Very Slow internet on new 27.5" iMac with all updates

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Level 1

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Very Slow internet on new 27.5" iMac with all updates

I'm not sure when this problem started but I'm pretty sure my wireless internet speed was perfect when I got the mac (December 2009) but I started noticing recently that Youtube was slow, as were my usual news sites which were normally pretty fast - suddenly I was waiting like when I had dial up. I thought it might be router but the other housemate says his internet is fine.

So I tested my EEE-PC and then my iMac with speedtest.net and imagine my shock:

£300 EEE-PC:
Download: 8.84Mb/s
Upload: 0.26Mbs/s
Ping: 51

£2,300 iMac:
Download: 2.66Mb/s
Upload: 0.5Mbs/s
Ping: 50

Exactly the same browser (Firefox 3.6), router, time etc. except one is running XP and one OSX 10.6.2. (I also tried Safari - no dice same result)

Now I've been searching on the net for a solution and I can tell you that none of the usual suggestions have worked, I've tried:

1. Starting in Safemode - no good because it does not load Airport.
2. Repairing Disk Permissions (this made a marginal but consistent improvement).
3. Clearing the cache of both browsers - no difference
4. Inserting OpenDNS DNS settings under Network setting - no difference
5. Turning off the firewall - no difference (possibly slower)

I have not tried finding out and filling in my service provider (Sky)'s fixed IP and DNS etc. as I fail to see why I should be fiddling with those settings when the netbook works perfectly fine with everything set to automatic.

So now I am trying to figure out why my otherwise beautiful mac is running internet speeds 3x slower than a cheap high street netbook and whether the problem is simple setting change or a hardware issue. Its killing me!

I'm not confident that an easy solution lies around the corner but perhaps someone can see what I have tried and may have another suggestion.

Some other info you may want to know:
Sky 10Mb/s Line
Sky router
Intel i7 8Gb RAM
Purely wireless - router downstairs (both netbook and mac in same room)

Thanks very much.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.2), I use both iMac and PC at home

Posted on Jan 25, 2010 2:12 PM

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Answer 1

Ed.miya.

Level 1

30 points

Feb 4, 2010 2:54 AM in response to Aapie

Thanks to the new imac aluminum case , it make the wireless signal poor , i can say that because my plastic iBooks has better reception when compared with my MacBookPro.

About You Tube the flash player plug in for mac has several bugs.

Another possibility is the iMac's Wi-FI card is built for a "n" type it is compatible with b and g but not made for that your actual sky Router and the EEE-Pc both operates in the "b and g" the compatibility is better there, if you do the same test with a "n" based wireless router but compatible with "b" and "g" probably your imac will be faster , the new standard is the "n" .

I have no knowledge on this side , but i don't think is nothing wrong with your iMac , and i recommend to you to turn on the firewall .

If you like do the same task with a wired network the results will be similarly , because of the ports configuration the EEE-Pc could be a little faster but not that much ... or the mac could be faster , has a lot of factors to consider like the internet provider protocol and others .....

The "b" "g" "n" are wi-fi transference protocols the (hardware is different) in simple words ....

Ed

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Answer 2

Feb 4, 2010 3:58 AM in response to Aapie

Hello,

I have the i5 27,5 inch iMac with the same **** problem. My 6 year old laptop has 15mbps, my Imac nearly gets 3!!! Same room, same network.
I especially bought this expensive N-router from apple, the airport extreme, no difference at all!

My Imac also has this bad connection when running in windows XP (Bootcamp) So I am afraid it is hardware.

I am going to call Apple again this evening. If any one has a solution I would like to know.

Roy

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Answer 3

Feb 4, 2010 4:12 AM in response to Roy 27inch

OW, forgot to say that I have all stripes in connection, so the connection to the router is good!! only the connection is slow.

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Answer 4

cjo85

Level 1

8 points

Feb 8, 2010 10:54 AM in response to Aapie

When I called Apple about this they suggested I update the firmware for my router which solved the problem for about two weeks. My piece of crap HP is getting 13mbps while my nice new 27" iMac can't even pull 1mbps. Come on Apple, what happened to producing superior machines?

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Answer 5

Aapie Author

Level 1

0 points

Feb 8, 2010 12:34 PM in response to Aapie

I gave up eventually and cabled my iMac. Now it runs at full tilt and I can barely believe just how fast the net is. This is not the solution for everyone and this wireless problem is basically unforgivable on such expensive and otherwise superior machines. Come on Apple, come up with a solution.

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Answer 6

Feb 9, 2010 5:48 PM in response to Aapie

Yep mine too is major slow on WIFI and is such a joke all things considered. There is a problem with the Snow Leopard and Wifi as mine was fine before the software update to Leopard. Sad when your expensive pretty Mac gets lapped by a netbook running windoze. I am very unhappy right now.

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Answer 7

atoenne

Level 1

55 points

Feb 10, 2010 3:53 AM in response to Aapie

I had a similar problem with a new Alienware notebook and was stumped for a while.
Please check your wireless speed reading with the activity monitor while downloading a series of larger files. Look out for speed spikes and drops at regular intervals.

What I found out is that I set my wireless router to prefer N-type connections for speed and even though the notebook could in theory work with N-protocol wifi, it would stop and both router and notebook retried setting up the connection over and over again.

The problem went away when I switched the router to G-protocol.
Might be also your problem?

Message was edited by: atoenne

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Answer 8

Feb 14, 2010 1:36 AM in response to Aapie

just something to try! Do you have your iMac near a wall or corner?

I have a router in the hall (5m from my iMac approx in a Dining Room).

When my iMac is in a corner I get max 500-600kbps. If I move my iMac to the dining room table in middle of room I get 10254kbps (which is my max ISP speed). A huge difference by only moving the iMac 2 meters out of a corner!

You guys have the same?

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Answer 9

Hans71

Level 1

0 points

Feb 14, 2010 2:57 AM in response to wrighty208

I Use WPA2 AES encryption instead of WPA2 TKIP. My connection is running at full speed now.

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Answer 10

K31L

Level 1

0 points

Mar 3, 2010 2:32 PM in response to Aapie

** SOLUTION *

I have found the solution, at least for my own machine. I'm using the O2 Wireless III Box and was experiencing the same issue.

I fixed it by changing the security encryption from WPA+WPA2 to just WPA. This boosted my wireless connection from 1.2MB to 12MB instantly. There was a brief disconnect while it reset the settings, when i reconnected it was super fast and a linespeed check confirmed the faster speed.

I hope this helps anyone else having the same issue. If in doubt request your internet service provider change the encryption type, or alternatively do it yourself if you have access. Make sure your iMac wireless encryption type matches that of your amended connection.

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Answer 11

Apr 14, 2010 10:05 PM in response to Aapie

Hi everyone, I found this thread because I was having the same frustrating problem. However, I have found a solution for me I would like to share.

Before - Speedtest.net showed 6.5Mbps with a 1150MS PING!! ugh

So I went into my router (Netgear Wireless-G) Wireless Settings
and changed from encryption from WPA to WPA2 and selected "G only" for the wireless mode.

Then in System Preferences in Mac OSX I clicked on Networks - Airport - Advanced
and under Preferred Networks I edited my wireless settings to reflect the change from WPA to WPA2.

After - 17Mbps with a 26ms ping!!

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Answer 12

Jul 8, 2010 2:52 PM in response to pjizzle85

I was having this problem. Thought it was the router. Moved the new iMac around to face in the direction of the router. Speed jumped from 2 Megs to 18 Megs. So it would seem that the apple logo on the back needs to face (literally) in the direction of the router.

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Answer 13

krike

Level 1

8 points

Jul 25, 2010 4:38 AM in response to vadrefjord

I looked everywhere for solutions but nothing really worked great, my speed was only 0.44 mb/s.

moving the iMac facing the router, like you said, increased the speed to 13.57 mb/s ..... I was stumbed that just turning my mac to the left would fix this...

so a big thank you for the tip 🙂

but I don't understand, does the iMac wireless cart needs to point to a router to get it's signal? that's not really great then

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Answer 14

Aug 16, 2010 4:20 AM in response to K31L

CONFIRMED - this worked for me too, with an O2 Wireless Box III and two misbehaving Macs, both brand new (one Mac mini and a 27" iMac).

My old MacBook was blazing through at 12Mbps on download tests, while the new machines were struggling to get 2-3Mbps on the same test.

Changing the O2 box from "g/n" to "g" solved it straight away. Thanks so much!

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Answer 15

Aug 19, 2010 5:53 PM in response to Aapie

OK so here I am with a wired connection and only getting 1mb to 2mb very sporadic speeds. Any help out there? This isn't good. Everything else on my network windows is getting 20-25 mb's.

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