Airport is on, but Internet drops every 10 min or so - 3 computers in home

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Airport is on, but Internet drops every 10 min or so - 3 computers in home

I have Airport Extreme, and since adding another computer, my Internet connection drops every 10 min. Here's the setup. Cable > Cable modem > ethernet to Computer A; Cable modem > Airport > Computer B and Computer C (mine). Computers A (PC) and B (Mac Mini Leopard) don't seem to have any Internet issues. Mine is terrible, constant dropping. Also, when I run "network diagnostics" it basically tells me, "Hey, why are you bothering me, you're connected" (and I am...RE-connected, and it works for about 10 min.) Sigh........
I've read other posts where they mention IP addresses, but being computer-impaired, the only "address" I've found is something like sue-computer.local. HELP!!

iMac Leopard, Mac OS X (10.5.6), AirPort Extreme

Posted on May 3, 2009 10:05 AM

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Answer 1

Artsy Sue Author

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May 3, 2009 10:22 AM in response to Artsy Sue

Responding to my own post... I've temporarily solved the problem by putting Computer A on ethernet instead of Airport. Now there are no issues. HOWEVER, it would be nice to know what I was doing wrong in case we go back to having two computers on Airport. Thanks!

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Answer 2

May 3, 2009 12:39 PM in response to Artsy Sue

Arsy Sue, welcome to the discussions!

Sorry, I'm not following your first route, or you may have left out a step by mistake.

You have "cable > cable modem > ethernet to Computer A"

Your network should look like this cable > cable modem > AirPort Extreme > Computers.

The output from the cable modem should plug into the WAN (circle icon) port on the AirPort Extreme.

The computers would plug into the LAN <-> ports on the AirPort Extreme if you are using ethernet connections, or communicate via wireless to the AirPort Extreme if you have set the AirPort Extreme up to create a wireless network.

Can you post back to clarify how you have your network set up now?

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Answer 3

Artsy Sue Author

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May 3, 2009 1:34 PM in response to Artsy Sue

Bob, you're right -- I did make a mistake.
Both computers A (PC) & B (MacMini Leopard) are connected to the Airport via Ethernet (now). [And the Airport Extreme is connected to the cable modem.]
Computer C (mine, iMac Leopard) is connecting wirelessly via the Airport.
With this configuration, all is fine.

The problems showed up as soon as Computer B was connected wirelessly to Airport, too. Can you help me sort that out so I won't make the same mistake IF I want to put two computers onto the Airport wirelessly? Thanks!

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Answer 4

May 3, 2009 2:15 PM in response to Artsy Sue

OK, thanks for the clarification. And, sorry I got your name wrong on my first response! Typo.

A few comments on connections:

First, an ethernet connection is always more stable, faster (and safer) than wireless, so if it's convenient, try to keep the ethernet connection to any computer unless that means running a cable down the hall, etc.

If you are connected via wireless with a computer, you want to be sure that the ethernet cable for that computer is not connected. Just pull the plug at either the AirPort Extreme or at the computer.

If you are connected using ethernet with a computer, make sure the wireless is turned off on that computer.

You should have no problem connecting the Mac Mini via wireless if you need to, so it wouldn't hurt to try when you have a chance. Just remember to disconnect the ethernet cable first. See modem power down below as well.

Depending on how old the PC is, it may or may not like the wireless and security settings you have on the AirPort Extreme. So if you need to get that set up and have problems, start another post for that specific issue.

It's always a good idea to power down a cable modem if you have made any significant changes to your network. Pull the battery if it has one. Wait 20-30 minutes to let the service provider's equipment reset back at their office, and power back up. This, and making sure you don't have both ethernet and wireless set up with the same computer, should help avoid error messages.

Hope this helps. Post back if you have problems with wireless on the Mini.

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Answer 5

Artsy Sue Author

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75 points

May 3, 2009 3:23 PM in response to Artsy Sue

Bob, no, when the Mac Mini was going wireless, it had no Ethernet cable plugged into it. Same with mine (iMac). At that time, only the PC (new) was using Ethernet. I got the sense that mine was dropping the Internet connection because it was "competing" for "air time" with the Mac Mini -- afterall, they're both trying to go wireless w/the same router. (But what do I know! <g>)

In addition, even though both the Mac Mini and iMac were using the Airport, it was only the iMac that was dropping the Internet every 10 min. -- the Mini was always fine.

And as a final note, each time the Internet was dropped, it took 3 to 5 minutes for any webpage to tell me that fact. I would have thought it would be instantaneous (as it is when I really AM offline and try to load a webpage). Weird...

Anyway, with the PC and Mini using Ethernet, and iMac using Airport wirelessly, everything is working. It was just so disconcerting... Thanks for your help!! - Artsy Sue

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Answer 6

May 17, 2009 10:10 PM in response to Artsy Sue

I bet you have Time Machine set to ON on at least one of your machines (especially the one that you moved to ethernet instead of using wireless)

Check to see if the internet drops out ONLY when your machine is backing up to a time machine (either a time capsule or just a external hard drive connect to the AE)

To my knowledge there's no solution and its a problem with AE...

here's a link that may clarify, hopefully this doesn't derails this conversation, but I suspect this is your issue (cause I've only started getting this problem after about 6 months of using the AE with external HD connected to the AE for TM)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9447151

I've isolated the internet drop outs happening exactly when my TM backup kicks in and can only be restored with a reset of the modem.

to solve the problem, turn off your time machine backups or move them to ethernet

hope this helps

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Answer 7

Artsy Sue Author

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75 points

May 18, 2009 6:08 AM in response to yonglonglai

Well, well, well........ I've never even looked at my Time Machine (to my knowledge! ), so I saw it in the menu bar, clicked on Preferences, and lo' and behold, it was ON!!! I must have done that by accident! 🙂 Thank you very much!! That must have been it!

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Answer 8

dodgej

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May 18, 2009 8:14 AM in response to Artsy Sue

I have the same problem as Arty Sue, but have not solved with her solution. I replaced an old lynksys router with a new Time Capsule last week. My iMac works fine with the new setup but the MacBook does not. It has a signal on Airport, but loses the internet connection. I do not have either computer on the ethernet connection. Both are using airport. The MacBook Time Machine is turned off. The MacBook will not stay reliably on the internet even when in the same room as the Time Capsule. The MacBook is 2-3 years old, but the software has been kept up to date. Any thoughts? Dodgej

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Answer 9

May 27, 2009 8:06 PM in response to Artsy Sue

I am having the same issue however it is happening every 30 minutes or so. My internet connection drops out for about 2-3 minutes and then comes back.
I am not using Time Machine at all and as with the other users, any Mac connected via Ethernet is fine during this drop out

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Answer 10

iGert

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Jun 16, 2009 2:20 PM in response to RyanGaudet

I am have 2 mac books 13' one keeps connected one drops all the time. software fully updated on both?
Tested side by side one drops connection all the time.

Connection with the base station stay on. Switching off the 'good one' make no difference,

changing airport channel does not help.

Any suggestions HELP

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