[drphoto]

My cable internet connection has become painfully slow of late. Not much better than dial up.(checked by CNET speedtest) This is a big problem as I have a job where I have to connect to a remote server via vpn/telnet. The interface runs so slowly as to be nearly useless.

I've run the utilities I have on hand, Onyx and IceClean, and nothing works. I can't find my DiskWarrior disk to run that, but the disk appear ok.

I've got a dual G5 2 ghz machine w/ 3 gig or RAM. It's been rocket fast in the past. This is something that's been going on for the past 4-5 days.

Should I contact my ISP?

thanks

[WGH]

I get accurate results with Speedtest.net http://www.speedtest.net/, then have a friend with a PC use Speedtest. Is there a difference?

Get your PC friend to go to Karenware http://www.karenware.com/ then download and install her LAN Monitor to see who else is connected. It could be a teenage neighbor found your unsecured wireless connection and been using bittorrent to download porno for the last 5 days.

Wayne

[Crimson]

dr,

Wired or wireless? have you tried connecting with a different machine? I've had routers and switches go south on me in the past where connection speeds were drastically reduced (as opposed to just not working).

[drphoto]

Wireless. Airport Extreme (the flying saucer version) Connection is password protected, at least it is now, but enabling security didn't solve the problem.

[TomS]

Have you tried running Speedtest without the VPN and any proxies turned off just to baseline what you get?  Also, does it vary depending on times of day?

[WGH]

Can you run an ethernet cable from the cable box to the computer taking the airport out of the loop?

Whenever I have connection problems I always start with the simplest connection first then start adding routers and access points.

Wayne

[Doublej]

Can you run an ethernet cable from the cable box to the computer taking the airport out of the loop?

Whenever I have connection problems I always start with the simplest connection first then start adding routers and access points.

Wayne

If you call the cable company they typically make you do this anyway but before doing so you can trying changing the wireless frequency on the router to see if it is an issue of interference.

[drphoto]

I restarted the modem, router and computer and that helped. I've done this when thing didn't work at all, but never really thought about it for slow speeds. There's still something not quite right, but I can at least get my work done now.

[WGH]

Sounds like you are slowly sneaking up on the problem.

This weekend I had to re-do a friends wireless network with a new router and DSL modem. She also uses a Mac and when I checked internet speed with Speedtest.net her download speed was .34 Mb/s instead of the 7 Mb/s she was paying for. I plugged my laptop (Windows Vista) directly into the modem and still got the low speed. On a hunch I changed out the jack on the wall and everything was fast again. Looks like a poor connection can really slow things down.

Wayne

[drphoto]

Ok, I figured it out. It's the Airport Extreme router. I tried resetting it, but that didn't help. So I guess I need to replace it. Anyone using a 3rd party wireless router that works well?

The Apple unit is pretty dammed pricey at $180.

I would have suspected the router if it did not work at all. I assumed they were 'all or none'. I never thought they would just slow down. Any guess as to why?

Thanks guys!

[WGH]

The Linksys WRT54GL are great as a broadband router. My friend uses two WAP54G Access Points with her Mac so the entire house and attached B&B has wireless connectivity. You may consider going with a wireless-n router if you plan to stream video.

Linksys also has great Ask Linksys help pages.
http://www6.nohold.net/Cisco/ukp.aspx?pid=9&vw=1&docid=4da24a60bfc84fe9ad65ce672b4b8b52_kb3686_en_070208_v1.xml

[drphoto]

Well, I screwed up and got the wrong Linksys model, so I ran out and got a new Airport Extreme base station. (I have to have access to do my online pharmacy job)

I tell the guy I'm running 10.4.9 and he says well, be sure to update to 10.4.11. Ok.

I get home and whip out the install disk and it tells me I have to be running at least 10.5.7!

Damnit! Now I need a new OS? and one that's not even shown on the Apple website anymore?

Can I get this one to work w/ the old airport software? I'm afraid of taking anything offline at this point, as I've got the old one working reasonably well now.

Thanks again.

[Crimson]

Don't feel bad. I once told a friend to pick up a hub/switch to attach to his cable modem so that he could connect multiple machines.

[Tucko]

Try runing some anti-spyware programs.  You probaly have a bunch junk hogging up your computer memory. CNET.com has a lot of usful software that you can download to help out.

[drphoto]

In case anyone care....might be helpful to someone else w/ problems, I suppose. The store graciously took back the Airport Extreme, and that had a refurbed last gen Time Capsule which cost me $20 extra. So for $200 I get 802.11n plus a terabyte backup drive! Woohoo! Other than the stupid mistake on the Linksys, I feel like I got a pretty good deal.

Internet rocks now. I didn't even have to configure the new router. I just plugged it in and the computer connected automatically.