MacBook Pro wifi works but airport utility sometimes shows warning triangles

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MacBook Pro wifi works but airport utility sometimes shows warning triangles

Context

I have a MacBook Pro running OS X Yosemite as well as various other OSX and IOS devices.

I have an Airport Express (called groundfloor) running in bridge mode to a VDSL modem router and another airport express (called topfloor) that extends groundfloor.

Problem

Every IOS or OSX device in the house except the macbook pro sees the two airport expresses and shows two green lights when using the airport utility.

If I turn the macbook pro wifi off and on again it I can see the airport expresses with green lights when using the airport utility. Then, within 30 mins, the green lights will switch to yellow warning triangles on the macbook pro. Wifi still works on the macbook pro and I see the "internet" with a green light.

Please can someone help we work out why the green status changes to warning just on the macbook pro. Thanks to the new streamlined approach of the Yosemite airport utility I appear to have better logging on the windows version. Maybe there is some spy utility I can run to see what is going on?

I've posted this question under Airport Express as the Airport utility is the one reporting the problem. I appreciate the problem might be something specific to the Mac's connectivity settings etc.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Nov 14, 2014 1:51 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 14, 2014 9:18 AM in response to philipc

There are plenty of bugs in Yosemite, especially regarding networking, so it is possible that a setting may need to be changed. Check the following on your Mac......

Open System Preferences (gear icon on the dock)

Open Network

Click on WiFi on the left panel to highlight it, then click Advanced at the lower right

Click the TCP/IP tab

Make sure that the setting for Configure iPv6 is set to Link Local Only

Click OK, then click Apply at the lower right of the next window

Then, highlight Ethernet on the left panel and perform the same steps as above

Restart your Mac after the process

If still no help, some users have reported that turning off the Firewall on the Mac has helped this issue.

Click System Preferences

Click Security & Privacy

Click the Firewall tab

Turn off the Firewall

Restart your Mac

Check AirPort Utility on your Mac as follows:

Open AirPort Utility and click on the picture of the AirPort Express

Click Edit in the smaller window that appears

Click the Internet tab at the top of the window

Click Internet Options

Make sure that the setting for Configure iPv6 is set to Link Local Only

Click Update to save the settings

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Answer 2

philipc Author

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Nov 15, 2014 1:31 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thank you for the detailed instructions.

I'd set the Mac and the extender Airport Express to Link Local Only already but had missed the master Airport Express. I've updated it now. I have not, for now, disabled the firewall.

After the change, the Airport Utility seems more stable - even after a couple of hours the airport expresses still showed green dots. However, overnight the problem reoccurred and the airport utility forgot the airport expresses and showed warning triangles. I did my usual trick of turning the mac's wifi off and on again and the warning triangles were replaced by green dots.

I'd guess there is something about the Mac's wifi that causes it to forget the expresses after a random interval. But what?

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Answer 3

Nov 15, 2014 6:38 AM in response to philipc

I'd guess there is something about the Mac's wifi that causes it to forget the expresses after a random interval. But what?

As I mentioned in my last post........There are plenty of bugs in Yosemite, especially regarding networking, Sometimes, you can perform all the known "fixes" and the problems are still not solved.

You are not alone, as this a common bug that hopefully Apple will fix on the next update. There are other issues in Yosemite as well, indicating that so far, Yosemite is not one of their better efforts.

Is the extending AirPort Express connecting back to your modem/router using a wired Ethernet cable, or does it extend by connecting using wireless?

The Express really requires a strong wireless connection to work reasonably reliably when it extends using wireless. The signal quality may be borderline at the location where the upstairs Express is located.

The best compromise location for an Express that extends using wireless is a point that is about half way between the main AirPort and the general area where more wireless coverage is desired. Anything that you can do to promote a line-of-sight relationship between the AirPorts will really help the performance of AirPorts.

When you extend using wireless, at least half of the potential speed on the network is lost in the process, so running Ethernet cables to all AirPorts from the main router is by far the best way to construct a network.

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Answer 4

philipc Author

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Nov 16, 2014 6:07 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks for your continued help, Bob.

To clarify:

1. These problems predated Yosemite. In fact, I upgraded to Yosemite precisely because I hoped they'd go away or that the wifi reporting in Yosemite (which seemed so much better) might help track the problem down.

2. The groundfloor airport express is directly connected by ethernet cable to the BT Home Hub 5 modem router. I have turned wifi on the home bub off. I think I have configured it to do the fixed DHCP.

3. The topfloor airport express wirelessly extends the network. There is no cable linked to it.

All devices in the house except the macbook pro work OK. The airport utility on each one can see both airport expresses.

Using the macbook pro's wifi connection, I can look at websites OK.

When I run the macbook pro's airport utility the internet green dot is always on.

It is only the displays for both airport expresses that go from green dots to yellow triangles at seemingly random intervals. Sometimes they will change and then change back again. If they get stuck in warning mode I have to turn the macbook pro's wifi off and then on again and the airport expresses reappear with green dots.

Me, I'm baffled. Is there some logging we could run on the macbook pro?

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Answer 5

Nov 16, 2014 6:38 AM in response to philipc

Unfortunately, Apple removed all of the logging information in AirPort Utility 6.x versions, so no help there, I am afraid.

Since you indicate that the problem occurs only on your MacBook Pro, I would suggest that you turn off the Firewall on your MBP.....if it is on now.....and leave it that way for a few days to see if that will help. Some users have reported that turning the Firewall off has helped them in similar situations, but whether it will help your issue, I cannot say.

Open System Preferences (gear icon on the dock)

Open Security & Privacy

Click the FireWall tab

Turn off the Firewall

Restart the Mac

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Answer 6

philipc Author

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Nov 16, 2014 8:38 AM in response to Bob Timmons

I've turned everything off and on again and I'll monitor it for 24 hours. Then I'll do as you suggest and turn the firewall off and report what effect that has. I'll keep you posted.

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Answer 7

BriPhil

Level 1

10 points

Nov 26, 2014 10:20 AM in response to philipc

I'm having exactly the same issue in a very similar environment -- with ALL of my WiFi connected devices.

Internet service is supplied by an AT&T U-Verse 'residential gateway', with an Airport Extreme and a Time Capsule behind it (on two different ports, serving two different areas of my house). I have the latest fixes on Yosemite (10.10.1) and the most current AirPort Utility (6.3.4), and both Apple routers are up-to-date on firmware. My portable devices (iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2) have the most current iOS level and the latest and greatest edition of the AirPort Utility app.

Both Apple routers are in bridge mode, WiFi is disabled on the U-Verse gateway and the Time Capsule, and my MacBook Pro (early 2011 vintage) has the firewall turned OFF. It's in a stand about 8 feet away from the Airport Extreme, and my iOS testing today has been with the iDevices in the same room. I never lose Internet connectivity, and I never see less that a full WiFi "fan" in the status area on any of the three managing devices.

Behavior is exactly the same, no matter which device I use. When I first start up the AirPort Utility, I get a green-dot status on both Apple routers. If I let it sit for a while, the green dots change to yellow triangles and the AirPort Utility says "Device Not Found" -- even though I'm still successfully going THROUGH the "not-found" AirPort Extreme to get to the U-Verse gateway and the Internet beyond. The problem goes away on the Mac if I switch from WiFi to an Ethernet cable.

Stopping and relaunching the app temporarily fixes the problem, and I'm (usually) able to get the configuration changed before the AirPort Utility loses track of the router again. Since the issue -- in my case, at least -- is common to both OS X and iOS, and since the AirPort Utility on the Mac doesn't 'lose' either router when I turn WiFi off and connect using an Ethernet cable, I'm thinking it may actually be something in the AirPort's WiFi implementation.

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Answer 8

philipc Author

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Nov 27, 2014 4:09 AM in response to BriPhil

Thanks for the update, BriPhil. It is good know other people are having similar problems!

An update on my situation:

Now that I have switched to fixed DHCP and have everything configured to use Link Local Only the airport utility on the mac is MUCH more stable. The warning triangles do not come and go in the way they used to - now I get a warning triangle only when the second airport express (the one running as an extender) drops out of the network. It does this after several days - nothing has changed, it hasn't been moved but then it will suddenly drop out.

All devices running the airport utility report the loss of the extender airport express. I repeat, it was working just fine and then after several days, it reports problems (yellow blinking light).

Now the forums are littered with people saying get out the paperclip etc to hardware reset etc but all I did was turn the master airport express off for a couple of minutes and then turn it on again. It wasn't instantaneous but within an hour the extender airport express was showing a green light and visible in the airport utility.

So I think I had several problems. The fixed DHCP etc has help. The current question is: why does an extender airport express stop working and report problems that can be fixed by turning the master airport express off and on again?

Bob T, you were very knowledgeable and helpful with the first problem - thank you again. Any ideas on this one?

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Answer 9

Oct 5, 2015 1:18 AM in response to philipc

This thread is over a year old, but since i upgraded to El Capitan a few days ago, i've got this exact same problem.

Did you get rid of this problem? I did everything one might expect. I tried resetting, and tried the settings mentioned above, but after a while the airport express drops off my network. Turning the master Wifi switch on and off solves it for a while, but then the problem comes back.

Did you solve this issue phillipc? And if so, do you remember what you did to solve it? Any help would be great, thanks!

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