My iMac WiFi is extremely slow!!! Help me fix

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My iMac WiFi is extremely slow!!! Help me fix

I have tried so many things to get my WiFi to run faster than what it is now, It's physically making me impatient. I have done a internet speedtest from the mac and the results are -

Ping - 51ms

Download speed - 0.09mbps

Upload speed - 0.49mbps

I even made a youtube video on what is actually happening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjd5k817hn4

What I don't understand is, Why is my macs WiFi so terrible? It's fully connected to the internet.

I have updated the mac and it didn't seem to change in its perfomance.

The iMac is new and it runs everything nice, just the internet is slow as anything.

Now, Let me compare the results to my pc.

Ping - 50ms

Download speed - 3.66 mb/s

Upload speed - 0.778 mb/s

And now my ipad -

Download speed 3.21 mb/s

Upload speed 0.686 mb/s

All these tests were done when there was only ONE device connected to the internet.

Please, Help me fix my problem! I can't even load apples website without waiting 20 minutes!

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), WiFi Problem help me!

Posted on Dec 27, 2012 12:01 PM

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Answer 1

WZZZ

Level 6

13,220 points

Dec 27, 2012 12:21 PM in response to StanCooper

Option-click on the Airport icon in the Menubar. What's the Transmit Rate and RSSI?

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Answer 2

StanCooper Author

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Dec 27, 2012 12:34 PM in response to WZZZ

I only have one place where Airport is located, That's in the utilities folder in my apps. I keep seeing people with airport as a connection option. but I only have Wi-Fi and ethernet

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Answer 3

WZZZ

Level 6

13,220 points

Dec 27, 2012 12:46 PM in response to StanCooper

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10681

But don't know if option-clicking on anything there produces what I can see in Snow Leopard. Don't use ML, so don't know what this looks like.

You could also get the demo of AirRadar, which should show you these details and more.

http://www.koingosw.com/products/airradar.php

Or completely free iStumbler

http://www.istumbler.net/

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Answer 4

WZZZ

Level 6

13,220 points

Dec 27, 2012 12:56 PM in response to WZZZ

And is this something new? Speed had been OK until now? Have you changed either the location of the wireless router or the affected Mac? Is there a microwave oven nearby or a cordless phone?

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Answer 5

StanCooper Author

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Dec 27, 2012 1:18 PM in response to WZZZ

Been like that since the start, It's a new iMac which I got two days ago. No nothing is around the mac which will interupt with the WiFi, I don't know what to do to boost the connection speed. :/

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Answer 6

WZZZ

Level 6

13,220 points

Dec 27, 2012 1:29 PM in response to StanCooper

Two possibilities: one, the Airport card is defective. The other, it's too far away from the router and can't pick up a decent signal.

If we knew the Transmit Rate was very poor, that might explain the second possibility. If you've followed the steps in the first link I gave, how many bars are showing?

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Answer 7

StanCooper Author

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Dec 27, 2012 1:32 PM in response to WZZZ

All bars show, Yes I have tried those steps and there was no change in the connection. I personally don't think anything is broke as it was freshly open out of the box.

I think it's something to do with the updates, I don't know why but that's what comes in my head...

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Answer 8

WZZZ

Level 6

13,220 points

Dec 27, 2012 5:51 PM in response to StanCooper

Well, don't know. If you're getting all bars, you're getting a good signal from the router. The trouble has to be between the router and the Internet or with your ISP. But you said your other devices get good speeds. Might be something intrinsic to Mountain Lion which I don't know about. Assuming you're using Safari, how about trying a different browser like Firefox and see if it makes any difference.

http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

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Answer 9

WZZZ

Level 6

13,220 points

Dec 27, 2012 6:36 PM in response to WZZZ

Yeah, also try updating to the most recent ML. I'm seeing complaints about slow Internet for the early releases.

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Answer 10

eduaed999

Level 1

135 points

Dec 27, 2012 6:49 PM in response to StanCooper

At the top right bar you see the Wifi option with some bars (where you clicked on in your video). Hold Option+ click on it it will show you signal strength and connection speed.

Post it.

We might be able to tell you more then.

What router are you using? What network speed has the router? What security protocol? Did you update the firmware of the router to the latest?

One thing you can try is opening network preferences and delete the network you are on and then re-join the WIFI.

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Answer 11

WZZZ

Level 6

13,220 points

Dec 27, 2012 7:51 PM in response to eduaed999

One thing you can try is opening network preferences and delete the network you are on and then re-join the WIFI.

Not so fast. Doing that will require redoing the location in Network. He's getting all bars, so knowing the Transmit Rate isn't terribly important.

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Answer 12

Jan 2, 2013 10:50 PM in response to StanCooper

Got exactly the SAME issue, with same different speeds on iMac vs iPhone or MacAir. It has probably somenthing to do with ML. Still waiting some miracle. Did you get any good correction StanCooper? Thanks, Atul.

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Answer 13

StanCooper Author

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Jan 3, 2013 10:29 AM in response to atultaneja

I spoke to apple yesterday and they run me through a few simple steps.

First I removed all my cables which powers my iMac and I then left the cables unplugged for 15 seconds, After the 15 seconds I reconnected the cables and waited 5 seconds before switch on.

Now, I was instructed to press the following keys.

cmd , alt , R , P

I hold those keys as my mac switches on and you have to keep hold of them until you hear the macs power up sounds twice. Once you hear it twice, let go of the keys you held down whilst you turned on your iMac. I then got told to skip the options what were given to me in the start of turning on the mac, Kind of like factory settings.

I was then told to change my DNS to 8.8.8.8 and save.

Once the DNS was changed I had no improvement in my internet speed what so ever. Now, I was then told to make a test account (login) which had no programs installed the the login. No change again...

The problem is NOT the iMac, It's the router. Because of my router being old'sh and so on, My mac isn't getting the right internet speeds because the firmwire is not up to date with the iMac.

As I spoke to my internet provider Orange or EE (whatever they call themselves now) They said lots of mac and apple users always seem to have problems with old routers. So they're sending me a new one.

My garunteed fix is for the new internet modem to make my connection problems go away.

So guys, if anyone is having the same problem as me, Ring your internet provider BEFORE you ring apple. It will save you time as you have to wait a few days for apple to ring your mobile/phone.

Thank you!

Stan

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Answer 14

WZZZ

Level 6

13,220 points

Jan 3, 2013 11:19 AM in response to StanCooper

I hope a new router will be the fix, but I wasn't going to suggest anything to do with the router, since you said your other devices using WIFI are getting good Internet speeds. That makes me think this has nothing to do with the router. But please keep us posted on the outcome.

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Answer 15

Arcendus

Level 1

12 points

Jan 5, 2013 6:37 PM in response to StanCooper

Same issue here, only get this: when my iMac is connected to my WiFi network, all other devices connected to the network slow to a crawl. I wasn't aware of this until a member of my family complained, and as soon as my iMac was put to sleep the connection resumed at it's normal, speedy self.

MacBook Pro runs just fine when my iMac is off or asleep, and it's normally located in the exact same spot as my iMac.

I'll be keeping an eye here to see if anyone finds a solution... as of now I'm considering returning this and going back to a PC, as I never had connectivity issues with my 6 year old desktop that's now sitting in my closet.

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