Just to clarify one thing. John's problem is a slowdown of this internet connection. Let's call it bandwidth. It appears to be caused by congestion on the DSLAM at the exchange, or perhaps a faulty joint in the local loop (copper) wiring. It could be caused by a firmware issue in his modem/router or some of the other items listed below. but No amount of changing DNS servers will fix this. You certainly will get faster results back for a IP address lookup, or name search request, but it won't help a slow download.
robin On 20/06/2011, at 3:47 PM, Ronda Brown wrote: > > On 20/06/2011, at 3:30 PM, Michael Hawkins wrote: > >> In the space of a few minutes speeds ranged from 3.4 mb/s download to 15.48 >> (wireless), and 9.18 to 16.37 (ethernet, same modem). Uploads were all in >> vicinity of 0.83 to 0.85. >> >> ADSL2+, Westnet, 77 St Georges Terrace >> Perth. > > Hi Michael, > > Nothing unusual about speed changes, because there may be a great many links > in the chain between your Mac and the server it’s talking to, and any one of > them could be the bottleneck. > "For example: > • Your Mac itself could have network configuration problems. > • Your browser, or a plug-in, might be at fault > • A particular process (such as an online backup program) could be > monopolising your Internet bandwidth. > • You could have a bad Ethernet cable. (Seriously!) > • The Wi-Fi connection between your Mac and your AirPort base station or > other wireless router might be too slow. > • The broadband link to your ISP could be inherently slow, or the ISP > could be experiencing temporary congestion. > • The DNS servers that map domain names to IP addresses could be > responding slowly, adding delays to each request you make. > • The server on the other end—or any of the intervening routers, > switches, hubs, gateways, and other equipment—might be too slow. > > When I Say “Slow...” > Networking geeks are often quick to reprimand anyone who dares to use words > like “slow,” “fast,” or “speed” when referring to a network, because signal > speed per se—the movement of electrons through copper wire or photons through > optical fiber—isn’t what most people are talking about. So what are we > talking about? > On the one hand, you have bandwidth, which is itself a metaphorical usage, > but now generally refers to the capacity, or maximum possible data transfer > rate, of a network segment as expressed in (tera-/ giga-/mega-/kilo-) bits > per second. For example, your DSL connection may have a bandwidth of 8 Mbps > (megabits per second), which means that, in theory, you could download a 1 MB > file > (1 megabyte = 8 megabits) in 1 second. > > However, a more important concept is throughput, which you can think of as > the real-world data transfer rate (amount of data received per unit of > time)—invariably a good bit lower than the theoretical bandwidth. Your > so-called 8 Mbps connection may have throughput of only, say, 6 Mbps—and that > can vary from moment to moment." > > Networking is a very interesting challenging project ;-) > > Cheers, > Ronni > > 17" MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-Core i7 “Thunderbolt" > 2.3GHz / 8GB / 750GB @ 7200rpm HD > > OS X 10.6.7 Snow Leopard > Windows 7 Ultimate (under sufferance) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Unsubscribe - <mailto:[email protected]> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Unsubscribe - <mailto:[email protected]>
