DL/page load speed great, but browser "looking up" and "connecting to" slow

I just got Fios Internet on Monday. The speed of downloading and webpage loading is really good! However, there is one annoying problem that maybe someone can help with? When I enter a URL, it takes a long time for the browser to "look up" and "connect to" the site. For example, it takes 10 seconds to "look up" google.com (which should load almost instantly). The problem is that many sites that pull from different advertisers... getting on a news site is awful because it takes forever for the internet to look up "ads.cnn.com" and "advertisements.ystd.dhsk.com" or whatever. But once if finally looks them up and connects to them, the ads load quickly.

Any ideas about what I can try?

Accepted answers

pamcphilly

You might be running into some issues with how OS X does DNS especially with some routers. You can check out these posts for the fixes. Basically you would change the dns on the computer side and not the router side. You said you tried OpenDNS but didn't say if you changed it on the router or on the Mac. It looks like the changes have to happen on the Mac.

http://rubyisbeautiful.com/2008/2/8/osx-dns-fix-update

http://aplawrence.com/MacOSX/firefox_google.html

All comments

spacedebris

Several things that may give us a clue are...

1. Run a speed test at www.speedtest.net so we can make sure of the speeds

2. check the task manager and check to see the number of processes running

3. How much of the ram memory is being used when idle

4. Run a tracert to a couple of example sites so we can check for bad hops

If you need instructions on how to do this, just let us know

benz981

1.) Ok, I performed the speed test and copied the forum link below:

[URL=http://www.speedtest.net][IMG]http://www.speedtest.net/result/503748193.png[/IMG][/URL]

2.) I am not running any more or less processes than before I got Fios, so I know it's not a processor issue.

3.) I don't know about the ram memory... but again, nothing has changed except getting a different internet service. The browser (Firefox) never took this long to "look up" and "connect to" sites.

4.) Could you explain what #4 means, and how I perform that task? Not sure what "tracert" and "hops" are, sorry.

BrianMcD

TRACERT shouws you the path that your PC takes to get to a location on the Internet.

Goto a Command Prompt (Start - Run - CMD), then type in TRACERT www.google.com (Or another www that you are having a problem with).

benz981

I'm actually using a Mac... but it's not just one site. It's pretty much any time I go to any website, it takes annoyingly long to "look it up." Once it finally "finds" it, the load speed of the page is great. But again, the problem is sites that pull content from multiple sources (mostly ads)... so every source has to be "looked up" or "connecting to" for 10 seconds or so. May not seem like that long, but 6 different sources adds up to me sitting there for an entire minute waiting for a simple page to load 🙂

Justin46

What browser and what anti-virus are you using?

It seems to me that there is a function in Firefox that will verify links in web pages, but I could be wrong, I don't use Firefox much any more.

If you are using AVG anti-virus, make sure you have turned off the function that causes AVG to go to every link in a web page and verify that it is not a bogus site (I'm sorry, I can't remember the function name, I gave up on AVG and now use Avast free, which I like a lot better than AVG, but that function will absolutely kill browser performance).

Try turning on or getting an ad blocker. In IE 7 I use the ad blocker included in IE7Pro, a terrific freebie with lots of great functions that make IE 7 a much better browser. In firefox I use Adblock Plus, a really good free add-on that does a great job blocking ads.

And one last thing, I found that the Verizon DNS service was slow. I switched to the free OpenDNS and the DNS lookups seem to be quite a bit faster, so you might try that.

Hopefully I have given you a few things to try, if you need help with any of them just let us know. Good luck.

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.6.2, Build 08.58
Keller, TX 76248

dslr595148

#1 As need be: For ping and trace route, see http://www.more.net/technical/pingtrace.html

#2 What is the brand and model of your router?

spacedebris

OPPS. I assumed windows.... well you know what it means when you make an assumption. Smiley Wink

Well one thing to consider. Fios IS a new service for your computer and compared to DSL/Cable it does take just a hair more ram memory to run. I see it all the time where a computer is running only 256mb of ram and it goes fine with DSL speeds but when upgrading to fios, the 256 is bare minimum and tends to slow the computer down slightly. boosting up the ram usually takes care of this. But this is usally a windows issue not Mac

Does it take a while for the window to open when you click on the ICON or does the window open to a blank page and then take a while for the page itself to load? How about when you go from one page to another, do you get the same delay or is it only when first opening the browser?

Message Edited by spacedebris on 06-25-2009 12:02 PM

jumpin68ny

This sounds more like a DNS issue. As someone else requested what brand router are you using. Also, if you go to the following, need to know what DNS you are using on the PC.

start

run

cmd

ipconfig

report back the ip address, default gateway and DNS address listed.

benz981

Ok, a bunch of replies, so here's some more information:

1.) I'm using a Mac... Operating system is OS X 10.4.11. Web browser is FireFox.

2.) I changed DNS servers to Open DNS (followed the directions provided on their site). No change in the time delay.

3.) Just to reiterate- This is not an issue of load speed. Once the content is "looked up" from the site, it loads quickly. It's the "looking up" and "connecting to" processes that take ridiculously long (ie. 13-15 seconds to look up google.com... puhleeze!) The delay is the same no matter what site I go to. And certain sites are awful (ie. sites that pull ad content from different sources... takes 10 seconds to access all of the ads.google.com, admedia.cnn.com, etc).... so the page takes forever to actually load.

4.) Nothing is slow about my computer... operating system, other programs, browser itself... all fine. The only thing that is a problem is the "look up," "connecting to," etc. time.

5.) dslr595.... I went to that site and tried the "ping" and "traceroute" steps, but I don't have a "network utilities" in my "utilities" folder. BUT- after reading that site, it sounds like that is more the type of issues that exists- the response time. Brand and model of the router is Actiontec MI424WR.

I appreciate all the feedback and would welcome more.... thanks everyone!

benz981

Here's the results of a few traceroutes... I have no idea how to read them, so can you advise?

For www.google.com

Traceroute has started ...

traceroute: Warning: www.google.com has multiple addresses; using 208.69.32.231
traceroute to google.navigation.opendns.com (208.69.32.231), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
1 wireless_broadband_router (192.168.1.1) 0.707 ms 0.354 ms 0.236 ms
2 l100.rcmdva-vfttp-16.verizon-gni.net (98.117.88.1) 6.051 ms 7.511 ms 7.096 ms
3 g9-1-116.rcmdva-lcr-01.verizon-gni.net (130.81.109.206) 7.418 ms 6.500 ms 7.629 ms
4 so-15-0-0-0.lcc1-res-bb-rtr1-re1.verizon-gni.net (130.81.28.248) 12.378 ms 11.109 ms 12.357 ms
5 so-6-0-0-0.ash-peer-rtr2-re1.verizon-gni.net (130.81.17.177) 12.585 ms 12.679 ms 11.652 ms
6 po4-0.core01.iad01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.13.173) 57.882 ms 79.228 ms 202.821 ms
7 te2-3.mpd01.iad01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.3.222) 25.142 ms 93.697 ms 17.807 ms
8 opendns.demarc.cogentco.com (38.104.56.50) 12.582 ms 11.606 ms 12.575 ms
9 * * *
10 * * *
11 * * *
12 * * *
13 * * *
(I took the * to mean that it was done)

For www.cnn.com

Traceroute has started ...

traceroute: Warning: www.cnn.com has multiple addresses; using 157.166.226.26
traceroute to www.cnn.com (157.166.226.26), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
1 wireless_broadband_router (192.168.1.1) 0.689 ms 0.264 ms 0.230 ms
2 l100.rcmdva-vfttp-16.verizon-gni.net (98.117.88.1) 7.611 ms 7.367 ms 7.374 ms
3 g9-1-216.rcmdva-lcr-02.verizon-gni.net (130.81.110.180) 7.651 ms 7.315 ms 7.083 ms
4 p15-0-0.rcmdva-lcr-01.verizon-gni.net (130.81.27.64) 12.876 ms 11.347 ms 13.054 ms
5 so-15-0-0-0.lcc1-res-bb-rtr1-re1.verizon-gni.net (130.81.28.248) 11.816 ms 12.171 ms 12.874 ms
6 0.so-1-2-0.xl3.iad8.alter.net (152.63.37.117) 12.616 ms 0.so-4-1-0.xl3.iad8.alter.net (152.63.30.2) 12.093 ms 41.244 ms
7 0.ge-6-1-0.br2.iad8.alter.net (152.63.41.153) 12.851 ms 0.ge-3-2-0.br2.iad8.alter.net (152.63.41.49) 11.692 ms 0.ge-6-0-0.br2.iad8.alter.net (152.63.41.149) 12.099 ms
8 te-11-2-0.edge1.washington4.level3.net (4.68.63.165) 34.288 ms 33.943 ms 35.691 ms
9 vlan99.csw4.washington1.level3.net (4.68.17.254) 37.416 ms 32.156 ms vlan69.csw1.washington1.level3.net (4.68.17.62) 37.852 ms
10 ae-71-71.ebr1.washington1.level3.net (4.69.134.133) 46.690 ms 34.240 ms 35.382 ms
11 ae-2.ebr3.atlanta2.level3.net (4.69.132.85) 40.009 ms 51.930 ms 54.525 ms
12 ae-1-51.edge4.atlanta2.level3.net (4.68.103.14) 42.128 ms 42.858 ms ae-2-52.edge4.atlanta2.level3.net (4.68.103.46) 42.108 ms
13 * * *

Here's one to a local school division website- www.chesterfield.k12.va.us

Traceroute has started ...

traceroute to chesterfield.k12.va.us (208.0.238.35), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
1 wireless_broadband_router (192.168.1.1) 0.918 ms 0.279 ms 0.236 ms
2 l100.rcmdva-vfttp-16.verizon-gni.net (98.117.88.1) 6.783 ms 7.041 ms 7.582 ms
3 g9-1-116.rcmdva-lcr-01.verizon-gni.net (130.81.109.206) 7.407 ms 6.822 ms 7.612 ms
4 so-15-0-0-0.lcc1-res-bb-rtr1-re1.verizon-gni.net (130.81.28.248) 12.447 ms 12.534 ms 12.575 ms
5 0.ge-4-2-0.br2.iad8.alter.net (152.63.32.141) 14.591 ms 13.680 ms 14.966 ms
6 204.255.169.218 (204.255.169.218) 14.744 ms 15.549 ms 14.972 ms
7 sl-crs1-dc-0-1-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.19.229) 17.864 ms 16.584 ms 17.123 ms
8 sl-crs1-rly-0-13-5-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.19.212) 17.845 ms sl-crs1-rly-0-2-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.19.222) 16.332 ms sl-bb20-dc-3-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.15.10) 16.352 ms
9 sl-crs1-rly-0-8-2-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.8.163) 17.076 ms sl-gw28-rly-14-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.14.177) 15.677 ms sl-crs1-rly-0-8-2-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.8.163) 16.969 ms
10 sl-vwan-7-0.sprintlink.net (160.81.98.30) 16.946 ms sl-gw28-rly-14-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.14.177) 17.078 ms sl-vwan-7-0.sprintlink.net (160.81.98.30) 17.082 ms
11 pos3-1.ric-wtn1.networkvirginia.net (65.162.89.46) 25.008 ms sl-vwan-7-0.sprintlink.net (160.81.98.30) 16.255 ms pos3-1.ric-wtn1.networkvirginia.net (65.162.89.46) 24.963 ms
12 chesterfieldcogov-ric.networkvirginia.net (65.172.69.62) 28.128 ms 26.462 ms pos3-1.ric-wtn1.networkvirginia.net (65.162.89.46) 25.431 ms
13 * * chesterfieldcogov-ric.networkvirginia.net (65.172.69.62) 27.998 ms
14 * * *

So, what does all this mean??

jumpin68ny

The *** mean the next router does not allow traceroute so it gets blocked to the reply.

Basically all of this are showing the route packets will take to get to the destination. For your issue, its not really all that helpful. We know it works its just the initial communication is delayed, which indicates a problem with DNS or your browser. Was there any delay when you issued the tracert?

Return to DNS on your MAC issues by the Actiontec Router, which should be 192.168.1.1. Please validate this is correct.

benz981

Ok, removed the OpenDNS (208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220) and returned to "Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically." They are now 71.252.0.12 and 68.138.212.12.

And yes, the Tracert took about 10 seconds to get started... the same amount of time the browser takes to look up the websites.

pamcphilly

http://rubyisbeautiful.com/2008/2/8/osx-dns-fix-update

http://aplawrence.com/MacOSX/firefox_google.html

benz981

Pam- That was the fix! Thanks so much to you, Jumpin68, and all others- I really appreciate it!

abisdabis1

I am having the same issue running IE 7 and XP SP2. Any suggestions as to what I can look at?

DreadEngineer

Thanks! I had the same problem with FireFox and Windows XP; it was fixed by the advice above (i.e. changing the DNS location in Windows; changing it in the router didn't fix it). To do it in Windows go to Start/Settings/Network Connections, right click on your main connection and say properties, and then select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and say Properties, then change the Preferred and Alternate DNS servers to the ones given at opendns.com.

abisdabis1

Thanks. I will try this tonight when I get home form work.