MBP slow over WiFi, my Compaq notebook is fine

[techmonkey]

Ever since I bought my MBP in June, Ive had various networking issues. This is one of my main gripes, if not the main gripe of my MBP. Whenever I watch videos (DIVX, DVDS, etc) over WiFi in my home, the video sometimes chokes/freezes. When playing the same videos on my 4 year old Compaq, everything is fine. Ive tried Quicktime and VLC, Quicktime seems to have the least problems. When viewing shared photos over WiFi, this is also slow. It takes awhile for Graphic Converter to view the images, sometimes locks up completely.

What can I do to test my WiFi connection on my Mac? How can I verify my Airport is getting the best connection?

Any tips/suggestions/comments greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mad jew]

Firstly, check whether it's an internet issue or a local network issue. Stream a video from your Compaq to your MacBook Pro and see if it's still choppy. Place the Compaq right near the router so you can safely rule it out as causing any choppiness, if it occurs.

If the video is choppy then you can quite safely say the problem is either your MacBook Pro's connection to the router, or it's one of the apps you use. If the video is not choppy then the issue may be with the MacBook Pro's network/internet settings.

 

[techmonkey]

Firstly, check whether it's an internet issue or a local network issue. Stream a video from your Compaq to your MacBook Pro and see if it's still choppy. Place the Compaq right near the router so you can safely rule it out as causing any choppiness, if it occurs.

If the video is choppy then you can quite safely say the problem is either your MacBook Pro's connection to the router, or it's one of the apps you use. If the video is not choppy then the issue may be with the MacBook Pro's network/internet settings.

Im not sure I understand. Whats the difference between streaming the videos from my desktop computer vs streaming it from the Compaq?

 

[statikcat]

It would let you know if its a communication error directly between certain computers only.

My Macbook Pro does the same thing.. sometimes when streaming anime episodes (150-220mb) it chops and skips but not constantly. Sometimes more than others. It may depend on if your internet is being used heavily by another application at the time. I have tried to stream 700mb video files with VLC and it just sits and does nothing. This is all from a Mac Pro.

 

[mad jew]

Im not sure I understand. Whats the difference between streaming the videos from my desktop computer vs streaming it from the Compaq?

I didn't realise a desktop machine was in play. Sorry, I assumed you were streaming from the internet. It'll have the same effect if the desktop is on the wireless network too.

 

[fronheiser]

DNS Settings?

I had the same problem (poor wireless performance with Macs, great with Windows machines) until I set my router to use OpenDNS's servers.

You can test this by setting your Mac to use these servers:

System Preferences --> Network --> (Highlight Airport) --> Configure --> TCP/IP button at top --> Enter the following into the DNS server list:

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

Apply changes.

Once you've determined this has fixed your problem, provided it has, go to OpenDNS.com for instructions on how to set your router to use these servers instead of whatever your ISP points at.