For some reason (after my MacBook Pro has been on for couple of hours), the ethernet speeds slows down. Other systems (Linux, Windows and VMware) using the same network are ok and gets the normal speeds while the MacBook reports poor results. I haven’t been able to figure out the reason for the slowness but suspect that there is bug in MacOS Mojave (i.e. some automatic adjustments for the network interfaces done wrong by Mojave). Wifi connections seems to suffer this issue too but haven’t been testing wifi speeds that much because of using primarily ethernet on this location. The issue can be fixed by rebooting the MacBook, but it’s very annoying to boot the MacBook couple of times a day…
Of course, the issue could be related to the hardware (2016 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar) itself, but because the ethernet interfaces are external (Thunderbolt Display and adapter), I suspect that the issue is related to MacOS Mojave.
The slowness happens regardless of whether using the Thunderbolt Display ethernet or thunderbolt gigabit ethernet adapter.
I have completely wiped the system and did a fresh install of MacOS Mojave and replaced the ethernet cable with a new one.
Completed also resetting of SMC, NVRAM and PRAM stores…
MacBook and ethernet specs:
MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
MacOS Mojave (10.14.3 )
Processor 2,7 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter:
Apple 57762-A0:
Kext name: AppleBCM5701Ethernet.kext
Firmware version: 57762-a1.15
Version: 10.3.3
Thunderbolt Display Ethernet:
Apple 57761-B0:
Kext name: AppleBCM5701Ethernet.kext
Firmware version: 57761-a1.54
Version: 10.3.3
File transfers slows down and the issue can be measured with iperf:
Client connecting to ed, TCP port 5001
TCP window size: 129 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
[ 6] local 192.168.10.10 port 56035 connected with 192.168.10.7 port 5001
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 6] 0.0-10.0 sec 591 MBytes 496 Mbits/sec
After reboot, the speed is back to normal:
Client connecting to ed, TCP port 5001
TCP window size: 129 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
[ 6] local 192.168.10.10 port 49566 connected with 192.168.10.7 port 5001
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 6] 0.0-10.0 sec 1.09 GBytes 939 Mbits/sec
The Network Utility shows no errors or collisions and the switch informs that everything is ok too:
GigabitEthernet0/1 is up, line protocol is up (connected)
Hardware is Gigabit Ethernet
Description: mbp
MTU 9198 bytes, BW 1000000 Kbit/sec, DLY 10 usec,
reliability 255/255, txload 1/255, rxload 1/255
Encapsulation ARPA, loopback not set
Keepalive set (10 sec)
Full-duplex, 1000Mb/s, media type is 10/100/1000BaseTX
input flow-control is off, output flow-control is unsupported
ARP type: ARPA, ARP Timeout 04:00:00
Last input never, output 00:00:01, output hang never
Last clearing of "show interface" counters never
Input queue: 0/75/0/0 (size/max/drops/flushes); Total output drops: 0
Queueing strategy: fifo
Output queue: 0/40 (size/max)
5 minute input rate 108000 bits/sec, 4 packets/sec
5 minute output rate 41000 bits/sec, 14 packets/sec
172621421 packets input, 252703124665 bytes, 0 no buffer
Received 81229 broadcasts (79406 multicasts)
0 runts, 0 giants, 0 throttles
0 input errors, 0 CRC, 0 frame, 0 overrun, 0 ignored
0 watchdog, 79406 multicast, 0 pause input
0 input packets with dribble condition detected
84342535 packets output, 19563411816 bytes, 0 underruns
0 output errors, 0 collisions, 1 interface resets
0 unknown protocol drops
0 babbles, 0 late collision, 0 deferred
0 lost carrier, 0 no carrier, 0 pause output
0 output buffer failures, 0 output buffers swapped out
There is only little traffic at the same time in the network and because the windows laptop is getting ok results, the issue is not related to the network itself.
The Wireshark capture between the MacBook and the iperf target was also “clean”.
Of course, the issue could be related to the hardware (2016 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar) itself, but because the ethernet interfaces are external (Thunderbolt Display and adapter), I suspect that the issue is related to MacOS Mojave.
The slowness happens regardless of whether using the Thunderbolt Display ethernet or thunderbolt gigabit ethernet adapter.
I have completely wiped the system and did a fresh install of MacOS Mojave and replaced the ethernet cable with a new one.
Completed also resetting of SMC, NVRAM and PRAM stores…
MacBook and ethernet specs:
MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
MacOS Mojave (10.14.3 )
Processor 2,7 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter:
Apple 57762-A0:
Kext name: AppleBCM5701Ethernet.kext
Firmware version: 57762-a1.15
Version: 10.3.3
Thunderbolt Display Ethernet:
Apple 57761-B0:
Kext name: AppleBCM5701Ethernet.kext
Firmware version: 57761-a1.54
Version: 10.3.3
File transfers slows down and the issue can be measured with iperf:
Client connecting to ed, TCP port 5001
TCP window size: 129 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
[ 6] local 192.168.10.10 port 56035 connected with 192.168.10.7 port 5001
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 6] 0.0-10.0 sec 591 MBytes 496 Mbits/sec
After reboot, the speed is back to normal:
Client connecting to ed, TCP port 5001
TCP window size: 129 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
[ 6] local 192.168.10.10 port 49566 connected with 192.168.10.7 port 5001
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 6] 0.0-10.0 sec 1.09 GBytes 939 Mbits/sec
The Network Utility shows no errors or collisions and the switch informs that everything is ok too:
GigabitEthernet0/1 is up, line protocol is up (connected)
Hardware is Gigabit Ethernet
Description: mbp
MTU 9198 bytes, BW 1000000 Kbit/sec, DLY 10 usec,
reliability 255/255, txload 1/255, rxload 1/255
Encapsulation ARPA, loopback not set
Keepalive set (10 sec)
Full-duplex, 1000Mb/s, media type is 10/100/1000BaseTX
input flow-control is off, output flow-control is unsupported
ARP type: ARPA, ARP Timeout 04:00:00
Last input never, output 00:00:01, output hang never
Last clearing of "show interface" counters never
Input queue: 0/75/0/0 (size/max/drops/flushes); Total output drops: 0
Queueing strategy: fifo
Output queue: 0/40 (size/max)
5 minute input rate 108000 bits/sec, 4 packets/sec
5 minute output rate 41000 bits/sec, 14 packets/sec
172621421 packets input, 252703124665 bytes, 0 no buffer
Received 81229 broadcasts (79406 multicasts)
0 runts, 0 giants, 0 throttles
0 input errors, 0 CRC, 0 frame, 0 overrun, 0 ignored
0 watchdog, 79406 multicast, 0 pause input
0 input packets with dribble condition detected
84342535 packets output, 19563411816 bytes, 0 underruns
0 output errors, 0 collisions, 1 interface resets
0 unknown protocol drops
0 babbles, 0 late collision, 0 deferred
0 lost carrier, 0 no carrier, 0 pause output
0 output buffer failures, 0 output buffers swapped out
There is only little traffic at the same time in the network and because the windows laptop is getting ok results, the issue is not related to the network itself.
The Wireshark capture between the MacBook and the iperf target was also “clean”.