine on the MB.

I have restarted Safari, cleared the cache, reset Safari and restarted the computer. Still slow.

Any idea why?

 

[davidwarren]

I get the same results with firefox, so I don't think it is just safari.

I use openDNS, could it be that, or some issue with the DHCP? Most of the time when I try and load a new webpage, it will just keep spinning for like a minute and then slowly load up.

Like I said, my MB doesn't have this problem, so I think it is just with the imac.

 

[tdevers]

I have this issue on my parent's iMac. It drives me crazy because they switched for something more reliable and now my dad can't even browse Ebay because of timeouts and pictures not loading. My MacBook has no issues. I believe it has something to do with the DSL modem we have. Wish they would have just stuck with cable...

 

[osiris24x]

I would start by checking the console log. Console is a program that can be found under Applications > Utilities.

Once it's open, choose "All Messages" from the left pane. If the pane isn't there, click "Show Log List" to bring it up.

Often you'll see some recurring error in there, maybe a "bad syndication agent" or something else that keeps repeating. This is generally the cause of a Mac browsing slowly on a known fast network.

Good luck!

 

[mxelre]

This might sound somewhat silly but the iMac is made of aluminum which is rather poor at receiving wireless signals compared to the plastic of your macbook. Try changing the iMac location just for fun and see what happens.

 

[NAG]

This might sound somewhat silly but the iMac is made of aluminum which is rather poor at receiving wireless signals compared to the plastic of your macbook. Try changing the iMac location just for fun and see what happens.

If he is anywhere close to the base station that will not result in the symptoms he described. An Al casing will not result in spontaneous loss of internet access like that.

Have you installed anything different between the two computers or are they basically the same?

 

[tdevers]

This might sound somewhat silly but the iMac is made of aluminum which is rather poor at receiving wireless signals compared to the plastic of your macbook. Try changing the iMac location just for fun and see what happens.

This happens with both wired and wireless connections. I'll check the log this weekend and see what it lists. Thanks for the tip!