2010 27" imac rotating beach ball when online?

[leftcoastal]

Picked up this comp about a month ago and tested it before buying. Everything seemed to move along well enough online until I brought it home. I assumed the ball rolling was either due to the slow HD or the spotty stock network card giving me an inconsistent wireless signal. I've since updated the HD to an SSD and normal programs and bootup fly now, but online still the same dilemna. Well tonight I ran a 30' Cat6 cable to the router and my speed became consistent and right at about 35-40mb download 5mb upload (what I'm paying for via Century Link fiber). However I'm still getting the rotating beach ball when online?

Is there something that's causing this possibly? I'm not even sure what to test at this point.

 

[Lunder89]

Some problem with multiple browsers? Or just one?

I assume it, at some point, after you have taken ownership, has been completely reinstalled?

 

[leftcoastal]

Yes same problem with multiple browsers unfortunately.

The previous owner worked for microsoft and did a fresh reinstall the night before I bought it.

I backed up to time capsule before swapping the HD and everything went well.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

How much m,emory is installed on the iMac? When new Apple saw fit to install 2x2GB modules which can hobble them a bit. That model can handle up to 32GB of memory. Did you use the OWC heat sensor kit, or are the fans roaring?

 

[leftcoastal]

I'm only using 2x2gb sticks that came with it. My next move was to max it out to 16gb just for performance(16gb max with my processor), but I don't think internet use should tap the computer out that much.

I installed this kit from OWC. No fans roaring as this is a SSD and stays cool.
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/K27IM10SP480/

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Try changing your DNS.

 

[Fishrrman]

What version of the OS are you using?

An older iMac with a platter-based hard drive is going to run slower when trying to operate with the latest Mac OS versions, which seem to have been designed with either an SSD or a fusion drive in mind...

 

[redheeler]

@leftcoastal Try making a new user account, browsing the web using that account and see if the problem still occurs. Odd that it would happen with multiple browsers.

Also, when it does happen, go into Activity Monitor and check memory usage. 2 x 2 GB is barely enough to get by these days, so it could be a lack of memory problem with multiple browser tabs open.

What version of the OS are you using?

An older iMac with a platter-based hard drive is going to run slower when trying to operate with the latest Mac OS versions, which seem to have been designed with either an SSD or a fusion drive in mind...

I suggest you read the OP:
"I've since updated the HD to an SSD and normal programs and bootup fly now, but online still the same dilemna."

 

[kschendel]

Sounds to me like a network related issue. I'd check the DNS setup. Open a terminal and ping something on the network, see what sort of times you get. Are other computers on the same router / network? Are they OK? If you are having good local network response with the wire, then it's hard to see how it would be a hardware issue with the computer.

I'd be inclined to re-reinstall just on principle, given that you're having weird problems.

 

[leftcoastal]

@leftcoastal Try making a new user account, browsing the web using that account and see if the problem still occurs. Odd that it would happen with multiple browsers.

Also, when it does happen, go into Activity Monitor and check memory usage. 2 x 2 GB is barely enough to get by these days, so it could be a lack of memory problem with multiple browser tabs open.

I suggest you read the OP:
"I've since updated the HD to an SSD and normal programs and bootup fly now, but online still the same dilemna."

So few things happened today..

I got on my comp with a fresh reboot this morning. Things were running fast and I was getting 35-40mb download.

Then century link came out and upgraded my 40mb to 100mb. Things sped up and I wasn't getting the bouncing ball until a few hours ago. Almost like the cache/memory built up?

I run in sleep mode so I'm thinking the memory is getting eaten up. Is there a way to change the virtual memory settings like with pc's? At any rate I ordered 2x 4gb ram sticks today.

I'm running El Capitan.

Not sure how to find the activity monitor on my comp. I've tried searching but cannot find it ugh..

Last thing to note I should say that on the drive home my comp hit shifted in the car 2x and while it was in it's original box it did hit the back of the seat .

 

[redheeler]

Not sure how to find the activity monitor on my comp. I've tried searching but cannot find it ugh..

In the Applications folder there is a folder called Utilities. Inside this folder is the Activity Monitor application. Open it and click the Memory tab at the top.
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I got on my comp with a fresh reboot this morning. Things were running fast and I was getting 35-40mb download.

Then century link came out and upgraded my 40mb to 100mb. Things sped up and I wasn't getting the bouncing ball until a few hours ago. Almost like the cache/memory built up?

Slow internet usually won't cause the spinning beachball to appear. Only long page loads with the loading symbol in the browser tab (or blue status bar in Safari). Your issue must be something local, my best guess would be running out of memory.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Agree with the slow internet not causing beach ball.

If that were the case I would have them constantly being in a back stream rural Australian town, where my ADSL2+ returns me a constant 6.6Mbps download and 0.8Mbps upload. Main cause we have been bypassed by the National Broadband Rollout and fibre optics, forever stuck on the old copper wire and 3 mile from the exchaznge.

 

[nollimac]

I agree that you should upgrade your RAM and set up DNS caching on your router...took it that you're not using the modem your ISP only.