Downloads stall even with full wifi signal.

[Philalbe]

Hi. I have an aluminum iMac with iSight. it's probably close to two years old now. The past week trying to download anything has become brutal; iTunes downloads, limewire, trying to download songs from sites like rhapsody etc.
Attempting any kind of download has become problematic. My airport connection appears to be at full strength (full bars), but all downloads stall after a few seconds. I'm even having trouble sending files to clients through email. Whether sending or receiving files, the connection starts out very strong then drops down to maybe 20 kb/s and then dies altogether, despite displaying a full wifi signal. I went into system preference/ network and checked the connection. The computer reports that my Internet connection appears to be normal...hmmm. Has anyone had a similar experience? Any suggestions? Thanks. By the way I'm in the Boston area and RCN is my service provider, not sure if that makes a difference. I get my connection from a linksys modem attached to a pc downstairs. Thanks again.

Oh. Also, I should mention that I'm using the same wifi connection for my iPad and iPhone without issue, which I would imagine means the problem may lie with some glitch or setting involving my iMac.

 

[stridemat]

Are you being throttled by your ISP for going over your download limit?

 

[Philalbe]

Are you being throttled by your ISP for going over your download limit?

Hi. That's a good question. I'm not sure if RCN has a history of that or not? I'm still able to download big files via iTunes on my iPad, using the same wifi connection.

 

[stridemat]

Hi. That's a good question. I'm not sure if RCN has a history of that or not? I'm still able to download big files via iTunes on my iPad, using the same wifi connection.

That would suggest you are not. Do you have access to another computer to try downloading from Limewire.

 

[Philalbe]

That would suggest you are not. Do you have access to another computer to try downloading from Limewire.

Hi. Thanks, that's a good suggestion. If I'm able to download with ease from another computer, than it would be further proof that something's amiss with my Mac. I was wondering if it could be my airport card, but if that was the case, you probably wouldn't see the full wifi bars, right?

 

[stridemat]

Hi. Thanks, that's a good suggestion. If I'm able to download with ease from another computer, than it would be further proof that something's amiss with my Mac. I was wondering if it could be my airport card, but if that was the case, you probably wouldn't see the full wifi bars, right?

Reduced bars would suggest a problem between your router and the airport card. This could be caused by interference obstacles. Best bet would be to try with anoter computer and see if the same thing happens. You could also try connecting via a LAN cable, thus eliminating the chance of it being a wireless problem.

 

[ChrisA]

What happens if you use a wired connection to the router? If the speed is normal over the wire then you know that your wifi setup needs to be looked at. "Bars" don't tell the whole story. I can think of some misconfiguration that could cause problems. But first step is to narrow the problem. A bit a cat-5 cable will help do that.

 

[neutrino23]

How old is your wireless router? You might just try restarting the router.

We've gone through a couple of routers over the years that worked OK but seemed balky. Getting a new router sped things up quite a bit.

Try running an Ethernet cable from the router to the iMac. If things work fine that way then it is probably the wireless part of the router.