Gmail (but not other sites) is slow. Is it Gmail? Our computers? Our connection? How do we know?

Yes, Gmail use to work great on all three computers until about 3-4 days ago.  The Google.com site is slow too, although images.google.com seems faster than maps.google.com.  I have good luck/speed with scholar.google.com.

No proxy server, but we are running all computers through a Linksys router.



Here are the results from the Lookup


Lookup has started ...


; <<>> DiG 9.3.6-APPLE-P2 <<>> mail.google.com
;; global options:  printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 24936
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 5, AUTHORITY: 4, ADDITIONAL: 4

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;mail.google.com.            IN      A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
mail.google.com.      450949      IN      CNAME      googlemail.l.google.com.
googlemail.l.google.com. 255      IN      A      74.125.19.19
googlemail.l.google.com. 255      IN      A      74.125.19.83
googlemail.l.google.com. 255      IN      A      74.125.19.17
googlemail.l.google.com. 255      IN      A      74.125.19.18

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
google.com.            191877      IN      NS      ns3.google.com.
google.com.            191877      IN      NS      ns4.google.com.
google.com.            191877      IN      NS      ns1.google.com.
google.com.            191877      IN      NS      ns2.google.com.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
ns1.google.com.            192509      IN      A      216.239.32.10
ns2.google.com.            192509      IN      A      216.239.34.10
ns3.google.com.            192509      IN      A      216.239.36.10
ns4.google.com.            192509      IN      A      216.239.38.10

;; Query time: 29 msec
;; SERVER: 68.116.46.115#53(68.116.46.115)
;; WHEN: Sat Oct 31 09:28:32 2009
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 260

Since this problem appears on all of your computers in local network, I think router needs to be eliminated as a suspect first.
Will you be comfortable connecting one of your computers directly to you modem?

I unplugged router and hardwired computer to cable modem.  Gmail still slow and came up with this message:

Some Gmail features have failed to load due to an Internet connectivity problem. If this problem persists, try reloading the page, using https, using the older version, or using basic HTML mode. Learn More.
OK

I am going to try turning off all Labs and extra option in Gmail to see if it helps.

I can't get to the settings page to turn options off.

See if the troubleshooting info here helps:  http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=8767

http://mail.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=known_issues.cs

I don't think this is Gmail's problem. Have you contacted your ISP about that?

Try pinging 74.125.19.19 to see how long the round trip takes. On my system it is 70 ms. You could also try tracert.

Strung - I am unable to access the troubleshooting links you suggested because I can't even get to the Gmail help pages.  these are the results of the ping:
--- 74.125.19.19 ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 50% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 11.265/12.300/14.490/1.158 ms

what do those results mean?  also what is a tracert---is that the same as Traceroute? I put the IP address in that and here are the results:

Traceroute has started ...

traceroute to 74.125.19.19 (74.125.19.19), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
 1  192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1)  2.026 ms  1.681 ms  6.566 ms
 2  10.95.0.1 (10.95.0.1)  13.693 ms  14.626 ms  12.320 ms
 3  dtr01snloca-gbe-1-23.snlo.ca.charter.com (96.34.120.44)  18.764 ms  9.469 ms  10.846 ms
 4  96-34-120-21.static.unas.nv.charter.com (96.34.120.21)  17.430 ms  14.048 ms  16.648 ms
 5  bbr02snloca-tge-0-0-0-0.snlo.ca.charter.com (96.34.2.2)  33.435 ms  13.471 ms  14.499 ms
 6  bbr02snloca-tge-0-0-0-4.snlo.ca.charter.com (96.34.0.0)  12.799 ms  15.319 ms  16.390 ms
 7  prr01snjsca-tge-1-1.snjs.ca.charter.com (96.34.3.1)  15.915 ms  15.527 ms  13.077 ms
 8  * 96-34-154-2.static.unas.mo.charter.com (96.34.154.2)  14.438 ms  12.341 ms
 9  216.239.49.168 (216.239.49.168)  14.225 ms  18.049 ms *
10  209.85.251.94 (209.85.251.94)  16.095 ms * *
11  nuq04s01-in-f19.1e100.net (74.125.19.19)  15.807 ms  13.698 ms *


What does that tell us?

Strung - I can't seem to find the option to change DNS server information.  Is it in Network Utility?  Is it in Internet Connect?  I can't find it in either of those places.  Where is it?

how about pinging 74.125.93.19
- it's the same mail.google.com but closer to the West coast.

correction: 74.125.93.19 is closer to East coast

Here are the results for the second ping:  

Ping has started ...

PING 74.125.93.19 (74.125.93.19): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 74.125.93.19: icmp_seq=2 ttl=47 time=85.484 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.93.19: icmp_seq=7 ttl=47 time=86.050 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.93.19: icmp_seq=8 ttl=47 time=95.259 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.93.19: icmp_seq=9 ttl=47 time=87.098 ms

--- 74.125.93.19 ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 60% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 85.484/88.473/95.259/3.961 ms



Do the pinging questions suggest that the problems are with the server on gmail's end? on our ISP's end?  Or what?  In other words, I'm happy to ping away if it's helping you figure out what's wrong.... I just wonder where you're going with it.... what you suspect might be the issue....

THANK YOU for all of your help.  Please keep going as long as you can!

Let us know about whether or not your connection is PPPoE.

PS. Who is your ISP?

one more ping,  please:
mail.rollernet.us
this is an email provider located on the West coast

P.S., you have to do that on your PC because Mac's don't support that version of the ping command.

ISP = Charter cable

Here are the results to mail.rollernet.us:

PING mail.rollernet.us (208.79.240.2): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 208.79.240.2: icmp_seq=0 ttl=49 time=28.174 ms
64 bytes from 208.79.240.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=49 time=25.803 ms
64 bytes from 208.79.240.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=49 time=30.084 ms
64 bytes from 208.79.240.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=49 time=26.792 ms
64 bytes from 208.79.240.2: icmp_seq=4 ttl=49 time=24.964 ms
64 bytes from 208.79.240.2: icmp_seq=5 ttl=49 time=28.098 ms
64 bytes from 208.79.240.2: icmp_seq=6 ttl=49 time=33.158 ms
64 bytes from 208.79.240.2: icmp_seq=7 ttl=49 time=25.863 ms
64 bytes from 208.79.240.2: icmp_seq=8 ttl=49 time=29.052 ms
64 bytes from 208.79.240.2: icmp_seq=9 ttl=49 time=31.385 ms

--- mail.rollernet.us ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 24.964/28.337/33.158/2.500 ms

In the mean time we reset our router and now reseting password and get wireless back to laptops.  Will do PC ping in few minutes.

Strung - you are on to something.


ping google.com -f -l 1500   (That's -"eff" -"ell", not -"eff" -"one") and see if you get a message about fragmented packets

100% lost

ping google.com -f -l 1492 and see if you still get fragmented packets.

100% lost

ping google.com -f -l 1462

0% lost.


What does that mean?

Strung -

I remain confused about the DNS.  I am able to locate DNS on the PowerBook (Open Internet Connect > Airport > DNS)... there are 3 ip addresses already in there, and they are grayed out such that I can't delete them using the little minus sign.  I can add a new IP (4.2.2.1), but then it also wants me to put in a Search Domain.  What do I enter there?

Additionally, I cannot locate on the G5 where to change DNS.  I can show you various screen shots if that would help.

Strung - wait.  I'm sorry.  I misread your previous instructions.  I WAS able to locate the DNS options... I changed it to 4.2.2.1   and 4.2.2.2.  Needless to say, it does not seem to have made a difference.  Do I have to reboot or re-start in some way in order for it to take effect?  (If you can't already tell, I am NOT a Mac person.)

"By any chance are you on a DSL connection using PPPoE? If so, the problem is likely an MTU mismatch.
If you are using PPPoE (i.e. you need a username and password to connect to the internet through your ISP), go into the Linksys Setup page and see if you can find a spot to change the MTU from 1500 to 1492. That should solve your problem."

I'm not sure we answered this question.  You need a WPA2 key to access our wireless network, but as far as I know, you do not need permission from the ISP to access the internet.  That being said, we were able to go to our Linksys Setup page and change the MTU from 1500 to 1492.  It did not make a difference.  Should I go back and change it to 1462?

(BTW, does the fact I was able to change the MTU mean that, in fact, our ISP is uing PPPoE?)

I'm feeling very proud of myself.  While you were writing that post, I did what you said.  I changed the MTU to 1462 (which we got 0% loss).  I got a confirmation that changes were made.  Still can't access gmail.  Do I have to reboot? or reset some part of the router? or plug into the wall? or...?

DNS has nothing to do with quality of the network connection. And this is where your problem is. Your current DNS servers resolve the names into correct IP addresses, don't they? If you want to fix the problem on hand then contact Charter Cable. Or maybe some of their other clients will, in this case you won't have to do anything. Good luck.

Shit.  I just did the same ping above (-l -f 1462) and got 75% loss.  Is the MTU something that changes based on user traffic, etc?

I just set the MTU on the linksys page  to 1430 (which we got 0% loss), and tried to check gmail.  No go.

OMG.  You two are amazing.  There is no way we could have trouble-shooted all these aspects of our internet connection.  Do you feel exhausted?  I do.  Sheesh. Now we'll call Charter and sit through the automated phone triage and then try to explain to a real person what's going on.  Thank you again for your help, persistence, and general interest.  We learned a lot.

Amazing.  Really persistent, thorough, patient, and willing to teach.  We're Mac novices and they did a great job walking us through.  Thanks Strung and Maximus5328!