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

Welcome to Apple Airport N. I bought it when it came out. Drops out. Bought the gigabit version when it came out. Drops out.

I believe it's the way Apple implements the wireless. I ever returned one. Same problems.

I know people with Linksys, Netgear and others. They never get a "just disappears" signal. And yes the green light on the Airport stays green.

For me I just wait. I've posted here about it. Basically we all just wait for the signal to comeback.

With me the computers plugged into the Airport n, never lose the internet. So the Airport is working, it just has stopped broadcasting the wireless signal.

Wait for the signal to come back. And wait for Apple to possibly fix it.

Possible band-aid seems to be working. My network has been great upon doing this:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=5869672#5869672

File transfers finish, the signal doesn't fluctuate up and down like before. Give it a shot until an official fix is released.

Let me start off by saying as a long-time and heavy Apple user, this wireless mess has given me serious misgivings about Apple's commitment to its customers.

My school has four still functioning original AE units and I ordered nine AEn base stations this year to replace the older Orinoco/Farallon access points. Our servers hand out the IP addresses, so our base stations are all set in bridge mode.

Combined with our 100 new MacBooks and 100 older iBooks, the network works mostly pretty well, but these flipping service dropouts have been so aggravating. I was actually so dumb as to buy myself one for home a few weeks ago so I could experiment. Until Apple comes up with a fix (either firmware or replacement hardware), the following is how I am setting things. I'd love to hear from others whether this works for them. The two vital settings are normally hidden, you have to hold down the <option> key to find them.

Wireless Mode: Create a wireless network

Radio Mode: hold down <option> and choose "802.11b/g compatible"
Pick a channel that is not being used near you (hard to tell sometimes with all those people taking goofy advice to turn off the SSID broadcast as some sort of 'security' measure. It's only a pain in the butt measure which leads to channel conflicts with your neighbors). I have found the automatic setting only picks channels 1,6, and 11.

Wireless security: hold down <option> and choose "WPA Personal" (not WPA/WPA2). I noticed that none of the old 802.11b equipment I've had around the house has had much trouble (they use WPA) - today for at least an hour I attempted to connect with my MacBook Pro but got nothing but errors while I restarted, deleted saved passwords and network prefs, NOTHING helped me connect after connection was lost. The whole time, an 800 Mhz iBook G3 maintained a strong connection. I finally turned on network sharing via firewire so I could get the almost new MacBook Pro online! How degrading for this state-of-the-art laptop.

In testing since then, it is rock solid. Note, I also have IPv6 set to Link-local as is discussed at length in this thread. I also needed to manually reconnect my iMac G5 - if OS X (Tiger) stores the password as WPA2, it cannot recognize the network if it changes to WPA. That is another SERIOUS failure, especially in a school setting where a mix of wireless base stations are often used.

I think that Apple's weakness lies in the WPA2 implementation. It may also have something to do with 802.11n, maybe not, but I am going to keep my home unit and my most troublesome units at school at 802.11g for a while. It's not as fast as 802.11n, but at least it flipping works. APPLE, FIX YOUR JUNK!

I hope this will help some of you in dire straits.

Hey,
well i dont know if im another 'me too' guy, but ive been having the same trouble. I read a lot of the forums, and thank heavens im not alone. Ok so here is my situation. Like most people, my 802.11n Gigabit version router just stops all communications with all the laptops in the house, and my xbox 360 connected over ethernet. There is no pattern to it. Though i thikn that when i use data intensive applications, such as Skype to talk to my family....thats when it gives out. If im only using safari, or only using Adium...it stays there. I dont know if this is the situation or now. I Downgraded the firmware from 7.2.1 to 7.2...still...what do i do? shall i go to the apple shop where i bought it to get it repaired??? though reading the million posts everywhere, i dont think that will help....is there anything i can do, cause this is ******* me off to no end. Being a hardcore apple guy i dont want to go out and buy a linksys or netgear router, but it seems to me that i dont have much of a choice. I have to go downstairs, unplug it and plug it back in like 3-4 times an hour on average...ARGH

Setting IPv6 to link-local only on my Airport Extreme N worked for me!

Thanks for this (temporary) fix.

GOOD ADVICE (if you have this option):

"BTW, Since there seems to be no light at the end of this tunnel, I think I'm going to stay with my old AirPort until I hear they get these ones working. I made the change on Friday afternoon and it's been up since...my new one would never had made it this long."

This is what I've I've done too. My older b/g expresses work beautifully. Tinkering with all the suggestions for the n express has only wasted a lot of time for me. I have managed to get the n express to work reasonably well as a remote station in a household network in which the network connection is made to a b/g express. Why this works? and it cannot work with the n express distributing the connection? I guess this will remain a mystery to me.

My series of posts reflects Elizabeth Kubler Ross's stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. I've reached "acceptance".

Some of the suggested fixes above show the degree to which Apple is willing to waste our time and energy. Included in this would be reading this thread. It's comforting to know you are not alone. But comfort isn't what I paid for.

I don't think it has anything to do with heavy traffic, my AEBS has been losing it's connection over night, when all computers are in sleep modus as wel during the day.

Agreed. Setting IPv6 to "Local-Link" worked for me as well. Before, all of my connections would drop at least once every couple of hours. It never lasted more than one or two hours usually. I changed the IPv6 to Local-link, and the connection has been going strong for two days now.

Update: Still going strong for me. Over 2 days, no drops, zero resets. Fast file transfers and internet.

Worthy.Of.Ed wrote:
Agreed. Setting IPv6 to "Local-Link" worked for me as well.

That did not work for me, or at least on all of my units, because I set them that way a few weeks ago and still had problems. If anyone else continues to have problems after setting IPv6 to link-local, please try also dumbing down the speeds offered to just 802.11G&B and *force WPA encryption* if you were using WPA2. I outlined the method to do this (it's not intuitive) in my post at http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=5895077#5895077

I also was wondering if it has anything to do with the *WPA group key timeout* setting? Does anyone who has drops every 2 hours also have that setting at 2 hours? I also was curious if unchecking the *Allow SNMP* option might make a difference. There are just so many variables to consider.

One variable I am no longer considering is buying any more Apple wireless products, unless they surprise me and *make good on this in a major way*.

I have had no trouble with my AE until the most recent Leopard update. This is affecting my mac-mini and my 2 ibooks. Using Airport utility to force a restart takes care of it for awhile (minutes to hours).

I suspect that an airport firmware update is required.

Problem solved in my case (very slow or no connection at all), I think the 'key factor' is the IPv6 Mode: Link-local only in Advanced Settings, and Off in Network Preferences (Advanced settings).

Other parameters:
Firmware Version: 7.2.1
Wireless Mode: Create a wireless network
Wireless Security: WPA/WPA2 Personal
Channel: Automatic
Radio Mode: 802.11n (b/g compatible) because my MacBook is not 'n' ready.
Connect Using: Ethernet
Configure IPv4: Using DHCP
Connection Sharing: Off (Bridge Mode)
Mac OS: 10.5.1

I use a fiber optic cable connection to the web (10Mb/s), static IP.

From the Mac Help:
'IPv6 is a new version of the Internet Protocol (IP). At present, IPv6 is used primarily by some research institutions. Most computers do not need to set up or use IPv6.'

So IPv6 is not used by normal providers and must be disabled, but.. Apple, why it's On by default ??

Bye

Mine did this with Tiger as well. Continues with Leopard. I usually select my Wireless Network from menu bar and it comes back on in a few seconds. I also have major problems with my USB hard drive attached to the AEBS - it will lose the connection, etc. In Tiger the HD would mount auto - in Leopard I have to connect to it. This is simply an embarrassing situation if you ask me - Apple really, really needs to fix this.

Hmm, well its been a day since my last post...and the extreme hasnt screwed up since. I thought that if i extend the network with an airport express, it would help..then i realized my airport express isnt working...it got fried a few months ago, my own stupidity. Anyhow, just for some vague reason i put the airport extreme in 802.11g only mode....i dont really use the n because 2 out of the 4 macs in my dorm are not n enabled, nor is my xbox. so hence the speed really doesnt matter in my case...it hasnt given up since...i played halo 3 online, which i would guess is data intesive, works fine.