Flippuccino

Q: New Airport Extreme (6th Gen) Dropping Connection from Time to Time.

Problem:

  • 6th Generation Airport Extreme drops connection intermittently at random times.

 

Set Up:

  • 6th Generation Airport Extreme (main router - no hard drive/not a time capsule) located center of house on the main floor. 2 Range extenders each approximately 30+ feet away from main router. First range extender (Airport Express - newest generation) located on the third floor parallel to main. Second range extender (Airport Express - new generation) is located at the end of the kitchen (main floor).

 

  • Main Router is connected straight from a Motorolla Surfboard modem on a foyer table at the center of the house.

 

  • Range extenders connected to Main Router wirelessly and at wall outlett height.


Previous Setup:

  • Same setup as above but, with the 5th Generation Airport Extreme instead of the 6th Generation.

 

Firmware:

  • All current versions.

 

Devices:

  • 1 SONY VAIO VGN-FW490J
  • HP Notebook G60
  • Several WEMO outlets
  • 1 iPad Mini
  • 1 iPad 2
  • 1 iPhone 5
  • 1 Motorolla RAZR MAXX
  • Macbook Pro
  • iMac (wired from main router on foyer table)

      
        Note: All of these routers/range extenders/modem/computers are plugged into surge protected outlets.

 

-----

 

Notes:

 

With the new Airport Extreme my family and I have been experiencing intermettent connection drops. The amber light on the main router turns on and within a few minutes turns green and connection resumes again. This has been happening for a few days now ever since I purchased the new router. This has not happened before with the 5th generation router, which I donated to our church.

 

I have not exchanged the product yet. I will be initiating a Complete Power Recycle after some suggested solutions in a bit. I have contacted my Internet Service Provider (Comcast) for a line check and found no problems.

 

Has anyone found any solutions to resolve the intermittent connection drops? Is reverting to the previous firmware going to solve this?

 

I would like some insights before trying to do all this. Thank you all for your time.

 

P.s.

I've done a detailed post since posts like these is frequently asked questions on set-up, devices, connections, etc:

Posted on Jun 27, 2013 6:45 PM

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Q: New Airport Extreme (6th Gen) Dropping Connection from Time to Time.

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  • by Statman1,

    Statman1 Statman1 Aug 27, 2013 5:13 PM in response to Statman1
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 27, 2013 5:13 PM in response to Statman1

    So while the ASUS dd work perfectly, it does not allow extension of the apple network.  I just got a new AEac and installed it today...no issues...go figure.

  • by Flippuccino,

    Flippuccino Flippuccino Aug 27, 2013 5:20 PM in response to Statman1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 27, 2013 5:20 PM in response to Statman1

    Apple will not extend it's wireless with any other routers. Only with Apple routers.

  • by hop1967,

    hop1967 hop1967 Sep 1, 2013 6:15 PM in response to Flippuccino
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 1, 2013 6:15 PM in response to Flippuccino

    Same problem here. Purchased new Airport extreme yesterday and connection dropping every now and then and it is often. Nothing helps what has been suggested in this forum. Version 7.7.1

     

    Very disappointed again for them to release a product that has a problem in basic function.

     

    No other router has this issue on my connection.

  • by kakoxio,

    kakoxio kakoxio Sep 1, 2013 8:27 PM in response to Flippuccino
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 1, 2013 8:27 PM in response to Flippuccino

    Had the same issue with my las generation airport. What fixed the issue was to asign MAC based IP addresses to all clients in my network. All my wireless clients were initially obtaining DHCP based IP. Then I found that's the clients were getting rejected as they wanted to use the same IP that other client was now using...clearly a bug here apple...

     

    Go to Airport Extreme settings via Airport utility from a Mac using Ethernet not WiFi. In the network tab assign IP addresses to all clients. Issue here is that you must have all MAC addresses of your clients. Now enjoying super fast wireless access and no dropouts.

  • by Statman1,

    Statman1 Statman1 Sep 2, 2013 6:04 AM in response to kakoxio
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 2, 2013 6:04 AM in response to kakoxio

    So latest update...the AEac started dropping connections again.  I already had MAC addresses assigned, so its not that.  I returned it and just went back to the old AE.

  • by WLaRoux,

    WLaRoux WLaRoux Sep 4, 2013 6:41 AM in response to Flippuccino
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 4, 2013 6:41 AM in response to Flippuccino

    I know you switched routers, so this isn't really directed towards original post, more for the thread... I bought an Apple monitor one time and it was weird. Every time I used it, my Internet would drop. Apparently the monitor generated interference with wifi signals. Had to change the Radio Channel from the Airport app... Worked great after that. Just a thought.

  • by ScriberUK,

    ScriberUK ScriberUK Sep 4, 2013 11:24 AM in response to Flippuccino
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 4, 2013 11:24 AM in response to Flippuccino

    Same problem

  • by nacamera,

    nacamera nacamera Sep 13, 2013 12:35 PM in response to Flippuccino
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 13, 2013 12:35 PM in response to Flippuccino

    I just got the new 6th Gen Airport Extreme, and my formerly stable, fast internet connection is all over the place, including dropping the connection completely? What's up Apple? I have the most basic connection possible. DSL router, connected to Apple base station, to new 27" iMac 10 ft. away.

    Any suggestion appreciated!

  • by Tin Omen,

    Tin Omen Tin Omen Sep 16, 2013 7:48 AM in response to nacamera
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Sep 16, 2013 7:48 AM in response to nacamera

    The only thing that I have found that makes the AP not lose IP connectivity so often is to extend the DHCP timeout to 8 days.  This means that your device will lose connectivity every few days instead of every few hours.

     

    Some people have had luck with resetting the AE to factory defaults and setting it up again.  See my post in this thread for what I did.

     

    It seems to me that there is no real fix until Apple fixes DHCP in the AE.  I am definitely regretting not getting the ASUS router now.

  • by Tin Omen,

    Tin Omen Tin Omen Sep 16, 2013 7:53 AM in response to kakoxio
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Sep 16, 2013 7:53 AM in response to kakoxio

    "What fixed the issue was to asign MAC based IP addresses to all clients in my network."

     

    Actually, I always set up my network like this...  So this is the way it was set up when I first bought the AE.

    When I reset my AE earlier in this thread, I only assigned my printer this way.  It seems to me that your suggestion would have made no difference in my case.

  • by lundejd,

    lundejd lundejd Sep 16, 2013 1:22 PM in response to Tin Omen
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Sep 16, 2013 1:22 PM in response to Tin Omen

    Apple needs to stop making routers if they are going to issue crap like this and then not fix it immediately.  Mine is going back to Amazon as defective, and I'm selling my 5th gen on eBay.    Guess ill stick with Cisco/Linksys.

     

    Love my iDevices and Macs etc. though....   Just not their network gear.

  • by Tin Omen,

    Tin Omen Tin Omen Sep 16, 2013 1:51 PM in response to lundejd
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Sep 16, 2013 1:51 PM in response to lundejd

    Looking back at the history of issues with previous generations, these issues tend to go on for many months without resolution.  I can only assume that Apple doesn't care to have a stable networking product.

     

    I wish I would have figured out this issue before my return window at best buy expired.

     

     

    Maybe it is time to ratchet up the pressure.  Maybe some press, or an e-mail carpet bomb?  Anything to get some exec attention.

  • by rhomaion,

    rhomaion rhomaion Sep 16, 2013 9:19 PM in response to Flippuccino
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Sep 16, 2013 9:19 PM in response to Flippuccino

    Hello, sorry for the late response to this thread but I wanted to know if anyone is still having issues with their AirPort Extreme 6th gen.

     

    If you are please answer these questions:

     

    #1 How many devices do you have connected to your AE when issues arise?

     

    #2 The type of issue(s) you're having?

     

    #3 What ISP you have and what model of modem you use?

     

    I found 1 possible solution thus far. First, restore your AE back to factory settings. Second, setup your AE without changing any settings and only inputting the name you want for your SSID and your Wi-Fi password (both the SSID and Wi-Fi password can be the same as they were before the factory restore). Third, enable the guest network feature (you can enable a guest password if you don't want unauthorized persons using it).

     

    Please let me know if this changes anything.

  • by iZHP,

    iZHP iZHP Sep 17, 2013 6:08 AM in response to rhomaion
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 17, 2013 6:08 AM in response to rhomaion

    I've restored multiple times, and setup with standard settings to no avail. I am sticking with the 5th gen for now. They're also around $80 on amazon right now.  Apple routers are usually very reliable and fast....I'm still shocked to not see an immediate update in airport utility to fix this...does anyone else also think they could have added at least one more LAN port on the back of the new, very tall, Extreme?

  • by lundejd,

    lundejd lundejd Sep 17, 2013 6:42 AM in response to rhomaion
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Sep 17, 2013 6:42 AM in response to rhomaion

    #1:  typically 6-7 devices, 2 iPhones, 2 iPads, some airport expresses, a couple printers etc.

     

    #2:  after some amount of time our iDevices stop responding to the Internet.   No iMessages receiced, no notifications, no email, browsing just spins.    Connection appears to be strong and ok.    Turning on and off the wifi seems to temporarily fix.   

     

    #3:  I have fiber to the home, so no modem.   I use static IPs on the wan side.

     

    Whats "odd" about my setup?

     

    I run 3 different routers, one other has a wifi running for our furnace and a scale that wouldn't work through the Apple router.    I have my Macs going through a newer Cisco/Linksys and all wifi going through the Apple router.

     

    I didn't have this problem with older firmware on the 5th gen.   Don't have older firmware on the 6th gen from what I can see to go back too (just bought it).   I haven't tried resetting it to see if it reverts back, I'm waiting to see if the DHCP change temporarily fixes it.

     

    I tried the IP6 fix, that did nothing.

     

    I suspect the DHCP might be the issue as others have suggested, so set mine at 30 days and will see if that helps.

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