Gigabit internet, download is slower than upload on all ethernet connected Macs in the house (windows PCs are fine)

I recently got installed Gigabit Fiber optic internet (woohoo).

The tech came and we tested the speed. He was getting ~900 Mbps Down and UP on his windows laptop.

I have 3 Macs at home:

- Mac Pro 2010 - cabled directly to the modem with Cat 5e over 1Gbps ethernet

- Mac Mini 2012 - cabled directly to the modem with Cat 5e over 1Gbps ethernet

- Macbook Pro Touch Bar 2016 - using usb-c to ethernet adapter cabled directly to the modem with Cat 5e over 1Gbps ethernet

My wife has a Windows 10 PC (Dell XPS 13), and we are using the same usb-c dongle to connect the Dell to the modem than with the macbook. Strictly the same connection mechanism all around.

On the windows laptop I consistently get ~900 Mbps Down and ~900 Mbps Up.

On *any* of the Macs I get the full ~900 Mbps uploads, but never more than ~350 Mbps in download speed.

I don't get it. Tried playing with the MTU size, etc. Nothing changes, the Mac download is always about a third of what it should be.

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016, 4 TBT3), macOS High Sierra (10.13.5)

Posted on Jun 8, 2018 8:51 PM

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33 replies

AlexPonsin Author

Level 1

14 points

Jun 18, 2018 9:10 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Yes I do.

And dropbox or adobe are not even installed on my macmini

AlexPonsin Author

Level 1

14 points

Jun 18, 2018 9:58 AM in response to AlexPonsin

Same results in safe mode... no better 😟

glen230

Level 1

10 points

Jun 11, 2018 12:42 PM in response to AlexPonsin

Hi Alex,

I too had very slow download speeds with my MacBook Pro. I have 250 Mb/s service. Wifi works fine. When I use an adapter from apple or Kanex ( KU3CBGT), I only get about a third of rated speed (80 or so Mb/s). After long troubleshooting with S/W I tried one of the "hub" adapters that runs USB-C to RJ-45 (ethernet ). Voila ! Consistent 260Mb/s over ethernet. My old Windows 7 machine always did 250Mb/s on ethernet with all the same equipment - just like your situation. FWIW, I bought a J5create model JCA374 from Office Depot for about $75 which has ended my troubles. My MacBook Pro is also late 2016, i7, 16GB ram and 500GB SSD. I bought it new from Apple.

I hope this helps, believe me, I understand your frustration!!
Glen

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Gigabit internet, download is slower than upload on all ethernet connected Macs in the house (windows PCs are fine)