10.4: Disable IPv6 networking for possible speed gain

May 15, '05 12:12:00AM

Contributed by: spishack

Tiger only hintIf you've noticed that your internet connection is slow since you installed Tiger, you're not alone. On both of my machines, OS X 10.4 effectively killed my internet connection. I was averaging 100kpbs download, which is very slow compared to normal. I also couldn't do video chats with anyone on iChat unless I tried over and over, and the quality was always awful. Today I found the issue:

Open System Preferences - Network. Go into the properties for your connection and click on the TCP/IP tab. Then click the Configure IPv6 button and set the menu to Off. Click OK and then Apply Now.

In about 10 seconds, your network will hopefully be speedy again. I went from 100kpbs to 700kpbs and I was able to do a 4-way video chat. IPv6 was definitely my issue, and it might just be yours if you've been having internet speed issues.

[robg adds: My IPv6 is clearly enabled, but I haven't noticed any speed loss from 10.3 to 10.4. Still, if you have, this might be worth trying...]

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