EDDIEB33

Q: Is there a software problem with Airport Extremes?

I recently bought a new 802.11ac next generation AE to replace my old generation AE mainly for the increased wifi speeds.  I have been having trouble though getting my proper wired speed using the router though.  I didn't have problems with the previous version in the past.  But now using the new one I get low speeds at times, but its not constant.  I have comcast and get 60 mbps speeds when hooked up straight to my PC. Using the AE, at times I get the same speeds, but usually now it drops all the way to like 12 mbps. I don't understand what it is, and thought about returning the AE but I have past my purchase time to return.  The other night I used speedtest.net and I got 12 mbps. So I unplugged the comcast modem and restarted everything and it went back up to 60 mbps.  But it seems to drop down to 12 constantly.  I tried the same process last night, and it did not return to 60 mbps, it stayed at 12.  So I still have my old AE, and hooked that up figuring I would not have the same issue.  Yet I totally did.  12 mbps again.  So is this some sort of software issue that is making this happen, I don't understand it.  I see people having trouble with WiFi speeds on here, but this is a wired connection.  I also thought I would test the wifi for the heck of it while I was getting 12 mbps wired through my AE.  So I used my phone connected to wifi and ran speedtest, and I got 23.  So how can my wifi speed get higher returns than my wired connection?  Can anyone help?


Thanks,
Eddie

Posted on Jul 14, 2014 8:11 AM

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Q: Is there a software problem with Airport Extremes?

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  • by camilo139,

    camilo139 camilo139 Jul 14, 2014 8:54 PM in response to EDDIEB33
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 14, 2014 8:54 PM in response to EDDIEB33

    I have the same issue with the former generation of this router, I expect someone to find an answer since this is quite annoying.

     

    Bye

  • by GianCarlo Pitocco,

    GianCarlo Pitocco GianCarlo Pitocco Jul 15, 2014 7:22 AM in response to EDDIEB33
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 15, 2014 7:22 AM in response to EDDIEB33

    I'm having a similar issue. I have TWC turbo cable in Manhattan. I get 20Mbps download speed when I connect a Mac directly to the modem via ethernet. When I use the current gen AirPort Extreme, my internet speed gradually decreases to unusable. Less than 1Mbps. Websites timeout before loading. My LAN still works, but internet crawls. Doesn't matter if a device is wired directly to Airport or wirelessly connected - internet crawls, if I'm lucky.

     

    This is after weeks of things running perfectly with this airport. Over the past few days, I'm dying.

     

    I spent time with TWC to make sure it wasn't on their end. Reset the modem. Ran signal tests. Rebooted everything. It's not an issue on their end. As soon as I plug directly into their arris modem, I'm golden. 20Mbps download again.

     

    I hard reset my AirPort Extreme, and set it up as if it was brand new. But internet speeds still drop to slow to unusable when I'm going through AirPort Extreme.

     

    Had some luck getting speeds up to usable by specifying DNS servers from TWC in airport, but this was false hope. Overnight, internet speeds were back down to less than 1Mbps.

     

    Again, if I connect a mac directly to the modem, I'm getting 20Mbps speeds again, as I should.

  • by camilo139,

    camilo139 camilo139 Jul 15, 2014 9:08 AM in response to GianCarlo Pitocco
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 15, 2014 9:08 AM in response to GianCarlo Pitocco

    I think that the issue is clear, internet speed gets droped by 3/4 when the airport extreme is used and no matter which reboot method is used the speed bump stays, I think that this is an issue that Apple should take seriously since as an user (as far as I know) the options to hack or modify the base station are quite limited and it has to do something with the data rate between the WAN port to the LAN port of the broad band modem, i put an older apple extreme station and things work quite well so the issue should be with the ethernet controller or physical port management and as users we cant in anyway find out what is happening inside the box.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Camilo

  • by EDDIEB33,

    EDDIEB33 EDDIEB33 Jul 15, 2014 9:24 AM in response to camilo139
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 15, 2014 9:24 AM in response to camilo139

    I believe its a software or firmware issue.  I never had the problem with my older generation AE in the past when checking the speed test. So the other day I hooked my old AE back up, figuring it would confirm that it was just the new generation AE that was the problem, but no, the old AE also would only give me 12 mbps. So the same exact speed with both Airport Extremes, proved to me it was these updates that are the problem.  I bought the new AE based on the great experience with the old one.  Now they both are crap, and I got 2 white bricks basically.  Does Apple even ready these comments...?

  • by camilo139,

    camilo139 camilo139 Jul 15, 2014 9:35 AM in response to EDDIEB33
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 15, 2014 9:35 AM in response to EDDIEB33

    I think that the issue is with Airport Extremes from 2009 onwards, I used an old airport extreme (A1075) and it worked flawless so as you said it is a hardware or software problem and seeing that it happens also with the new airport is troublesome, I hope that apple sees this and provides a solution since the appliances are quite nice (and costly) and this particular issue is unacceptable.

     

    Let´s see what happens....

  • by camilo139,

    camilo139 camilo139 Jul 15, 2014 9:37 AM in response to EDDIEB33
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 15, 2014 9:37 AM in response to EDDIEB33

    ...and finally a joke, they can sell the AE trhough the internet providers as speed limiters....new market for them...what a shame....

  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Jul 15, 2014 9:41 AM in response to EDDIEB33
    Level 10 (105,303 points)
    Wireless
    Jul 15, 2014 9:41 AM in response to EDDIEB33
    Does Apple even ready these comments...?

    Extremely unlikely....since as you know from reading the Terms of Use Agreement for this area that this is user-to-user support forum.

     

    If you want to reach Apple, you can do so as follows:

     

    Apple - AirPort Extreme - Feedback

     

    If you prefer to speak to a real person, contact Apple Support. You have 90 days of free phone support on a new purchase.

     

    Contact Apple for support and service

  • by GianCarlo Pitocco,

    GianCarlo Pitocco GianCarlo Pitocco Jul 15, 2014 12:44 PM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 15, 2014 12:44 PM in response to Bob Timmons

    Spent a very long time on the phone with a very helpful Apple support team member. We did a LOT of testing.

     

    I had my network setup per Apple's exact instructions like this using two Airport extremes:

    Wi-Fi base stations: Setting up and configuring a roaming network (802.11 a/b/g/n)

     

    Support guy said to do it this way instead:

    Wi-Fi base stations: Setting up and configuring an extended wireless network (802.11n)

     

    I protested, insisting that the first way (hardwired) would give me better throughput. However, the trick worked. Internet was back to normal using the second setup described in the second article above. He explained that because my base stations are so close together (i live in a Manhattan apartment, so, small!) that it could've been causing the computers to jump from station to station and really screw things up.

     

    I don't buy it, but he was right. Everything is working great now. I'm going to explore alternative solutions though. I want a wired connection in my second room.

  • by GianCarlo Pitocco,

    GianCarlo Pitocco GianCarlo Pitocco Jul 16, 2014 5:32 PM in response to GianCarlo Pitocco
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 16, 2014 5:32 PM in response to GianCarlo Pitocco

    Just an update... that network config that Apple helped me setup failed after many hours of being fine.

     

    I've continued the coversation over on this other posting with Bob:

    Roaming network Time Capsule and Express - internet drops out when I connect the Express by ethernet.

  • by MGK One,

    MGK One MGK One Aug 18, 2014 4:30 PM in response to EDDIEB33
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 18, 2014 4:30 PM in response to EDDIEB33

    Having same issue.  Found that downgrading AirPort Extreme firmware back down to 7.5.2 has helped tremendously.  I read somewhere that 7.4.2 is better, however my AirPort doesn't have that firmware archived.  Still looking into this issue.

  • by MGK One,

    MGK One MGK One Aug 18, 2014 4:34 PM in response to MGK One
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 18, 2014 4:34 PM in response to MGK One

    This might be helpful to some . . . http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1218