Cable connection slow mac/airport setup...

[browndog19]

Per the forum sticky, here are the answers to the 16 questions. My problem in my own words after Q16...

1. What OS are you running?

Answer:I'm using Mac OS X Lion (10.7.3)

If you have a MAC try BroadbandOptimizer

Answer: This isn't recommended if you have an Airport setup, which I do. These instructions are for Apple Broadband Tuner - but can I assume it's essentially doing the same thing as BroadbandOptimizer? See: http://support.apple.com/downloads/Broadband_Tuner_1_0

2. Who your Internet Service Provider (ISP) is, and what the advertised speed for download/upload is.

Answer: Mediacom Cable. Advertised speed is 20/2. I am on a DOCSIS 2.0 network using a Motorola SURFboard SB6121 modem.

3. What tweaking programs you already have installed, and run this test. Copy all text and paste it in your post! For security reasons, blank out your IP #.

Answer: I have not used anything because 1) I can't find anything suitable for OSX Lion 2) It doesn't seem to be recommend to use with Airport Extremes. I have used NameBench to tweak my DNS settings and that seems to make things a bit snappy - but throughput is still down.

4. What speed do you have against https://testmy.net and http://nitro.ucsc.edu/ also download this Tracert and Ping program (file no longer available, in Windows go to Start > Run > Type CMD > and in the command prompt type tracert testmy.net or traceroute testmy.net in terminal for all other OS's). When it's done, copy and paste the results in your post.

Answer: testmy.net ranges from 8-11 Mbps download during non peak hours. Now @ 10pm CST I am showing a 4.1 Mbps download speed via testmy.net.

nitro.uscs.edu shows (also tested at 10pm CST):

client to server: 1.47 Mb/s

server to client: 5.67 Mb/s

The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 10 Mbps Ethernet subnet

In the stats window:

10 Mbps Ethernet link found.

Link set to Full Duplex mode

No network congestion discovered

Good network cable(s) found

Normal duplex operational found

Web100 reports the Round trip time = 80.62 msec; the Packet size = 1448 Bytes; and there were 2 packets retransmitted, 44 duplicate acks received, and 45 SACK blocks received

The connection was idle 0 seconds

S2C throughput test: Packet queuing detected 0.86%

The connection is receiver limited 57.25% of the time

The connection is network limited 42.54% of the time

5. Under your LAN connection - properties - general tab, uninstall all the protocols there that you do not need. You most likely only need "Client for Microsoft Networks" and "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)." If you share files on your home network, you also need "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks."

Answer: Doesn't really apply to OSX, but my LAN settings are pretty clean. I don't have anything in network connections setup besides ethernet. TCP/IP is stock, I didn't mess with anything.

6. Open Internet Explorer and select the Tools menu, go to Internet Options, Connections tab, click the

LAN settings button, make sure nothing there is checked.

Answer:I'm using Safari, and it's stock. I haven't touched anything.

7. Never Connect to your modem via USB ! Always connect to your modem via ethernet (NIC) and make sure you have the latest drivers for your NIC. Set your NIC duplex mode to 10mb half duplex for Cable, for DSL it depends on the ISP service unless you are using a router, if so then set it to 100mb full duplex for both Cable & DSL. If you are using a router make sure you have the latest firmware.

Answer: I'm not sure what this is? I've gone into my modem web gui and I don't see any options to set duplex mode(s). My router/modem are up to date with the latest firmware.

8. Power cycle your modem, unplug it for at least 3 minutes

Answer: done that...

9. Download, update, and do a scan with SpyBot and Ad Aware to remove any spyware

Answer: Um... I'm on a Mac, I'm clean

10. ZoneAlarm firewall has known problems with dropping speed, I suggest to uninstall it and compare speed

Answer: NA

11. Install Outpost Firewall, Sygate Firewall, or Zone Alarm.

Answer: NA

12. Scan for viruses with your antivirus app, if you do not have one get one, AVG, Avast!, and Ewido are great.

Answer: I scanned for the latest Java trojan via the Apple Java update, I'm clean.

13. Make sure you have ALL of the latest Windows Updates

Answer: OSX is up to date

14. Download and run CCleaner

Answer: NA

15. Go to VanBuren testmy.net Cablenut settings and install Cablenut 4.08 and Vanburens cablenut settings version 9

Answer: Huh?

16. If you choose to build your own tweakfile with j79zlr's webpage, I suggest to leave SynAttackProtect to 0, and use a latency value between 150 and 300 ms. If your calculated TcpWindowSize is above 65535 and your webrowsing seem sluggish, i suggest to test with a TcpWindowSize and GlobalMaxTcpWindowsize that is 44 x ( your MSS value ) and change Tcp13230pts to 0.

Answer: Double huh?

My setup is a Moto 6121 modem connected to a 5th Gen Airport Extreme. Connected to this base station via Cat5e is my iMac, Ooma, and an Airport Extreme (3rd Gen). My 3rd Gen Airport is set to bridge mode, it's just a switch and wifi signal extender. Connected to my 3rd Gen Airport via Cat5e is a Mac mini and Apple Tv. My 5th Gen Airport is my main router, set up to use a single public ip.

I use Blazeback for online backup and it shows that I am maxing out my upstream at ~1.7 Mbps so I know I am getting this bandwidth. When I download files on my iMac or Mac mini, my download manager is showing and average of 2.3 MB/sec which is about 18.5 Mbps. I have bursts of 2.67 MB/sec which is about 21.5 Mbps - so I know I'm getting that bandwidth.

Using the 'other' bandwidth test sites it shows me getting between 17-22 Mbps via ethernet and 13-20 Mbps via wifi. Now when I use testmy.net I am about half that. What's going on? When I web browse it's not as fast as I would expect a 20/2 connection to be. Also, watching YouTube videos and iTunes movies on my Apple TV has a bad buffer, like 10-15 seconds before it plays. That seems excessive for a 20/2 cable connection.

I previously had AT&T 6 Mbps DSL and it doesn't feel a whole lot quicker than that. I changed my DNS settings and it helped a little. Any ideas of what's going on? I called Mediacom and they said all looks good. I've had two techs come out, but they go to a popular test site and says.. "see, your getting 20 - 22 Mbps... what's the problem?" It seems like raw file download/upload isn't an issue, but when I have to

render a webpage, or process some type of online media (Youtube, iTunes) it kind of sucks...

I don't understand 1/2 the questions I answered so if you need more info let me know.. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

browndog19

[browndog19]

sorry for the double post, you can delete this. I didn't know they were reviewed first and couldn't figure out why it wasn't showing up