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dazzer21-2

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 3, 2005
458
511
I have just replaced a 2008 iMac for an M1 Mac Mini. Wireless speed is painfully slow at times where it takes an age to connect to, or screen share the M1 from my main iMac, late 2015. Using the exact same network, with settings that ape the ones on my main iMac, I am getting about 70Mbps. My network is set up to run at 350Mbps which the old iMac constantly achieved, sometimes more. Could there be a reason for this other than router issues, which I assume would not be the problem as the last machine ran at full speed so reliably? What other settings could be at fault? Many thanks.
 
Depends! Are you using CAT 5, 5e or 6 or 7? I ask because that could limit the port speeds! Plus using System Preferences->Network, Advanced button! A Sub Menu will come up and look at the speed of the port and what the Mac is set to to full-duplex networking!
 
CAT 5. All I know is that all of my Macs are running at full speed from the router except the M1.
 
Cat 5=5MB

Cat6 -100/1000 MB

cat 7=1000/10000 MB (basically fiber at this time)

So consider getting better cable and get CAT6 or CAT 7 cables on your system for the best network speeds!
 
Must be Cat6 then. I'm getting 350MB on all of my Macs except the Mini's not getting anything like that. Even my phones are getting that sort of connection speed. Just ran Speedtest on the Mini and it reports 1.7MB upload, 6.7MB upload!
 
CAT 5E is rated at 1000MB too...very common. I doubt it is a cable type though. It is not uncommon to have termination issues though, so I would swap cables with a known good one first.

You said wireless is slow though, correct? If so, not sure how cables help the issue. I would be looking at the wireless setup: router config, model, etc. Verify if the new Mac is connected with N, AC, or something else? How about range/signal strength?
 
The issue must surely be the machine and either it's faulty or something is wrong with the settings. The previous machine I had there was a 13 year old iMac which worked like a dream from the moment it was unboxed to the moment I took it away. The wireless connection was rock solid and ran at full spreed. Just ran another speed test on the Mini and got 15/21 Mbps. Should be ~350. 😖
 
I'm on the verge of returning it. This thing is costing me money at the moment - I can't accept a workflow like this! I'll look for the latest Intel iMac I can find. REALLY disappointed!
 
UPDATE. Connected the Mini to Ethernet. Full speed on the Internet. Still incredible slow on the sharing stuff. Same network settings on both machines (now have them both side by side) but still no improvement.
 
It only connects via SMB. I have invested in a couple of Powerline adaptors so it's now located back in the other room but running on Ethernet. So at least there's no dropout now. But it's still PAINFULLY slow!
 
Trying AFP just returns a 'there was a problem connecting to..." message. I can only connect via SMB.
 
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