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Q: Airport Extreme 2nd Generation intermittent WiFi

I’m having a weird problem with loss of WiFi on my Apple Airport Extreme.

 

My 2nd generation Apple Airport Extreme Base Station has begun shutting its WiFi signal off repeatedly.  It happens usually after about 60 minutes or less working fine.  Powering it off and on again makes it work for a while until it again shuts off the WiFi.  The normally Green light at the front either remains static without any flickering to indicate data transfer, or it just goes dark.  Sometimes it will shut off WiFi and then restart WiFi some minutes later and appear to be fine.  But mostly it just stops and I have to power it off/on to get it working properly with WiFi again.

 

The Airport Extreme is connected by ethernet cable to my main fibre modem/router (which is on a different floor in my home) and it’s set up in ‘Bridge Mode’.  It was working without any problems and I did not make any changes to my system.  My service provider did update my fiber broadband modem a few weeks ago to a ‘Virgin Media Hub 3.0’ which I understand is made by Compal.  It seems to be working flawlessly and I  have had no issues with download/upload speeds or reliability in wired mode.  I was away from home for about a week and was able to access my wireless IP camera remotely through my Airport Extreme without any problems.  The problem began almost immediately on my return, but, as I said, I did not make any changes to my network.  I have never had this kind of problem before with my Airport Extreme.

 

I’m running OS X Yosemite on an iMac which is connected by ethernet cable to the Airport Extreme and seems to be working fine even when the WiFi drops out on the Airport Extreme.  Airport Utility reports the Airport as running firmware version 7.6.7.

 

I used the Network Utility, Fing, and it showed that my Airport Extreme had multiple IP addresses, which seem to conflict with the IP address for my three Apple TVs.  I manually changed the IP addresses of the Apple TVs to a different non-conflicting IP address, but Fing is still showing that my Airport Extreme has three IP addresses and I still have the WiFi problem.

 

Any other suggestions about a probable cause of this problem or how best to troubleshoot the issue would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks!

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), Apple Airport Extreme Base Station

Posted on Sep 19, 2016 12:37 PM

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Q: Airport Extreme 2nd Generation intermittent WiFi

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  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Sep 19, 2016 3:27 PM in response to esmonde
    Level 9 (52,715 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 19, 2016 3:27 PM in response to esmonde

    The issue is the 2nd generation AE is now too old.

     

    I would say the power supply (external or internal) is dying.

     

    There useful lifespan is around 5years.. yours must be 8years old. so the solution is simple.. buy a new one.. or let me say .. newish..

  • by Garville,

    Garville Garville Sep 20, 2016 6:17 AM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 20, 2016 6:17 AM in response to LaPastenague

    Thanks LaPastenague.

     

    You may be right.  I'm increasingly inclining to that view.  Maybe there's a way I can view some kind of log or run diagnostics that might confirm your suspicions.

     

    Regards.

  • by LaPastenague,Helpful

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Sep 21, 2016 1:20 AM in response to Garville
    Level 9 (52,715 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 21, 2016 1:20 AM in response to Garville

    There isn't any diagnostics for the airport itself since Apple removed access to the log. (unless you have an old computer running v5 airport utility.)

     

    You can run the wireless diagnostics on the computer and watch it drop signal.

    See

    Check for Wi-Fi issues using your Mac - Apple Support

     

    It is the tools in the diagnostic software you want.. so performance.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-09-21 at 5.52.34 AM.png

    Any sudden drop in signal will be immediately obvious.

    The normally Green light at the front either remains static without any flickering to indicate data transfer, or it just goes dark.

    From your initial post. The writing is on the wall.

    I did not express myself forcefully enough. Your Airport Extreme is dying. The front LED should not ever go dark. It may change from green to flashing amber.. but it never goes out. That is a sign of a dead supply.

     

    If you do happen to have an older computer or one running windows you can load the older airport utility.. 5.6 and it will be able to access the log. I suspect you will find the going dark actually means it will be rebooting itself. Or freezing up.

    Screen Shot 2016-09-21 at 6.03.55 AM.png

     

    The issue could be just the power supply and a replacement will fix it.. however newer technology in the wireless arena will give you link speed of 1300Mbps as you can see from my performance using an AC Time Capsule.

    Your ancient extreme will be doing well to get 130Mbps.. when it is working at its best. 300Mbps if you swap it to 5ghz. But that will block any other older equipment getting access to wireless.

     

    It is well and truly time to move on.

    And 8 years is excellent lifespan for domestic network equipment. The new one will not last that long.