WAN Connector Fried?

Question

Level 2

209 points

WAN Connector Fried?

After a storm, my internet went out. Or at least I thought it did. Airport says, "looking for PPPoE host." When I open the Airport Admin, it gives me a warning stating there is nothing connected to my WAN. At first, I thought, or hoped it was the Ethernet cable. So I put in a new one, but still got the same results. Then, I connected the modem directly to my computer via the Ethernet cord and I am not getting connected to the internet. I have reset the Airport station and reentered the PPPoE info.

Anyone have any ideas? Also, my Airport station is past its one year warranty and I think I had taken one in before on this before but the LAN connector had gone bad. Does anyone know what is would cost do get the WAN fixed? I thought I paid $250 so this type of thing would not happen?

THANKS

Posted on Aug 17, 2005 5:49 PM

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Answer 1

Henry B.

Level 9

78,731 points

Aug 17, 2005 5:56 PM in response to p Nicholas k

You said "Then, I connected the modem directly to my computer via the Ethernet cord and I am not getting connected to the internet". Assuming your Mac's ethernet interface has still been configured to connect using PPPoE, and you reset the connection by pulling power to the modem for at least five minutes, this finding could indicate that your cable modem is dead. You need to get that problem fixed first - then try the Base Station again. Unfortunately, it certainly is possible that both the cable modem AND your Base Station's WAN port died as a result of a power surge - and getting that fixed usually requires replacement of the Base Station as well (since it isn't possible to just repair the WAN port).

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Answer 2

Aug 17, 2005 6:03 PM in response to p Nicholas k

My wan port recently went bad. It was saying the same thing as yours. I took it to the apple store and they replaced it for free because it was still under warranty.

Unfortunately, it looks like your out of luck on that front...

I feel for you, but you didn't pay 250.00 to protect your aiport from lightning surges...thats what power strips are for. Keep in mind your cable modem, if you have one can send a surge through the ethernet cable too.

Since it is out of warranty. I suggest you take it to an electrician. They can probably fix it with a little solder. Good Luck

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Answer 3

Henry B.

Level 9

78,731 points

Aug 17, 2005 6:10 PM in response to Shaun Rosenberg

An electrician isn't going to be able to fix a fried WAN port. This isn't a problem a little soldering work will fix - it is usually caused because one or more chips that connect directly to the interface get fried and fixing that is not feasible even for Apple - so the entire device has to be replaced.

Protecting fully against power surges is tough. Even a surge protector on the AC power won't prevent all cases, since the surge can also come in via the TV cable (if it is a cable modem) or the telephone cable (if it is a DSL modem). Even surge protectors themselves are not infallible.

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Answer 4

p Nicholas k Author

Level 2

209 points

Aug 17, 2005 6:13 PM in response to Henry B.

Sorry,

I meant to say that I am getting a connection through the ethernet directly to the computer.

Why isn't is possible to repair the WAN Port?

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Answer 5

Henry B.

Level 9

78,731 points

Aug 17, 2005 6:18 PM in response to p Nicholas k

When the WAN port dies, it is usually the electronic chips that connect to the WAN port which get fried since they (not the physical port itself) are highly sensitive to high voltage surges. Diagnosing which chips have failed and replacing them (a so-called board-level repair) is rarely done these days on any failed electronic equipment, since the expertise and time required to do this almost always exceeds the replacement cost of the circuit board itself.

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Answer 6

p Nicholas k Author

Level 2

209 points

Aug 17, 2005 6:35 PM in response to Henry B.

Henry, thanks for the explanation. I did not see your previous response before I posted my last one.

Is my airport base completely worthless now?

Can I use it to expand another station through WDS? Can I use it with the internet coming in through an Airport Express? I have an Airport Extreme with a modem and DSL through Verizon. Can I skip Verizon's modem and just plug the phone line into my Airport Extreme, eliminating the use of the damaged WAN?

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

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Answer 7

Henry B.

Level 9

78,731 points

Aug 17, 2005 6:43 PM in response to p Nicholas k

My suggestion - take it to an Apple service centre or Apple store and have them take a look at it, to confirm the diagnosis, before deciding what to do with it.

If only the WAN port is shot, you could:
- use it as a WDS remote base station
- buy any inexpensive non-Apple wired router (should cost around $30) and cable the Base Station to it (via the LAN port) and use it as a simple wireless network access point

The modem built into an Airport Extreme Base Station is just for use with standard telephone dialup internet services. It is not a DSL modem.

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Answer 8

p Nicholas k Author

Level 2

209 points

Aug 18, 2005 5:39 AM in response to Henry B.

Ok, thank Henry.

I will take the airport in first thing.

But why can the airport receive internet through the LAN from a router and not the DSL modem?

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Answer 9

Henry B.

Level 9

78,731 points

Aug 18, 2005 8:19 AM in response to p Nicholas k

Presumably only your Base Station's WAN port is fried, and not the LAN port.

If you use an external router, you can bypass the Base Station's WAN port and built in router completely, by cabling the external router to the Base Station's LAN port.

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