Throughput Speed for Macs: Airport Extreme vs. DLink DIR-655

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Throughput Speed for Macs: Airport Extreme vs. DLink DIR-655

I've been using a DLink DIR 655 wireless router for about 2 years with great results for all my PCs. As I started adding Macs to the network I found that they didn't perform as well with the router as did the PCs.

The primary symptom is when loading web pages - they often tend to get "stuck" halfway through the page load (Safari blue bar stays at midpoint). Note that this performance issue is for both wireless and wired network connections. I never notice this on the PCs.

Is there a specific setting that is required on a router to make it more Mac friendly and speed up these page loads on my Macs? Would I notice an improvement by going with the new Airport Extreme?

Any thoughts?

2009 MBP 17, Mac OS X (10.5.6), MBP17 2.93Ghz 256MB SSD, MB Air, 2 iMacs, and a Mini

Posted on Mar 1, 2009 5:34 PM

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Answer 1

rkaufmann87

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140,796 points

Mar 1, 2009 8:13 PM in response to Terry Tigner

I had a similar situation when I first got my iMac, I updated my DNS settings by adding

208.67.222.222 and
208.67.220.220

How you do this is: System Preferences, Network, make sure Airport is highlighted on left side, click Advanced, Click DNS tab and using the plus sign on the left add the 2 DNS settings and then try surfing.

Regards,
Roger

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Answer 2

Terry Tigner Author

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Mar 1, 2009 10:00 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Roger,

Thanks for the reply. Very interesting. I hope this resolves the issue. It feels like this might have already helped. I need to observe for a little to see. But I am hopeful.

I did a little poking around with the DNS numbers you provided and learned a bit about the OpenDNS services. Their web also shows how to set it up for various OS's as well as at the router level: http://www.opendns.com/ (In case anyone else is reading this.)

Also, here is a link to a review of OpenDNS by PCMag and nice video review by Robert Heron on DL.TV.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2163030,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2277176,00.asp

Again, thanks so much for sending this over. If this resolves the issue it will be a big deal: solving a minor mystery bugging me for a while and also some dollars on a new router.

Much appreciated.

Terry

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

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140,796 points

Mar 1, 2009 10:28 PM in response to Terry Tigner

If it works the results would be immediate. Just let us know once you're sure one way or the other. I'm keeping my fingers X'd for you.

Regards,
Roger

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Answer 4

Terry Tigner Author

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Mar 10, 2009 9:55 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Roger,

Ok, I've been testing the OpenDNS IP addresses for a while now and I think that it has resolved my problems.

Thanks again for responding to this question!

Regards,

Terry

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Answer 5

Terry Tigner Author

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Mar 10, 2009 9:56 AM in response to Terry Tigner

Roger answered this question and I believe the issue is resolved. Thank you !

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Answer 6

rkaufmann87

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140,796 points

Mar 10, 2009 9:59 AM in response to Terry Tigner

That's great and thanks for the star!

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