AIrport Extreme - Very loud buzzing and fizzing noise on Wireless Access

Mine does the same. Had it for several weeks. I didnt notice it at first. Hear it only now after moving it to a quieter room. Like a sizzling sound.

I bought a new Airport Extreme from Best Buy today, and it too is making the noise. After testing clearly related to *wireless* load (regular 'spinning' most of the time, run a speedtest.net and it goes 'flatline').

My simple question is, does everyone have this issue with the latest generation? I'm probably going to take it back to BestBuy as its only 10 mins away, but after reading other posts I don't hold out much hope of getting a 'quiet' one.

@Richard, when I first noticed the buzzing sound in my new Airport Extreme, I took it back to the shop and got a new unit... Guess what... same annoying buzz... And this did happen 7 months ago in Spain.

If you are having the same issue in the USA 7 months later, this makes me think this must be a design issue rather than a production issue that would affect only some units...

Personally, I am waiting until just before the 1-year warranty expires to try to get a new unit at the Apple Store hoping that the problem has been solved in most-recent units, but I don't have many expectations.

You can configure your unit to avoid using the 5Ghz-band, that causes more noise than the 2.4Ghz band.

@Carotids: I promised to send you a explanatory video, but I did not have much time nor a decent camera to do it.. But I saw that ChristopherCotton already sent you a youtube video... I hope an article about the issue will help to get some more Apple attention.

@Apple: could you spend some time and resources reviewing and fixing (or trying to fix) the issues reported in your support communities??? you have a broad community of users (and fans) wanting to troubleshoot and improve your products. Don't ignore us !!!

I think the problem is the power transformation (transform high voltage power from the power outlet to have low power available for the chips). I had a similar issue with an old Lenovo Thinkpad and it went away by replacing the internal power adapter.

This could also explain, that the noise is only appearing under special conditions. e.g. if you download something your router needs a little bit more power for transfering the data (also over wi-fi). Maybe this "little more power" is the "critical mass" that causes the power adapter producing this noice.

By the way: On my Airport Extreme (2 month old) the same noise appears (in the first weeks it didn't). It's hard to say if it just appeared or was caused by a software update. I'm using the Airport Extreme only over Wi-Fi (iPhone, MacBook Pro, iPad) and the noise is only appearing when I transfer data (e.g. call a web page, download something, etc.). Also, a hard drive as Backup device is connected to the Base Station. But even if I (physically) disconnect the hard drive, the noise is still appearing. I live in Germany, so I have a 240V power supply.

Also interesting: When I connect my MacBook Pro over Ethernet with the Base Station, I hear no noise at all. So it definetely has either something todo with the Wi-Fi Chip or with the power adapter (because over ethernet the power consumtion is different than with Wi-Fi, which doesn't cause the power adapter to produce this noise).

I hope my information can be helpful for Apple or others.

Edit: When using my iPad and iPhone over Wi-Fi the noise also doesn't appear. It only appears by using my MacBook Pro over Wi-Fi.

Hi Shofmn,

I can almost confirm that the problem is in the power transformation internal circuits (not of the external power adapter, but on the Airport unit itself).

More precisely, as I stated in a previousmessage, I found that routers from other manufacturers like Linksys have a similar problem due to a DC-DC coil vibration.

At the beginning I thought the issue showed only when tranfering data over WiFi, but I have experienced the same issue with my iMac connected over Ethernet while backing up with a USB disk connected to the Airport.

So, this is definitely something related with the internal DC power circuits of the Airport Extreme Units...

I'm sad to hear that with your unit only 2 months old the problem has still not been addressed :-( ...

Hi leinadp2000,

you're right - it's a DC-DC coil vibration. Maybe this issue could also solved by a software update, e.g. activate some other hardware parts oder deactive usually unnecessary parts in the router by default (anything that changes the power consumption). But I'm getting the feeling that Apple is not addressing this issue at all (or addressed it and realized that this is only solvable by replacing all previous produced routers).

So I think the only option is to ask for a exchange close before the warranty ends (and hope until then new produced units don't have the same issue).

I had exactly the same thought that you when I first replaced my new AE in May 2011: to ask for an exchange close before the warranty ends.. But that date is getting close for me, and it seems new units have the same issue.

On the other hand it seems that some units are completely silent... Impossible to know the proportions of good/bad units though... But I think I will take my unit to the Apple store in the following weeks.

Bought one new 5th gen AEBS today. First dual-band router. I use the 5 GHz band because there is lots of interference with my neighbor's router and yes, my AEBS is making this noise. If you type "router hissing noise" in Google, you get many results; even the famous Linksys WRT54GL can make this noise. This site provides a basic explanation to this noise: http://www.practicallynetworked.com/support/hissing.htm

I wouldn't worry, since these devices' use in power seems to be varying all the time, explaining the hissing/high-pitch noise. This noise doesn't seem to cause the router's failure or else we would of heard of it, since it's been present in many routers for years. My AEBS is located on the highest shelf of my bookshelf in my "office room", so I don't really hear the noise unless I stand within 3 feet of the AEBS.

If you don't have any choice but to have it near you most of the time, you can bring it back for a new one, but chances are that the new one will make this noise. I'm gonna keep mine, since the performance and features are awesome. And I had trouble making my notebook connect to the internet via the AEBS established PPPoE connection with my DSL modem and Apple Phone Support gladly helped me successfully. As far with the experience I had with support under my products' warranty, Apple has been the best.

So, if the performance changes or the sound becomes louder within my 1 year of warranty, I'll bring it back. The AEBS is a WiFi router with pretty good features for the price. The Netgear N600, Linksys e4200 and Belkin N750 are alternatives with similar specs and good reviews, minus the Airport Utility.

Agreed - if you dont have it next to you, then its a great device. However in my case its next to me in a quiet office (I use wired, but I have other roaming wireless devices) so I had to take it back and get the N600 you mentioned.

Looking forward to the next generation :-)

My AE now sounds like it has a noisy hard drive. It has a vibration like there is something mechanical outside slightly out of balance. Is there a drive inside of these?

Thanks