Wireless Router

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I have a 1 yr old MacBook Pro that has accessed the internet thru a 3 yr. old home Linksys G router at AT&T DSL speeds of about 3K. That router recently pooped-out, so I bought a Netgear N router and hooked it up. The Gateway home computer works fine on it and another Dell laptop we have works wirelessly at about the same speed... BUT ever since I hooked-up this Netgear N router, my Apple MacBook Pro speed stinks (less than 500). You can tell by the way I've written this, I'm no techy... is there a reason this is happening?



Help... 1st time poster...

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by smartone618 View Post


    I have a 1 yr old MacBook Pro that has accessed the internet thru a 3 yr. old home Linksys G router at AT&T DSL speeds of about 3K. That router recently pooped-out, so I bought a Netgear N router and hooked it up. The Gateway home computer works fine on it and another Dell laptop we have works wirelessly at about the same speed... BUT ever since I hooked-up this Netgear N router, my Apple MacBook Pro speed stinks (less than 500). You can tell by the way I've written this, I'm no techy... is there a reason this is happening?



    Without more pertinent info i would guess that Netgear router allocates more bandwidth to the Dell and the Gateway then it does to your MacBook.



    If you work on the MacBook all day long every day I would suggest you get an Apple Airport Express, Airport Extreme, or Timecapsule, and create a wickedly fast (802.11n) network for it.

    Then both your hardware and software are in sync. Now they (clearly) aren't.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    bbwibbwi Posts: 812member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    Without more pertinent info i would guess that Netgear router allocates more bandwidth to the Dell and the Gateway then it does to your MacBook.



    If you work on the MacBook all day long every day I would suggest you get an Apple Airport Express, Airport Extreme, or Timecapsule, and create a wickedly fast (802.11n) network for it.

    Then both your hardware and software are in sync. Now they (clearly) aren't.



    There's no logical reason it would do this nor would run out and buy new stuff. 802.11n is a standard (or will be) and all manufacturers should perform equally.







    Quote:
    Originally Posted by smartone618 View Post


    BUT ever since I hooked-up this Netgear N router, my Apple MacBook Pro speed stinks (less than 500).



    What do you mean by "500"? Is that a bandwidth test you're running from a website?



    Hold down your "alt" key on the mac and "left click" the Airport icon near the clock. It should say the "rate" you're connected to the Netgear. That's the number that matters since you can't control the speed of your DSL
  • Reply 3 of 9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bbwi View Post


    There's no logical reason it would do this nor would run out and buy new stuff. 802.11n is a standard (or will be) and all manufacturers should perform equally.











    What do you mean by "500"? Is that a bandwidth test you're running from a website?



    Hold down your "alt" key on the mac and "left click" the Airport icon near the clock. It should say the "rate" you're connected to the Netgear. That's the number that matters since you can't control the speed of your DSL





    Thank You! Its say transmit rate 130... and yes the number I gave before was from the 2wire speed test... the Dell shows at 2.8 0r so and the MacBook is around 400-500. I can't even watch a short sports clip on ESPN with out it stopping and starting, etc.
  • Reply 4 of 9
    bbwibbwi Posts: 812member
    As a test, try plugging an ethernet cable directly into the Netgear and see if you get any better performance. That way we can rule out the Airport card.



    You could also try and update the firmware on the Netgear so that you're running the latest. Its important to do that for security reasons and also because 802.11n isn't finalized and so they continually update it with fixes.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    Great idea... I just did that (plugged in the ethernet cable) and it's blazin'... not sure about how to update the firmware on the Netgear... it's brand new... would I still need to do that? When I unplug the ethernet and go back to the Airport it slows down again. It's not too bad on sites with just words, but really shows up on anything with video or lots of pictures.











    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bbwi View Post


    As a test, try plugging an ethernet cable directly into the Netgear and see if you get any better performance. That way we can rule out the Airport card.



    You could also try and update the firmware on the Netgear so that you're running the latest. Its important to do that for security reasons and also because 802.11n isn't finalized and so they continually update it with fixes.



  • Reply 6 of 9
    try poking around the router's settings--look for broadcast speeds. Try the different settings maybe 802.11b/g should help.



    If the firmware update doesn't work, is there other computers connected to the router by wireless? Just trying to narrow what has the problem.
  • Reply 7 of 9
    802.11b/g is rated at about a third the speed 802.11n is.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    802.11b/g is rated at about a third the speed 802.11n is.



    but even 802.11b by itself is WAY faster than your internet connection... so upgrading to "n" will have no effect whatsoever on the speed of the internet connection. (Unless there's somethign ELSE in the new router that allows it to pass information better.)
  • Reply 9 of 9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KingOfSomewhereHot View Post


    but even 802.11b by itself is WAY faster than your internet connection... so upgrading to "n" will have no effect whatsoever on the speed of the internet connection. (Unless there's somethign ELSE in the new router that allows it to pass information better.)



    Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this.... I'm gonna take it in, I have the Applecare warranty... I think it's something inside, as I took it on a business trip and the speed stunk at both airports I was at. I'd used it at both before and it was much better. The other Windows-based computers on our home network are working fine. It's just really "coincidental" that this all happened when I changed the router to this N series.



    Again THANK YOU!
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