Airport express drops off network

I run my iTunes music over the following network:

MacMini wireless to...

Main AirPort Extreme with a wired (old) and wireless AirPort Express (old).

wireless to

Remote Extreme with a wired AppleTV (new), wireless AppleTV (old), and a wireless Express (old).

All was fine until the last weeks or so, which I think may have corresponded with an iTunes or other software update. I've also been noticing persistent difficulty keeping a connection with i-Devices running the Remote app.

I'm seeing much the same thing many of the posters are: an unexplained simultaneous drop of all the Expresses after a few minutes of play. The only remedy is to turn off the WiFi on the host MacMini, and turn it back on. The connections reestablish, only to drop again. Do nothing and the connection will mysteriously reappear after a spell, only to drop again.

I've tried all the remedies here, including setting all the devices to static addresses, disabling IPv6, using AirFoil, saying voodoo chants, etc, etc.

There would appear to be some basic incompatibility between the AEX's and the MacMini, particularly apparent when being used in iTunes.

Hopefully this will be addressed in some fix along the way. Very frustrating.

If the light is turning to solid amber it could mean that the Extreme is experiencing an internal electronic issue such as overheating - if re-setting it helps, that is good, but you might want to be prepared for a complete failure in the future - if it is blinking, it just means an error condition such as a dropped connection is occuring and your Extreme is ok as far as electronics are concerned.

Amber light is a different problem to the pervasive one that keeps showing up. The thread start alluded to a repeatable problem with AirPlay in the latest configuration.

No blinking here, no AEX connectivity issues -- they all show up in AirPort Utility.

If you keep your Multiple Speakers dialogue in iTunes open, along with AirPort utility, you can watch it happen again and again. All wireless devices are fine, they just come and go from iTunes.

I think it important that we get cut through all the clutter of people flailing around, particularly those new to the technology. The note I wrote above documents a very particular issue: a simultaneous disconnect and reconnect of AEX base stations from iTunes AirPlay that is not remedied by the usual means. It affects both Macs and PCs apparently.

This is not an AEX hardware failure. It is not an interference issue. It is not a Firewall issue. It is not an IPv6 issue. It is not a TCP/IP isssue. Using ping doesn't fix it. We need to stop with all the guesswork and confirm the basic, repeatable conditions of when this failure happens.

The issue is almost exclusively reported in connection to iTunes AirPlay -- note the start of this latest of many thread. The problem cropped up in spades during the upgrade to iTunes 10, if you examine the discussions here and elsewhere.

Apple is in their usual public display of denial, which if they act according to form, will be fixed by some update along the way. The best thing is to document the particular, specific problem and report it over and over and over.

Already did. Yes, we're here to help. But I've also seen over the years that volume influences the fixers. More hammering on careful documentation of a specific issue eventually gets results. I posted my observation get help coalesce posts on this specific issue -- Google searches eventually bring the frustrated together.

That being said... The AEX drop issue has become more vexing.

Earlier today I noted that my AppleTV asked for account verfication. Another thing that haappens more often since Apple's tightening of security. Updated the account by re-entering pertinent, once there now gone credit card info like the expire date and security code. Since that little maneuver a couple hours ago the AEX connection has been stable. Furthermore, the account update was made via a computer that doesn't feed the AEXs.

So... next time it drops I'm going to see if the casue and effect is repeatable. Wouldn't that be weird?

Thanks - I am going to note your Apple TV intervention - I hope it sticks - and over the years nothing surprises me - I have come to the conclusion that everything about computers is weird......... 😝

The router/base station my AEX connects to is an Airport Extreme Base Station. There is no WPA2-PSK setting. What is the equivalent setting for the Airport Extreme? Is it one of the Enterprise settings?

First, if you're in this thread because your AirPort Express dropped with a yellow light, my post is not for you.

If you're in this thread because you've had a random drop of AEX connected devices during AirPlay playback from iTunes, read on.

My network:

Airport Extreme 5G with ethernet connected Airport Extress (old), and wireless AEX (old)

going to

AirPort Extreme 5G to extend the network to AEX (old) wired, AppleTV (new) wired, and AppleTV (old) wireless.

iTune playbck would drop ramdomly to all AEX devices after a few minutes of play. All AEXs green.

I gave static IPs to all the AEXs and the Extreme that extended the network. It didn't corrent the problem.

I set IPV6 to Link Local, it didn't correct the problem.

I pinged all the AEXs, it didn't correct the problem.

I got a prompt from my AppleTV (new) to set my credit card. I did. Everything has worked since.

All good now for several days. Go figure.

All,

My setup is a PC connected to my router with cat5 cable. The AEX is used as music receiver over by the amplifier, across the living room. I also sometimes use my iphone as source, and the iphone never had any issues connecting and staying in contact with the AES. But every so often the AES became unavailable to Itunes across the network from the PC.

Then

Matt Coni wrote:

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The fix:

Update your router to use WPA2-PSK [AES]. This is the only configuration that worked for me. Second, set your AirPort Express to Join your network using WPA2 Personal security. Again, this is the only configuration that worked. The WPA/WPA2 Personal setting did not work.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----

I second the above: I configured my router and AEX as Matt suggests, and immediately the the airplay option popped up on Itunes. It has remained available to my PC on the network for over 8 hours now, which is forever compared to previous performance.

Kudos to Google which brought me here on the top hit due to this search string: airplay drop off network

I have an all Apple setup so my new AEX is wirelessly connected to an AirPort Extreme. My older AEX's never drop off the network, only the new model. All are set to "join" the network and are used for AirPlay speakers.

I changed the setting on the new AEX to "extend" the network. That seems to have solved my problem. I'm 3 days in and no drop off yet!

When I first got my AirPort Express I was having nothing but dropouts, trying to find a solution through Apple and forums, I found nothing that worked for me.

So if nothing Apple says or reading forums doesn't seem to work, try something as simple as doing what I did. I went into my networking settings for my wireless router and changed the channel on the router.

Mine was set to 'auto' and I changed it to '8'. I have had nothing but seamless and perfect streaming of my music for about 9 hours straight. It's ridiculous how such a simple change to setting can do.

I changed it at noon and wanted to test it to see if it worked, I'm still listening to music without any interruptions or dropouts as I type this response.

I hope my solutions works to any and all who try it, best of luck to you.

I had been going crazy trying to get my new AE to stay connected to the network. Nothing worked. Never had a problem with my ATV2. However after 10 minutes the AE would drop off. I initially thought it was something to do with music stopping and the system going into a sleep mode and couldn't be woken by iOS devices, but the light kept green.

Just read you post, ( couldn't see AE on my airplay list), changed my wireless channel to 8 from the factory preset auto, and hey presto, it was there. THANK YOU. LEGENDARY SOLUTION. APPLE NEED TO POST THIS FRONT AND CENTRE OF THEIR PRODUCT INFO...

Hi all. Fingers crossed, I have not had the problem for 24 hours.

My AE, which is an older model, was dropping from the network repeatedly. My main router is a TimeMachine and every day, sometimes more than once per day, I would get an error message saying that my TimeMachine is set up for a WDS network but no other device was detected. The light on the AE would stay green but the light on the TimeMachine would blink amber. If I unplugged the AE, waited a few seconds and plugged it back in, the TimeMachine error would go away - temporarily.

I should mention that my knowledge on this stuff is very limited, so I subscribe to the K.I.S.S. theory big time.

Yesterday I decided to start from scratch on the AE. I gave it a hard reset and then went into the airport utility and went to manual setup. I used ZEILLZ's suggestion and made sure both devices were on a static channel - I also chose channel 8. Within the manual setup, I chose "participate in a WDS network" with WPA/WPA2 Personal as the security. I had to type in the password, of course, and under WDS, I had to put in the Airport ID of the "Main," i.e., the Time Machine. So far, it seems okay.

As I said, fingers crossed!

Thanks Zeillz,

I have been very frustrated recently with Airplay through my Airport Express which is a wireless linked as an extension to my Time Machine in another part of my house.

I have had drop-outs playing wirelessly from my MacBook and have been watching both my Time Machine and Airport Express "disconnect" from my established network via the Airport Utility! Both units are blaring green so I was wondering what was going on! A few reboots of both but no joy. They are already running the WPA2 Personal security setup.

I am now trying your fix of manually changing the primary wireless unit (in my case a Time Machine) to the following:

Under 'Wireless Options' I have changed the 2.4Ghz Channel to 8, and the 5Ghz Channel to 157.

With the reboot, I am currently enjoying uninterrupted music again - well so far and for longer than I have in recent weeks!

I come back and let you know how I have faired in a few days time.

Thanks for the work-around

OK.

Some positive success.

Channel 8 was only a marginal improvement

So I switched to Channel 3 - worse

So I switched to Channel 5 - no improvement

So I switched to Channel 10 - OK!

It still has the odd occasional blip, but that is now just a minor annoyance as opposed to a major frustration.

So the message here is find the channel that suits your local circumstances?

Now for an observation ...

I have about 6-8 iDevices (for the family) which I have set to sync wirelessly over WiFi when iTunes is open. I have noticed a few instances that the dropout of Airplay seemed to coincide with the 'discovery' of one of those iDevices as it appears on iTunes (greyed) and goes through the Apple handshake. This suggests to me (the novice) that iTunes might be redirecting some of its Wireless energies to securing the link at the possible expense of the ongoing Airplay responsibilities....?

I have now disabled the 'Sync over WiFi' option for these iDevices and things seem (so far) to be running much smoother.