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Satoru Murata

Q: Slow Wireless LAN in Leopard

All right, I've spent the past 12 hours (on and off, of course) looking through all the threads in here, doing a lot of experimentation, and a bunch of clean installs and whatnots, and I've decided to start a new thread, since in many of the said threads, some people seemed to have similar issues, but the other issues in the same threads seem to be different problems, and it just becomes confusing when you try to trouble shoot something and people are talking about different problems.


So, this thread is specifically for people who satisfy these criteria under Leopard:

1) You're having issues with very slow file transfers in your *local network* when at least one end is connected wirelessly; that is to say, when both ends are connected to the router via ethernet, you see no problem at all.

2) Your wireless connection doesn't display problems when connecting to the internet.

3) It is not specifically an 802.11n issue; i.e., the problem can be duplicated when in Mixed b/g only mode and/or using an 802.11g router.

4) It's not a router connection issue; i.e., your wireless connection isn't being dropped, and you are able to find your AP and connect to it without any problems.




So basically, that more or less sums up my problem. My equipments:

MacBook Core2Duo 2.2GHz, 802.11b/g/n, OSX 10.5.2
iMac Core2Duo 2.13GHz, 802.11b/g/n, OSX 10.5.2
Router 1: TRENDnet TEW-631BRP (Draft N router), H/W V3.0R, FW v.1.0.3.7
Router 2: NETGEAR WGR614 v.5 (g), FW v.1.0.3_1.0.3

Internet: RCN Cable, 20Mbps/2Mbps


In my usual setup, the iMac is connected via Ethernet and the Macbook is connected wirelessly.


I know that this is a Leopard problem, but I'm not so sure it's a 10.5.2 specific problem. Let me explain.

I'd been using the TRENDnet more or less happily for the last couple of months. My iMac and Macbook have been in sync in terms of Leopard versions, so I know things were OK till last night when I first noticed problems. Transferring a large video file from the iMac to the Macbook would start off fine, then really slow down, and finally almost completely halt. Naturally, I blamed 10.5.2.


After trying all the different "fixes" in the Leopard/network related threads with no avail, I tried booting my laptop into Tiger (10.4.11) installed on an external HDD. Voila, wireless file transfer speed is fast at around 8MB/sec (obviously using N). I did a fresh install of 10.5, and the speed immediately dropped down to 1-2MB/sec, although not necessarily stalling. Then, updating to 10.5.2 slowed it down more, and now the transfers will sooner or later almost completely stall.


Again, I tried all the suggested remedies (use b/g Only mode, adjust RTS/Fragmentation thresholds, use WEP instead of WPA, delete all the Network Services in System Preferences -> Network, etc., etc.). Nothing helps. I tried swapping the router to an older Netgear (802.11g/b), and it's the same deal, so it's not a router issue.


A definite characteristic is that the transfer seems to stall after a certain period of sustained transferring; i.e., this will usually only happen when transferring large files (>200MB). If I were to download a folder with 600 JPEG files @ 1MB each, there won't be a problem, and the transfer rate will be pretty fast (although not as fast as under Tiger @ 7-8MB/sec), and it won't stall. It's only when I try to transfer big video files, etc., that this problem occurs.



If you are having similar issues, please share your experiences, suggest remedies, offer insights. I will try to answer any question you may have and that I may have missed to address.


PLEASE: if your symptoms are different from what's listed up there, please try to refrain from posting here, unless you are absolutely certain that the issues are related. Thanks.

iMac 20" Core2Duo 2.13Ghz/ MacBook 2.2 GHz Superdrive (White), Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Feb 14, 2008 12:39 AM

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Q: Slow Wireless LAN in Leopard

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  • by matthew.e,

    matthew.e matthew.e Feb 17, 2008 11:03 AM in response to Satoru Murata
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 11:03 AM in response to Satoru Murata
    I am having the same issues, slowness within my LAN, however download speeds and online game play over the internet are fine. Again i only noticed this since installing 10.5.2.

    HOWEVER, last night i transfered about 10GB over my lan with Transmit (using IP) and file transfers seemed to be normal, that is a few MB per second.

    My setup is

    Macbook 2.2 - wireless to router.
    iMac 1.8 - Ethernet connection to router.
    Airport Extreme Router

    Message was edited by: matthew.e
  • by Teournesol,

    Teournesol Teournesol Feb 17, 2008 11:24 AM in response to Satoru Murata
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 11:24 AM in response to Satoru Murata
    Same problem here with a MacBook Pro 10.5.2 and a MacBook 10.5.2 connected via two WDA Airport Expresses to a G4 Mac Mini also with 10.5.2.
    Pre 10.5.2 update everything streamed fine; movies, iTunes, Time Machine worked and file copying. Post 10.5.2 everything slows down waiting for the network and the above are choppy or just beachball.
    Looking at the network with Net Monitor has reavealed that, when streaming music through iTunes, the problem lies in my, the receiving machine, suddenly stops transmitting (presumably accounting) data for a few seconds.
  • by MKH,

    MKH MKH Feb 17, 2008 11:36 AM in response to Satoru Murata
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 11:36 AM in response to Satoru Murata
    I replied to another thread and figured I'd link it here.
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6626305#6626305

    I am running a 2 GHz MacBook and had the same issue. An archive and install did nothing. I accessed my Airport network with both 802.11 b/g enabled on my Airport. As soon as I switched it to "G only" it works like it did pre-10.5.2. Leopard is turning out to be a steaming bucket of hamster vomit.
  • by Teournesol,

    Teournesol Teournesol Feb 17, 2008 11:59 AM in response to MKH
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 11:59 AM in response to MKH
    I have g only (channel 1), but still experience the slowdown.
  • by janbrill,

    janbrill janbrill Feb 17, 2008 3:47 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 3:47 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    Exact same issue here.

    I have a MBP and a MacBook hooked up to a MacMini fileserver via airport extreme. All three machines running 10.5.2. Portables are connected wirelessly, MacMini via ethernet. On lager files the network speed drops to 50KB/s or less after maybe 200 MB transfered. Unmounting the AFP share and remounting it briefly gives back normal speed, then it drops again.

    I suspected an AFP problem first, since all connections outside the local network are running at nominal speed, even during the slowdown. Tried all the usual fixes, to network and afp, hosts-file ... no luck. It does seem to be AFP related since so far I didn't have the the problem on FTP transfers.
    Nothing in the logs whatsoever.

    Very anoying!

    It defnetly started with the 10.5.2 update. Never had this problem in 10.5.1 or earlier.

    Please, ADC members, bump this up to Apple. It's a deal killer in our publishing-office!
  • by Satoru Murata,

    Satoru Murata Satoru Murata Feb 17, 2008 3:39 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 3:39 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    OK, it looks like we're getting people with the exact same/very similar symptoms here. That's good.


    Here is some more experimentation on my part.


    (1) Exact same setup everywhere, but I boot into Tiger on my laptop, and file transfer is fine.
    (2) (This just verified) Exact same setup everywhere, but I boot into Tiger on my iMac (wired), and, get this, file transfer is fine!!

    That is, my Macbook, with 10.5.2 (this is a recent Archive & Install) will download files at around 6MB/sec over 802.11n from an iMac running 10.4.10.


    So, there is a chance that this is something to do with file corruption that occurred during the 10.5.2 update that is causing everything. The next thing I'm going to do is to boot the iMac from a fresh, Archive & Install 10.5.2, and see how it goes. Will be back later with the results.
  • by BobP1776,

    BobP1776 BobP1776 Feb 17, 2008 3:55 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    Level 3 (695 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 3:55 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    I believe this matches what I'm seeing in internet transfers. I realize you are not tracking internet issues, but still...

    What gets throttled is Airport (not wired) transfers OUTBOUND from a 10.5.2 machine.

    Of course if both machines in a file transfer scenario are 10.5.2, then you should see the throttling in both directions (presuming both are Airport). But if one is 10.5.2 and the other is 10.4.11 or even 10.5.1 the slowdown should, I believe, only be present if the direction of data transfer is outbound from the 10.5.2 machine. And if the connection for the 10.5.2 machine is wired, you shouldn't be seeing slowdowns even for outbound traffic.

    Is that in fact what you are seeing in your file transfer situation?
    --Bob
  • by kodafox,

    kodafox kodafox Feb 17, 2008 5:00 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 5:00 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    I am having this same issue. I've only noticed it since updating to 10.5.2 aswell.
    Internet is fine. File transfers over lan between wirelessly conected Macs.. Painfully slow. I just transfered a 7mb file and it took about 3.5 minutes.

    Has anyone created a bug report for this with apple? I think it would be a good Idea for each of us experiencing this to create a bug report to put some pressure on them for a fix.
    you can make a bug report here:
    http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html
    just select feedback type as "bug report"
  • by Disaster Boy,

    Disaster Boy Disaster Boy Feb 17, 2008 5:19 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 5:19 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    Same here. All of a sudden, post 10.5.2, all file transfers across my wireless (G) network have slowed to a glacial crawl. Transferring 22mb took over 15mins!

    Really killing my productivity; I have to use a portable HD to transfer everything.

    Oddly, as others here are describing, internet speeds seem unaffected...
  • by Satoru Murata,

    Satoru Murata Satoru Murata Feb 17, 2008 5:37 PM in response to BobP1776
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 5:37 PM in response to BobP1776
    OK, here's my take.

    First, it does seem like it might be somehow related to a 10.5.2 UPSTREAM issue.


    I just conducted an experiment where downloading files from a 10.4.11 iMac (wired) to a 10.5.2 Macbook (wireless) was quite zippy (5-7MB/sec), while the other way around, transferring the same file back from the Macbook to the iMac was SLOW (150KB~1MB/sec).

    However, there are two problems.


    First, as you can see, a lot of people here are complaining about the same issue that got me to notice this problem in the first place, which is the lag experienced when streaming video from a wired desktop machine to a wireless laptop. If it's simply a 10.5.2/Upstream issue, we should be fine streaming (and d/ling) large files from a wired desktop to a wireless laptop, but in fact we see the exact same lag.


    Second, one area that I see different between the problems you describe and mine (and many in this thread) is that file transfer over the internet is absolutely fine.

    Again, testing @ Speedtest.net gives me, as I test it right now, about the same results for both my wired 10.4.11 iMac and my wireless 10.5.2 Macbook; 15-20Mbps downstream/1-1.5Mbps upstream.



    As someone else suggested, I thought it might be a protocol issue (namely, AFP). But I've tried turning AFP off and doing SMB transfers; the result is the same. I'm going to try FTP now, then try AFP over the internet later.
  • by Satoru Murata,

    Satoru Murata Satoru Murata Feb 17, 2008 6:11 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 6:11 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    OK, results for the FTP. Things just keep getting weirder and weirder.

    I'm now back in 10.5.2 on both machines (wired iMac, wireless Macbook).

    With PureFTP running on the iMac, transferring files from the iMac to the Macbook it A-OK (8-9MB/sec), but uploading from the Macbook to the iMac is slow (but not completely screeching to a halt, at 1-1.6MB/sec). I tried d/ling a file from the iMac to the Macbook using normal file sharing (AFP), and the first time around, it did OK, around 5-6MB/sec. But on the second try, same deal, starting off strong, then after about 10MB, coming to a near-grinding halt. It won't even get 100KB/sec.


    So, the protocol seems to be playing a role, but it's not the entire story.
  • by BobP1776,

    BobP1776 BobP1776 Feb 17, 2008 9:13 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    Level 3 (695 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 9:13 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    Saturo,
    I suspect that the reason you are not seeing the internet upload problem that I am seeing is simply that my FIOS is configured for a faster upload speed (5Mbs) than yours. I.e., you may not be getting to the data rate in internet uploads where the problem gets triggered due to the cap on upload speed from your ISP.

    (I've tried a few things that have gotten my upload speed near 1Mbs -- 1/3 to 1/5 what it should be depending on circumstances, but close to what you were expecting given your cable setup. Unfortunately they aren't reliably stable even at that reduced speed.)

    I suspect that there is also some variation between Mac platforms as to exactly what sort of data rate triggers this problem -- quite possibly due to basic performance differences between the models. But file transfers within the LAN ought to be fast enough to trigger this from all Macs if we've scoped this out correctly.

    Anyway, that's not really important. In your thread here I'm perfectly happy to keep things to the more specific case of file transfers within the LAN. I just think that if you find a solution to your problem, it will likely also be a solution to my problem. And perhaps vice versa as well.
    --Bob
  • by Satoru Murata,

    Satoru Murata Satoru Murata Feb 17, 2008 9:36 PM in response to BobP1776
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 9:36 PM in response to BobP1776
    Fair enough. I'm not, by any means, ruling out (or trying to rule out) our problems being related. Just want to make sure that we're not talking about different issues.


    Perhaps the 2Mbps upstream cap is one reason for the discrepancy. To check this, I'll try Speedtest.net tomorrow from my university, which has a 802.11g wireless network, with a symmetric up/down LAN.


    In the mean time, do you think you can explain why a lot of us are seeing very slow local LAN file transfers from a wired desktop to a wireless laptop?
  • by BobP1776,

    BobP1776 BobP1776 Feb 17, 2008 11:38 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    Level 3 (695 points)
    Feb 17, 2008 11:38 PM in response to Satoru Murata
    Sorry, no clue on that. I've been unable to find any problem so far on any of our 10.5.2 machines when they are connected by wire to ethernet, nor have I seen any problems transmitting data TO a wireless 10.5.2 Mac. But there are enough variables here that I may simply not be adequately duplicating what you are trying.
    --Bob
  • by Jason Sewell1,

    Jason Sewell1 Jason Sewell1 Feb 18, 2008 12:51 PM in response to BobP1776
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Feb 18, 2008 12:51 PM in response to BobP1776
    I'm also experiencing slow wireless AFP connections. I have two macs, both on 10.5.2. The G5 is connected to a DLink 4300 router by wired connection. The macbook is connected to the router via airport. Test transfer of a 500MB file by Finder copy:

    Wired G5 -> Airport MacBook AFP transfers work fine, with no delays. Completes in around 7 mins.

    Airport MacBook -> Wired G5 transfers start fine, but then reduce to a crawl. Gave up waiting after 15 mins (it was estimating an hour to complete)

    So problem appears to be one way,
    Best wishes

    Jason
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