Airport Extreme Losing Internet Connection, Help!

Based on your description of what is happening, it may be possible that your AirPort Extreme is not compatible with your ISP's Internet service. Althought this situation is rare, it does happen. Even Apple identifies this in the fine-print with their routers on the AirPort Extreme page of the on-line Apple Store:

"Wireless Internet access requires a wireless-enabled computer, a base station or other access point, and Internet access; fees may apply. Some ISPs are not currently compatible with AirPort Extreme."

However, before giving up on the Extreme, I would suggest that you consider performing a complete power recycle of your networking equipment to see if this can resolve the issue.

I have this problem too HOWEVER today's visit to the apple store didn't produce the same results. The doctor said my airport extreme is fine. So, I have a modem that comcast and arris determine is fine, a router that apple said is fine but my wifi network gets dropped anywhere from 5 minutes to 12 hours after rebooting and I'm tearing my hair out. Only other piece of info, have a voip phone. Am disconnecting it now to see if my other devices can hold onto my network. What's also weird is that everything worked smoothly for years until about 5 days ago. Thoughts? I've troubleshot my way to insanity with no resolution.

If you have an Arris / Motorola Surfboard SB6XXX-series modem, that may be the issue. Although both the Arris and the Apple router are good products they are known to be incompatible with each other. The symptom that you described has been mentioned by numerous others here at the Apple Support Communities.

The only known solution is to replace either the modem OR the AirPort base station to resolve this. If you go with replacing the modem, I would suggest either Cisco or Zoom models that Comcast supports.

Thanks. I have ordered and installed a Zoom today and except for the link light continuously blinking, it seems relatively fine. However, I do find that when I close my computer/put it to sleep, my airport light goes from green to amber thereby disabling my voip phone! This is a mess and has already taken up dozens of hours. I'm losing my patience. FYI, for what it's worth, Arris tech support practically laughed at me when I told them there seems to be a steady stream of testimony to airport and sbxxxx having bad marriages...not laughing because he thought it was funny....laughing because he never heard of such a thing. Oy!

I have ordered and installed a Zoom today and except for the link light continuously blinking, it seems relatively fine.

The link light on the modem should be blinking continuously. This is normal.

I do find that when I close my computer/put it to sleep, my airport light goes from green to amber thereby disabling my voip phone!

Something on your computer is not set correctly. What that is, I do not know. A post in the support forum for the Mac.....if it is a Mac.....would be a good place to find out more information about this.

.not laughing because he thought it was funny....laughing because he never heard of such a thing.

If you speak to him again, you might want to tell him to check this forum, and do a simple search for connection problems with an SB6141. Something like the example below....which is a result of a simple search of "SB 6141 connection issues". Other search phrases will produce far more examples. If he does this, he won't be laughing. We don't make this stuff up.

https://discussions.apple.com/search?q=sb6141

where there's definitely something wrong and i'm at my wits end. i don't even know where or how to send for help in the support forum

I assume that you are asking about the support forum for your Mac.

I am assuming also that you have a Mac laptop. Click the link below, then click on the model that you have.....MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, etc.

Notebooks

HI....THIS "MAY" RESOLVE YOUR ISSUE...I have been experiencing a similar issues since 03/16/2016 and while my Cox ISP has effectively rebuilt their system to my house getting rid of errors, the dropped connections continued and today the Cox Supervisor sent me an Internal Cox memorandum entitled "Apple Airport IPv6 Workaround" which reads: "Apple Airport Extreme routers, including Time Capsule models , can experience internet connectivity problems when running IPv6 on older firmware versions (7.7.3 and earlier). As we continue to roll out CHSI IPv6 across our markets, these customers will need to disable IPv6 top ensure stable connection" This is followed by some technical illustrative information AND THE REQUEST THAT users bring this to Apple's attention as 7.7.3 is the latest firmware available.

The solution is to Open AIRPORT UTILITY | Locate Device on screen | Click EDIT | Enter password when promote | Go to the INTERNET TAB and click INTERNET OPTIONS at the bottom of the page. From the CONFIGURE IPv6 drop-down, click LINK-LOCAL ONLY. Then SAVE, then UPDATE. (You will loose connection while the update occurs).

I have implemented this change and will be pleased to see if it resolves my issue. Perhaps it may resolve yours and with a bit of l;luck Apple will update the firmware to resolve and we can reinstate the original setting (Or they can ensure that withe the update) Good luck

I would like for you to try two things:

1. Perform a complete power recycle of all of your networking hardware. Note: If this resolves the issue then you do not need to go onto the next item.
2. Try the following on your Mac, in order, until (hopefully) resolved:
   • Delete Preferred Network(s):
     • System Preferences > Network > Wi-Fi > Advanced > Wi-Fi tab
     • Under "Preferred Networks," delete the network(s) you regularly use from the list.
   • Delete AirPort Keychain Entries:
     • Launch the "Keychain Access" application located in Applications/Utilities.
     • In the windows on the left side: Select login for Keychains and "All Items" for Category.
     • Click on the "Kind" filter at the top, and look for any "AirPort network password" entries...and delete them.
   • Add Preferred Network(s):
     • System Preferences > Network > Wi-Fi > Advanced > Wi-Fi tab
     • Add the preferred network(s) using the "+" button.
     • Restart or log out then back in.
   • Move System Configuration Files (Note: You will have to reestablish your network connections settings.)
     • Go to Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences
     • Move the SystemConfiguration folder to the desktop.
     • Restart your Mac. (Note: OS X will rebuild the folder & files that are now sitting on your desktop into the Library > Preferences location. If this doesn't resolve the issue, you can move the folder back to it's original location.)

Hey PRG1: Thanks for the input. You and Tesserax both laid out very clear, step by step instructions for a couple of "fixes." I implemented both--hopefully one won't freak out the other. First I did Tesserax's #2 suggestions of basically clearing out all airport network settings and starting over. That did, indeed get me back on my network tho I cannot be sure if it was his recommendations or yet another reboot since I power cycled my devices down and back up at the same time. Then, I followed your instructions to Link Local Only though I have no idea what any of that means. When I was at the apple store yesterday, my genius recommended i set up a (I think he called it) reserved IP address so, as he put it, I would have a clear lane of traffic for my devices...that perhaps I was in a crowded lane which, given that I live in an apartment building, is possible. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to or if I should do this. He also talked a bunch about bridge mode. despite his efforts to provide me with options to try, quite frankly I walked out of there 2 hours later with my head spinning. At this moment, after following both of your sets of instructions, all is well, even the phone is working. I'm going to reset Tivo to find the network and go to sleep. Hopefully, things will hold this time. Last night, I went to bed with great optimism but, alas, disconnected by morning. Thank you all for your generosity. I will report back soon.

well, Tesserax and PRG1....bad news. after deciding to go to sleep, i closed my laptop and before leaving the room just thought I'd double check. First, I opened my smart phone which was no on my network but on xfinity's (comcast) open network. Then i checked the modem and airport router and all lights were as they should be but when i opened my MBP from sleep, the network was down and cannot be found or joined or anything. I'm completely stumped again....back to square one.

Now what?? Desperate and losing hope.

May seem like a silly question but have you tried doing a reset on the Airport Extreme? I was having aggravating issues with my internet over the last week or two. I would loose all connection to the internet for no reason. One minute everything was working perfectly, I'd get up to get a drink then sit back down... the internet was gone. I spent hours disconnecting and reconnecting, rebooting the modem, the router, both at the same time while connected, each separately while not connected. The first night I gave up, went to bed and when I woke up the next morning everything worked perfectly. I went to work then I came home for lunch, ran a speed test and it was still working. Made a sandwich and sat down to pay some bills online... internet was gone. That night I spent hours again until I decided to do a reset on the Airport Extreme which is different than just unplugging it and plugging it back in or rebooting it.

We know that you are now using a Zoom modem ... which model? ... and what is the model number of your AirPort Extreme base station? It starts with a letter "A" followed by four digits. It should be printed on the bottom of the unit.

What device do you connect your VoIP phone to? That is, is there another networking device you use to provide you with phone service?

Knock on wood, indeed, Mcmixmaster. No silly questions. I'm sure I did the factory reset last night and it was crapped out again this morning. But I just did it again as per instructions and we'll see. Thank you all. Keep it coming. Still unresolved.