Wired (ethernet) and Wireless Internet Connection

[deeppurple114]

Hello,
my mac mini (m1, 2020) with Monterey OS connected with wired ethernet cable + wifi is on and active,
sometimes after my screen get off (computer is not in sleep mode) and i return to work again i notice that OS take some time to restore the ethernet connection, i.e: whatsapp app that was opened not working , Telegram, no sync to mail.
AFIK wired and wireless can work together but wired get 1st priority.

any chance some of you might know what can be the issue here?

Thanks!

 

[usagora]

Have you tried disconnecting the ethernet cable so you're just on wireless and see if the issue persists (to be sure it's actually the ethernet connection that's the issue)?

 

[deeppurple114]

Have you tried disconnecting the ethernet cable so you're just on wireless and see if the issue persists (to be sure it's actually the ethernet connection that's the issue)?

thanks for the replay, i can do it but in wireless only it's downgrade little bit the ethernet speed,
but once i will try i send here a update

 

[usagora]

thanks for the replay, i can do it but in wireless only it's downgrade little bit the ethernet speed,
but once i will try i send here a update

Just to be clear on the terminology here. Ethernet does not = Internet. You seem to be using the terms interchangeably. Ethernet refers to the wired connection to the internet. So your thread title really should be "Wired (ethernet) and Wireless Internet Connection" and your reply above really means that the internet speed is downgraded (because obviously the ethernet cable would not even be connected if you were wireless only).

Also, I wasn't suggesting you be satisfied with wireless only. I'm simply suggesting this would be a test to narrow down the actual problem.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

On Mac Studio Ultra, I have noticed the ethernet port seems to have periodic crashes/restarts/etc while wifi is fine. It happens several times each day. Loading any website will hang. If I unhook ethernet and try wifi, that same website page will load. If I then quickly reconnect ethernet and try to reload the page, it will probably hang again. Wait up to a minute or two and that page will load. I'm convinced something is WRONG with wired connections in general and the ethernet port is one of the ports that is affected. I've been hoping every dot upgrade to Monterey would address this but none have so far.

Similarly, I have USB hardware drives that won't remain connected to USB ports on Studio for very long. They "unexpectedly eject" when in active use or not... as if I pulled the cable without manually ejecting them first. The same hardware hooked to an Intel Mac running a macOS version BEFORE Big Sur maintains a consistent connection for weeks-to-months at a time with no issue.

While I have no way to prove it, I suspect both of these are related issues... that there is a bug(s) introduced probably in Big Sur with port management on Macs. I wildly-guessing suspect that the ports basically "crash" from time to time or perhaps hard sleep and then reboot or wake. Ethernet hangs while this happens. Select USB attachments "eject."

At first, I was concerned this is a Silicon thing but I've done enough research to deduce that it is much more likely a Big Sur & Monterey thing... because I've seen enough posts from people upgrading Intel Macs and having this suddenly start happening to them.

Not ALL USB hardware is affected. Some report no issue at all. But there are plenty of posts all over the internet- including Apples own support forums- referencing this problem with all kinds of previously reliable hardware (hooked to Macs running pre-Big Sur macOS).

Unfortunately, there is no obvious user remedy for either issue. If it is macOS bug(s) as I strongly suspect, only Apple can fix it. In the meantime, for the:

• Ethernet issue: live with momentary downtime until it reboots/wakes/etc or switch to using wifi only. You can try a different ethernet cable just to rule that out... but odds are good if you have an older Mac running pre-Big Sur macOS and hook the same ethernet cable to it, you won't see these "pauses" like you do with Monterey.
• USB issue: try different enclosures, etc until you find one that doesn't have the problem. Brand doesn't make a difference. For example, one that "unexpectedly ejects" and one I purchased to cover me until that first one works again are BOTH from the same manufacturer. There are similar reports of this from many affected using many different brands. No brand seems immune. It's basically try hardware until you find one that works, return what doesn't work.

I'm hoping Ventura reflects meaningful work done on finding and crushing this bug(s). I miss "just works" Apple.

 

[deeppurple114]

Just to be clear on the terminology here. Ethernet does not = Internet. You seem to be using the terms interchangeably. Ethernet refers to the wired connection to the internet. So your thread title really should be "Wired (ethernet) and Wireless Internet Connection" and your reply above really means that the internet speed is downgraded (because obviously the ethernet cable would not even be connected if you were wireless only).

Also, I wasn't suggesting you be satisfied with wireless only. I'm simply suggesting this would be a test to narrow down the actual problem.

so.. i did today small test with only wifi on , i left the mac with all my apps open and everything for few good hours and now back and seems all good. but it's not make sense because the issue with the wired happening from time to time and i can't point it out yet.

 

[usagora]

so.. i did today small test with only wifi on , i left the mac with all my apps open and everything for few good hours and now back and seems all good. but it's not make sense because the issue with the wired happening from time to time and i can't point it out yet.

Let's get some more specifics just to be sure. So I understand from your OP that you're putting the display only to sleep when you're done working on your Mac (I do the same thing . . . I press contrl + shift + eject/power to turn the display off). And then sometimes (but not always) when you return and press any key to turn the display back on, you have no internet connection for a while until it establishes again, correct? How long is that "while" on average? 30 seconds? 5 minutes? And how often does this happen? You may need to continue testing this with wi-fi only for some time to be sure it's not happening with wi-fi too.

 

[deeppurple114]

Let's get some more specifics just to be sure. So I understand from your OP that you're putting the display only to sleep when you're done working on your Mac (I do the same thing . . . I press contrl + shift + eject/power to turn the display off). And then sometimes (but not always) when you return and press any key to turn the display back on, you have no internet connection for a while until it establishes again, correct? How long is that "while" on average? 30 seconds? 5 minutes? And how often does this happen? You may need to continue testing this with wi-fi only for some time to be sure it's not happening with wi-fi too.

it's actually most of the time when i go fo certain time the display get off after 5 min (as i configured), and yes of course sometimes i do contrl + shift + eject/power to turn the display off)
when i return in both cases i press any key to wake up the monitor and sometimes (usually after some long time i was off) i see that no internet connection for a while until it establishes again. it's hard to see how much time, but it's looks a few min or seconds usually. and of course i will continue to work on wifi for some time. (BTW if i config my network wired adapter with static IP (plus the router per my mac) it's can be related?

 

[deeppurple114]

@

usagora​

seems after few days of testing Wifi only it's looks to me now it's pretty solid that the issue seems to be with the wired interface.
next stop from your point of view can be work only with the wired while wifi is off? (i used to keep them both for the airdrop and etc..)

 

[HDFan]

I have noticed the ethernet port seems to have periodic crashes/restarts/etc

When it crashes what does network preferences say about the ethernet port?

If you make it inactive (be sure to hit apply), then reactivate does that fix it?

I have no problem with ethernet on my Studio, nor with any of my 15 USB devices.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

When it crashes what does network preferences say about the ethernet port?

If you make it inactive (be sure to hit apply), then reactivate does that fix it?

I have no problem with ethernet on my Studio, nor with any of my 15 USB devices.

When I've looked at preferences, ethernet shows as active: green dot.

I haven't tried inactive (apply):active (apply) as the delay is relatively short and generally, I just wait it out. The ethernet issue is simply a nuisance when trying to browse the Internet and it happens. For me though, it's only a minute or two and then it works again. My wifi testing was more to rule out the router and actual broadband.

You are fortunate to have no port issues with your Studio. I wish I was as lucky. FWIW, I broke out just about EVERY USB device I had for testing and that might have been towards 10+ that seemed to connect and remain connected. Unfortunately, the most important one to me (and one of the newest ones) is the one that won't maintain that connection... UNLESS I hook it through the same cable to any of my other Macs running macOS BEFORE Big Sur and then it is fine again.

USB connection issues do not affect everyone. Many claim as you do. However, there are plenty who do have problems, with all kinds of enclosures and brands... even situations like mine where same (good) brand yields one that won't stay connected and another that will.

 

[HDFan]

USB connection issues do not affect everyone. Many claim as you do. However, there are plenty who do have problems, with all kinds of enclosures and brands... even situations like mine where same (good) brand yields one that won't stay connected and another that will.

Yes. The first place I look with USB problems is the hub. Had an OWC dock (good brand I think) where devices constantly disconnected. Now using Satechi hubs with no problems.

Do the devices which are disconnecting do the same thing when directly connected to the Studio - that is if they aren't currently attached that way?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I experimented with direct connect and 3 different hubs. One powered hub was the type that could have one hard drive inside it too: Studio to powered hub to powered enclosure. So I installed a drive and hooked the important one to it as part of trying to rule out a hypothesis about macOS sleep and power sipping Silicon chips. The latter drive still “unexpectedly ejects” while the hub drive remained connected.

Direct connect to Studio (no hub middleman)? That’s my primary option. No luck. Same ejections.

Use same cable to direct connect to 2 other Macs running macOS before Big Sur, no problem at all. Prior to Studio, this enclosure remained consistently connected with this same cable for a few years. This drive also stores a media collection to dependably feed AppleTVs around the house: no problems at all for a few years.

But could it be the cable anyway? Tried 2 other brand new ones. I also tested through ALL of the ports on Studio… and then worked through every possible “solution” found in many threads all over the internet trying to resolve this problem. No luck.

What does work? Change enclosures. Some USB enclosures work and some don’t. No obvious way to tell but try and see what happens. Some definitely do work. Again the Hub one that is also a HD enclosure works just fine (the loss in just using that is much more storage).

As a result of substantial testing, I’m confident the solution requires Apple to bug fix the ports. The most recent dot upgrade altered the timing for typical disconnects of mine from up to 3 hours to up to about 15-18 hours. I changed nothing- just upgraded Monterey. So it appears Apple is working on it… just not fully resolved yet. It will be good to get Universal devices in “just works” mode again. Hopefully!

 

[HDFan]

So it appears Apple is working on it… just not fully resolved yet.

The problem of mounted media disconnecting unexpectedly has hundreds of posts. A search shows the error showing in 2017 but suspect existed long before that. Since it there are two parties to the negotiation - the Apple port and the device port/firmware it can be difficult to isolate the problem. The fact that the problem didn't exist before Big Sur is certainly suggestive, but not definitive. Apple may have found fixed a bug which changed a signal tolerance that the other party doesn't understand. There is no way for the average consumer to know which end is maybe rigidly following the specifications and which end may have a loser tolerance.

Since this has gone on for so long (I had it something like a decade ago - fixed by changing hubs) it likely won't ever be completely fixed. All you can do is complain to Apple via Feedback and work with the vendor who made the device. If device vendor has good support they can be much more responsive than the bohemoth that is Apple.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Thanks for the input.

Subjectively based on volume of posts, this problem seems to have spiked since Monterey. Research into it shows that it also spiked with Big Sur. My own Mac jump was from pre-Big Sur to default Monterey that came with Studio Ultra.

I suspect that with a little research, we can find instances of ANY issue before Big Sur. For example, sometimes an iPhone battery combusts. If there is a surge in spontaneous meltdowns now, it's probably something wrong with the new batch of iPhones vs. digging up the less frequent examples from time-to-time years ago and implying that it's a long-term issue and this is not necessarily something new with iPhones for sale now. Else, pretty much anything can be marginalized by finding some past cases of the same and implying that it's a long-term issue. At one time or another, probably everything that can go wrong with a Mac has gone wrong with a Mac for someone.

I'll grant you that the enclosure could have a firmware issue because I have no way to directly test my main hypothesis: that Monterey is the cause. I strongly suspect that if I could run a macOS BEFORE Big Sur on this new Silicon "latest & greatest," this enclosure would return to normal, remaining connected for very long stretches of time as it did with prior Macs... and as it can do again by hooking it to those Macs right now.

In my case the variables are narrowed down to Mac + cable + enclosure.

To rule out cable, I've tried 2 brand new ones, so 3 in all. The problem is the same with all 3. That leaves Mac and Enclosure.

To rule out one bad port on the Studio, I've tested ALL of them. The problem is consistent no matter which port I use.

If I hook the Enclosure to my Macs running an OS before Big Sur, it remains stably connected for however long I run the test (months-to-years before I purchased this Studio). I have 2 older Macs and can replicate this with BOTH of them. Because I didn't want to believe my shiny new, very expensive Mac had this problem, I wanted to believe there was a coincidental dying scenario with the enclosure. But test after test with the other Macs show traditional stability. It only demonstrates this issue when used with this newest Mac.

So what variable is left? What changes if I move it from stable connections on older Macs? Mac Studio running Monterey. It could be Silicon itself or it could be macOS.

• Older macOS "just works" with this enclosure. Newer macOS does not.
• Older Intel hardware "just works" with this enclosure. Newer Silicon hardware does not.

Having tested the multitude of possible "solutions" to be found from many others having this same issue with wide varieties of branded enclosures new and old, wide varieties of cables, use of hub and powered hub middlemen and direct connect, it keeps coming back to those 2 unique variables.

In spite of some concerning finds that imply the potential it is Silicon itself like:

• full speeds are not realized on the ports and
• power to the ports seems oddly limited given the big power supply.

...I perhaps foolishly (hope) rule out Silicon since there are large numbers who do NOT have this problem... particularly with single drive SSD enclosures attached to their Silicon Macs. Much like I can't completely rule out an enclosure firmware issue, that can't completely rule out a Silicon issue either, but it reasonably implies that it is probably not a hardware defect. There are also many posts of Intel Macs being upgraded to Big Sur/Monterey and the problem suddenly hits. That further implies it is probably NOT Silicon.

If I "leap of faith" that it is not hardware, much as I "leap of faith" that it is not enclosure firmware since it works perfectly fine with same cable hooked to older Macs, what am I left with?

Monterey.

The closest I personally can get to testing Monterey is the tests already shared: fine on 2 Macs running 2 versions of macOS before Big Sur vs. consistent "unexpected ejections" on newest Mac running Monterey.

There are also abundant clues of others posting about this problem all over the internet that their Intel Mac did not have this issue while they were using macOS before Monterey or Big Sur and then it manifested on the upgrade to Big Sur/Monterey. I've seen a few posts where it frustrated some enough that they downgraded again to macOS before Big Sur and their enclosure returned to stable connection. I don't know how to interpret that other than either:

• a conspiracy of liars who own Macs but have something against Big Sur & Monterey OR
• as fairly good proof that there is something in Monterey (and apparently Big Sur too) that drive the "unexpected ejections" some of us are experiencing.

Until the last Monterey dot upgrade, I had no other evidence supporting my hypothesis that it is Monterey. However, that upgrade switched my "unexpected ejections" from up to about 3 hours to up to about 15-18 hours... a very tangible, very noticeable expansion of stable connection time. NO OTHER VARIABLES CHANGED except upgrading from .5 to .6: same cable direct connected, same enclosure, same firmware.

All of that considered, I strongly believe- but can't completely prove- that the issue is within macOS and that the day will come after Apple gets in there and works on those parts of macOS, the "unexpected ejections" will return to historical norms of "rarely," barring accidentally pulling the cable or forgetting to manually eject before disconnecting, etc.

Again, it is also possible that the firmware of this enclosure may have some highly select issue with Silicon/Monterey that doesn't replicate with Intel/pre-Monterey. So I can't 100% claim it is absolutely Monterey. But the above lays out why I lean pretty strongly that way. It certainly could be many other things- maybe gremlins- but I've tested just about everything I can reasonably test to narrow in on my belief that Monterey has port bugs affecting some- but not all- USB stuff.

There is plenty of evidence with a wide variety of hardware, cables, brands, etc, so this is not isolated to only me and only this one piece of hardware. So even if I would like to try to blame this Enclosure or its firmware to redirect away from finding a fault with anything by Apple, not everyone having this same problem are using this same enclosure and same firmware. If I want to blame the cable (in spite of trying 2 more), it is highly unlikely that everyone having this same problem are testing with the same 3 cables I've tested. If I want to inject a hub or powered hub as a middleman piece to try to rule out the power management/sleep hypothesis, I still have the same problem... but not everyone else with hubs would be using the exact same hubs... and I've tried THREE different hubs myself.

What is the common variable in ALL of these cases: Monterey (and Big Sur)... affecting both Intel and Silicon Macs.

Lastly, I certainly HAVE reported it to Apple through their bug reporting link. There were substantial posts about this issue in Apple's support forums that seem to have all been recently erased. Hopefully that doesn't mean Apple wishes to simply ignore the issue. With my personal experience of .5 to .6 yielding a tangible improvement with this one enclosure, it appears Apple is working on this problem. Hopefully, they finish what they apparently started in .6.

 

[deeppurple114]

seems my issue occurs now also with Wifi so be back to zero :S

 

[HDFan]

I certainly HAVE reported it to Apple through their bug reporting link.

Very frustrating. Have you contacted the enclosure maker? They might have some insights.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Yes, they blame Monterey and say it is a well-known problem among manufacturers that Apple needs to resolve. From their perspective it works correctly with Macs before Big Sur/Monterey and Windows, etc.

Logically, it makes sense to me that altering it to work with Monterey might make it not work with everything else with which it works perfectly fine now. USB should be “universal.” That’s the point of it.

But they are happy to pitch other enclosures to buy & try.

Another enclosure from them is the substitute I’m using until Apple fixes the bug(s). The substitute works fine. Besides paying up for a new enclosure I didn't really need (if I didn't have this issue), the cost to me is substantially less available storage until the one forced into vacation magically works again… this one for me... and all the other enclosures and brands (and firmware and cables) for the many others also dealing with this issue.

 

[deeppurple114]

it's make worse, i really be happy to focus on my issue in this thread --
i think i have something that might help to narrow down -- after i return to my computer as i mention there is no network , seems he have difficult to identify my ISP wan ip... any ideas?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Yes, deeppurple114, sorry to highjack/sidebar your ethernet issue with the USB ports issue discussion.

As I mention back in #5, I suspect both are related... that there is a bug(s) in port management in general as I see "blinks" in ethernet connection every day but know it is not router or broadband source since other devices can load the same target (web page, etc), as can my primary Mac if I quickly turn on wifi and unhook ethernet. For me, these blinks of apparent disconnection can last up to a few minutes... as if the port has crashed/gone to sleep and needs time to reboot/wake. If I simply wait it out, it always come back again (like waking or rebooting the whole computer).

If my suspicion is right, you won't find a solution you can implement yourself. We need Apple to debug port management software to make long-term standard ports like ethernet and USB "just work" as well as they do on older Macs running macOS before Monterey/Big Sur. If I take the SAME ethernet cable and plug it into either of my older Macs, no "blinks." Move it back to Studio Ultra and there will be several such "blinks" throughout every day.

Like you, I most notice this when trying to access webpages or web services. However, another way to notice the volume of blinks is to install any always-connected apps that put a status icon the menu bar (like Dropbox and Skype for example). When disconnected those kinds of icons change appearance, which is a simple way to easily see the volume of blinks even when not trying to load a web page or get new mail, etc right at that point in time.

Since I spent so much on a "latest & greatest" Mac and I can halo it a bit myself, I first wanted to find fault with other (non-Apple) parts. So I went through the steps of swapping ethernet cables in spite of the one showing no such issue with the older Macs, swapping the ethernet switch in spite of it showing no such issue with older Macs, bypassing the switch with a direct connect (to rule out 2 "faulty" switches that work fine with everything else), swapping out routers (one of which was Apple's own) and swapping out modems. What is the common denominator when you test through all of the supporting parts?

Mac Silicon running Monterey.

I'm hopeful that it is NOT a hardware issue with Silicon but no great way to 100% test that. I also have no way to run a macOS version BEFORE Big Sur on this Studio Ultra to put my primary hypothesis to the most tangible test. But because of the other issue with the other ports, my best gut guess is that this ethernet issue is also a Monterey (and Big Sur) issue that Apple will need to resolve in a future update.

I DO think they WILL resolve it because it seems unlikely they can roll out the rumored Mac Pro and have these kinds of issues with USB and ethernet ports for customers who pay way, WAYYYYYYYYYY up for that one. I suspect simply getting macOS ready for whatever Mac Pro will be will require fresh work in core functionality like port management software and that should uncover the suspected bugs. If so, fixes should apply to all other Macs with the same ports which should bring a resolution to you, me and anyone else with these problems.

In the meantime, I hope you DO find some workaround for this issue for you but I personally believe the solution is in the OS code and only Apple can get in there and address it.

As you seem to have already figured out, wifi seems more stable than ethernet in Monterey. So if you can't roll with the ethernet crashes/sleep delay, you might want to simply deal with the slower wifi option and then re-check ethernet after each macOS upgrade. I suspect that a future macOS upgrade will resolve both ethernet "blinks" and USB "unexpected ejections" sooner or later.

 

[deeppurple114]

Yes, deeppurple114, sorry to highjack/sidebar your ethernet issue with the USB ports issue discussion.

As I mention back in #5, I suspect both are related... that there is a bug(s) in port management in general as I see "blinks" in ethernet connection every day but know it is not router or broadband source since other devices can load the same target (web page, etc), as can my primary Mac if I quickly turn on wifi and unhook ethernet. For me, these blinks of apparent disconnection can last up to a few minutes... as if the port has crashed/gone to sleep and needs time to reboot/wake. If I simply wait it out, it always come back again (like waking or rebooting the whole computer).

If my suspicion is right, you won't find a solution you can implement yourself. We need Apple to debug port management software to make long-term standard ports like ethernet and USB "just work" as well as they do on older Macs running macOS before Monterey/Big Sur. If I take the SAME ethernet cable and plug it into either of my older Macs, no "blinks." Move it back to Studio Ultra and there will be several such "blinks" throughout every day.

Like you, I most notice this when trying to access webpages or web services. However, another way to notice the volume of blinks is to install any always-connected apps that put a status icon the menu bar (like Dropbox and Skype for example). When disconnected those kinds of icons change appearance, which is a simple way to easily see the volume of blinks even when not trying to load a web page or get new mail, etc right at that point in time.

Since I spent so much on a "latest & greatest" Mac and I can halo it a bit myself, I first wanted to find fault with other (non-Apple) parts. So I went through the steps of swapping ethernet cables in spite of the one showing no such issue with the older Macs, swapping the ethernet switch in spite of it showing no such issue with older Macs, bypassing the switch with a direct connect (to rule out 2 "faulty" switches that work fine with everything else), swapping out routers (one of which was Apple's own) and swapping out modems. What is the common denominator when you test through all of the supporting parts?

Mac Silicon running Monterey.

I'm hopeful that it is NOT a hardware issue with Silicon but no great way to 100% test that. I also have no way to run a macOS version BEFORE Big Sur on this Studio Ultra to put my primary hypothesis to the most tangible test. But because of the other issue with the other ports, my best gut guess is that this ethernet issue is also a Monterey (and Big Sur) issue that Apple will need to resolve in a future update.

I DO think they WILL resolve it because it seems unlikely they can roll out the rumored Mac Pro and have these kinds of issues with USB and ethernet ports for customers who pay way, WAYYYYYYYYYY up for that one. I suspect simply getting macOS ready for whatever Mac Pro will be will require fresh work in core functionality like port management software and that should uncover the suspected bugs. If so, fixes should apply to all other Macs with the same ports which should bring a resolution to you, me and anyone else with these problems.

In the meantime, I hope you DO find some workaround for this issue for you but I personally believe the solution is in the OS code and only Apple can get in there and address it.

As you seem to have already figured out, wifi seems more stable than ethernet in Monterey. So if you can't roll with the ethernet crashes/sleep delay, you might want to simply deal with the slower wifi option and then re-check ethernet after each macOS upgrade. I suspect that a future macOS upgrade will resolve both ethernet "blinks" and USB "unexpected ejections" sooner or later.

thanks for all the info. maybe you right, let's hope it's just SW issue and not HW.
for now i did some changes on my router and did reboot and seems at this moment it's much better

 

[Tmezz]

I have an M1 Mac Mini, running Monterey 12.6. I have AT&T fiber optic to the house. I have an AT&T supplied modem. I'm running ethernet to the M1 Mac Mini, and getting 10% of the speed that I get with an ethernet cable sent to my 2011 MacBook Pro. turning the VPN off doesn't help. should I just go up to Ventura? super annoying that it's so slow. thank you for any thoughts - I have power cycled the modem. next attempt to fix it is to try AT&T. okay, that's crazy - I just checked the ethernet connection on the back of the M1 - and sheepishly admitting it wasn't plugged in ALL THE WAY. so strange - plugged in enough to work, but not to capture the anywhere near the speed it should have. now it does. offered as an example of checking the simplest things first.

 

[Fishrrman]

Tmezz --

I would try this (in the order presented):
a. open network preferences (system preferences).
b. click on "ethernet", then click the "-" sign (lower left) to DELETE it.
c. pull the ethernet cable out from back of the Mini
d. restart the mini
e. RE-connect the ethernet cable
f. re-open network preferences.
g. click the "+" sign (lower left)
h. in the dialog, choose ethernet.

Then, re-test your connection speed.
Sometimes doing something as basic as this "makes the difference".