Airport wireless advice

Question

Level 1

23 points

Airport wireless advice

I have had this setup for some time but since some weeks my wifi network is not working properly. I guess the problem is the quantity of devices and the different sort of protocols they use when connected to my network (MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, TV, Heatings, speaker etc.).

This is my setup:

- DSL 50mb connected to AirPort Extreme 802.11ac. The DSL modem has no router function

- 3 Apple devices extending the Extreme network: 2 x AirPort Express 802.11n (2nd Generation) and 1 AirPort Time Capsule 802.11n (4th Generation)

My wifi signal does not drop and stays functioning. My internet connection goes red in the Airport Utility sometimes. Sometimes it works. I can't discover when precisely. I have checked with my ISP twice and they say it works perfectly. Have done all the usual stuff (disconnecting, updating firmwares, reboots etc) but to no avail.

I have way below 50 clients to this network (I guess between 10-15 at the same time). There is nobody from outside on my network.

What I noticed on testing yesterday evening was, that when I disconnect my iPhone from my wifi network when the connection was supposedly down in the Airport Utility, my internet connection started working again.

So it looks like something is interfering with my network. Maybe AC B/G/N related or so.

anybody an idea what I could do to solve this?

Thanks

AirPort Extreme 802.11n (2nd Gen), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Jun 30, 2015 12:25 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

148,453 points

Jun 30, 2015 11:13 AM in response to Fernando G

So it looks like something is interfering with my network. Maybe AC B/G/N related or so.

I would suggest starting your wireless network troubleshooting by identifying if there actually is any form of Wi-Fi interference present nearby. There are a number of excellent applications (for example, WiFi Explorer) for your Mac to do this or you can use its built-in Wireless Diagnostics utility which you can access from the AirPort icon on the OS X menu bar.

What you want to look for is other nearby Wi-Fi networks. Specifically, those that are operating on the same wireless channel(s) and the ones with the strongest signal strength. These types of networks may be one of the causes of Wi-Fi interference that is affecting your extended wireless network.

Please report back your findings.

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Answer 2

Fernando G Author

Level 1

23 points

Jul 1, 2015 5:04 AM in response to Tesserax

Thanks Tesserax,

I already did this and checked interfering channels. Did not find any but changed the channels to other (distant ones) from the rest of the spectrum to no avail.

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Answer 3

Tesserax

Level 10

148,453 points

Jul 1, 2015 8:08 AM in response to Fernando G

Ok, thanks for the update.

The next step would be to try to narrow down if there is anything amiss with the operation of the extended wireless network. One check would be to temporarily power-down the extending base stations. Let the network run for a day or two to see if the problem still exists with just the main router. If not, add one extending base station back at a time. Be aware that proper placement of each of these base stations is critical to throughput performance. Please check out the following AirPort User Tip for additional details about placement.

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