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Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

jaki
Hooked
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎05-06-2017

Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

I'm wondering if anyone can help... I've just moved to Plusnet for fibre broadband and as soon as I connected using a Macbook Pro, the computer ground to a halt. After reading the forums, I've seen the posts about setting IPv6 to 'Off', and have done that. But the laptop is still running incredibly slowly. It's taking around 10 mins to open a folder or dialogue box.

 

I've tried using it with the router switched off entirely, but no change to the computer's performance. It's unusable. Something has clearly got corrupted by connecting to this router. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

Thanks very much.

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17 REPLIES 17
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

If you're having performance issues with the router switch off then the issue is not related to your Plusnet connection. Have you considered downloading the free Mac version of Malwarebytes and scanning your machine?

jaki
Hooked
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎05-06-2017

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

Hi Mook, thanks for your quick reply. The Macbook was working normally before switching it on once the Plusnet router was up and running, so I assume its current problem (even with the router switched off) must be related to whatever tangle it got itself in when it hit the router snag initially.

Thanks for that malware link. I'll try to download it from another laptop that is working and will try getting it onto the Mac on a memory stick. I'll let you know if that yields anything. 

 

 

 

 

jaki
Hooked
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎05-06-2017

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

Hello again, on checking the requirements for the malware software, my Macbook has an older version of OS X. 

 

I was just about to update to Snow Leopard before this issue happened, but I can't now get my data backed up from the hard drive. Perhaps I'll just have to run the OS update and hope the data isn't affected.

Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

Hi @jaki, do you have access to a USB flash drive? If not you can get a decent sized one from Tesco, Asda, et al for less than £10s. This should allow you to back up at which point you can then upgrade the OS if you wanted to. How are you connecting to the router? Are you using a Wireless connection or Wired?

jaki
Hooked
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎05-06-2017

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

I'm connecting to the router by wifi at the minute but have tried wired as well. 

 

With the Macbook running so slowly, I can't get it to do a backup to my external drive. 

Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

OK @jaki, that's not so good. Can you go to LaunchPad > Other > Activity Monitor, oddly enough this will display the Activity Monitor. Select CPU from the options, then in the list of columns again select %CPU to sort the processes by the amount of CPU they are using. Is there anything in there that can provide a clue as to what it eating your clock cycles?

Top view of Activity Monitor

ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

I recently got into difficulties with a MacOS upgrade.  It turned out that there was some corruption on the hard drive file structure that Disk Utility was unable to fix.  This did not affect normal operation but caused the upgrade process to fail mid-way through, leaving me in limbo.  I had to set the computer into Target Disk mode and use another Mac to back-up the stored data.  Then I had to wipe the hard drive and re-install the OS.  From the perspective of this experience, trying to run a MacOS (OSX) upgrade on a Mac that isn't working properly seems like it would be more likely to make things worse than better.        

jaki
Hooked
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎05-06-2017

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

Hi @Anonymous @ReedRichards, thanks for your replies. I've just tried to boot it up this morning to try the activity monitor, but it's not now booting up at all. It's just sitting at one of the loading screens with the Apple icon and the cursor spinning. It's in an outbuilding, out of range of the wifi so it shouldn't be affected by it.

 

I think I'll have to take it into our local computer repair shop and see if they can sort it out. 

Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

Mmm, @jaki, it looks like you have an issue similar to what @ReedRichards has said. So I guess the repair shop may be the best option, as if it won't start there's not a lot you can do. If they tell you you need a new disk and you are willing to have this replaced make sure you get your old one back.

ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

Given that MacOS 10.6 "Snow Leopard" was released in August 2009 and @jaki's Mac was waiting to be updated to that version of the OS, it must be older than that date; 8 years old or more.  At that age it's probably not worth repairing if the hard disk is faulty.  Accessing the hard drive in an all-in-one style Mac computer ranges in difficulty between Awkward and Very Difficult.  The best thing a Repair Shop could do is to do what I did, use Target Disk mode to back-up the files.  So take along your external hard drive if you have one, @jaki

jaki
Hooked
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎05-06-2017

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

Hi @Anonymous, @ReedRichards, what I don't understand is how this could all have come about simply after booting the Macbook up with the new router active. There were no problems with it before that (apart from the odd web tool you couldn't use due to the OS being so old). What chain of events could that have kicked off?

ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

It's more likely to be pure coincidence than anything else.  

Alternatively, I can imagine a scenario where a computer is waiting to download some software update, suddenly finds a fast internet connection and so gets down to business in earnest, giving rise to a lot more hard drive activity than has been the case for a while.  In the midst of this hard drive activity something goes wrong, a crucial file get corrupted and here you are now.

In both scenarios it was really an accident waiting to happen but in the second scenario I imagine unusual hard disk activity making the accident more likely. 

Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

Hi @jaki - I think this is called sods law, and nothing more than pure circumstance. Are you using the Plusnet connection now? If you are is the device you are using it on showing any signs of degradation? If you're not using the PN connection then it would make sense to try another PC or device on it to see if the symptoms you got on the Mac are also present on the test device.

I honestly don't think the router or the Plusnet service has anything to do with what has happened, but testing needs to be done to dis/prove this theory.

 

jaki
Hooked
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎05-06-2017

Re: Macbook Pro barely working after connecting to Plusnet

Hi @Anonymous, @ReedRichards, I'm using a laptop running Windows 10 to connect using the Plusnet router and it hasn't had any issues at all. And our phones and another small Win 10 laptop are working fine via the Plusnet router. It's just triggered off something in the Macbook. Perhaps it began with the IPv6 issue, as the symptoms matched those described by other people on the forums, but in this case, when the Macbook is taken away from the router, the symptoms are still continuing. For other people, as soon as the router was switched off, the Macbook behaved normally again.