1

If I download or upload a large file, my MacBook Pro running Big Sur completely kills the internet for my device and all other devices on my network. This is far worse than the extent to which this happens on any other computer I have ever used, e.g. I can't even open bbc.co.uk/news or send/receive emails. Obviously slowdown to some extent is to be expected, but, on any other device, a large download/upload would simply slow down the internet on other devices, not kill it outright.

I'm aware of the pfctl utility, but I can't work out how to use it to prevent my laptop from taking all available bandwidth for any high bandwidth job. What is the simplest way to limit my bandwidth usage?

nohillside
  • 100,768
DyedPurple
  • 11
  • 3
    Before arbitrarily reducing your speed, test for bufferbloat which is a common cause of the effect you describe. – Tetsujin Mar 05 '21 at 09:22
  • Good point. Having done some more reading, you are almost certainly correct that this is the problem. As far as I can tell, there is no easy solution to bufferbloat for me. Would throttling my Mac's speed help at all (like I say, no other devices appear to cause this issue to the same extent)? – DyedPurple Mar 05 '21 at 10:55
  • I don't honestly know - I'll have to leave that part to see if someone else can pick up on it. – Tetsujin Mar 05 '21 at 12:59
  • ^ Of course, one way to reduce bufferbloat is to cap your speed. But @Tetsujin is right, you're better off doing it in a more advanced way, and preferably at the router level. I bought an OpenWRT compatible router and set up sqm, it's a bit annoying to set up but also very effective! – Wowfunhappy Mar 05 '21 at 14:18
  • 1
    You can throttle your network connection, intended for iOS simulation testing. It's Called Network Link Conditioner, part of the Additional Tools for Xcode 12 download from the Developer downloads. See How to simulate poor network conditions on iOS Simulator and iPhone. Firefox -> Tools Web Developer (when enabled) -> Network, Select a No Throttling alternative See Network Monitor effects are browser specific. –  Mar 09 '21 at 07:38
  • You can usually find URLs for Apple Updates so you can retrieve via a browser which would allow you to use another browser or Internet connect without a throttle or a different one. Make sure you turn off the throttling for either method when you're done. If one or the other works for you, answer your question yourself (and this says your question may not be specific enough). Without throttling a browser will be faster at downloading than the Apple Store. –  Mar 09 '21 at 07:42

0 Answers0