Internet fine on sisters' MacBooks but slow on mine. Help!

Yofi · 05-26-2009, 01:11 AM

Hi,

So the situation is that I'm back at my dad's place for the summer and I'm trying to connect to his house's wireless connection on my MacBook. It seems to connect okay when I type in our 10-digit password next to "WEP 40/128-bit hex" in the drop-down menu, but then even with full signal bars, it loads browser pages VERY slowly if ever, usually just giving me a timeout error, and it's the same thing across all programs, my instant messenger takes forever to connect, WoW takes forever to connect, if ever…basically the internet I get from this connection is useless.

It's odd because both my sisters have MacBooks and the internet works fine for them at my dad's house when they connect, and MY internet on my computer works perfectly when I'm using any WiFi but this one. By the way, the transmitter is a "D-Link 514 2.4GHz Wireless Router" and we're connected to cable internet.

Any help would be greatly appreciated…I'm pulling my hair out not being able to connect! Thanks!

Update:
* I have tried resetting the router and that didn't help.
* I have tried changing the channel, authentication method and password and that didn't help.
* I tried a DNS troubleshooting guide and it doesn't appear to be a problem with that.

johnwill · 05-26-2009, 12:11 PM

Since you do get somewhat of a connection, I'd have to think this is wireless interference or a problem with your computer.

Yofi · 05-26-2009, 01:12 PM

Probably…if anyone has any ideas for steps for how to solve it, I'd appreciate it!

johnwill · 05-28-2009, 08:15 AM

Some things you can try here, listed in the order you should try them.

For wireless connections, change the channel on the router, I like channels 1, 6, and 11 in the US.
For wireless connections, try moving either the wireless router/AP or the wireless computer. Even a couple of feet will sometimes make a big difference.
Update the network drivers (wired and wireless) on your computer to the latest available.
Update the firmware to the latest version available on the manufacturer's site.
Reset the router to factory defaults and reconfigure.

Many times these measures will resolve a lot of intermittent issues.

05-26-2009, 01:11 AM	#1 (permalink)
Yofi Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 2 OS: Mac OS 10.4.11	Internet fine on sisters' MacBooks but slow on mine. Help! Hi, So the situation is that I'm back at my dad's place for the summer and I'm trying to connect to his house's wireless connection on my MacBook. It seems to connect okay when I type in our 10-digit password next to "WEP 40/128-bit hex" in the drop-down menu, but then even with full signal bars, it loads browser pages VERY slowly if ever, usually just giving me a timeout error, and it's the same thing across all programs, my instant messenger takes forever to connect, WoW takes forever to connect, if ever…basically the internet I get from this connection is useless. It's odd because both my sisters have MacBooks and the internet works fine for them at my dad's house when they connect, and MY internet on my computer works perfectly when I'm using any WiFi but this one. By the way, the transmitter is a "D-Link 514 2.4GHz Wireless Router" and we're connected to cable internet. Any help would be greatly appreciated…I'm pulling my hair out not being able to connect! Thanks! Update: * I have tried resetting the router and that didn't help. * I have tried changing the channel, authentication method and password and that didn't help. * I tried a DNS troubleshooting guide and it doesn't appear to be a problem with that. Last edited by Yofi; 05-26-2009 at 01:16 AM.

05-26-2009, 12:11 PM	#2 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,078 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	Re: Internet fine on sisters' MacBooks but slow on mine. Help! Since you do get somewhat of a connection, I'd have to think this is wireless interference or a problem with your computer. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

05-26-2009, 01:12 PM	#3 (permalink)
Yofi Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 2 OS: Mac OS 10.4.11	Re: Internet fine on sisters' MacBooks but slow on mine. Help! Probably…if anyone has any ideas for steps for how to solve it, I'd appreciate it!

05-28-2009, 08:15 AM	#4 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,078 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	Re: Internet fine on sisters' MacBooks but slow on mine. Help! Some things you can try here, listed in the order you should try them. For wireless connections, change the channel on the router, I like channels 1, 6, and 11 in the US. For wireless connections, try moving either the wireless router/AP or the wireless computer. Even a couple of feet will sometimes make a big difference. Update the network drivers (wired and wireless) on your computer to the latest available. Update the firmware to the latest version available on the manufacturer's site. Reset the router to factory defaults and reconfigure. Many times these measures will resolve a lot of intermittent issues. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience