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User profile for user: Eric D.
Eric D. Author
User level: Level 2
210 points

What Causes The Internet To Slow Down Over Time Using Time Capsule?

I have a Time Capsule connected to the Internet via a cable modem. I have 10 Mbps service through my cable company. What I've noticed is that after several days of use, my Internet connection will start to feel sluggish. Pages will load slowly and downloads will take increasingly long. If I connect to one of the speed test sites, I'll notice that I'm getting about 1,000 - 2,000 kbps on my download speed and about 800 kbps upload. If I restart my cable modem, I notice no change. But if I restart my Time Capsule, speeds immediately shoot up to 10,000 to 11,000 kbps down and 1,500 kbps upload.

I'm not running Time Machine and these tests were done at the same time of day with no other traffic on my network. It's clear that over time, something causes the Time Capsule to slow down but I don't have a clue what it could be. What could be happening inside the Time Capsule that would cause this slowdown? I would think that it either has a connection or it doesn't but apparently there are other factors at play. I don't think standard operating procedure should be having to restart my time capsule on a routine basis just to clear out some kind of problem.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

1 Ghz G4 PowerBook 17", iMac 3.06 GHz 24", iPhone 3g, Mac OS X (10.5.4), 2 Gigs RAM

Posted on Sep 8, 2008 11:26 AM

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20 replies
User profile for user: cestmac
cestmac
User level: Level 1
0 points

Oct 26, 2008 3:35 PM in response to Rodrigojbg

I once had a speed problem while on a wireless connection to time capsule. After searching through the discussions it became apparent that if you have any older (B/G) wifi equipment on the same network your speed will slow dramatically. I created a dual network, one for N traffic and one for G traffic and was back at full speed. There is a helpful diagram of how to set up a dual network at http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1359457&tstart=0.

Apple should make the mixed network problem explicit in the documentation for time capsule.
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User profile for user: Rodrigojbg
Rodrigojbg
User level: Level 1
0 points

Oct 26, 2008 4:20 PM in response to Eric D.

I've already tried to use only 802.11 N configurations to solve but it still doesn't work.

Even my Windows XP PC connected to Ethernet LAN port has the same slowly internet connection.

Because of iPhone I use the 802.11. G compatibility of TC and the speed traffic over LAN network goes nearly 3.2 MB/s and that's enough to streaming video over the air.

The only problem is the internet speed, my torrent client used to go at 250k/s and now it stuck at 12k/s. Even a single download goes ate 20k/s max and I have 2MB/s broadband speed that usualy give me nearly 200k/s in a singe download.

When I plug the DSL cable directly to my mac the speed become normal again.

I'm searching over the web trying to figure out how to fix but I just found lots of people w/ the same problem.

thanks for the advices...
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User profile for user: krausdoug
krausdoug
User level: Level 1
1 points

Dec 21, 2008 5:31 AM in response to Eric D.

I have exactly the same problem when connecting to the internet via a Qwest DSL modem (wireless turned off) and then through the time capsule. It doesn't just slow down the wireless (N to macbook, G to airport express), it slows down the direct ethernet connection to iMac.

Rebooting the DSL router helps, but to totally correct I have to reboot the time capsule and the DSL router.

I wish somebody at Apple could a) acknowledge the issue and b) provide a fix. If I wanted to reboot equipment every day I would have stayed on a PC.
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User profile for user: existentist
existentist
User level: Level 1
4 points

Dec 21, 2008 10:59 PM in response to Eric D.

I've had this problem too. I can open a set of 8 tabs. At least half of them do not open during the first attempt. I often have to reload 1 or 2 times before the page loads. This happens on a new iMac (intel) and on a 1st gen Mac Mini (ppc) both running Leopard.

I first called my ISP. The issue is resolved when directly connecting the modem to the computer. That narrows the problem down to Time Capsule.

Time Capsule also runs hot and often cannot connect to external hard drives it shares.

This is a problem that needs to be addressed.
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User profile for user: Nick Greeves
Nick Greeves
User level: Level 1
5 points

Jan 24, 2009 3:20 PM in response to Eric D.

I have been having the same problem. I have 20 Mbps from my ISP and if I connect my Mac directly to the cable modem that is what I get. When I intersperse my Time Capsule the throughput is initially OK but gradually declines to the point when my family complain. This applies to wireless clients and even ethernet connections from the Time Capsule.

I have managed to correct it by turning the cable modem/TC off and on but this does not seem to be reliable.

I can imagine this is a difficult fault to report unless Apple's own database recognises the problem as taking the Time Capsule to a Genius bar would almost certainly result in a working router.
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User profile for user: wifiguru
wifiguru
User level: Level 2
240 points

Jan 26, 2009 12:47 PM in response to minkman

So you reboot TC and after a few days your connection is very slow and then rebooting the TC gets it to work again ?
Could you post system.log ( from the console app) here when you see this happening ?
Does your AirPort indicate all 4 bars when this happens? When you hit Option and click the Airport Menu Extra icon, what is the Transmit Rate you see when this slowdown occurs?
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User profile for user: Chris935
Chris935
User level: Level 1
0 points

Jan 26, 2009 10:04 PM in response to Eric D.

Not a helpful reply, but I have the same problem too. I feel a bit guilty because I gave my ISP some serious grief about it, but now I think it is the TC because I went from 450 kbps to 12,700 kbps as soon as I re-started it.

I don't know if this is related, but when I am running Vista in boot camp, the connection just drops which seems like a router issue too.

Any suggestions on how to get this fixed or get Apple's attention?
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User profile for user: Pappasbike
Pappasbike
User level: Level 3
563 points

Jan 28, 2009 10:52 AM in response to minkman

minkman wrote:
I have exactly the same problem with my time capsule. I may return it and just try it with an airport extreme. has anyone noticed problems with that box?

I had recently purchased a TC for wireless backups using Time Machine. This was working perfectly but I recently got a speed increase from my isp so out of curiosity I started checking those speed test sites. Occasionally the speeds would show the speed I've been provisioned for but most of the time far less. In general it's quite erratic.

So I tried several things, connecting my laptop by ethernet directly to TC - same result. Connected directly to my isp's modem and speeds were correct and consistent. Then I fired up my Airport Extreme (gigabit ethernet ) which I was using prior to the TC, connected wirelessly through that and speeds are what they are supposed to be and consistent. So I'm back to using the AE and trying to set the TC up as an external hd to continue the back up function.
John
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User profile for user: elstax
elstax
User level: Level 1
0 points

Jan 28, 2009 2:21 PM in response to Eric D.

I have similar problems with my Time Capsule- we are a small office and use it as a secondary back up (in addition to an off site backup service that we use). The internet tends to slow waaaaay down periodically, and at other times the bars will be full but not actually connected, and airport utility won't even be able to see the time capsule at all. further, this usually only happens to one or two computers in the office, and everyone else connects correctly.

the only two solutions i've found are to repeatedly reboot the time capsule repeatedly (ridiculous, and annoying to those whose connections are working) or to reboot my own system repeatedly until the wireless device starts working again for no apparent reason.

ack!
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User profile for user: Chris935
Chris935
User level: Level 1
0 points

Jan 28, 2009 3:43 PM in response to Pappasbike

Well that ***** - I have to go out and spend $180 on an AEBS just to do what my TC is supposed to do in the first place? Why can't Apple just fix the TC to work the way it is intended - there have been enough posts about this issue to indicate that there is a problem with the TC.

The ONLY advantage would be the ability to run both a b/g and an n network, but I can do that with an el cheapo router.

Disappointed Apple customer here.
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What Causes The Internet To Slow Down Over Time Using Time Capsule?

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