How do I fix super slow internet - all browsers are affected

Question

How do I fix super slow internet - all browsers are affected

There is some problem with internet connectivity with my MacBook Pro, but I cannot figure out how to resolve it. Speedtest.net is measuring my internet speed at download speeds of 0.88MBps and upload of .84Mbps. Other devices utilizing the same router also via wifi (my husband's MacBook Pro for example) are running at 4.08MBps down and 0.86MBps up.

I've tried many things, but I must be missing something and do not understand what is causing the problem. Please let me know what I need to do to resolved this.

Symptoms are occurring across multiple browsers (see list below), and I also tried the iTunes store and it was also extremely slow to load.

Safari 7.1.3

Chrome Version 40.0.2214.111 (64-bit)

Firefox 34.0.5

and iTunes 12.xx

Mail program also exhibits a lack of getting and downloading new email that I know if should download, because it shows up on our iPhone. Attachments in Mail have also sometimes been blank with zero bytes, but if I restart Mail, sometimes those attachment then have data in them.

The Mail problem seems to be possibly intermittent, but the internet browser speed is really a significant and consistent problem.

I have:

Restarted our router. (no improvement)

Verified permissions. (no improvement)

Repaired permissions. (no improvement)

Verified disk (it's okay). (no improvement)

Safari>Preferences>Privacy>Remove All Website Data. (no improvement)

Safari>Advanced>Stop plug-ins to save power changed to "unchecked" (no improvement)

Reset Safari (no improvement)

Quit and Restarted Safari

Firefox>History>Clear History (Browsing&Download, Cookies, Cache, Active Logins)

Quit and Restarted Firefox

Chrome>Clear browsing data

Quit and Restarted Chrome

Restarted the computer multiple times. (no improvements)

Shut down computer, System Management Controller - SMC and Reset P-RAM. After restarting after this last bit, speedtest.net clocked in a 4MBps when I first launched Safari, but 2 minutes later, it was slow again at 0.93MBps.

System Preferences>Network

Wi-Fi is "Connected"

In "Advanced" -

Wi-Fi: my Network Name is at the top of the list. "Remember networks which computer has joined" is checked.

TCP/IP: Configure IPv4 "Using DHCP"

DNS Servers: 192.168.1.254 Search Domains: Home. There is only one in the list.

Proxies: No boxes checked. "Bypass proxy setting for these Hosts & Domains: "*.local, 169.254/16" "Use Passive FTP Mode (PASV)" is Checked.

Hardware: Configure: Automatically.

Please let me know any thoughts on troubleshooting and thanks!

15" MacBook Pro 2.8 GHz, late 2009 model running OS 10.9.5. Software Update - everything is up to date. Including the Security Update 2015-001. Internet was slow before this last update as well.

OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), iPod Touch 3rd gen. 64GB(late 2009)

Posted on Feb 11, 2015 3:00 PM

Reply

Answer 1

notcloudy

Level 4

1,252 points

Feb 11, 2015 3:09 PM in response to Tara Hollander

Safari may be slow because it is updating Top Sites -- review your tops sites and delete any you do not want refreshed. If you don't use top sites keep an eye on them as safari may re add them.

Are you sharing your devices? Podcasts? refreshing automatically?

Check the Activity monitor (Utilities Menu) to see what is running when you reboot (assuming you are set up to allow the mac to automatically connect to the internet when it wants to).

Reply

Answer 2

Feb 11, 2015 3:10 PM in response to Tara Hollander

Here's some more information. We have a router issued by the phone company -- Smart RG Model SR300N

Reply

Answer 3

Feb 11, 2015 3:36 PM in response to notcloudy

Safari is not the only browser that's slow. Will Safari slow down other browsers even if Safari is not running? Right now I'm using Chrome after restarting and it remains very slow.

Nonetheless, in Safari:

In "Top Sites" of a new tab, I held down the Option key and clicked the "x" for every single top site so that the list is empty. No change noticed. I also emptied the folder for cache website previews in the library folder, but that has made no noticeable change after restarting.

What do you mean by "sharing your devices?" Do you mean a network? I don't have any podcasts, I don't know what you mean by this? I also don't understand refreshing automatically? I'm not running iTunes right now.

I have taken a screen shot of Activity Monitor after restarting and this is what shows for CPU. What data specifically are you looking to analyze in Activity Monitor?

Reply

Answer 4

Feb 11, 2015 3:48 PM in response to Tara Hollander

I have turned off Wi-Fi and connected an ethernet cable from my MacBook Pro directly to the router and now, Safari and Chrome seem to be working faster. Speedtest.net is clocking in at

It's still slower than my husband's computer but much faster than with Wifi.

Why is my wifi slow?

I still see this problem as unresolved, but hopefully knowing this data will help guide the answer that will help me understand how to fix this.

Thanks!

Reply

Answer 5

notcloudy

Level 4

1,252 points

Feb 12, 2015 6:33 AM in response to Tara Hollander

Refreshing automatically means every-time you open Safari it goes out to top sites to get those current pages.

If one or more of the top sites are RSS feeds it also updates those.

If you have top sites refreshed in Mail - the latest feed is retrieved when you open mail.

Found this out when I Safari was slowing down - RSS feeds are in Users/youname/Library/PubSub

Took awhile to clear it out - but it worked.

If you purchased Podcasts through ITUNES (or movies, or tvshows) ITUNES will pick them up (think Itunes has to be open).

If you keep Apple Email - and want it synchronized with the server (apple) and kept on the server - that can also slow connection.

Don't have Wi-Fi so only speculation - is it secure or are the neighbors using it -- and is your husband set up for priority.

On Activity - Network button may give better info - on what is going on.

Reply

Answer 6

Jan 16, 2016 10:48 PM in response to Tara Hollander

Did you ever get your problem solved. I am having the same issue and have done all of the samething with nothing changing

Reply