AEBS 802.11n, Crashing while using bittorrent

Meagain1,

Does your airport drop your connection, but the light on the front stays green?

Did you try changing the IPv6 'Tunnel' mode to 'link-local only' (don't forget to apply the changes).

I don't have Leopard installed so I can't comment on any issues with 10.5- but the IPv6 implementation on the current AEBS is not stable, and the default 'tunnel' configuration is a security concern as well as a problem with certain BT clients.

JPO - Yes. Drops connection but light stays green. And after 3 weeks of it - I'm physically ill! My husband wants to get a different brand. I would've returned or burned it but at this point - but the Extreme and I are now in battle and I'm determined to kick its a** just for spite.

Yes, I tried the IPV6 thing. Didn't help. I'm sure it got reset with the Leopard install, etc. so I'll go back to it but it didn't help before. What also puzzles me is the fact the Network thing in system prefs lists it as WEP but my Airport Utility is set to WEP/WPA2 Personal. Do you think I need to change that network setting to WPA2 personal as well?

I was going to try reverting the firmware back from the current 7.2.1 cuz 'something' triggered this after months of perfection out of the blue. I did the update and started the torrents around the same time. I've not touched the torrents for a week now so I'm eliminating that. I bet it's this **** firmware. (course I was pretty sure I nailed the issue several times now to no avail so it's likely this will also be a waste of time).

Yes, you should make sure that your security settings are configured to match on the AEBS and all the computers on the network, but I don't think you'd be getting any internet connection if that was the case. One thing to note is that WEP/WPA does have some known issues with the AEBS draft-n configuration, particularly with reducing network throughput, so use only WPA2 security if at all possible.

How many computers/what devices are you trying to operate over the wireless connection and what is plugged into the AEBS LAN ports (be as specific as you can). Where exactly in the System Preferences are you seeing WEP?

I know that the 7.2.1 firmware is causing problems for some, have you tried reverting the firmware to the previous version using the method mentioned elsewhere in this thread (Airport Utility->Airport->Summary->'hover' over the 'Version' label to get the drop down to revert to previous version, choose 7.2, click 'Update' to restart. (You should also disable the IPv6 'Tunnel' mode unless you need to connect to IPv6 internet addresses).

JPO - Seriously, you don't know what I've been thru with this. The mother of all nightmares.

Most times, it's just my iMac on wireless and that's it. We have connected total of 2 wireless and 1 hardwired and a buffalo NAS. But it goes down if it's just me on my iMac surfing the web, etc. If I torrent or move data from my iMac to/from the Buffalo - forget it. Definite poof.

System preferences - network. I forgot where it is in Tiger but Leopard.... 'Advanced'. Under Airport - Preferred Networks, I see my network name with 'WEP Password' next to it. For kicks, I'll try changing that and changing the WEP/WPA2 Personal in Airport Utility to WPA2 Personal only.. IDK

I cannot find the 7.1.1 for the life of me. When I do the hover thing, there is no other option other than "other" which brings me to my finder to search for something I don't have. I can't find it on the apple site and Version Tracker doesn't have it either. I click on it there and it says "no longer avail" or something. 😟

I not only set IPv6 'Tunnel' mode to 'link-local only' but set up DHCP reservation and it has been working for over a week with no problems. I also have been useing Firmware 7.2.1 with WPA2 Personal.

What type of Buffalo NAS are you referring to, is it a USB drive connected through the AirDisk port or is it an ethernet device connected to the AEBS itself? Have you tried removing it completely from the network? Also, if you remove the imac from the network and just use a different computer, do you still have problems with the AEBS?

I experienced similar behavior from the AEBS when trying to select the 7.2 firmware.. it didn't appear on the list. However, messing around with it for a few moments.. it did appear! Very weird. I would FIRST just re-flash the AEBS with 7.2.1 (it will keep all your existing settings) then try to select 7.2 (be patient and it will show up in the list).

JPO - Buffalo Linkstation HS=DH500GL connected via ethernet. I believe when the problems started, it wasn't even attached? IDK. I have not yet tried removing the iMac from the chain. All I know is that all the computers in the house go down.

Yesterday, when I lost the Buffalo NAS AND the Extreme icon from Leopards Finder... I unplugged 'everything' incl. modem and replugged in order of Buffalo ethernet to Extreme, power to modem, power to Extreme. Then I saw everything. It was all running great till I put the computer to sleep and awoke to a disaster.
Syslogd sucking 1.5gb memory! I couldn't even use my keyboard. I posted about this.

I'm again back to not seeing my extreme or NAS but can't pinpoint when I lost it. Been playing with router settings. However!!! I've not lost connection since switching to 7.2. (which I finally got to work yesterday). Hmmmm......

Glad you got back to 7.2! That will most likely solve the AEBS lock-ups for you (don't forget to disable the IPv6 'tunnel' mode - it is a security risk!).

If you still can't see things on your network, however, you have some network configuration issues going on. I think that you may be changing too many variables at once to really narrow down what is going on. Try removing all the devices from your network then add them back in one by one until the problems come back- then you know which device is causing it.

Make sure that if your AEBS is set up to hand out IPs using DHCP, that each device on your network is set to obtain its IP via DHCP from the AEBS.. also make sure that your router (cable modem or whatever) is not also trying to hand out IP addresses using its own DHCP server..

if your AEBS is not locking up now that you have reverted firmware then you should probably consider this issue solved and start another thread to get help with your other network issues.

Yes, not crashing yet, but I'm going to fire up some torrents to try to elicit a failure.

"also make sure that your router (cable modem or whatever) is not also trying to hand out IP addresses using its own DHCP server.. " LOL Yipes I assume not? :o

You should also consider switching your channel between 1, 6 and 11 for wireless stability. Moreover, you should consider running 802.11n only on your AEBS. You can change the settings in the AE utility under wireless. Hope it helps

f.y.i.

in AirPort Utility, setting my new AirPort Extreme 'n' base station's IPv6 to Link-local only and turning IPv6 off on all of our computers seems to have stopped the base station crashes/hangs.

AirPort Extreme 'n' v7.2.1
iMac Intel (Leopard, 1000BaseT)
iMac G4 (Tiger, 100BaseT)
MacBook Pro (Leopard, 1000BaseT)
LinkSys Ethernet WiFi Bridge (802.11g)
Apple TV v1.1 (802.11n)

I'm happy to report I've not had a single outtage after reverting from 7.2.1 to 7.2 (N gigabit version). I've yet to change from IPv6 Tunnel to Link-only though I did try that in the past to no avail.

Re: Azureus, I've run some torrents with lots of uploading going on with no blowouts. BUT, this is with the latest version of Azureus (not the older version I was running - same as the OP)... I doubt the version made a difference so I'm pegging it on 1) reverting the firmware or 2) dumb luck.

JPO - Are you saying that leaving IPv6 on 'Tunnel' is a security risk? Can you elaborate on that? I'll change mine later today.

The factory AEBS IPv6 configuration makes your firewall vulnerable to incoming traffic over IPv6, so there are security reasons why you might want to change this setting, in addition to the possibility that Apple's IPv6 implementation causes issues with P2P software:

http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/2/14/7063

I read most of these posts and have had a successful past 3 days with no freezing, shutdowns or anything. I posted a blog a few weeks ago about my AEBS overheating. See the post here http://ijerad.com/?p=658 but now I realize that it was overheating due to it being overworked. My AEBS was getting really hot. The bottom of my AEBS was 140 degrees and I could smell that hot electric smell.

I too had installed Azureus on my Mac which I have now deleted and switched to Transmission. To delete Azureus successfully I used CleanApp which you can download from Version Tracker here. http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/29702

There are some files that remain active that you need to make sure are deleted to assure your AEBS is not being worked by Azureus still. Simply deleting the App file will not cut it. You MUST do a complete restart after, I even suggest clearing your PRAM when you do the restart. To do this, restart your mac and when it begins to boot before the grey screen comes up hold down Command-Option-P-R all at the same time. Your mac will make the startup tone again confirming the dump of your PRAM, this is completely safe. I suggest dumping your PRAM at least once a month. Make sure that when you dump the PRAM that you have saved anything you were working on and completed any application installs because this will clear the memory of everything it was doing. So unsaved files or anything that sleep mode would normally remember will be lost.

Just to recap the changes that I made to my AEBS I will list what I adjusted.

In the Airport Utility I clicked the manual setup button.
1. Under Base Station I clicked Base Station Options. Turned on the Status Light flash on activity. This helped me notice if the AEBS was working or frozen.
2. Click on the Internet option at the top. Under NAT I unchecked Enable NAT Port Mapping Protocol.
3. Under the Advanced option click on the IPv6 tab, change mode to Link-Local Only.

In Transmission I went into the Preferences and under the Transfers option click the Management tab. Check seeding with maximum of and put 1 in the box for active transfers. I left the other 2 Queue options unchecked. Under the Bandwidth option I checked the upload rate and entered 1KB/s which pretty much brings outgoing activity to a crawl. Under Speed Limit Mode I changed Upload rate to 0KB/s. This way if I do end up experiencing problems I can activate speed limit mode and it will not allow any outgoing transfers. Under the advanced tab I unchecked Automatically map port (since we disabled NAT in the AEBS this option no longer works so I unchecked it).

As of the other day I have transfered all of season 3 of House while streaming live video from my webcam on http://justin.tv/jerad and have not had a crash. I also have 2 other computers that access the AEBS wireless. One is a Mac and the other a PC.

If I have any issues I will post them here and on my blog at http://ijerad.com

When and if Apple releases an update that will fix this issue I am hoping that I can roll back to default settings as I am not able to VPN into my network now from outside.

If you apply these settings I suggest that you make sure that you have Firewall enabled on your MAC and turn off your file sharing options for the time being. You want to make sure your mac is protected even more since your router will not be acting as a Firewall with NAT disabled. To read more about what NAT does visit http://computer.howstuffworks.com/nat.htm

Jerad Hill
http://jeradhill.com
blog: http://ijerad.com

your post seems great but what we are looking for here is what to do with the AEBS once you got Azureus installed and the AEBS keeps crashing. Your suggestion is based on the fact that Azureus should be uninstalled. what if there are other people out there who are so hooked on to Azureus? What are their options? I have had my Azureus running stable like never before.