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Level 1

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A fix for random, slow, intermittent internet problem

My '06 Mac Mini would intermittently pause and hang while loading websites. I mean, slow as molasses. Sometimes it would be slower than dialup, or wouldn't even load pages at all. Other times, the internet worked fine like nothing was wrong. I was puzzles.

I thought it was the cable company. So I swapped the cable modem box. Still had the problem.

I've been scouring the internet, trying to find the answer. I kept finding the same standard responses, such as fix permissions, reinstall the OS, call the Apple Store. Nothing worked.

I'm sure you've double-checked these to no avail:

+Outside wire (cable or DSL). Cable or DSL modem. Ethernet cable from modem to router. The router. Ethernet cord from router to computer. AirPort antenna. PRAM, PMU and SMC. IPv6 off. Different DNS servers. Reinstalling Safari. Clearing the fonts caches. Clearing all caches. Running everything on Onyx. Permissions repair. Fresh installation of Snow Leopard. On different hard drives.+

I tried these. None of these worked. Drove me nuts for months. My roommate's Mac worked fine. I honestly though my computer went bad.

*Then, I finally found the culprit: The automatic MTU!!*
*I couldn't believe it. Such a stupid, basic cause of such a big problem. This is most certainly a BUG.*

*To fix the MTU:*

1. Apple Menu > System Preferences... then Network.

2. On the left, choose Ethernet , then Advanced... on the bottom.

3. Choose Ethernet tab:
. . . Configure: Change from Automatically to MANUALLY.
. . . MTU: Change from Standard to CUSTOM. Put 1452 then click OK. Then Apply at the bottom.

4. Repeat step 3 for all services listed on the left, such as AirPort, Parallels, etc. Press Apply.

5. Turn off your computer, unplug the router, then unplug the cable/DSL modem. Wait 60 seconds, turn on the cable modem (patiently wait for it to come on with full lights active), then the router (wait for its lights, be patient), then your computer.

Voilà!

Mac Mini, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Apr 4, 2010 3:57 PM

38 replies

slimpops

Level 1

0 points

Jun 4, 2010 6:26 AM in response to satcomer

was using airport extreme. found how to change channel in airport utility and this has solved my slow iphone connection probs.

thanks

ronbon

Level 1

0 points

Aug 5, 2010 4:32 PM in response to Jeffrey Schneider1

I'd like to add my two cents ....
I have a dial up connection that with the later Safaries and Snow Leopard is now very slow, connecting itself is iffy. All on a mac Pro. I downloaded the latest Safari and that made it worse. It looks to me like Apple just plain "screwed up". I am writing this on my old trusty G4. Has any one heard of similar speed problems with dial up?
Thanks, Ron

Aug 16, 2010 1:49 AM in response to larrynyc

Thanks so much for posting this. This has driven me crazy with my Mac Mini since I got it in '06 (first wave of the Itel Macs). Same thing with lots of calls to Apple, cable and modem swaps, etc, etc - and meanwhile my Macbook was mostly fine (and my old G4 Powerbook was rock solid). The MTU change does appear to help!

I'm left with one other symptom though; it still does drop off from the wireless signal occasionally (via Airport Extreme) and almost always have to reenter the WPA password despite clicking the 'save password' box every time.

Annoying - though still glad to have it working far better than it was.

Cnathen

Level 1

0 points

Aug 25, 2010 11:06 AM in response to larrynyc

Having same problems since upgrading my machines. Internet is perfectly normal one second and then grinds to a halt the next. It's akin to someone kinking and unkinking a water hose every minute or so. I've tried the MTU suggestion. Nothing. I need a fix for this: driving me insane.

Sep 15, 2010 7:46 AM in response to larrynyc

Many many thanks larryync. Although I have an iMac (10.5.8) not a mini I followed your instructions (I'm afraid I still don't understand them) and two months of absolute misery has ended. What would we do without people like you who take so much time and trouble to help.

smirza

Level 1

11 points

Sep 15, 2010 7:01 PM in response to larrynyc

Changing the MTU didn't do a thing to alleviate my WiFi issues; however, I discovered a solution that does work in another thread here.

Ping your router! Open up a Terminal window and type "ping 192.168.x.x," where "X" is the IP address of your router. Mine is "192.168.0.1." As soon as I set up the Terminal window, my speeds increase dramatically, and my connection does NOT drop at all. This is the only solution I've tried that has worked for more than 24 hours.

I have a brand new Airport Express on the way to my apartment. I'm hoping that new networking software will offer a permanent solution to the issue. My wife is running 10.5.8 on her MacBook and has no issues connecting to our Korean brand router (ipTime). Obviously, we're in Korea, so English-language networking hardware is hard to find.

Please keep a dialogue open about this issue. I'd really like to find a solution to this problem.

Cnathen

Level 1

0 points

Oct 26, 2010 9:14 AM in response to smirza

Thanks for the assistance. I'm trying the "ping" suggestion, but forgive a novice question: do I just leave Terminal open continuously or can I close it at some point? If the latter, does this operation need to be repeated every time I login?

Still, though, any real, long-term fix in sight? I don't have this problem with my iPad or iPod Touch, so that, to me, indicates that the problem lies with Mac OS 10.6.

PRouleau

Level 1

14 points

Nov 14, 2010 7:04 PM in response to larrynyc

Hi Larry,

I have the same frustrating symptoms as all who are complaimning here. I tried your setup but the MTU setting keeps reverting back to "Manually - Standard 1500" regardless of whayt I do. I click OK and APPLY to no avail...

Pierre

A fix for random, slow, intermittent internet problem