TC works PERFECTLY for 24 hours, then disappears from wireless

I am having the same problem. Interestingly last month I took the TC to the Apple Store and they fiddled with the settings (not sure exactly what was changed). The problem went away for about 3 weeks but now it is back. The signal just stops broadcasting after a variable length of time but never for more than 24 hrs, sometimes less. I'm going back to the store.

Not sure what is going on but I feel your pain!

Hi eyemajic and Welcome to the Apple Discussions web site.
I've come across your post a few times and was waiting to see if anybody else could figure this out. 😟 Briefly I just say that you're having conflicts between the TC & the DSL Router. I won't try to explain what's wrong with this setup as it will take too long but instead, I'm going to post this Link about Airport Networks in the hope that it will help. 🙂

http://manuals.info.apple.com/enUS/Designing_AirPort_Networks10.5-Windows.pdf

Lots of luck to you and please post your progress.

Later ...
!http://homepage.mac.com/buzzlightgear/Buzz.tiff!
Buzz

Usually DHCP leases are longer than 24 hours but it depends on the device since most devices now let you change it. I think, if memory serves, the standard says something like 7 days. You generally don't want it too short due to the added traffic and potential for addresses changing.

I have had some issues with Linksys devices and DHCP in the past. The way it's supposed to work is the client is supposed to be able to ask half way through the lease (if it's still up) if it can keep the address. We had a Linksys early model router that wouldn't appear to answer so the client would just keep using the address until the router gave it away again. Nice bug. Since fixed, I hope.

The problem when you mix and match products is that sometimes there are strange quirks that happen. What I'd suggest is getting WireShark and running it on your network for a while and look for any negative traffic (stuff being nack'ed, timed out or refused) and that could give you your answer.

I've seen some switches and a few hubs that are going bad cause issues like this. They start selectively passing traffic or causing false collisions and jabbering.

One sure check is to look at the Linksys DHCP lease table and see what's in it. The MAC of the TC should show up and the IP assigned to it. BTW: I'd recommend NOT setting the TC as a DHCP client though. You generally want things like printers and servers (of which the TC is a 'backup server') not to change addresses. It's not likely in such a small network but you never know. You might also want to see if the TC Airport portion is set as a DHCP server and what it shows.

With WireShark you will see a lot of traffic and some of it is interesting. Luckily you can filter based on MAC or IP to only show what you want to see. It runs on X so your mileage may vary on setting it up. You will see any DHCP traffic. Good luck...

Do you have a very large area that needs wireless coverage? Your problem is likely due to the fact that you have two wireless routers both broadcasting wireless at the same time. Also, if you haven't changed any settings, they are likely both doing DHCP and delivering addresses to your devices. This would tie in well with what you are seeing.

You really need to have only one doing wireless and one--typically the same router, but it doesn't have to be--doing DHCP.

If they're both active, we need to do some reconfiguring.

Excellent point! Yes, only ONE doing DHCP and I usually want the main router to do it, the first one off the DSL/cable modem.

Example: had a client where some systems could access the network and some counldn't but it was never the same system that couldn't connect at the same time. Well, I started poking around and found by accident that there were 2 different address schemes at play. The main router and a second router up stairs that was plugged in wrong. The link to the downstairs network was plugged into a normal workstation switch port rather than the 'WAN' port which meant that BOTH routers were providing addresses AND the addresses were not in the same subnet. If you got a 'good address' you got network and internet access, if you got a 'bad address' you got nothing. The person that hooked it up thought they knew what they were doing and wanted to segment the network but failed. All the systems that worked connected with the downstairs DHCP which would provide the access. The owner couldn't understand and their employee kept rehooking the network up, the wrong way...

Leave networking to experts if it contains more than one router. You should shut down DHCP on the TC and leave it that way. Definitely pay attention to how things are connected.

Using the Network applet in the Apple menu should assist you in troubleshooting this type of issue.