Macbook Pro Problems

[seegs6]

So my flatmate and I got the 10mb/s package with Virgin. My Macbook Pro (1 year old on OSX 10.6.4) is very slow with downloading and browsing. I ran a test on speedtest.net and I get between 1 and 1.5 mb/s download. My flatmate, on his PC, is getting closer to 9.5 mb/s downloading on speedtest. I am using an airport router but have tried it with the Virgin router provided, through ethernet connection, different wireless channels and new dns servers (Google and OpenDNS). Any suggestions??!?!

I am in London (Holloway) in Islington Borough.

[haydnwalker]

Try connecting DIRECTLY to the Cable Modem via Ethernet, and do a speedtest then and post the results.

Were yours and your flatmates Speedtests/diagnostics done at the same time of day? As it can affect the speeds you get.

[seegs6]

Yes they were, both via wifi at the same time in the same spot. I'll post the results this evening via Ethernet. Would you just like the speedtest result screen image posted?

[haydnwalker]

Well, whatever the results are, doesn't matter if you just type it in. I'm a MacBook Pro user myself, and have never had this kind of issue.

First thing to do is to get rid of any router and use the Cable Modem directly, as over wireless, signals degrade etc, depending on the quality of the wireless kit

[ruddock08]

Hi,

To be fair - as lean as the OSX system is - if your saying that browsing and downloading is *generally* slow, this might be due to your system being cluttered, therefore your hard drive, processor etc. may not be able to keep up with the amount of incoming data and how to process it (bit more complicated than that, but thats the basis).

If your falt mate is getting the full speed than that shows the internet connection is working fine. May I ask for the specs of your MacBook? Also, try booting it up with nothing running in the background (not sure if Macbook ahs a safe mode but it must have something of equivalent) and try again..

[haydnwalker]

It doesn't have a safemode as such, and doesn't really run things in the background (that you can't kill in the OS). I'm wondering if its an issue with a network setting, or something like that, but want to rule out the hardware in the router first

[Juo]

Hey im a Mac user as well here are a couple of things you could try.

Try Chrome
Try downloading Google Chrome and see if your internet browsing gets any faster.

Clear Logs
You could try running IceClean or a similar application to clear out old system logs http://www.macdentro.com/MacDentro/Home.html even if this doesn't make the browsing faster your computer should generally feel more responsive afterwards.

Change DNS
You could try using a different DNS provider http://www.opendns.com/ here is a guide on how to configure it https://store.opendns.com/setup/operatingsystem/apple-osx-leopard.
EDIT: Just saw you'd already tried that

Apart from that I cant think of anything else off the top of my head, give those a go and see if it fixes anything.

It would be cool if you could take your computer to a friends connect to their WiFi and browse the net, then you will know if the issue is with your machine or with your connection.

[pip08456]

Can't see it being the connection as his flatmate is gettin 9.5Mb.

I hate to mention the obvious but they both won't get that speed at the same time.

[haydnwalker]

I know - but they both tested the connection one after the other and got different speeds. I think its just the speedtest at that particular point, not an actual connection issue to be honest.

---------- Post added at 23:35 ---------- Previous post was at 23:34 ----------

I've done 2 tests one after the other and got very differing speeds

[seegs6]

Here is my speedtest connected via ethernet to the modem.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/964123996.png

I've cleaned up my computer with Onyx. My flatmates PC is 3 years older than mine and his is much more cluttered as well. I have 2.53 GHZ Intel Core Dual 2 processor, 4gb of DDR3 ram, and 132 GB hard drive space available. I'm considering getting in touch with Apple regarding my wifi card. Trying it out at a friends place might be a good idea.

[haydnwalker]

I would start to suggest something local to your machine as its obviously NOT JUST related to your Wi-Fi card if its still slow via eithernet - So I wouldn't bother getting in touch with Apple.

I would be tempted to re-install OSX at this point, as there's far too many variables on a system to narrow it down to just 1.

If, once you've re-installed the OS, it's still slow, I would maybe phone Apple, but not before, as your system may not SEEM cluttered, but a Verify of the disk (using Disk Utility) might be useful.

My MBP is 18months old now, and just as quick as the day it was purchased :) So I don't think your problem is hardware based (because if it was a hardware fault, WiFi/Ethernet would either work, or it wouldnt, it wouldn't cause the slowness you are experiencing.)

---------- Post added at 09:41 ---------- Previous post was at 09:40 ----------

Unless, you can get a network monitor for your machine, to monitor incoming/outgoing traffic? And you weren't running things like P2P apps or anything that would use your internet connection while doing the speed test were you?

---------- Post added at 09:48 ---------- Previous post was at 09:41 ----------

Also - Just had a google, and have you Tried this:


83) Set Big Packets On Your Network

The size of your data packets on your network will enable more data to be sent at once. Open up Network in System Preferences. Hit the Advance button and click on Ethernet. Set the MTU to Jumbo and the Duplex to full duplex, flow control. This will enable bigger packets to flow over your network. You will have to do this for all your computers for best effect.

[Juo]

I would start to suggest something local to
Unless, you can get a network monitor for your machine, to monitor incoming/outgoing traffic? And you weren't running things like P2P apps or anything that would use your internet connection while doing the speed test were you?

This is a really good tool for doing exactly that http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html