Airport Extreme (802.11n) - Connection drops (no auto-reset)

I'll add my "me too" to the list. My problem is on 2 windows XP machines and since thats the only computers I have, the genius bar thought I was crazy and was just having interference issues. Ive been through 3 AEBS (2non-gig, 1gigabit) and all do the same thing. I just hope that the problem is fixable with an firmware update.

Dan

I'm still having problems. Tried various settings, but all connections, wired/wireless drop on Leopard, Vista, XP, Wii etc. Light stays green like nothing is wrong.

I picked up an inexpensive Linksys. It works.

Unfortunately, I'm past the 30 days (48 to be exact), so I guess I'll just take it back and forth to the Apple Store for kicks. Genius that Apple.

I disabled IPv6 on the Extreme (Manual Setup> Advanced> IPv6>Local-link only) This worked for me for 3 days now...

Yet another Me Too,

I also have a APE 802.11n with the 7.2.1 firmware. And I don't think the problems has anything to do with Leopard. I have tried different protocols on different hardware and with different operating systems and in all cases the APE freezes.

1. I have tried Bittorrent on my iMac 2.0 Ghz CoreDuo through wireless and the APE hangs after some hours.

2. I have tried uploading from my iMac wirelessly to samba shares on my linux server which is connected with a ethernet cable to the APE. And again the APE hangs after some hours.

3. I have tried downloading a Debian DVD iso (4.0 GB) from my Linux server via FTP debian.org. And again the APE hangs after some hours.

Conclusion: It seems to have nothing to do with Leopard, using the wireless, or any Bittorrent traffic filter/shaping that someone mentioned earlier. It's seems that the high traffic load simply makes the APE freeze. And the most annoying thing is that the APE doesn't save the logs after a freeze. The problem most certainly lies in the firmware of the APE (or too slow hardware).

I think I have to revert to my old wrap box with a 266 Mhz CPU running Linux instead. That one was stable as a rock no matter how many wireless connections it had or the traffic load. Only downside was the administration. But I guess if Apple can't make a more stable firmware I have to get better at iptables and stick to Linux. I really thought would make my life easier and that the APE would be both stable and easy to administrate, I guess it's just easy to administrate.

This seems to be a common problem for a great number of users of the Airport Extreme base station. Haven't yet installed Leopard so only can comment on Tiger as the operating system.

After doing a factory reset my Extreme works for anything up to 4 hours then drops the network completely. Status light remains green so all looks good with the broadband connection. Airport status on my tool bar indicates no network available. Only way to get system connected again is to power down the Extreme and then on again. Have since returned my network to an Express which has not dropped out in over two weeks. What is the solution guys and why can't we get a response from Apple on what seems to a serious problem for many Extreme users world wide?

David H
iMac G5 and MacPro OSX 10.4.11

I've given up - The expresses both immediately wreck the entire wireless network whenever they join - then become completely unresponsive. The moment they're removed/unplugged from the network, everything is fine again.

My extreme resets the network every few hours - it's only down for a minute or two without connectivity, but makes non-stateless applications impossible to run (terminal to a remote server, for example). I don't have to hard power it down anymore since I turned off IPv6, but it still resets. YMMV.

Now I can't switch the firmware back to 7.2 (from 7.2.1) wireless or wired on the AEBS - it doesn't give me the option. So much for consistency - not sure what happened there.

I'm still going to reset the AEBS back to factory default and re-add my customizations to see if that fixes anything. I'm also awaiting firmware upgrades before re-buying an Express to see if things start playing nice.

I'm returning the expresses today - one is on the 30 day mark. Funny - after the helpful apple sales rep told my wife and I in each instance we had 30 days to return the express - the receipt only has "15" days down as a return deadline. So we'll see about that. Given the Apple sales reps also told me the Extreme was awesome because "it'll run time machine" and "it can speak at both N and G speeds simultaneously" (both false) I'm not too confident about "30 days" - what is this, CompUSA? 😉 I'll ask about the Extreme, now at about 45 days, as well, given the magnitude of the problems. If I'm going to pay a hundred dollar premium on a network device and shortchange myself a GigE port (why only 3, apple?), I really would like it to behave in a consistent fashion.

In all seriousness, I've invested 10 hours into this mess. What happened to the shiny "it just works" Apple products I loved?

Well, like I said earlier I've been through 2 exchanges (2 non-gigabits, 1 gigabit) and the problem has not changed for me. Each ran fine for about a week then started with the same issue. Since I'm past my return date I'm just kinda waiting it out, hoping for a firmware fix. But to be honest if I could get my money back, I would and go get something else. I've spent too much time on the phone with applecare and the genius's (3 separate 1 1/2 hour drives) to still have no solution or new firmware.

Im just happy to see that I wasn't just going crazy thinking something was up with this router.

Dan

Here is my latest iteration (returns, network info) Caveat on all the technical stuff below - I am a Systems Administrator by trade - though by no means a networking expert. I know enough to do this by hand and be dangerous.

("ifconfig -a" , "ifconfig en0" , "ifconfig en1" in a terminal was my friend for MAC addresses and watching IP's)

Returns:
Called my local Apple store, they reiterated return policy is *14 days* not 30. They did say they would allow me to take back one of the Express access points (the one that is 16 days from purchase), but not the one that I was 30 days from purchase. He apologized and said the 30 day return policy only applies to iPhones.

Solution to this:
If you have even a whiff of things falling over after a few days, return everything immediately and re-buy it. Apple will keep pushing you to the Genius bar or online care or Apple Care until your 14 days are up. This is the only way it seems to guarantee in the event that they can't solve your problems that you get your money back (what a pain for us, what an expense for them).

Network situation:
I did finally get everything to work after a 2.5 hour lunch - but no idea if it will stay up or not.

AEBS config:
1) Unplugged all devices
2) Plugged in AEBS, did factory reset.
3) Did default setup.
4) Added everything I own and would connect to my network besides the base stations into DHCP reservations (not taking any chances). Set WEP2 key timeout to 5 days. AEBS has a internal (gateway) IP of 10.0.1.1 - cannot find a spot to check my internal netmask, just the one comcast gave me on the external interface. Shame on you apple.
5) Verify I could connect to the internet wirelessly and wired, PowerBook gets appropriate IP's for wireless and wired connections. (in retrospect, should have checked netmask DHCP network handed out, but I assume it was 255.255.255.0, since AEBS only allows a final octet 2-254 dhcp range).

AE#1 config:
6) Plug in Airport Express #1 (AE#1) and start to configure wirelessly.
7) AE freaks out, locks up. Plugging, unplugging, even *hard resetting* doesn't work.
8) Attach to AE via network port finally get into manual configuration
9) Discover AE had set it's IP to a 169.x.x.x address, and a 255.255.255.255 netmask. Manually set IP to 10.0.1.233 (non-DHCP range for my network) and netmask to 255.255.255.0
10) access point comes up
11) Attempt to rerun installer
12) Apple Airport Utility fails to create/configure/change WDS settings on AEBS. AE#1 continues to blink orange.
13) Get Airport ID's for AEBS and AE#1
14) Add AE#1 as a WDS client of AEBS on AEBS manual settings. Let AEBS reboot.
15) Add AEBS as a WDS server on AE#1 - set it as the bottom WDS setting (relay only?) - do not want to allow this point to continue expanding network. Set up WEP2 Key and timeout of 5 days (same as AEBS). Make sure netmask is still set.
15A) Also (optional) for this Express, I'm only interested in allowing the ethernet port and speakers to work wirelessly, so I turn off wireless client access to this Express (I live in an old Victorian, didn't want to run wires to the media room, use the Express for an internet connection for my TiVo and AirTunes for my receiver).
16) Everything is still happy after reset. Plugging my laptop hardwired into AE#1 gives it the right DHCP eth0 address from the AEBS. TiVo get IP upon connection and connects to internet ok. Small victory dance.

AE#2 config:
17) wander out to our Carriage house (about 100 feet from the main house, with a ethernet cable connecting it to the house network backbone for emergencies and timeout issues with wireless)
18) Plug in AE#2 - hard reset - do not even attempt to configure it wirelessly or with Airport Utility wizard. Network cable and "Manual" setup only.
19) Enter Airport ID of AE#2 into AEBS WDS config. AEBS reconfigure.
20) The AE#2 comes up with a good address by default 10.0.1.252, but a netmask of 255.255.0.0? Change netmask to 255.255.255.0
21) Add AEBS as a WDS server of AE#2. Again pick bottom option (WDS Client - relay only) as I do not want this AE to allow further network piggybacking. Set WEP2 key, timeout of 5 days (same as AEBS and AE#1).
22) Hit save. AE#2 reconfigures.

* Here something strange happens. Previously, I could see AEBS and AE#1 in Airport Utility, and the unconfigured AE#2. After AE#2 joins in, AE#1 disappears.

23) test internet, everything is ok.
24) test plugging in hardwire ethernet cable from AEBS into AE#2 jack for giggles to see if I can see AE#1 via relay from AEBS. No result. Wireless no longer works - laptop only gets a 169 address. Freak out in fear that I just wiped out 2 hours worth of work on a bad idea.
25) unplug ethernet cable connecting AEBS and AE#2. After a moment, wireless appears to work again. Test again, all appears ok. Pray furiously I just haven't created some bizarre routing table issue into the AEBS that will cause all this to flip out again.

Walk inside - still cannot see AE#1. Hooking to it via ethernet cable does connect my laptop with the right DHCP ethernet address though.

26) look into config settings on AEBS; do a reset after finding nothing and hold my breath. This time everything comes back! I can see the AEBS, AE#1, and AE#2 in Airport Utility.

Now comes the hard part(s) - going home later tonight to see if everything is working, and coming back from Turkey day and see if it is still working.

I'll post results as I have them. I'm afraid I'm still going to have to return one of the Expresses out of fear that if this all still doesn't work, I'll have recouped something

Sorry for the long post - hope this helps someone, and man what would I have done if I didn't have some experience with TCP/IP protocol?

I had the exact same problem and I can sympathize with you since I had the same feeling as you did. I had the old standby air port at home that worked well but since I now had the new n-version airport card on my MacBook Pro, I figured faster is better, right? I could not get this router to hold a connection. I have both Leopard and Windos XP on this laptop and frankly, the connection was much more reliable in Windows, which really bugged me. I took the AE back to the Apple Store and exchanged it hoping that it was a hardware issue. Hooked the new one up and still got the same result. So, here is what I did:

I hard wired my MacBook Pro to the ethernet cable, downloaded the new Leopard updates from yesterday and then went to setting up my new AE with a hard wire attached. I dumbed the AE down to the 7.2 firmware and I set the security level from WPA2 Personal to WEP. After I did that, everything worked and I have had steady and fast connections, both in OSX and Windows XP. I don't know if that will work for you but it works for me. I wish Apple would chime in with a fix because this thread has been going on for too long with no resolution. Good Luck.

Oh yea. One more thing. I also set the channel to 6 instead of Automatic (refer back to my original post just up above).

Two minor mistakes in my last post (upon re-reading) - but for completeness, I'll add.

Errata 1: AE#2 came up ok with 10.0.1.232 not .252 (this seems to be the default AE address, and the first time I tried to configure all this a few weeks ago, for some reason Apple's Airport Utility assigned both Expresses the same IP - that created some very bizarre network schizophrenia)

Errata 2: AE#2 - I set it up with the last WDS network option (relay only?) but kept wireless networking enabled for this access point. The reason for this second Express was that in the Carriage house (my wife's office) 100 feet from the AEBS, the network signal strength would vary quite a bit to the point of disconnecting. I now think this may have been more of a problem with the AEBS - this is the one I'm probably returning.

Anyone who bought the AEBn recently enough to return it is fortunate. I bought mine last May but didn't have time to install it immediately. Subsequently, since July, I have tried dozens fixes—in many of the ways suggested above in this thread—all to no avail. I teach courses online and the problem is serious enough to make it impossible to work online. So I'm stuck with $200 worth of useless equipment.

Well...not totally true. This week I managed to configure the AEBn as a relay not as a base station. It seemed to function okay in this limited capacity for a day....then this morning started to drop out of the network leaving me with a weak signal from the base station.

It seems to me that perhaps there is a hardware problem. Otherwise we'd have a solution to this by now. Is a possible recall what's holding things up?

Yes... another me too.
Really seeing it over the past 24 hours - every 2 hours or so. Both the wireless and the LAN port are going down, green light is on solid, requires power cycle.

Yesterday I changed the security from WEP to WPA/WPA2 Personal.
Also I am using bittorrent at the moment. Not sure which of these things is doing it but it's worse than usual.

Also the airport disk utility is very flaky and has always been.

Have a G5 (on the LAN port), MacBook and Ubuntu thinkpad on the wireless LAN.

Ok, sure this is no news for you guys, but I have to write it down so apple can hear us out loud and do something really quick about the upgrade (or whatever solution they'll come up with): "my airport looses complete functionality, drops every connection (wireless or wired), and stops responding", it the exact same issue reported by everybody in this discussion. Please apple, you gotta help us out asap!