Good wireless connection but terrible internet speed on iMac


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Hello,

 

I do not know as much as most of you guys about computers for a start. I have an iMac. Runs OSX version 10.9.

 

Our internet connection is terribly slow it is so frustrating; but I do not know what to do about it. Here is info for anyone to give pointers:

 

We have a BT hub 4 thing that does everything.

Our area does not have BT infiniti. When we moved a couple of months ago, we were asked to buy a speed increasing device that you plug into the electrical socket. We have done that; no improvement in speed. 

We live in an inner city, heavily built up area: loads of other networks around.

Our smart TV is connected to the Wifi and BT hub thing.

Our study where main computer is, is towards the back of the house hence furthest from main Wifi BT thing.

I have backed up most data from computer so computer is lean and mean- or so I think.

We have about 7 other devices connected to our Wi-fi in the house: our i phones, 2 other computers, wireless printer

Not all other devices are in use at all times so as to compete with our home Wifi.

We do not use a router other than the BT one.

 

I was impressed by some posts that took screen shots of some SSIDer type stuff that everyone commented on. If it is a red herring, please ignore me. If not, please help me by suggesting where I could look 'inside' the software of the machine; all help gratefully received! Thank you.

 

 

 

 

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I'd put money in the speed issue being the heavily congested 2.4GHz band, because everyone's WiFi runs on that frequency

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does your iMac support the 5GHz wireless band? If it does, look into getting a dual-band wireless router and start using the 5GHz band for whatever supports it, it'll still have the 2.4 available for older devices.

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First off, wireless is a shared medium.  7 simultaneous connections at 54Mb/s = ~7Mb/s throughput.  As a test turn off all of your wireless devices, do you speeds increase?  When you are hardwired via a cat 5e/6 cable, what are your speeds?  These are a few simple things to look at, if you want to put up your inssider results please do so. 

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So what is slow?  What speed do you pay for, and what do you get?

 

As mentioned - test this speed with wire connected to your BT hub..  You could use something as simple as speedtest.net

 

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So I pay for 50/10 which with those speeds I am very happy with.  So what do you pay for and what do you get is the first thing we need to know in figuring out if there is something that can be done other than buying faster connection to why you think your internet is "slow"

 

As mentioned yes wireless is shared - what wireless do you have G, N, AC - what do your clients support?  Depending on your wireless network and your wireless clients, etc and the speed of your internet you may or may not be able to see your full speed over wireless.  For example if you had a 50Mbps connection like my above test and you only have a G wireless network it would be impossible for you to see anywhere close to your full speed because max your going to see over a G wireless connection would be in the low 20's

 

Yes interference in your area could cause you problems - inssider has gone down the wrong path, and is no longer really a good option.  I do believe OS X has built in tool to show you info on networks in the area http://osxdaily.com/2011/12/28/check-wireless-signal-strength-optimize-wifi-networks-mac-os-x/

 

Also what does this mean exactly? "we were asked to buy a speed increasing device that you plug into the electrical socket."  Do you mean your running wired network over powerline connection?

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