Slow download speeds on older MacBook Pro

Hold down the Option key while you click on the Wi-Fi Icon on the menubar. You get a snapshot snapshot of operating parameters (when you have a connection). Screenshot, photograph, or transcribe the values your see, like this older one:

...

if you are behind a Router you control, you do not the the Firewall in individual computers, because the Router, with its built-in network address translation, acts as your agent on the internet, and your computer is not directly exposed to unsolicited internet traffic.

Consider downloading and running this little "discovery" utility, Etrecheck. It changes NOTHING. Etrecheck was developed by senior contributor here, and uses system calls to collect often-needed information.

it contains little tests for speeds of devices, CPU utilization, memory usage, energy usage and a digest of recent problems, in one easy to use package. it does not even need to be Installed. Because less can be learned when your Mac is running great, best time to run is when your problems are actually occurring, if possible.

if you follow the directions faithfully, its report (pre-laundered of all personally-identifiable information) can be "Shared" to the System ClipBoard, then Pasted into an ‘Additional Text’ window in a reply on the forums.

Use Etrecheck pro for free:

http://Etrecheck.com

...

you have made a connection on channel 44 in the 5 GHz band with strong signal at -36 indicting you are very close to your Router, and noise at a very low -93. you have made the faster possible connection there using three antennas at the highest modulation speed possible to attain 1300 M bits/sec.

It's not Wifi that is slowing your download speeds.

By far the easiest way to cause poor performance, instability, overheating and crashing is to install ANY third-party speeder-uppers, Cleaners, Optimizers, or Virus scanners, Bit Torrent, or a VPN that you installed yourself. The main reason is that they are relentless in scanning your files, non-stop, looking for virus-like patterns in Everything, or looking for files that have changed. When completed, they do it all again.

do you have any of those installed?

If the report contained important details use usernames, passwords, serial numbers, or similar information, it might be cause for concern.

Etrecheck was developed by a senior contributor here, and works in close co-operation with Apple's requirements that stuff posted here not have personally-identifiable information included. Even the drive-names have been anonymized in the post-able report.

Readers are ready, willing, and able to help if you decide to post your report. The decision is yours, of course.

When you post your report (pre-sanitized of ALL personally-identifiable information), Readers can look it over and possibly make additional suggestions about how to improve your internet speeds and speed in general. With multiple Readers, sometimes subtle problems that might be missed by one reader are seen by others.