Slow MacBook Wireless Speeds? Probably a Software Problem
I was having very strange wireless network problems with my MacBook. All of a sudden, it seemed as though my Airport card had instantly became useless. The internet was dirt slow, it would cut out constantly. The stupid thing couldn’t hold a nice connection over SSH. I cracked, and sent the thing back to Apple. They were very prompt, replaced other things for no reason other than cosmetic (a new keyboard? why thank you Apple!), and of course, I got a shiny new Airport card.
Unfortunately, I still had awful speeds.
I was at my wits end, and contemplated reinstalling. The Linux/Mac guy in me realized this was an admission of defeat, so I began toying around with what internet applications I had installed. I had a nifty little application installed called coconutWifi that would let me know about nearby WAPs. Turned it off, and my internet was back to it’s formal glory, going from this:
localhost:~ ynadji$ ping www.google.com PING www.l.google.com (72.14.203.104): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=0 ttl=241 time=29.073 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=1 ttl=241 time=1729.036 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=2 ttl=241 time=2001.416 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=3 ttl=241 time=1037.517 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=4 ttl=241 time=41.439 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=5 ttl=241 time=1726.729 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=6 ttl=241 time=1999.903 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=7 ttl=241 time=1026.313 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=8 ttl=241 time=29.134 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=9 ttl=241 time=1716.933 ms
to this:
localhost:~ ynadji$ ping www.google.com PING www.l.google.com (72.14.203.104): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=0 ttl=241 time=28.165 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=1 ttl=241 time=28.222 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=2 ttl=241 time=28.111 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=3 ttl=241 time=27.862 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=4 ttl=241 time=27.409 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=5 ttl=241 time=27.508 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=6 ttl=241 time=27.308 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=7 ttl=241 time=29.047 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=8 ttl=241 time=33.135 ms 64 bytes from 72.14.203.104: icmp_seq=9 ttl=241 time=28.901 ms
If you’re on an Intel Mac, and your wireless is behaving like mine, check the apps you have installed first.
