Amy Nicholson

Q: Wifi frequently drops, must turn off wifi from computer, then turn on

Greetings,

 

I have four Macs, all different models and with different OS, one with El Capitan, and this happens on all. I have an Airport Extreme router, about 1 1/2 years old. Throughout the day, wifi stops working. To get it to resume, I must go to the wifi menu on the computer, turn off wifi, then turn it back on. This gets it going again.

 

I have tried using automatic channels as well as various specific channels on our Airport Extreme. I have also 5 GHz and the regular 2.4. I have, of course, restarted a gazillion times (this has been happening for about a year). I have yet to find a fix.

 

Suggestions?

 

Thank you!

Amy

Posted on Mar 2, 2016 6:55 AM

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Q: Wifi frequently drops, must turn off wifi from computer, then turn on

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Tesserax,

    Tesserax Tesserax Mar 2, 2016 9:52 AM in response to Amy Nicholson
    Level 9 (54,427 points)
    Wireless
    Mar 2, 2016 9:52 AM in response to Amy Nicholson

    Although it is possible that you have a faulty AirPort base station, the other thing to ask is: Do you live in a location with a lot of other Wi-Fis operating? Like an apartment or condo complex ... or a student dorm perhaps? Spotty Wi-Fi connectivity is typically associated with some sort of Wi-Fi interference. Other Wi-Fis in the nearby vicinity would be a major culprit.

  • by Amy Nicholson,

    Amy Nicholson Amy Nicholson Mar 2, 2016 10:09 AM in response to Tesserax
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 2, 2016 10:09 AM in response to Tesserax

    Hi Tesserax  - thank you for your response. Good idea, but no, we live in a small village (in Mexico). Our house is connected to other houses, one on each side, but by US apartment standards, its pretty spacious. Other than my Wifi signals, my computer sees only two others.

  • by Tesserax,Helpful

    Tesserax Tesserax Mar 2, 2016 10:18 AM in response to Amy Nicholson
    Level 9 (54,427 points)
    Wireless
    Mar 2, 2016 10:18 AM in response to Amy Nicholson

    Thanks for the update. Unfortunately, since this is affecting all of your wireless devices, does tend to point to the base station itself. It sounds like you have already done most everything that can be tried ... so I won't waste your time having you repeat any of it.

     

    If you have already ruled out any form of Wi-Fi interference, other than nearby Wi-Fis ... wireless telephones, microwave ovens, etc., there really isn't much more you can do ... other than replacing the AirPort.

  • by GABarber,

    GABarber GABarber Mar 2, 2016 9:15 PM in response to Amy Nicholson
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Notebooks
    Mar 2, 2016 9:15 PM in response to Amy Nicholson

    IF you are connected to Cox Cable - turn off IPV6 on the Extreme! See my separate post on this.

  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Mar 2, 2016 9:50 PM in response to GABarber
    Level 10 (105,067 points)
    Wireless
    Mar 2, 2016 9:50 PM in response to GABarber

    Most users will have no idea how to do this, so you might want to include some instructions.

     

    When you do, please remember that although you say to "Turn off IPv6", there is no setting to do this, so you might want to provide a few more details to help clarify things.

     

    Thanks.

  • by obiwon4luke,

    obiwon4luke obiwon4luke Mar 2, 2016 10:39 PM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 2, 2016 10:39 PM in response to Bob Timmons

    I Am using a base station extreme and cox high speed internet and noticed the past few days lots of Internet showing as not working on my iPhone. After restarting phone 6 s sometimes internet shows it's connected other times I restart base station and it works. Had this problem about a year ago and bought new modem and Genius Bar traded base station for another, it's quite frustrating.

     

     

     

    p

  • by Amy Nicholson,

    Amy Nicholson Amy Nicholson Mar 3, 2016 6:54 AM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 3, 2016 6:54 AM in response to Bob Timmons

    Thanks. I am simply referring to the Wifi option in the top menu bar. I simply select Turn Wi-Fi Off, then a second later turn it back on and voila, 99% of the time this fixes the problem.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-03-03 at 8.52.32 AM.png

  • by obiwon4luke,

    obiwon4luke obiwon4luke Mar 3, 2016 11:56 AM in response to Amy Nicholson
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 3, 2016 11:56 AM in response to Amy Nicholson

    This happened similarly to me about 2 years ago and now it's been happening almost every day different times. Cox is useless and Genius Bar exchanges done base station extreme but is still happens.

    very bad that Apple and Cox can't work together in this problem area.

    LAst time I had tech support from Apple it messed up my HP wireless printer connection.

    any ideas?