Time Capsule not changing channels

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Level 1

45 points

Time Capsule not changing channels

Lately I've been getting a lot of interference on my 2.4GHz network causing data speeds to drop to under 5Mbps when I should be getting 80Mbps. The 5Ghz network is fine. I've noticed that the issue seems to be with channel congestion. If a bunch of people are on channel 1 for example, and I change it to channel 6 manually, its fine. Then I'll look the next day, slow again, and a bunch of people are on channel 6. I change it again, and its fine for a while. If I set it to Automatic, it doesn't seem to change the channel when its congested. My only resolution I've found is to go in each day, check the channels, then manually change it to a different channel. I've already restored it to factory settings, and even tried it with out of the box settings, and the issue persists. Any other ideas before I bring it in to an Apple Store?

AirPort Time Capsule-OTHER

Posted on May 13, 2015 10:31 AM

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Answer 1

May 13, 2015 11:08 AM in response to bman6185

Unfortunately, you are experiencing what more and more users are discovering all the time.....there are too many 2.4 GHz networks and not enough channels.

You really have two options......keep switching channels manually.....which works for awhile, until you have to change channels again since other routers are switching all the time.

or

Leave the AirPort in the Automatic setting. If you do this, you need to understand that the AirPort will usually only scan to try to find the best channel to use at the time when it is powered up.

So, you may have to "pull the plug" several times a day and then plug it back in to restart the AirPort so it will try to find a better channel to use for awhile. A good friend, who lives in a new high rise development, has to restart his router several times each day, mostly in the evening when more users are at home blasting away on the Internet.

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Answer 2

bforish

Level 1

0 points

May 13, 2015 11:14 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Ohhh, so the automatic setting only checks on initial power up? Makes sense why it doesn't change then, since it says on all the time. I guess I can set it up to restart every evening, but that would only make it change channels if it detects congestion at that specific time.

Edit: Just noticed Im logged into my other Apple ID. Haha.

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Answer 3

May 13, 2015 11:29 AM in response to bforish

so the automatic setting only checks on initial power up?

That is part of the start up process. I've never noticed that it changed on its own....when the unit was already "on" .....but I suppose it is possible.

Rather than "pulling the plug" to restart, you do have the option in AirPort Utility (Base Station menu at the top of the screen) to Restart that way.

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