MD Tired of seeing a spinning ball in your browser? Check our guide on how you can optimize your Internet connection in a few simple steps
How to Boost Internet Speed on Your Mac
A fast internet connection is the oxygen of the modern world, given that it fuels many aspects of our lives. As a Mac user, you may feel deprived of macOS’s excellent capabilities when the Internet connection slows down. In this post, we’ll show you the best ways to optimize Internet speed on your Mac.
Check your Wi-Fi signal strength
When your connection suddenly breaks down, the first instinct is to check your Wi-Fi connection status in the top menu bar. If everything is good with it, you’ll see a dot with three horizontal bars. Fewer lines mean a weaker signal, so you may want to try and move your Mac closer to the Wi-Fi router. If that didn’t remedy the problem, you should check if your Wi-Fi router settings are compatible with your Mac.
Close apps and tabs you don’t use
Sometimes your Mac gets overworked with plenty of processes running in the background. These may include resource-heavy processes that impede your browsing experience, for which we tend to blame a poor Internet connection. You can track and shut down those resource-hogging activities in Activity Monitor, a tool that shows you what processes are currently running.
Suppose you have multiple tabs open in your browser, plus a bunch of frequently synchronizing apps. It means that you’re constantly connected to the Web, which may be the reason for the slow Internet connection you’re experiencing. The only way to fix it is to stick to a small number of apps and tabs.
Try an Ethernet cable
Your Wi-Fi router has an Ethernet port that lets you connect to the Internet using a network cable. With this method, you can check if a weak Wi-Fi signal is the problem behind the speed drop, or maybe someone has hacked into your network. Although it’s a temporary fix, an Ethernet cable is good at providing a speedy Internet connection because, unlike Wi-Fi, it can’t fall victim to hackers and other hindrances.
Curb the frequency of backup copying
Time Machine can slow down your Internet connection, as it relies heavily on its capacity. Time Machine generates copies every hour by default, so chances are your Internet has hit a slowdown while creating a backup for a large file. You can adjust your Time Machine settings to back your Mac up with less frequency using Terminal. You can do it in the following way:
- Launch Terminal by going Applications – Utilities;
- Enter the following command: defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-auto
- Then increase the value to at least 7,200 seconds (2 hours). It should look like this: StartInterval -int <7200>.
Clear your browser
Resetting your browser is one of the most popular fixes for increasing Macbook speed, but it can also be effective when optimizing your Internet connection.
Temporary files (cache), cookies, extensions, and plug-ins may clog your browser and take a toll on your Internet speed. Therefore, consider cleaning your browser by removing unnecessary things. Here is what you can do to free up your browser:
- Clear browsing data to get rid of cookies and cache data;
- Remove (or turn off) unused browser extensions;
- Disable plug-ins that your browser offers.
The cleaning process varies from browser to browser, but the steps for each browser are self-explanatory. Note that before you begin cleaning your browser, it’s best to save your bookmarks, logins, and passwords.
Switch off automatic updates
Your Mac may be loading updates under its hood, eating up your Internet speed. You can stop this process by going to the System Preferences in the Apple menu – Software Update – Lock. Confirm the action by entering your password. Then, you need to uncheck the “Download newly available updates in the background” option.
As you can see, many factors are at play when it comes to Internet speed. If you’ve tried everything possible and nothing seems to be working, it’s best to contact Apple Support for help.