Sudden drop in loading speed of web sites, but download speed is OK.

March 16, 2007 5:35 AM

Firefox on OSX. Sudden drop in loading speed of web sites, but download speed is OK. Please help!

I am running Firefox 2.0.0.2 on the latest version of OSX (10.4.9). When I try to go to a web page, it takes as long as 15 seconds to find it and begin downloading the content. In the lower left corner of my browser, it says "looking up X" for most of that time. When it finally begins downloading, it's as fast as ever.

I've tried disabling all extensions, and restarting both Firefox and the mac.

This problem might have started when I upgraded to OSX 10.4.9, but I'm not sure. This is definitely a problem that started within the last few days. Before then, my connection was really fast.

I just did an online connection speed test, and it said my connection is much faster than the typical cable modem.

Any advice?

posted by kdern to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Your problem sounds like it's all in DNS lookups. Have you been able to try another connection? Another ISP will have different servers and might tell you if your problem is indeed on your end or not.

You could also try setting DNS servers manually to see if that makes a difference - Apple menu / Location / Network Preferences / (double click your connection) and then go to the TC/IP tab. I would try 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2 in the DNS Servers space.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 6:18 AM on March 16, 2007

I second Dipsomaniac, definitely a DNS problem.
posted by DU at 6:26 AM on March 16, 2007

Response by poster: Dipsomaniac - I tried your settings and they made a huge difference. I don't think page load time is as quick as it used to be, but it's down from 15 seconds to about 2 seconds. Thank you!

Any other suggestions?
posted by kdern at 6:33 AM on March 16, 2007

I would try 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2 in the DNS Servers space.

That is poor advice: you should not use the root domain servers as your DNS entries, except as a brief test. Your best bet is to find your ISP's proper DNS entries and add those to your Network preferences. It's usually a simple matter of googling or visiting your ISPs support pages.
posted by Mo Nickels at 6:34 AM on March 16, 2007

If it's a DNS problem, opendns.com can help you solve it.
posted by Baud at 6:58 AM on March 16, 2007

Sounds like one or more of the DNS servers your ISP is providing are acting slowly. One thing that may help is using the DNS servers that your ISP sends (via DHCP presumably), but hardcoding them to swap the order -- quite often server #1 is under heavy load but server #2 is still responsive.

Finding a fast server to you is a good idea; if your ISP doesn't have one perhaps another local ISP does. This really depends on network topology though -- a traceroute goes a long way here.
posted by reptile at 7:32 AM on March 16, 2007

Reboot (unplug power, count to 10, replug) your router and cable modem. Especially if you've been using any p2p apps recently.
posted by IvyMike at 8:26 AM on March 16, 2007

I would try 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2 in the DNS Servers space.

That is poor advice: you should not use the root domain servers as your DNS entries, except as a brief test.

Luckily, those are not the root DNS servers. They're Verizon's. Commonly they are used because they are easy to remember. Unless your ISP is incompetent you will generally have better luck using theirs, of course, but in this case one of the ISP's provided DNS servers wasn't working!

Solution: OpenDNS
posted by kindall at 9:38 AM on March 16, 2007

I'm just nth-ing OpenDNS. They have great instructions on their site, explaining how to change your (Windows, Mac, Linux!) workstation or router over. But if you don't need the visuals, the addresses are:

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

I've noticed that they're substantially faster at DNS queries than Comcast, at least during heavy load periods.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:53 AM on March 16, 2007

Have you tried disabling IPV6 in FireFox? This is a common problem on Ubuntu and other *NIX systems.

In the address bar type about:config then filter for ipv6. You should see something like network.dns.disable.IPv6. ctrl click on this and select toggle, then restart FireFox. Good luck!
posted by ReiToei at 11:18 AM on March 16, 2007