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Internet on Iphone faster then Mac

Why is Internet on the MacBook much slower than iPhone?

Speed test speedof.me reports 220 Mbps on the iPhone and on the MacBook only 14.7 Mbps download and 19.87 upload. Speed test is done with Ethernet wire connection, CAT 6.

Similar values when using Wi-Fi.

macOS Big Sur. MacBook Air 2017

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Feb 9, 2021 8:58 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 13, 2021 10:05 AM

The speed on Ethernet may be limited either by your usb adapter or by the port in your router.


The speed you got today was much better than your initial report.

What changed from one test to another?

Similar questions

6 replies

Feb 11, 2021 8:47 AM in response to goldendeer

Hi goldendeer,


We see that you have some issues with the internet connection on your MacBook when compared to your iPhone. Making sure you have a reliable working internet connection is important. We're glad to help.


Does this happen on all Wi-Fi connections or just your home network? Starting with the steps in the link below see if you notice an improvement in the connection speed.


Solve internet connection problems on Mac


Keep the community posted on the results of those steps and any additional information about the network you can provide.


Have a good day!

Feb 13, 2021 9:18 AM in response to jdo_apple

Thank you jdo_apple,


The steps suggested in the link you provided don't apply in this case, both Ethernet and Wi-Fi work, it's just that the speed through Ethernet wires is much slower than Wi-Fi. Today I tested again connecting my Mac directly to the modem with a CAT 6 cable. Speed was 101 Mbps. Using Wi-Fi I got 267 Mbps! I expected an Ethernet connection to provide a higher speed than Wi-Fi but the reality is the other way around. All I can think of is the USB Ethernet adapter in my Mac doesn't support higher internet speed. I bet it's not meant to support gigabit internet connections. Is it???

Feb 13, 2021 9:58 AM in response to goldendeer

Try a test account and see if it persists there.


make sure not to sign into your Apple ID when setting up the test user.


from your admin profile you can create the test user account by going into system preferences>users and groups>+ sign to add a test user


this will help us isolate in case something 3rd party related is causing the issue.



Feb 13, 2021 10:37 AM in response to goldendeer

It is looking to me like a case of a bad cable and/or connector somewhere.

There are four pairs of wires in an ethernet cable and gigabit ethernet

requires all four. If just one of those that are needed for gigabit has a broken

wire, broken pin, or a shorted wire pair, it will fall back to the slower 100 or 10 megabit

ethernet which only require two pairs.


So try another cable and also inspect all of the connectors for possible damage.


Internet on Iphone faster then Mac

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