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pyromichael Author

Level 1

1 points

Airport Extreme dropping connection

Issue with client's Airport Extreme (one month old) needing to be rebooted 4-5 times daily. Clients lose internet connectivity - both wired and wireless - green light on router. Static IP assigned to router and manually entered. Installed in small office - less than 10 users - all Macintosh. Port forwarding on three ports for Daylite CRM. Firmware at 7.5.1, No guest network enabled.
Troubleshooting included:
Switched ISP from ADSL to Cable (completely different technology and modems)
Switched router out and replaced with identical router - reconfigured manually
Turned on interference robustness
Changed both wireless channels
Changed out power supply and put both modem and router on UPS

Log since last reboot:
Jul 16 13:15:34 Severity:5 Initialized (firmware 7.5.1).
Jul 16 13:15:46 Severity:5 Deauthenticating with station ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff (reserved 3).
Jul 16 13:15:46 Severity:5 Deauthenticating with station ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff (reserved 2).
Jul 16 13:15:46 Severity:5 Rotated CCMP group key.
Jul 16 13:15:47 Severity:5 Deauthenticating with station ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff (reserved 3).
Jul 16 13:15:47 Severity:5 Deauthenticating with station ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff (reserved 2).
Jul 16 13:15:47 Severity:5 Rotated CCMP group key.
Jul 16 13:15:48 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 68.151.32.151:32768 to 192.168.1.3:4500 with lifetime 7200
Jul 16 13:15:48 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 68.151.32.151:32769 to 192.168.1.3:5353 with lifetime 7200
Jul 16 13:15:49 Severity:5 (WAN) link state is Up.
Jul 16 13:15:52 Severity:5 Associated with station d4:9a:20:61:a0:f6
Jul 16 13:15:52 Severity:5 Installed unicast CCMP key for supplicant d4:9a:20:61:a0:f6
Jul 16 13:15:57 Severity:5 Associated with station 00:25:4b:96:9d:bc
Jul 16 13:15:57 Severity:5 Installed unicast CCMP key for supplicant 00:25:4b:96:9d:bc
Jul 16 13:16:18 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 68.151.32.151:6116 to 192.168.1.3:6116 with lifetime 3600
Jul 16 13:16:18 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 68.151.32.151:6113 to 192.168.1.3:6113 with lifetime 3600
Jul 16 13:16:18 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 68.151.32.151:6117 to 192.168.1.3:6117 with lifetime 3600
Jul 16 13:18:22 Severity:5 Associated with station 7c:6d:62:a4:ff:a7
Jul 16 13:18:25 Severity:5 Installed unicast CCMP key for supplicant 7c:6d:62:a4:ff:a7
Jul 16 13:19:04 Severity:5 Disassociated with station 7c:6d:62:a4:ff:a7
Jul 16 13:19:04 Severity:5 Associated with station 7c:6d:62:a4:ff:a7
Jul 16 13:19:04 Severity:5 Installed unicast CCMP key for supplicant 7c:6d:62:a4:ff:a7
Jul 16 13:19:04 Severity:5 Rotated CCMP group key.
Jul 16 13:19:18 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::7e6d:62ff:fea4:ffa7%bridge0]:49233.
Jul 16 13:19:20 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::7e6d:62ff:fea4:ffa7%bridge0]:49248.
Jul 16 13:19:20 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::7e6d:62ff:fea4:ffa7%bridge0]:49249.
Jul 16 13:31:18 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 68.151.32.151:32768 to 192.168.1.3:4500 with lifetime 7200
Jul 16 13:31:18 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 68.151.32.151:32769 to 192.168.1.3:5353 with lifetime 7200
Jul 16 13:46:18 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 68.151.32.151:6116 to 192.168.1.3:6116 with lifetime 3600
Jul 16 13:46:18 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 68.151.32.151:6113 to 192.168.1.3:6113 with lifetime 3600
Jul 16 13:46:18 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 68.151.32.151:6117 to 192.168.1.3:6117 with lifetime 3600
Jul 16 14:11:50 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [::ffff:66.225.146.171]:56264.
Jul 16 14:11:51 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [::ffff:66.225.146.171]:56265.
Jul 16 14:11:51 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [::ffff:66.225.146.171]:56266.
Jul 16 14:15:47 Severity:5 Rotated CCMP group key.
Jul 16 14:16:18 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 68.151.32.151:6116 to 192.168.1.3:6116 with lifetime 3600
Jul 16 14:16:18 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 68.151.32.151:6113 to 192.168.1.3:6113 with lifetime 3600
Jul 16 14:16:18 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 68.151.32.151:6117 to 192.168.1.3:6117 with lifetime 3600
Jul 16 14:19:04 Severity:5 Rotated CCMP group key.
Jul 16 14:31:18 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 68.151.32.151:32768 to 192.168.1.3:4500 with lifetime 7200
Jul 16 14:31:18 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 68.151.32.151:32769 to 192.168.1.3:5353 with lifetime 7200
Jul 16 14:32:58 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [::ffff:66.225.146.171]:56358.
Jul 16 14:32:59 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [::ffff:66.225.146.171]:56359.
Jul 16 14:32:59 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [::ffff:66.225.146.171]:56360.
Jul 16 14:43:17 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [::ffff:66.225.146.171]:56652.
Jul 16 14:43:19 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [::ffff:66.225.146.171]:56653.
Jul 16 14:43:19 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [::ffff:66.225.146.171]:56654.
Jul 16 14:46:18 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 68.151.32.151:6116 to 192.168.1.3:6116 with lifetime 3600
Jul 16 14:46:18 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 68.151.32.151:6113 to 192.168.1.3:6113 with lifetime 3600
Jul 16 14:46:18 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 68.151.32.151:6117 to 192.168.1.3:6117 with lifetime 3600

Help - I am out of ideas. . .

AirPort Extreme N, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Jul 16, 2010 2:04 PM

Top-ranking reply

problemwithalias

Level 1

5 points

Posted on Sep 4, 2010 3:55 AM

I have the same problem with AirPort Extreme dropping internet connection requiring restarts.

Anyone?

View in context

205 replies

gwright

Level 1

0 points

Jan 7, 2011 9:27 PM in response to pyromichael

Type 2 problem here with AT&T DSL in Connecticut. Time Capsule running 7.4.2. I'm afraid to upgrade to 7.5.2 based on the various problem reports I see with it.

Just had an AT&T tech here today and swapped out the DSL modem to rule that out as a problem but that didn't help. Problem reoccured about 45 minutes after the tech left. 😟

My outages occur most often (95% of the time) in the evening between 5 and midnight. The time of day pattern is a really confusing symptom but in reading through the thread it seems like some other people have noticed it also.

The physical DSL line has been tested multiple times and is very clean. I haven't had any luck speaking with anyone at AT&T who can look at PPPOE issues/logs from their end so as to illuminate what might be going on when the PPPOE session fails.

Sometimes the PPPOE session is immediately renegotiated, but it can be 10, 20, or 30 minutes and sometimes hours before a successful session will be renegotiated.

Sometimes a restart or power cycle will help, sometimes it won't.

I wish there was a way to get more detailed view of the PPPOE packets that are being exchanged.

The problem seems to have gotten much worse in the last 6-8 weeks. With lots of problems in the last two weeks.

Jan 9, 2011 7:54 AM in response to pyromichael

I started experiencing dropped internet signal thru my AEBS requiring reboots all the frigging time, like everyone else. Updated all the software/firmware. Must be the base station, since when I hook directly via internet to computer it's ok. So I'm thinking about just replace the AEBS with a non - Mac problem. Is this likely to solve it? What specific make/ model would you recommend?

Drewaz

Level 1

8 points

Jan 9, 2011 9:13 AM in response to JohnCharles

Although I have no idea why, my connection has been stable for weeks now. The problem didn't resolve when I changed my internet modem or installed a new AEBS ...so far so good though.

gwright

Level 1

0 points

Jan 11, 2011 7:51 PM in response to gwright

OK. After trying a new modem from AT&T and getting them to switch the DSLAM port and test the line about a half-dozen times the problem is still occurring. PPPoE sessions fail intermittently in the evenings. I was able to use tcpdump on my mac to get a trace of the PPPoE session. Generally I get no response back from the AT&T side of the conversation and the PPPoE session eventually times out (no response to PPPoE echo request).

I did get one very interesting trace that had the AT&T switch reporting a resource error:

20:22:08.796440 00:90:1a:40:2f:d3 (oui Unknown) > 00:16:cb:cf:3c:67 (oui Unknown), ethertype PPPoE D (0x8863), length 60: PPPoE PADS [AC-System-Error "No resources"] [Host-Uniq 0x042CF408]
20:22:08.828403 00:90:1a:40:2f:d3 (oui Unknown) > 00:16:cb:cf:3c:67 (oui Unknown), ethertype PPPoE S (0x8864), length 60: PPPoE [ses 0xbcd] LCP (0xc021), length 20: LCP, Conf-Request (0x01), id 25, length 20
20:22:08.833843 00:90:1a:40:2f:d3 (oui Unknown) > 00:16:cb:cf:3c:67 (oui Unknown), ethertype PPPoE D (0x8863), length 60: PPPoE PADS [AC-System-Error "No resources"] [Host-Uniq 0x042CF408]
20:22:09.380596 00:90:1a:40:2f:d3 (oui Unknown) > 00:16:cb:cf:3c:67 (oui Unknown), ethertype PPPoE D (0x8863), length 60: PPPoE PADS [AC-System-Error "No resources"] [Host-Uniq 0x042CF408]
20:22:09.737388 00:90:1a:40:2f:d3 (oui Unknown) > 00:16:cb:cf:3c:67 (oui Unknown), ethertype PPPoE S (0x8864), length 60: PPPoE [ses 0xbcd] LCP (0xc021), length 20: LCP, Conf-Request (0x01), id 26, length 20
20:22:09.741660 00:90:1a:40:2f:d3 (oui Unknown) > 00:16:cb:cf:3c:67 (oui Unknown), ethertype PPPoE D (0x8863), length 60: PPPoE PADS [AC-System-Error "No resources"] [Host-Uniq 0x042CF408]
20:22:09.745005 00:90:1a:40:2f:d3 (oui Unknown) > 00:16:cb:cf:3c:67 (oui Unknown), ethertype PPPoE S (0x8864), length 60: PPPoE [ses 0xbcd] LCP (0xc021), length 20: LCP, Conf-Request (0x01), id 27, length 20

At this point I don't think this is an Apple problem but instead a switch problem on the AT&T side.

Jan 12, 2011 10:55 AM in response to pyromichael

My wifi was stable for over a month after restarting the modem and router, putting the router up on end (have the first generation extreme) and turning off wifi on my iPhone and iPad touch unless using it. Now we have 2 wifi iPads that arrived for xmas as well as the Macbook. The iPads seem to loose their signal the most. When everything looses internet access, I can sometimes restart the router from the airport utility and sometimes it won't see the router at all. Then it's down to the basement to power down/power up the router and modem. Since the other wireless networks around me seem to loose their signal also, I am convinced my problem is with Comcast. Does anyone know if there is a way to measure the signal strength when plugged directly into the cable modem using existing software on the MAC?

Jan 24, 2011 9:57 AM in response to pyromichael

I seem to have problems much of you have discussed. I have a home network using Airport Extreme-Motorola Modem and a G-5 running 10.5.8. The network has been running fine for a couple of years although I did replace the AT&T Modem with a new one at AT&T expense. About once ever week or two when the network is not in use I will see that my Airport Extreme has a yellow light and the modem is disconnected with not all light lit. Since my AT&T phone line feeds my modem and my modem is connected to my Airport Extreme I suspect the cause to be the modem but am not sure since the problem is intermittent. I can fix it in short order by disconnecting the lines from the modem and from the Airport and they are both reset and things are back to normal. This never happens when I am using the network. The modem and airport are side by side with my computer. I have ordered a Gateway to replace the Motorola which is AT&T supported but still do not know if I have a modem or a airport problem. The modem runs a bit hot it seems to me as it is always on and the modems AT&T supplies are not the best by any means.

Edsel

Level 1

19 points

Jan 24, 2011 10:25 AM in response to Drewaz

My situation has been stable too for a couple months. No changes in router or broadband modem. The problems just went away.

pingal11

Level 1

0 points

Jan 26, 2011 5:51 AM in response to pyromichael

I am so frustrated. I have the same problem. I have a cable modem (webstar scientific atlanta DPC2100). I have the airport extreme 802.11n plugged to the modem. On the Airport Extreme, I have Ooma VOIP, and another VOip telephone line.

Almost every day now for the last 2 weeks, I have had to reboot the whole system (modem, airport extreme and phones) because the wifi connection is lost. Yet the light on the airport extreme remains green. And the VOIP phone also loose connections. In rebooting, i unplug the ooma, then the airport extreme then the modem. Then I restart them with the modem first, then the airport extreme then the Ooma.
It cant be the modem because if I hardwire myl macbook pro to the modem- it works. All wifi connections is lost on 1 macbook pro laptop, 1 windows PC, a windows laptop and an iphone.

Help. I'm so tired of telling my boss I didn't get his call because of router connections.

Cesinha

Level 1

8 points

Jan 27, 2011 3:40 AM in response to pyromichael

I'm having the same problem here in Brazil. I have an AEBs witha motorola modem, and it drops the internet connection around every 48h. I need a solution fast! Where are all the "genius guys" when we need them?! Has anyone tried downgrading the firmware?

macnor

Level 1

0 points

Jan 27, 2011 8:06 AM in response to Dance Fam

Read your post and downloaded iStumbler. Am wondering what actually is a lot of noise? My noise is 12% on channel 11, next door neighbor 12% on channel 2, others around my home at 13 & 15% on channel 1 respectively. My signal strength is at 78%, neighbor #2 at 35%. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Steve

Jan 27, 2011 8:58 PM in response to macnor

That signal/noise is perfectly fine. Type 1 problem here, though I wonder whether some "Type 2" people are actually misdiagnosing their problem. One good way to confirm is simply to ping your AEBS. You can get the IP from Airport Utility and bang away. If you're getting no loss to the AEBS and lots to the outside world, then you're type 2. If you're seeing loss both ways, type 1. I'm experiencing periods of 30% packet loss to the base station even when inches away and with strong wireless signal. This problem reminds me a bit of the famous fried capacitors of the very first ABS a decade ago.

Monkboy

Level 1

0 points

Feb 3, 2011 9:16 AM in response to jonathansteele

Hi Jonathansteele

I have exactly the same issue as you, AEBS worked fine with old router but, since upgrading to Infinity, i have random drop-outs (wired and wireless). Did you manage to work out what is happening?

I think this may be an ISP problem, or, at worst, a compatibility issue between BT modem and AEBS, but I can't check the BT modem's settings, as it's locked, and BT don't seem to be able to help because i'm not using their infinity router!

For clarification to others will similar but distinct issues: I am only, randomly, losing DSL connection, not the connection to AEBS, or any local machines, and it does automatically reconnect after a few attempts (30 secs- 2 minutes depending)

MalMcA

Level 1

0 points

Feb 7, 2011 12:28 PM in response to Monkboy

I have an Apple Extreme Base Station (Dual Band) i.e. the current gen one. BT Infinity in the UK became available in my area in December and I jumped on it, especially after viewing posts on the BT forums which said the AE worked as the router in PPPoE mode. After engineer installation I put on the AE and configured as forum advice. Started working no problems. Happy days.... But after 48 hours or so the connection to the Internet dropped and I restarted the VDSL modem (I thought that was the issue at the time). Since then, every 48 hours or so the internet connection will stop. Its not a problem with the connection to the router, I've tried it wired and wireless, basically the internet connection stops working. I'm assuming its the AE as if I put the BT supplied HomeHub back on I get stable connections with no issues for days on end. Other weird thing is that if I check my external IP address, it will change from 86.x.x.x to 109.x.x.x on the AE regularly throughout the day while on the HH its stays at one or the other for days on end. So I think the AE is dropping the connection and trying to get an address from BT but its failing and thats causing a problem. When its rebooted, Internet is back on as soon as its back up. AE shows no problems in its logs and LED doesn't indicate any issues. I've went from 7.5.1 firmware to 7.5.2 but problem still exists. Is my AE flaky? It worked without any problems when I was on ADSL and it was in bridge mode. I think this is the same issue as some others in this thread, but I'm not 100%. Any advice appreciated.

Feb 13, 2011 5:06 AM in response to pyromichael

I was having dropped wi-fi problems for months, like everyone else. MY ISP is DSL with Verizon. Talked with them and they said that modems can go bad with time, which was news to me. My modem was about 5 years old. They recommended replacing it. I replaced it with a combination, all-in-one, modem + wireless router (Westel model 7500.) Their tech people walked me thru setting it up. Works great. No problems (Knock on wood.) I was told that one limitation is that you can't add an airport extreme or express onto the network to boost the signal, but the signal is plenty strong throughout my house anyways, so I'm a happy guy. Oh yeah, it was free since I'm a long standing customer with them!

Feb 21, 2011 9:55 AM in response to pyromichael

I think this is definitely ISP related as my AEBS worked perfectly for the last 3 years with comcast. Then I moved to a new home where comcast is not available and had no choice but Qwest DSL. I've had these random disconnects ever since and cannot figure out how to solve them. It's only the wireless portion that goes down, all wired computers connect to the AEBS still work. It shouldn't be interference as my DSL modem is running 2.4ghz and my AEBS is set to 5ghz only which is how I've always run it for less interference from other networks and higher speeds.
The only other change on my network is I'm using DirecTV with Whole Home DVR service. So it's possible it's something to do with the DTV whole home service which runs across the local network.
I might try the DNS manual settings suggested in this thread...

Airport Extreme dropping connection