David Liban
Level 1 (24 points)
Wireless

Q: Airport Extreme does not like gigabit speed

I am having a strange issue. Backstory... I have an older Ooma VoIP device. It works fine.  The connection is as follows Modem>Ooma>router -  my modem (ARRIS Surfboard SB6141) and I am using the Airport Extreme. When the devices are connected as described all is operating well. The modem has a  "link" light that is amber with this set up that. According to the modem manual that light indicates that Ethernet (10Base-T) or Fast Ethernet (100Base-T) is in operation.  When I remove the Ooma device and directly connect the modem to the router, the amber light turns blue now saying that the signal the modem is sending is now a High-speed Gigabit Ethernet (1000Base-T).  Sounds good, but my router then ceases to broadcast and distribute a signal, both wirelessly and directly connected with a cat6 cable. 

 

You might say, then leave it alone, and I may do that, but I am wanting to reconfigure my system with an updated Ooma device, and that causes my modem to shift from amber to blue, thus losing my wireless internet.  I've spoken to Arris (modem is working as designed) I've spoken to Ooma (if the signal is working on their device, they don't see the problem). So that leaves the router.  Can anyone figure out what is going on? Why do I lose my signal when I go directly from the modem to the router when the speed seems to be better?  (yes, I did restart both modem and router in the proper sequence).

 

Any help would be appreciated. 

Thanks,

David

Posted on Sep 8, 2016 11:20 AM

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David Liban

Q: Airport Extreme does not like gigabit speed

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  • by Tesserax,Helpful

    Tesserax Tesserax Sep 8, 2016 2:48 PM in response to David Liban
    Level 9 (54,085 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 8, 2016 2:48 PM in response to David Liban

    It appears that your Ooma device only supports (up to) 100 Mbps Ethernet connections. On the other hand, your AirPort Extreme does support 1 Gbps Ethernet.

     

    The reason you may be getting connectivity issues when connecting your Arris modem with the Extreme is that there has been many posts related to this. Specifically, and incompatibility issue between the SB61XX-series modems and the AirPort base stations. Neither are bad in themselves, they just don't "play nice" together. Typical complaints is poor data transfer rates and inconsistent connectivity to the Internet.

     

    You basically have two choices:

    1. Replace the Arris modem with another non-SB61XX series modem. If you consider going this route, you should select a modem that your ISP recommends.
    2. Replace your Extreme with a non-Apple router.

  • by David Liban,

    David Liban David Liban Sep 8, 2016 2:51 PM in response to Tesserax
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 8, 2016 2:51 PM in response to Tesserax

    Dear Tesserax,

    Thank you for this. I do appreciate it. 

     

    David