Airport Extreme and Comcast

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Level 1

9 points

Airport Extreme and Comcast

I just upgraded my Comcast telephone internet modem to get faster Internet speeds.

I used to connect from the Comcast modem via ethernet to my Airport extreme. Now I am also connected via ethernet to the new modem but AirPort Extreme is flashing amber and AirPort Utility says there is a problem. I rebooted all devices multiple times, Reset both the airport extreme and the Comcast modem, but the amber light still flashes.

The odd thing is, I am connected through the AirPort Extreme and have a very fast Internet connection via ethernet even with the error reported in AirPort Utility and the Amber flashing light. I am not using wifi.

It's like the Airport Extreme is passing the Comcast ethernet straight through. I do want to get this fixed and it seems when I renew DHCP in AirPort Utility, nothing happens.

I'm connected to the Internet fine. That's the strange part.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Richard

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013), OS X Mavericks (10.9.2), 24 GBs Ram, 4GBs GPU

Posted on Apr 12, 2014 9:57 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Bob Timmons

Community+ 2024

Level 10

159,152 points

Apr 12, 2014 10:23 AM in response to XROADS

Suggest that you find out why the amber light is flashing.....since it should be a solid, steady green if all is well.

Open AirPort Utility

Click on the amber dot

Another window will open to explain what AirPort Utility thinks that the issue might be, along with suggestion actions to remedy things.

If you are still having issues after this, post back with the make and model number of the "modem" that you are using.

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Answer 2

XROADS Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 12, 2014 10:33 AM in response to XROADS

Bingo.

I never thought to click on the amber light. That brought up that I should be using Bridge Mode instead of DHCP and NAT.

Thanks Bob.

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Answer 3

Apr 12, 2014 10:36 AM in response to XROADS

This tells us that you were using a simple modem previously, but that your new "modem" is actually a modem/router, also known as a gateway device.

Bridge Mode would be the correct setting when there is a modem/router "upstream" from the AirPort Extreme.

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Answer 4

Aug 14, 2014 5:47 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Similar issue: my Comcast modem was upgraded and the speed upgraded as well and everything was working fine...for a while. Then it wasn't. After fruitless hours dealing with Comcast I had a network tech friend test the modem...it wasn't them it was me.

Seems that the new Comcast modem upgrade is actually a modem/router. So for our set-up to work smoothly (Airport Extreme as main with an Express and an old flat brick Extreme in a back room) I had to set the main Airport Router Mode to "Off". Then BOOM! everything started playing very nicely again.

Comcast is (understandably) not very helpful with this, so I hope this helps someone.

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