Brand-new PS3 is unbearably slow online!

Question

Brand-new PS3 is unbearably slow online!

Hi guys,

So, I took the plunge on Black Friday and managed to get myself a great deal on a PlayStation 3 via a promotion held by Amazon. The system arrived today, and I couldn't wait to get home and start playing with it!

To make a long story (somewhat) short, I've properly configured my AirPort Extreme 802.11n base station to assign a specific IP address to the PS3, and I've forwarded the correct TCP and UDP ports to the PS3 (going by the info found here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8266247&#8266247 )

However, no matter how much tinkering I seem to do, everything to do with the wireless connection and the PS3 is just astonishingly slow. I'm on an 8-megabit Comcast cable line, so my broadband speed is pretty good, though you wouldn't know it to see the PS3 downloading an update! I'm currently installing the "Life With PlayStation" update (I want to play with Folding@home!), which is only 125 megs, and yet (at this rate) it's going to take 30-45 minutes just to download. Arrgh.

In fact, before I was able to really do anything with the PS3, it required me to download a major system update, which took 2.5 hours! Yikes!

My network is pretty normal - I've got my cable modem in my office, connected to a Hawking Broadband Booster (a nifty packet-prioritizing device that keeps my throughput almost lag-free) which runs into the AirPort Extreme. The whole setup is about 10 feet away from the PS3 (through a thin wall), and the PS3 reports a ~85% connection strength, so I don't think that's the issue. When I run the "Connection Test" on the PS3, everything goes through (except UPnP, which the AirPorts don't support), but my update and demo downloads are just terribly slow, even while other machines on my network (my MacBook Pro, Xbox 360, etc.) are able to rapidly download much larger files.

Any ideas or thoughts would be great - I'm getting pretty frustrated!

Thanks,

Huxley

MacBook Pro 2.33 w/ 4GB RAM + 200GB 7200rpm HDD, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Dec 1, 2008 10:35 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 1, 2008 11:26 PM in response to Huxley Dunsany

Huh. I just noticed something that may prove helpful - when I run the "Internet Connection Test," at the bottom of the screen it informs me that "The router in use may not support IP fragments, and the communication features of some games may be restricted."

Does this mean anything to you folks?

Huxley

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Answer 2

R0b1n

Level 1

0 points

Dec 2, 2008 8:08 AM in response to Huxley Dunsany

Hi Huxley my problem is the same. With my old router not problem, always de power speed but with AE the speed is very very slow. Not to be done and tried everything. In the end we will have to use the old router the bridge.We are not alone there are more people with the same problem.

Sorry my english. Bye.

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Answer 3

Dec 6, 2008 7:56 PM in response to Huxley Dunsany

I am having this same problem. It took me 9 hrs to download a rental of "ELF" from platstation network with my PS3. I am getting 8 times faster download speeds on my macs (two laptops). On www.speedmatters.org, the ps3 tests 1000 kbps on download and 2500 kbps on upload. Is this not backwards. I am NAT2. I have no idea why this is. I have airport extreme. No other devices (including Wii) behave this way.

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Answer 4

Dec 29, 2008 4:59 PM in response to Huxley Dunsany

I'm having the same issue. I was using the PS3 wired but I needed one of the ports for something else so I switched to wireless. PS Home was SLOW so I fired up the browser and went to speedtest.net. I was getting speeds of 548 down but 2170 up! I went right to my MacBook and tested. I got 4299 down and 3125 up.
Why would the PS3 down speeds be so slow?

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Answer 5

tjreid

Level 1

18 points

Jan 5, 2009 7:44 PM in response to Huxley Dunsany

Has anyone found a solution or an answer to this problem? I have the same issue with slow wireless on the PS3 using the Airport Extreme (802.11n). It doesn't matter if I am trying to access the Internet, or stream music/movies from another computer on my network. The PS3 is unbearably slow.

Thanks!

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Answer 6

Jan 10, 2009 3:36 PM in response to Huxley Dunsany

Please tell me that somebody has found a fix for this. I've been struggling with it for a month.

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Answer 7

Jan 25, 2009 6:19 PM in response to Huxley Dunsany

Any update? I'm having the same issue.

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Answer 8

Feb 3, 2009 4:43 PM in response to Huxley Dunsany

Ah... I never post on these things EVER... but I just can't bare to see gamers in pain. The simple answer as to why the PS3 ***** in it's download speed is a weird bottleneck with it's crappy wireless card combined with the system's very low level of typical computer RAM. No matter what your router, what your settings, the PS3 is simply a dog when it uses it's wireless connection. Switch to wired settings (specifically a GIGABIT network, which astonishingly, PS3 supports) and make sure to set your ethernet settings to TBASE-1000 Dual .... and suddenly you have... if not true gigabit ethernet speeds... an enormous, substantial increase in download speed (10-20X). You can also do great things like use Nullriver's MediaLink to stream everything from your Mac to your PS3 (through the gigabit wired connection) and you can witness the power and versatility of the PS3 as a top notch media streamer that works wonders on every type of media you throw at it.

Wireless isn't an option here folks, because the problem lies within the hardware of the actual wireless card in the PS3. There's a considerable bottleneck in the gigabit wired connection as well, but it's NOWHERE NEAR as unusable as either a wired 100/10 connection or wireless connection of any sort. If you can't for whatever reason get a gigabit ethernet cable down to your PS3, a 10/100 ethernet connection will improve speeds to about twice that of the wireless, but anyone who's used the PS3's wireless knows that twice THAT speed is a joke. Get the gigabit ethernet in there, and experience the love.

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Answer 9

Feb 27, 2009 7:04 PM in response to Huxley Dunsany

I just thought I would share something I came across. I have been having same slow internet issue ever since I got my PS3. Wired or wifi, it was super slow. I found a post where someone mentioned disabling the Media Server Connection under Network settings on the PS3. Once I did that I made a HUGE difference. I don't really know what media server is, I don't care (I think). The performance is now similar to my laptop (not quite but almost). I am wired right now, spent too much time fiddling with the cables behind the entertainment center to try wireless, but my ethernet cable runs from my airport extreme router for your info. Anyway, that's my two bits. I figure every little bit helps.

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Answer 10

j2048b

Level 1

9 points

Mar 1, 2009 7:08 PM in response to Tootbug's Dad

i am not sure about yours but i need to enable media servers in order to connect to any media server in the house that i am streaming stuff from to my ps3.

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Answer 11

Mar 29, 2009 8:13 AM in response to hoorayforpie

I knew I knew it!!!!

Its the PS3 hardware that is the problem!!! I always had my suspicions about the poor quality card in the PS3. I have a question though and maybe a solution but ill need a network god to advise me.

For a lot of us we need the wireless connection. What about if we by pass the PS3 built in wireless card and attach say an Airport Express via ethernet to the back of the PS3. Can the PS3 be fooled into thinking that its using the fast ethernet connection but in fact its using the AExp to touch base with the Extreme??? If you get my meaning??

My set up is the PS3 is downstairs, the cable modem and AEBSn router upstairs. Running a network cable from the router to the PS3 just aint viable and like many posters here i am fed up waiting for the PS3 taking 2 hrs just to download a 171mb file that my Macbook can do in 2-3mins. I have never had any issues with the 360 connecting and downloading films, demo games fast. Its a real shame that the PS3 is let down by a very poor quality wireless card.

Regards

Stu

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Answer 12

Apr 19, 2009 2:41 PM in response to Huxley Dunsany

That's interesting, and I'm glad I found this thread. If you have an Airport Express, just plug the ethernet into the PS3, and enjoy the increase in speed. I did, and now I can stream my movies from the NAS, and I saved $120 on PowerLine Adapters! Awesome!

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Answer 13

Apr 19, 2009 6:56 PM in response to Cpl BadBoy

I should just add..... of course simply connecting your PS3 to an Airport Express' ethernet port that is currently serving your network wirelessly is MUCH faster then using the built-in wireless card. While still not near-perfect like if you have it hooked up to a gigabit ethernet network, it more or less functions like a basic Wireless G connection. Which is perfectly fine for many people.

I recommend disabling the UPnp setting (Apples routers do not support the PS3's form of UPNP) , but leaving 'search for network drives' on, at least if you're planning on using MediaLink to link your computer's media to the PS3. If you're not planning on using any of these features (IMO the best part of the PS3_) you can turn it off.

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Answer 14

Dasutin

Level 1

0 points

Jun 4, 2009 5:05 PM in response to Huxley Dunsany

Well after trying to download Final Fantasy 7 off of the Playstation Network and experencing very very slow downloads when my PS3 is wired to my AirPort Extreme. I tried several different ways to fix this problem. Finally I was able to get the speeds I should be getting (I have a 25mbps connection). What I did was I changed the DNS from my ISP (Time Warner Cable's Road Runner) to Level3's DNS which is 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2 in the AirPort Extremes settings. After doing that I was downloading really fast. I tried this with OpenDNS but I still got a very slow connection with my PS3. I hope this helps with everyone's PS3 problems it annoyed me so much

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Answer 15

Jun 7, 2009 9:54 AM in response to Dasutin

Hi Guy's - could your problems with PS3 and airport extreme have anything to do with firmware 7.4.1 This firmware has caused many of us headaches. Simply reverting to firmware 7.3.2 solves the problem as a temporary fix until Apple comes up with the firmware fix that is way overdue.

Go to http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1930775&tstart=0 for more info.

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