Very slow wireless connection for me but not for others

I set my 12" powerbook next to my girlfriend's PC notebook and ran an online speed test on each of them. She gets a download speed of about 3mbps. I get a top download speed of about 200kbps. Why does my powerbook get only 1/15th the download speed that she does?
Thanks for your answers.

Are they both on the network at the same time? If one computer has heavy use of the Internet connection, other computers later on may not get as much of the available bandwidth.
Which speed test did you use? I use this one.

Similar Messages

MacBook Pro 2010: very slow wireless connection

I know a number of people have posted similar questions, but I think I've done everything I can to fix this.
I bought a 13 inch MacBook Pro last week, and found I was getting a very slow connection to my wireless network. OK when I was right next to the base station, but very slow in another room (the room I want to use it in).
I checked with speedtest.net, which showed I was getting download speeds of around 0.3 Mbps - although, curiously, it showed upload speeds of 1.5 Mbps. I ran my old MacBook in the same room, on the same wireless connection, and consistently got speeds of over 10 Mbps. So it can't be the network that's causing the issue.
After an hour on the phone with tech support, I took the Mac back to the Apple Store, where I was unable to get any wireless connection whatever. They exchanged it for a new machine. Worked fine in the store - but when I got it home, I was still getting very slow speeds. The old MacBook still outperforms it by at least a factor of ten. All the system software is up to date.
Is this a dodgy batch? Or has the wireless range dropped considerably with the new MacBooks?
Message was edited by: Steve Caplin

Steve Caplin wrote:
Darin,
You're right - there are a lot of issues about MBP WiFi. I think there's a major problem with it.
If there was a ..."major problem with it" you would see more complaints than wifi just being among the top 10 discussion items in a trouble shooting forum. There are millions of MBP users many of whom, like myself, use wifi every day without issue.
Your statement "They exchanged it for a new machine. Worked fine in the store - but when I got it home, I was still getting very slow speeds." would lead one to suspect maybe interference from some source or a configuration issue rather than a "major problem".
You probably already tried changing the channel, resetting your router, changing the security scheme, elimination possible sources of interference, separating your components (router, computer, external monitor, ...), etc. but maybe starting over with a default configuration will help isolate the problem.

Very Slow Wireless Connection

I bought a while ago a WRT54G V6.0 and although the wired connection works pretty well, the wireless connection is very slow, I have trouble accessing web pages but once it enters a site i can navigate through it without a problem, but when I go to another website I struggle to enter. I have tried updating the router several times, changing the transmission channel and it seems nothing works. could someone please help?

try changing the MTU size on the router ui in the following order .... 1492 , 1452 , 1365 ... check whether it makes any difference ...

Airport extreme with comcast, very slow wireless connection

well i am creating this new thread becuase after searching this board and trying others' suggestions all day nothing is seeming to improve my wireless speed.
i have used the extreme base station with other internet providers and the wireless speed was amazing. however, i have just moved and we got the comcast 3-1 deal, so we get internet, cable, and telephone all over the same line. we have 6mb/sec and i did a line test and the speed from comcast was fine. so i think that it must be a setting on the base station.
i have done a recycle of the power on the network wating about 30-45 minutes inbetween each power on (multiple times). modem, base station, computer. and still there is no improvement.
i have done hard resests of both the modem and the base station, and still no improvement. i have also done soft resests of both.
furthermore, i have taken the network security off and that did not improve the speed either.
but...when i connect to the internet using the lan port of the base station the internet flys.
what am i doing wrong??? any help would be greatlty appreciated.
the comcast modem is an Arris telephony modem, i am using a mac book circa oct. 2006, with the airport extreme base station.

Hello eisnachm. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
The only thing that you didn't mention doing was checking for Wi-Fi interference.
It is very possible that you may have some form of Wi-Fi interference in the immediate area that is preventing you from getting a good clean signal.
I suggest you perform a simple site survey, using utilities like KisMAC, MacStumbler, iStumbler, or IPNetMonitorX to determine potential areas of interference...and then, try to either eliminate or significantly reduce them.

Very slow wireless internet for netcfg 2.5.4

Dear all,
Ever since I upgraded my entire system, including netcfg, wifi on my Thinkpad X61 (iwlagn driver) and my local home network had been dead slow. Thing is, on another network I'm not experiencing this problem at all with the latest netcfg version. Neither does it occur for netcfg version 2.5.4 and my local network. The configurations for both tried networks are identical and they are both WPA2 protected. I've looked at this: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=119078, which seems to be describing my problem well, but I find the solutions quite vague and the OP eventually resorted to buying a new wireless card (which is virtually impossible for a notebook). Another note is that I'm using the latest version of netcfg without any issues on my wired desktop PC and local home network. So this makes me believe that the problem is isolated to some weird and as of yet unidentified correlation between my wireless interface, the latest netcfg version and my local home network.
For now, I downgraded netcfg to 2.5.4 on my Thinkpad, since this version works without issues everywhere, but I would obviously want to have the latest version eventually. Does anybody have even the slightest clue about what could be causing this issue? Thanks in advance...
Last edited by geniuz (2011-08-25 15:29:02)

Netcfg pretty much just configures wpa_supplicant and dhcpcd. The best way to go at solving this is to manually start wpa_supplicant and dhcpcd first the way netcfg 2.5.4 does, than again the way the latest netcfg does. Look at the differences, figure out which one is causing the problem.

WRT54G all computers connect to internet, but not each other

ver 5 firmware v1.02.5 build 002, Jan. 9, 2008
Here is my issue. I run a secure wireless network at my home, consisting of 1 desktop (wired) and 1 laptop (wireless) after setting up the network, and turning on file sharing, and sharing drives, the network works fine for a short while. All drives are visible in "My network places" but when I try to access them, I get the error " \\drive\folder not accessible you might not have permission to use this network resource. All computers can use the internet no problem, and appear to be able to see each other, but cannot access each other. The signal is excellent, and the internet is fine as well. Is there any help that you can give me? I am not sure what is happening. No settings are being changed, it just seems that the network connections just disappear. Also, under my network places, the remote drives show up as under the Internet section of the window. Thanks in advance for any help you may be.
Sonny

Have you checked all firewall settings? Turn off all firewalls on all computers and try.

Two Users can connect to apleu3test02 but not each other

Hello,
I have been trying to connect to with my wife whom is on a road runner cable modem behind a belkin wireless router. I am on a comcast cable modem behind a linksys wrt54gv4 router, however it is flashed with an open source firmware. Both of us can connect to the various test users out there but we have intermitent issues connecting with each other. I am guessing that this could be partially due to our maximum uploads being about 345kbps. I have not setup any port forwarding, triggering, or ther router adjustments yet. I figured if I can connect to the apple test users it should not be a problem. I am working on trying to test without my router but comcast will not let me mac grab a dhcp address. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Me = macbook pro 2ghz with 2gb ram 10.4.7
Wife = 1.67 g4 ibook with 512 mb ram 10.4.7

I'm having the exact same problem. My father and I were able to communicate for weeks with no issues and since updating to 10.4.7 we have a 90% failure rate with video chat. It worked once last night and once this morning otherwise its an error -8.
Now until recently we have never port forwarded anything except VNC and I can't see how we could use this method with iChat when we have numerous users here at home.
I think the most frustrating part is it works from time to time and I can find the reason why.

Replay DVRs can connect to Internet, but not each other through new AEBS

I have a new AEBS and have had a few problems with it. After experiencing a lot of signal dropping I rolled the firmware back to 7.2 and that seemed to fix those issues.
Unfortunately, I'm still having one major problem. I have two RePlay DVRs wired to the AEBS. They can both connect to the Internet. (I know this because the TV guides are continuing to update.) But they cannot talk to each other. They should recognize each other and I should be able to watch files on one machine with the other. I could do this with no problem with my previous router. Does anyone else have this problem?? Anyone have any ideas on what to do??

Can anyone give me a clue? Should I exchange the AEBS, or is there a setting I could tweak??

One Solution for Fixing Slow Wireless Connection

Quick and easy solution for slow wireless connection.
My hardwired PC connection was working fine over FIOS, but my wireless connection through my Macbook Pro was soooo slowwww, although the machine itself was fine. Pages would take forever to appear, then finally sort of pop up. Didn't really seem to be a Mac problem, just a connection problem.
After searching forever to find a fix, I found a quick & easy solution that works at least for now: change your DNS address.
I'm not a techie so I don't know ALL of the implications of doing this, but in desperation, it has worked for me and I think at no risk to your network or machine. Changing my DNS address has made my connection blazing fast and relieved many weeks of frustration.
HOW: I can only share how to change on a Mac. (Please chime in if you can give directions for PC. ) Just go to this Apple support page, which will outline exactly how to do it. I used 4.2.2.2, I think you can also use 4.2.2.1 as the DNS address. http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2002
Other resources I've found follow:
(specific to FIOS): http://www.stationstops.com/2008/04/16/high-speed-internet-3-tips-to-optimize-your-verizon-fios-broa...
(Specific for Mac): http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=358919
Maybe this is a commonly-known fix but it wasn't for me, so hopefully it will help some of the other less-than-technical people out there. Good luck!

Actually this is a common problem with Mac OSX (http://rubyisbeautiful.com/2008/2/8/osx-dns-fix-update) and how it does DNS lookups and pertains to routers that provide the internal gateway (i.e. 192.168.1.1) as the DNS address which is what the ActionTec does by default.
You can change that at the router level to either push out Verizon's dns that the router then uses or any other open dns server. I had to do this a long time ago for some of the OS X boxes on my network.

"No connectivity with the server" error for one document but not the other, in the same document library

We have a number of users all of a sudden getting "No connectivity with the server. The file 'xxx' can't be opened because the server couldn't be contacted." errors trying to open MS Office docs (Word, Excel, etc.) in SharePoint with IE,
just by clicking the link and selecting the "Read Only" option. If they select the "Check Out and Edit" option, they can open the document no problem. One of my customers gets the error on one document but not the other, in
the same document library! The older document (a weekly report) was copied and renamed as per standard procedure. She can read the older document, but not the new one.
It is definitely a profile issue, as other people have logged onto the machines of the users with problems and do not get the error. We have also renamed people's c:\user profile folders and the corresponding Profilelist registry entry and the newly
created profile does not experience the error for these people. Renaming the profile back restores all their personal settings but the error reappears. When we copied the old profile's folder structure into the new profile, many of the user settings
were restored (but not all, like Dreamweaver settings) but the error did not appear. We think that the system folders files (like AppData) weren't totally copied over so we're going to run another test using xcopy. We are rebooting between
logons to make sure all files are unlocked.
The laptops and computers are mainly 32bit, Win7 Enterprise running IE9 and Office 2010 Professional Plus, but there's a few 64bit machines as well. The SharePoint farm has 1 WFE, 1 App Server running search and CA, and a shared database server running SQL
2005 SP4. SharePoint is 64bit MOSS 2007 with the latest CU.
We've checked the logs on the client as well as on the server and there aren't any helpful entries. We've also run Process Monitor, also with no helpful entries. We're planning to run something like Fiddler next.
It's not everyone, because there are many people are accessing the SharePoint system and the same files. It is also not a permission thing, as we've tested by giving the users elevated permissions with no changes. One person experiencing
the errors is a Site Collection Admin. That same person ran a test where I coped a simple Excel file into a Document Library which contained a problem file. They were able to open it Read Only no problems that day, but the next day, the same
file gave them an error. In their case, they usually get a "xxx is not checked out" error and only occasionally get the "No connectivity with the server" error.
We've tried lots of things including:
Deleting IE cache
Deleting SharePoint Drafts and webcache folder contents
Running IE without add-ons
Upgrading and Downgrading IE
Uninstalling and re-installing IE
Reinstalling our SSL certs
Repairing Office
Removing and then adding back in the Microsoft Office "Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Support" Office Tool
Deleting all HKLM and HKLU Office registry settings
Toggling IE Compatibility Settings
Toggling the IE Automatic Logon option
Toggling the location of checked out files
Adding the site in the trusted sites list
Adding the site to the WebClient\Parameters registry locations
Making sure the WebClient service is started
Rebooting the machine (lol :)
This is becoming a serious issue, not just because of the inconvenience for the users having to check out every document they want to read, but we have some files with macros that open up other documents to run which are now failing. There aren't
"check out" workarounds for some of those macros.
We're planning to open a ticket with Microsoft, but I'm throwing it out here first in case someone has run into this before, or may have some suggestions on what to try next. Thanks!
-Richard.
PS I think this needs to be in the "General" forum instead?

It took three days of dedicated troubleshooting, but I have found the cause of the errors, and a couple of fixes. It helped tremendously that my own machine was throwing the error. I have scheduled a couple of users to work with me to test the
various fixes, to see which one works best, so the story isn't over yet.
I had backed up my c:\users profile folder and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList registry key so I could restore my profile after I was done. I made a copy of the profile folder and was using that for awhile,
but then made another copy where I had deleted a lot of content out of it so that the copies would go faster. Since a newly created profile did not have errors, I was trying to copy back as much of the profile as possible to make it easier for our users
to get back to work. Instead of blowing away their profile and starting from scratch (which we know worked) I wanted to narrow down what was causing the error and just skip that from the restore. The concept was to keep as much as the users profile
in tact (application settings, etc.) not just restoring their desktop and My Documents folders.
When we first tested a few weeks ago, simply copying the folder contents didn't reproduce the error. I then tried xcopy, but got the "can't read file" error. Then I tried robocopy, and ran into the "junction" problem.
I went back to xcopy, and found that placing the excludes.txt file in the windows/system32 folder eliminated the error.
So the process went as follows:
Reboot and log into the machine as another user
Delete the profile and associated registry key
Reboot and log into the machine as the affected user, creating a new profile, and there is no error
Reboot and log in as the other user
xcopy the contents of the skinned-down backed-up profile to the newly created profile
Reboot and log in as the affected user, and the error occurs
Repeat the above, but add items in the excludes.txt file to see what, when eliminated, causes the error not to appear in the last step
I eventually found that skipping the c:\users\<profile folder>\appdata\local\Microsoft\office\14.0 folder allowed the entire profile to be copied over without the error occurring. That was strange, because we've cleaned out the cache folders
before which didn't fix the issue.
So I went about it the opposite way, and tried to delete the 14.0 folder from the restored profile, and after reboot, the error still occurred.
What eventually worked was deleting the 14.0 folder and copying over a 14.0 folder from a newly created profile!
One way to do this was to:
Reboot and log in as another user
Rename the c:\users profile folder
Rename the appropriate [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList] registry key
Reboot and log in as the affected user, confirm that there is no error
Reboot and log in as the other user
Copy the C:\Users\<profile folder>\AppData\Local\microsoft\Office\14.0 folder to the other user's desktop
Delete new profile folder, and rename the backup to be the production folder
Delete the C:\Users\<profile folder>\AppData\Local\microsoft\Office\14.0 folder and then paste the 14.0 copy from the desktop
Reboot and log in as the affected user, confirm that there is no error
We've tried this on a couple machines and it works. I had to run Windows Explorer as Administrator to access the other profile's folders.
We've also successfully copied a 14.0 folder created by one profile on one affected computer over another profile's folder on another computer, eliminating the error, so we're trying that first, as that is fewer steps.
We may attempt to script this, but the self-help instructions are only 5 lines long:
Reboot and log into the affected computer with another account
Go to <link to location of 14.0 folder on network> and copy the 14.0 folder
Run Windows Explorer as Administrator
Go to c:\users\<profile folder>\appdata\local\microsoft\office and delete the 14.0 folder, and paste the copied 14.0 folder (trying to overwrite it makes Win7 want to merge the folders)
Reboot and log into your normal account, and confirm the error is gone
I'll come back and report after we go into the field with this fix, but after the few tests, I am cautiously optimistic that this is it.

Very Slow Internet Connection and Backups

I have had a Time Capsule for some time now (1st generation) and it has caused nothing but headaches. I have put up with it for some time but I have a very slow internet connection and cannot leave Time Machine on or it bogs down my machine, so I only backup periodically. Specifics are provided below.
I have a poor internet connection to begin with. When plugged in directly either to my modem or through Ethernet to the Time Capsule, I get download speeds of ~ 2.9 Mbits/sec download, 0.7 Mbits/sec upload. When connected over wireless, the speeds drop to about 0.6 Mbits/sec download, 0.6 Mbits/sec upload. I feel like I am working on dial-up. I have both a Mac and a PC, and speeds are the same on both, so it does not appear to be a computer issue. I have played with various settings in the Airport, including how connected (b-n or n only), DHCP settings, etc, but nothing makes a difference. Any suggestions?

Welcome to the discussion area, bigbrianb!
Have you downloaded a utility like iStumbler to get a look at the signal strength and noise on your wireless network?
iStumbler will display most of the other wireless networks around you, so you'll have an idea of the competition for unused channels. Ideally, you want your network to be on a channel that is at least 4-5 channels away from any other network to minimize the chances of wireless interference. Is that the case there?
Your signal strength should be 50% or greater and noise less than 10% for a good quality connection on your network. Is that the case there?
There are more things to test, but this will get things going.

My computer will connect to wifi but not the Internet

My computer will connect to wifi but not the Internet. It's not a problem with my router because I've tried other devices on the same router and they work. I have also tried my computer on other routers and there is still no Internet connection. Does anyone know how to fix this?

Hello Bmowat,
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities!
It sounds like you are able to successfully connect to your Wifi network, but cannot get internet access.
I found this article for you named Wi-Fi: How to troubleshoot Wi-Fi connectivity found here http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4628?viewlocale=en_US
This section in particular since you have Mountain Lion installed:
OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.4 or later
Use the Wireless Diagnostics application included with OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.4 and later to identify and resolve Wi-Fi issues. For further information, please see About Wireless Diagnostics.
It is a built in troubleshooting tool to help diagnose and repair network issues and should help you resolve this issue.
All the very best,
Sterling

Slow Wireless Connection

I am having problems with a very slow internet connection, that seems to be getting slower.
Currently we have a DSL Modem connected to a LinkSys DSL Router connected to an Airport Extreme. We have been using this setup for several years.
We run 2-4 laptops of various types...MacBook, MacBook Pro, and 1 Windows. Today, I can hardly get my MacBook to go anywhere.
I went up to my iMac G5 and plugged in the ethernet directly to a port in the router and did a DSL speed test through my ISP and it came back as 4.4 Mbps, about the same as it has since I upgraded speeds last fall.
I then disconnected the ethernet and switched back to wireless, and ran the same test. This time is came back 775 Kbps.
Any suggestions? Thanks!

I am assuming that you are still having the issue with network performance, or at least it has not stabilized.
I would still think Wi-Fi interference to be the potential issue and suggest that you pursue this a bit farther ... if you don't mind.
Again, I would suggest downloading a copy of iStumbler. Use iStumbler's Inspector feature (select Edit > Inspector from iStumbler's menu) to determine the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) at different points around your house, by performing a simple RF site survey. Within the Inspector, note the values for "signal" & "noise" at these locations. Start with your MacBook near the base station, note the readings, and then, choose the locations where you will typically use your MacBook to access the Internet.
SNR is the signal level (in dBm) minus the noise level (in dBm). For example, a signal level of -53dBm measured near an access point and typical noise level of -90dBm yields a SNR of 37dB, a healthy value for wireless LANs.
The SNR, as measured from the MacBook, should decrease as the range to the base station increases because of applicable free space loss. Also an increase in RF interference from microwave ovens and cordless phones, which increases the noise level, also decreases SNR.
SNR Guideline
o 40dB+ SNR = Excellent signal
o 25dB to 40dB SNR = Very good signal
o 15dB to 25dB SNR = Low signal
o 10dB to 15dB SNR = Very low signal
o 5dB to 10dB SNR = No signal
If the SNR is 20dB+ at each of these locations, then you should be getting reasonable performance from your AirPort. If less, either try to locate the source of the Wi-Fi interference or try relocating either the base station or the wireless clients until they are within a 20dB SNR range.

Time Capsule + Airport Extreme very slow internet connection

first time post here, looking for some help.
I have a small wireless network at home which runs as follows.
Modem - time capsule (acting as wireless router to macbook pro) - ethernet connection to iMac
I would like to extend the range of the wireless network as we dont get signal upstairs. To do this I have added an airport extreme to extend the signal (as someone gave me one for christmas!).
The network works fine, signal is great all over the house however internet traffic is very very slow when devices are connected to just the extreme station (ie when out of range from the time capsule).
Does anyone have any suggestions as to why my internet connection upstairs is very very slow?

Thanks for the reply. It seems to have helped a little - should I expect slower speeds from the extended network?

I can connect to WiFi but not the internet

I am trying to connect a new IPad 2. I have a Belkin router that is B+G+N. I use WPA2 encryption and MAC filtering. The IPAD's MAC address was entered into the router and when I provide the encryption key as the password I am able to connect to WiFi but not anything Internet related except for email. When I type any URL in Safari it takes me to my router's management page. In fact I can log into my router and manage it from my IPad but I can't connect to anything else. I have 8 other computers/devices that connect to the router fine including two Apple Ipod touch's. This has me baffled.

Look at iOS Troubleshooting Wi-Fi networks and connections http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1398
iPad: Issues connecting to Wi-Fi networks http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3304
iOS: Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4199
Additional things to try.
Try this first. Turn Off your iPad. Then turn Off (disconnect power cord) the wireless router & then back On. Now boot your iPad. Hopefully it will see the WiFi.
Go to Settings>Wi-Fi and turn Off. Then while at Settings>Wi-Fi, turn back On and chose a Network.
Change the channel on your wireless router. Instructions at http://macintoshhowto.com/advanced/how-to-get-a-good-range-on-your-wireless-netw ork.html
Another thing to try - Go into your router security settings and change from WEP to WPA with AES.
How to Quickly Fix iPad 3 Wi-Fi Reception Problems
http://osxdaily.com/2012/03/21/fix-new-ipad-3-wi-fi-reception-problems/
If none of the above suggestions work, look at this link.
iPad Wi-Fi Problems: Comprehensive List of Fixes
http://appletoolbox.com/2010/04/ipad-wi-fi-problems-comprehensive-list-of-fixes/
Fix iPad Wifi Connection and Signal Issues http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwWtIG5jUxE
Unable to Connect After iOS Update - saw this solution on another post.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4010130?tstart=60
Note - When troubleshooting wifi connection problems, don't hold your iPad by hand. There have been a few reports that holding the iPad by hand, seems to attenuate the wifi signal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If any of the above solutions work, please post back what solved your problem. It will help others with the same problem.
 Cheers, Tom

Very slow wireless connection for me but not for others

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for