Internet/wifi connection very slow and irregular after update to Big Sur 11.4

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Level 2

244 points

Internet/wifi connection very slow and irregular after update to Big Sur 11.4

Big Sur 11.4 (Safari 14.1.1) running on a 2015 12" MacBook.

At home on my home network, with a fiber-optic modem and strong wifi signal.

Up to this morning, prior to upgrading to Big Sur 11.4 (previously running 11.2), the wifi signal was strong, the connection was good, and Internet speeds were fast.

After upgrading to 11.4, everything about the computer is the same -- all the same settings, network, signal, etc. -- but now the connection to the Internet is extremely slow and balky. I am successfully logged in to and connected to my home wifi network, but something is wrong with the Internet connection, and it seems to have to do with the upgrade to 11.4.

Specifically what happens is this: The first time I attempt to log in to any web site, there is an extremely long delay, while Safari "thinks" about it. Eventually, if I wait about 4 or 5 minutes, it will finally connect to the web site. Then it will load quickly, as normal. Subsequently, any attempt to go to that same URL will be improved -- the wait time for it to load will range from 0 seconds (like normal) up to maybe 45 seconds at most.

But this is very frustrating, needless to say, because I'm always going to new and different web sites, so each time I have to wait 5 minutes just for the page to load.

But the problem is much worse and more complicated with some web sites that require a password or log in to access my account -- because the internal login referral page also requires a 4 or 5-minute delay/wait -- so it's 5 minutes for the original front page to load, then type in the password, and 5 more minutes to send the password. Even worse (and this is the real problem), many websites have an automatic time-out or automatic logout feature, so that I'm unable to ever even log in, because the 5-minute delay is longer than the code's maximum wait time, so I get timed out before the password is even sent.

The even happened right here on the Apple Discussion forums web site -- took me multiple attempts, and over half an hour of waiting and retrying, for me to get the password sent before being timed-out by the system.

After similar frustrations trying to get the Ookla "Speedtest' site to load, I finally got it to work, and it says (now that I'm "in" to that site) that my Internet speeds are fast/normal: 30 Mbps download time, 50 Mbps upload time, which is basically the same as what it was before the OS upgrade. So the connection itself is fine.

As far as I can tell, however, some sort of system problem with "permissions" or something like that seems to be interfering with my internet connection.

And the real problem happens with programs that aren't Safari. for example, when I try to do "Software Update" in "System Preferences," it now thinks and thinks for 4 minutes and then gives me an error message saying "Unable to check for updates. Make sure you are connected to the Internet."

Similarly, I can't use the iMessages app, because it apparently doesn't have the "patience" to wait for a connection -- no text messages get through, sending or receiving.

Etc. etc., with any program that requires an Internet connection.

What is going on? And how can it be fixed?

Posted on Jul 11, 2021 2:38 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

James Brickley

Level 5

4,636 points

Jul 11, 2021 2:59 PM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

Sounds like DNS (Domain Name Services) problem. Go to System Preferences -> Network -> highlight Wi-Fi -> Click Advanced -> Click on DNS tab at the top. Click the + and add 1.1.1.1 as your DNS server. There's likely something displayed that is greyed out supplied by your router. Entering the manual entry for 1.1.1.1 will make your DNS server the CloudFlare one. Click OK and Apply. It should make an immediate difference.

If that doesn't instantly fix it. I would reboot into Safe Mode. Shutdown fully so the Mac is OFF then hold Shift while powering on and keep holding Shift until you reach a login. Let go, login then immediately start holding Shift until you reach the desktop. If your Mac is encrypted with FileVault2 you will see a second login prompt, just rinse and repeat. Once you get to the desktop, let go of Shift and then give it a min or so to finish loaded. Then shutdown fully again. Boot normally.

Safe Mode clears caches and runs some disk maintenance among other things and it can frequently solve bizarre issues especially after an upgrade.

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Answer 2

Tuffy Nicolas Author

Level 2

244 points

Jul 14, 2021 3:44 PM in response to James Brickley

Update:

I ran EtreCheck as you suggested, but it basically found no problems that could in any way be related to this question (zero "Major Problems" and just of couple of irrelevant "Minor Problems").

On a whim/hunch, I decided to "uninstall" a program called Little Snitch which I had downloaded but never launched, because it was just a demo version. Then I restarted twice, then waited 24 hours. And after all that -- the problem was gone!

I don't really know what solved it -- just waiting for a while, or removing Little Snitch, or restarting multiple times, or running Etrecheck, or some combination of the above -- but whatever the problem was, it's gone now, for whatever reason.

Thanks for giving suggestions, for which I am clicking on the "Helpful" button.

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Answer 3

Tuffy Nicolas Author

Level 2

244 points

Jul 12, 2021 10:31 AM in response to James Brickley

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried both of them, following your instructions exactly, and...unfortunately neither one improved the problem.

First, I changed the DNA server per your instructions, to 1.1.1.1 . Not only did that not solve the problem, it actually sent me back to square one, because all the websites that I had previously visited and thus had previously been "remembered" and thus had been connecting faster now were all "forgotten" again, and I had to wait 5 minutes for each of them to load once again, as if I was starting from scratch. Oh well.

Then, I restarted in Safe Mode exactly following your helpful step-by-step instructions, then another restart back to normal mode, but once again -- nothing. No change. Still the same endless delays.

In fact, the reason it has taken me 19 hours to reply is that I have been completely unable to log back in to the Apple site after rebooting in Safe Mode and then rebooting back again into normal mode. As had happened originally, the code on the Apple sign-in page times me out before my password gets sent, and so I had to keep trying over and over and over until finally just now I somehow was not timed out and was allowed to log in successfully, after a day of trying.

So -- any other suggestions? Anyone? Really frustrating and mysterious. Still don't know what to do.

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Answer 4

Jul 12, 2021 10:59 AM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

Re-install Big Sur on top of your existing installation and if that doesn't fix it. Ensure you have a backup and then perform another installation from scratch erasing the internal disk completely and then restoring your data from backup.

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Answer 5

Tuffy Nicolas Author

Level 2

244 points

Jul 12, 2021 11:26 AM in response to James Brickley

Yikes. That seems like a really extreme attempt at a solution. I really really would like to avoid having to erase the entire internal disk and restore from backup -- the few times I've ever done that (in the distant past) it has caused all sorts of other minor (and not-so-minor) issues and new problems unrelated to the original problem -- applications that lose their registrations, passwords being forgotten, settings getting reset to defaults, "virtual machine" environments that have to be re-installed from scratch, etc. etc., all combined that can take weeks and weeks to restore back to normal.

Are there any other less-apocalyptic steps I could attempt before deleting all data on my entire hard drive?

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Answer 6

Jul 12, 2021 3:22 PM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

Install EtreCheck and grant it Full Disk Access via System Preferences -> Security -> Privacy and run a scan and attach the report as additional text in a reply. You could have malware / adware or other broken software that is killing your network on this Mac.

You could also create a test user account and see if you have the same problem with the test user account.

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Answer 7

Jul 14, 2021 9:10 PM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

EtreCheck would have revealed Little Snitch being loaded. It doesn't surprise me that Little Snitch caused the problem. But we had no way of knowing you had it installed without the EtreCheck report.

Little Snitch is a firewall that is much more sophisticated than the built-in Application Firewall and it can block incoming but also outgoing connections and notify you of the outgoing connections and prompting you to block or allow them. In today's environment of cloud and SaaS (Software as a Service) many companies are using 3rd parties behind the scenes. Modern websites make several dozen connections outside the primary website. They load JavaScript from Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) as well as static images. They run trackers and advertising, etc. They might host portions of their site on AWS (Amazon Web Services), Azure, Google Cloud, etc. Heck, even iCloud is heavily outsourced to these vendors. Apple can't build data centers fast enough to handle all the users around the world. All the iCloud data is heavily encrypted and your privacy protected. In a high security corporate IT environment we run across things being blocked by the company firewalls all the time.

Happy you identified the root cause and were able to remediate the problem and thank you for posting the root cause so others may benefit.

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Answer 8

Tuffy Nicolas Author

Level 2

244 points

Jul 12, 2021 10:32 AM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

"DNA server" was a typo -- I meant DNS server.

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Internet/wifi connection very slow and irregular after update to Big Sur 11.4

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