Want to highlight a helpful answer? Upvote!

Did someone help you, or did an answer or User Tip resolve your issue? Upvote by selecting the upvote arrow. Your feedback helps others! Learn more about when to upvote >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: GARYsParries
GARYsParries Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Comcast "traffic management" blocks Extend mode of AirPort Express 'n' ???

In another thread, I posted that I was unable to access the Internet using my AirPort Express 'n' to Extend my AirPort Extreme 'n'. With the AirPort Express 'n' in the Extend mode, computers connected to it, either wirelessly or via the Ethernet port, were unable to access the Internet, even though the Network preferences of the computer showed that it had a valid IP address, and the Network preferences Diagnostics indicated that the connection appeared to be working correctly and showed all green status lights. This problem occurred only in the Extend mode of an AirPort Express 'n', and regardless of whether the AirPort Extreme 'n' being extended was in the 5.0 GHz 'n' only mode, the 2.4 GHz 'n' only mode, or the 'n' (b/g compatible) mode. Both AirPorts were running the latest firmware version 7.3.1, all IP and DNS information was verified to be correct, and OpenDNS addresses were tried with no effect on the problem.

In this previous thread, three other people reported the same problem with the same symptoms, and two people reported that they were NOT having the problem and that they WERE able to access the Internet with their AirPort Express 'n' in the Extend mode. Of the people reporting the same problem, ALL reported that their ISP was Comcast. Of the people reporting that their Extend mode WAS working, ALL reported that their ISP was NOT Comcast.

This seemed like too much of a coincidence to ignore, so I have started this thread to see whether or not other people are experiencing the same problem with their AirPort Express 'n' in the Extend mode and to see what ISP they are using.

Here are the results from the previous thread, and I will keep a running total of any new results reported.

People with Comcast ISP whose Extend mode is NOT working --- 4
GARYsParries
devasolomon
Boston Dog
dannym098

People with Comcast ISP whose Extend mode IS working --- 0

People without Comcast ISP whose Extend mode is NOT working --- 0

People without Comcast ISP whose Extend mode IS working --- 2
cardsdoc
MusicMan0725

For those of you that have not been keeping up with the news reports about the Comcast "traffic management" issue, Comcast has been accused by BitTorrent and the FCC of conducting unfair practices to manage their Internet traffic for the purpose of keeping traffic flowing smoothly. As a result, Comcast has agreed to discontinue these practices by the end of 2008.

MacBook Pro 17" Core Duo, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Apr 5, 2008 6:43 AM

Reply
237 replies
User profile for user: GARYsParries
GARYsParries Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Apr 6, 2008 6:52 AM in response to GARYsParries

Here are the results from the previous thread, and I will keep a running total of any new results reported.

People with Comcast ISP whose Extend mode is NOT working --- 5
GARYsParries
devasolomon
Boston Dog
dannym098
JasoninaJeep

People with Comcast ISP whose Extend mode IS working --- 0

People without Comcast ISP whose Extend mode is NOT working --- 0

People without Comcast ISP whose Extend mode IS working --- 3
cardsdoc
MusicMan0725
Wurz72

For those of you that have not been keeping up with the news reports about the Comcast "traffic management" issue, Comcast has been accused by BitTorrent and the FCC of conducting unfair practices to manage their Internet traffic for the purpose of keeping traffic flowing smoothly. As a result, Comcast has agreed to discontinue these practices by the end of 2008.
Reply
User profile for user: GARYsParries
GARYsParries Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Apr 11, 2008 9:13 AM in response to GARYsParries

John, thanks for responding. FWIW, I just sent an email to Greg Arnold, Comcast Regional Senior VP, explaining the problem.

Here are the results thus far from the 9 people who have reported their experience using an Airport Express 'n' in Extend mode.

People with Comcast ISP whose Extend mode is NOT working --- 6
GARYsParries
devasolomon
Boston Dog
dannym098
JasoninaJeep
John Finley

People with Comcast ISP whose Extend mode IS working --- 0

People without Comcast ISP whose Extend mode is NOT working --- 0

People without Comcast ISP whose Extend mode IS working --- 3
cardsdoc
MusicMan0725
Wurz72
Reply
User profile for user: Since_1984
Since_1984
User level: Level 1
9 points

Apr 11, 2008 10:34 AM in response to GARYsParries

I love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, but I don't think the problem lies with Comcast. Comcast is my ISP and I have a network with 2 Expresses and 1 Extreme set up as "extend a network" bridge. Both Expresses will pass traffic on my local 192.168.1.X network, but cannot reach any (internet) addresses outside of the 192.168.1 network. The Extreme N in extend a network mode can reach the 192.168.1.X network and the internet with no problems. I really think that there's a bug in the 7.3.1 firmware having to do with DNS resolution and/or WAN routing that Apple needs to address. I have opened a bug report to ask them to investigate.
Reply
User profile for user: GARYsParries
GARYsParries Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Apr 11, 2008 12:48 PM in response to Since_1984

Very interesting, '84. From your post, it sounds like you have your Extreme 'n' extending one of your 'n' Expresses. Is that correct?

It also sounds like, even though you are using your Extreme to extend an Express, the Express was unable to access the Internet but was able to access your local network, while your Extreme was able to access both. Is this also correct?

If so, that is the same symptoms all other Comcast users (and only Comcast users) are experiencing.

However, yours is definitely an interesting twist.
Reply
User profile for user: ArikF
ArikF
User level: Level 1
1 points

Apr 13, 2008 1:25 AM in response to Since_1984

I was having this same issue earlier, but I lucked into some settings that worked.

I'm not an expert, but the suggestion of DNS resolution led me to try changing from DHCP to static IP for my Tivo Series 3, and I succeeded in getting it to contact the Tivo server.

Setup:
Tivo Series 3 HD (via ethernet) to AirPort Express (with 7.3.1), connected wirelessly to Linksys network

My router address is xxx.yyy.zzz.1
I set the Tivo up for a static IP and input the following settings:
IP address: xxx.yyy.zzz.10
Gateway and DNS: xxx.yyy.zzz.1 (router address)
Subnet 255.255.255.0
Tivo reports "broadcast address" as xxx.yyy.zzz.255

Note: my linksys network has a valid DHCP client range of xxx.yyy.zzz.219-226, so both the static IP address and the broadcast IP address are outside that range.

I don't completely understand what I did, but it seemed to work.

Oh, by the way, I also have Comcast.
Good luck!
Arik
Reply
User profile for user: John Finley
John Finley
User level: Level 1
0 points

Apr 13, 2008 12:25 PM in response to ArikF

I have not been able to duplicate your success. Let me make sure I understand what you are saying below.

The "router" you are referring to (with the address of xxx.yyy.zzz.1) is you Airport Express - and not your Linksys, correct? When you say this, are you referring to it's IP Address or its Router Address?

- On the TIVO you set the IP address of that box to xxx.yyy.zzz.10
- You set the Gateway and DNS to your Airport Express' Address above
- You set the Subnet to 255.255.255.0 (the same as your Airport Express)

Could you explain what the "broadcast address" represents? Clearly not IP address, since you set it manually.

Much thanks!

--John
Reply
User profile for user: ArikF
ArikF
User level: Level 1
1 points

Apr 13, 2008 3:30 PM in response to John Finley

Hi, let me see if I can clarify some things.

John Finley wrote:
I have not been able to duplicate your success. Let me make sure I understand what you are saying below.

The "router" you are referring to (with the address of xxx.yyy.zzz.1) is you Airport Express - and not your Linksys, correct? When you say this, are you referring to it's IP Address or its Router Address?


The router that I am referring to is the linksys router.
The address that I am referring to (xxx.yyy.zzz.10) is the Linksys Router address.

- On the TIVO you set the IP address of that box to xxx.yyy.zzz.10

Yes
- You set the Gateway and DNS to your Airport Express' Address above

To the Linksys Router address
- You set the Subnet to 255.255.255.0 (the same as your Airport Express)

Actually, for whatever reason the Airport Express uses 255.255.248.0. The TIvo didn't like that when I tried it, but it did take the 255.255.255.0, which is the same as my Linksys Router.

Could you explain what the "broadcast address" represents? Clearly not IP address, since you set it manually.

Honestly, I am not sure what the broadcast address represents. I just repeated the setup and it didn't ask me to enter the broadcast address. I think it might be something Tivo decides on it's own.

I wish I could tell you more, but as I said, I feel a bit like the blind squirrel who found a nut. I'm not sure why it worked... but I hope this helps.
Arik
Reply
User profile for user: kirreip
kirreip
User level: Level 1
60 points

Apr 13, 2008 3:58 PM in response to GARYsParries

Just for the record: I have the exact same problem as you have. BUT: I live in Switzerland so I do not have comcast as my provider of course.
It does not matter whether I use my AP express to expand my AP extreme (both n) or if use the AP extreme to expand my AP express. WDS works but is no solution as it cuts the speed into half and is onyl available in 2.4ghz. One AP alone works like a charm
Reply
User profile for user: GARYsParries
GARYsParries Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Apr 14, 2008 9:13 AM in response to kirreip

Kirreip, since you are the first NON Comcast user having problems extending your Airport Extreme 'n' network with an Airport Express 'n', I would like to ask you a bit more about your setup, if you can bear with me.

For your Airport Extreme, do you have it set to "Create a wireless network" with the "Allow this network to be extended" option enabled?

For your Airport Express, do you have it set to "Extend a wireless network" with the "Allow wireless clients" option enabled?

In the above setup, are both the Airport Extreme and Airport Express status lights showing steady green?

In the above setup, are you NOT able to get to the Internet with your computer connected, either wirelessly or via Ethernet, to your Airport Express, but you ARE able to get to other computers on your local network, if any?

Most importantly, with your computer connected, either wirelessly or via Ethernet, to the Airport Express in the above setup, if you go into the computer's 'System Preferences', click on the 'Network' icon, click on the 'Assist me' button, click on the 'Diagnostics' button, do you see that all 6 'Network Status' lights are steady green?

Sorry for any inconvenience, Kirreip. I just need to make sure you are having the same problem with your ISP that we are having with Comcast. Thanks so much for your help.
Reply
User profile for user: kirreip
kirreip
User level: Level 1
60 points

Apr 14, 2008 1:11 PM in response to GARYsParries

It is exactly how you say:
I have an AP extreme n (with gigabit, the newest one) . It is set to "Create a wireless network", 5ghz only and a WPA2 password. I have this one running since last christmas and it worked flawlessly. This is actaully the reason why I have it set to "Create a wireless network" because I had it long before I had the AP express.
Last week then I bought an AP Express n to extend my range and to connect it to my stereo (air tunes).
Logically I just plugged it in and tried to set it to "Extend a wireless network" (not "Connect to wireless network"). To do this, I enabled the option "Allow this network to be extended" on the AP extreme and on the AP express "Allow wireless clients" of course.
After doing this, the AP Express restarted itself and both APs showed a steady green light.

Now: I was able to see and to connect to all other Macs in the network: A MacBook and a new iMac. I was able to send and recieve files (in n-speeds). Air tunes worked flawlessly and even wireless printing was ok.

But: Now comes a little difference. Google Switzerland worked good (google.ch). It is my startpage in Safari. And some german Internet Websites worked good (maclife.de for example). But when I wanted to download the app Airflow i noticed that their website would not load. Then I wanted to downlaod the app on macupdate.com. This site would not load either. That was the point when I realised, that a few sites would load but most english sites would not. Apple.com for example would not load either (I wanted to check out this forum for help) Same for macrumors.com.

The next thing I tried was to disable the "Allow wireless clients" option on my new AP express. So my MacBook Pro could only connect itself to the AP extreme direcly. And Boom, everything was working again. I enabled the option again and I got the same problem back. Then I disabled the AirPort on my mac and I plugged in an ethernet cable. Same problem.

I have not tested the 'Diagnostics' in System Preferences yet. But I will try that later.

Oh, and as I told before: I have tried all that in the other way around. I have inverted the APs. Same result. One alone works like a charm, both together not. (Except WDS, which is my actual setup, until this problem is resolved)

Hope it helps and that you understand everything (my mother tongue is not english...)
Reply

Comcast "traffic management" blocks Extend mode of AirPort Express 'n' ???

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.
Learn more Sign up