Connecting Apple Extreme directly to Verizon ONT – no IP

Question

HelloI&#x27;m trying to connect my Airport Extreme (gen 5) directly to my Verizon Optical Network Terminal box. The ethernet port has been enabled by Verizon techs and I know it&#x27;s working because I&#x27;m able to connect a Linksys router to it to create a wireless network without a problem using the Linksys router&#x27;s default settings. When I try to connect my AE it gives me the blinking amber light and the message that I&#x27;m not getting an IP or DNS settings. I&#x27;ve tried power cycling the AE and the ONT. For the ONT this entails unplugging and removing the battery backup for a few minutes. Still no luck. I appreciate any ideas anyone might have.Thanks!Mike

LaPastenague · Answer

Apple routers can have issues with later equipment.. they seem to be cable or bridge orientated.. I have severe issues using PPPOE on my network. The Apple routers cannot maintain connection and provide insufficient info or settings to see what is failing. What method of authentication does Verizon use, PPPOE or do they simply work from dhcp.. how is the linksys setup?I have also seen that the later firmware for gen5 extreme can have issues.. plugged into gigabit it can have issues with negotiating.. a downgrade to 7.6.1 firmware can help that problem. What model is the Linksys? When you plug it in, does it get public IP.. a couple of screenshots of the linksys setup could help.. and then how you are attempting to use the AE.

Mike Klar · Answer

LaPastenague thanks for the quick reply!My LinkSys WRT310N connects to the Verizon ONT via DHCP.I haven&#x27;t made a whole lot of progress with the AE. I&#x27;ve tried to connect with "DHCP and NAT".I&#x27;ll try downgrading the firmware in the AE and see where that leads me.

LaPastenague · Answer

Ok.. that is very clear.. the Airport is simply failing to work as it should.. not surprising .. it is often a failure in these setups. I see no reason for it.. other than Apple made it so.. If you have v5 utility you can actually force the link speed on the wan port to 100mbit full or half duplex.. this is worth a go. Either older Mac OS or windows or with some care you can install v5 utility onto any Mac OS up to the latest.. just google for it. If I post the info apple deletes my post. (no matter how useful).

Mike Klar · Answer

Thanks for the tip LaPastenague. I successfully downgraded the AE to 7.6.1, installed Airport Utility v5 and toyed with the WAN port speed settings as you recommended. I tried both Full and Half duplex at 100Mbps (I didn&#x27;t bother with the 10Mbps cause that&#x27;s significantly slower than the internet speed I&#x27;m paying for), neither worked even after power cycling the ONT. My workaround at the moment is to use that crummy Linksys as my router (using it receive an IP address and DNS settings from the ONT and to assign IP addresses to clients on the LAN, connected to my AE via its gigabit ethernet ports) and my AE in bridge mode as the wireless access point. I think this precludes me from accessing my network from offsite using the Apple DDNS equivalent (is it called "Back To My Mac" for Airport LANs? I can&#x27;t remember) and probably some other perks of using the AE as a router. I&#x27;m not thrilled with this setup, but it&#x27;s providing me with my core need of a reliable wireless signal throughout the house. I&#x27;m game for trying any other ideas that LaPastenague or any other helpful onlookers might have. Thanks!

LaPastenague · Answer

I&#x27;m game for trying any other ideas that LaPastenague or any other helpful onlookers might have.I am in the same boat.. not with fibre.. that is yet to make it to my house but with ADSL Apple routers cannot maintain a connection in PPPOE.. it was a shock to me that something as fundamental as using a bridged modem in front of the airports (I have tested lots.. all fail). And Apple has no way to fix the problem. I have no choice but to use a different brand router..(I didn&#x27;t bother with the 10Mbps cause that&#x27;s significantly slower than the internet speed I&#x27;m paying for)It is a test.. worth it to see if it works or not.. most likely not but still have a go.. Although I do not believe it will work.. you can try a small 10/100 switch or a crossover cable between the ONT and the AE.Do the connectivity lights come on??Apple offers nothing in terms of low level diagnostics or even logging now.. so to find out what is wrong is so difficult it is not worth the waste of time.Many people find the Apple router does not with fibre ONT.. even if it picked up an address it will not route.If you are a diy soldering person.. you can solder in a console terminal to your AE.. and you can then see a bit more of what is happening.. it is hard though because this is NetBSD and I am not sure of all the commands. Plus the debug software is not there.This is silly though and not your job..I am running a WNDR3800 (or DIR-825) running gargoyle firmware.. far superior routing and controls to anything apple can conceive.Please google it as I am not allowed to give URL.. post deleted if I do.And run the AE in static IP mode instead of bridge.https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5981989?answerId&#x3D;25135547022#25135547022&ac_cid&#x3D;tw123456#In IMHO this works somewhat better than bridge.. and with the above console port soldered in I can see what is going on.. egaegen5router# route showRouting tablesInternet:Destination        Gateway            Flagsdefault            192.168.2.254      UG   127.0.0.0/8        127.0.0.1          UG   169.254.0.0/16     link#13            U    192.168.2.0/24     link#13            U    192.168.2.202      04:e5:36:b2:95:2f  UHL  192.168.2.203      5c:96:9d:67:53:cd  UHL  192.168.2.206      28:37:37:15:4d:6f  UHL  192.168.2.207      link#13            UHL  192.168.2.209      b8:3e:59:78:6c:ca  UHL  192.168.2.222      d0:22:be:b5:f7:f3  UHL  192.168.2.223      48:60:bc:00:6a:13  UHL  192.168.2.254      cc:b2:55:c9:b9:e3  UHL  Internet6:Destination        Gateway            Flagsfe80::%bridge0     link#13            U    fe80::2a37:37ff:fe15:4d6f%bridge0 28:37:37:15:4d:6f  UHL  fe80::5e96:9dff:fe67:53cd%bridge0 5c:96:9d:67:53:cd  UHL  fe80::7273:cbff:feb3:71a4%bridge0 70:73:cb:b3:71:a4  UHL  ff01:d::           link#13            U    ff02::%bridge0     link#13            U arp -a? (192.168.2.202) at 04:e5:36:b2:95:2f on bridge0? (192.168.2.203) at 5c:96:9d:67:53:cd on bridge0? (192.168.2.206) at 28:37:37:15:4d:6f on bridge0? (192.168.2.207) at (incomplete) on bridge0? (192.168.2.209) at b8:3e:59:78:6c:ca on bridge0? (192.168.2.222) at d0:22:be:b5:f7:f3 on bridge0? (192.168.2.223) at 48:60:bc:00:6a:13 on bridge0? (192.168.2.254) at cc:b2:55:c9:b9:e3 on bridge0ifconfigmgi0: flags&#x3D;e943&lt;UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,LINK1,LINK2,MULTICAST&gt; metric 0 mtu 1500        options&#x3D;83f80&lt;TSO4,IP4CSUM_Rx,IP4CSUM_Tx,TCP4CSUM_Rx,TCP4CSUM_Tx,UDP4CSUM_Rx,UD P4CSUM_Tx,LRO4&gt;        extra flag&#x3D;1&lt;NOINET6&gt;        ether 70:73:cb:b3:71:a4        media: none (none)mgi1: flags&#x3D;8943&lt;UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST&gt; metric 0 mtu 1500        options&#x3D;83f80&lt;TSO4,IP4CSUM_Rx,IP4CSUM_Tx,TCP4CSUM_Rx,TCP4CSUM_Tx,UDP4CSUM_Rx,UD P4CSUM_Tx,LRO4&gt;        extra flag&#x3D;1&lt;NOINET6&gt;        ether 70:73:cb:b3:71:a4        media: none (none)bwl0: flags&#x3D;8943&lt;UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST&gt; metric 0 mtu 2290        options&#x3D;80000&lt;LRO4&gt;        extra flag&#x3D;0&lt;&gt;        ether 70:73:cb:b8:1b:b1        media: autoselect mode 11ng hostap        status: runningbwl1: flags&#x3D;8843&lt;UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST&gt; metric 0 mtu 2290        options&#x3D;80000&lt;LRO4&gt;        extra flag&#x3D;0&lt;&gt;        ether 70:73:cb:b8:1b:b2        media: autoselect mode 11na hostap        status: runninglo0: flags&#x3D;8049&lt;UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST&gt; metric 0 mtu 33172        extra flag&#x3D;0&lt;&gt;        inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000        inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128        inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x5wlan0: flags&#x3D;e943&lt;UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,LINK1,LINK2,MULTICAST&gt; metric 0 mtu 1500        options&#x3D;80000&lt;LRO4&gt;        extra flag&#x3D;1&lt;NOINET6&gt;        ether 70:73:cb:b8:1b:b1        media: autoselect mode 11ng hostap        status: running        ssid TC24ghz channel 6 (2437 Mhz 11g ht/20) bssid 70:73:cb:b8:1b:b1        authmode WPA2/802.11i privacy ON deftxkey 2 AES-CCM 2:128-bit        AES-CCM 3:128-bit txpower 11 dotd mcastrate 2 scanvalid 60        protmode CTS ht20 -htcompat ampdulimit 64k ampdudensity 8        -amsdutx amsdurx shortgi stbc ldpc wme burst dwds dtimperiod 3 -dfs        -inactwlan1: flags&#x3D;e943&lt;UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,LINK1,LINK2,MULTICAST&gt; metric 0 mtu 1500        options&#x3D;80000&lt;LRO4&gt;        extra flag&#x3D;1&lt;NOINET6&gt;        ether 70:73:cb:b8:1b:b2        media: autoselect mode 11na hostap        status: running        ssid TC5ghz channel 149 (5745 Mhz 11a ht/40+) bssid 70:73:cb:b8:1b:b2        authmode WPA2/802.11i privacy ON deftxkey 3 AES-CCM 2:128-bit        AES-CCM 3:128-bit txpower 18 dotd mcastrate 6 mgmtrate 6 scanvalid 60        -htcompat ampdulimit 64k ampdudensity 8 -amsdutx amsdurx shortgi stbc        ldpc wme burst dwds dtimperiod 3 -inactpppoe0: flags&#x3D;8810&lt;POINTOPOINT,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST&gt; metric 0 mtu 1492        extra flag&#x3D;1&lt;NOINET6&gt;bridge0: flags&#x3D;e043&lt;UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,LINK1,LINK2,MULTICAST&gt; metric 0 mtu 1500        options&#x3D;83f80&lt;TSO4,IP4CSUM_Rx,IP4CSUM_Tx,TCP4CSUM_Rx,TCP4CSUM_Tx,UDP4CSUM_Rx,UD P4CSUM_Tx,LRO4&gt;        extra flag&#x3D;2&lt;PFQUICKPASS&gt;        ether 70:73:cb:b3:71:a4        inet6 fe80::7273:cbff:feb3:71a4%bridge0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xd        inet 192.168.2.201 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.2.255        inet 169.254.247.54 netmask 0xffff0000 broadcast 169.254.255.255        priority 32768 hellotime 2 fwddelay 15        maxage 20 holdcnt 6 proto stp maxaddr 100 timeout 1200        member: wlan2 flags&#x3D;3&lt;LEARNING,DISCOVER&gt;        member: wlan1 flags&#x3D;3&lt;LEARNING,DISCOVER&gt;        member: wlan0 flags&#x3D;3&lt;LEARNING,DISCOVER&gt;        member: mgi1 flags&#x3D;3&lt;LEARNING,DISCOVER&gt;        member: mgi0 flags&#x3D;3&lt;LEARNING,DISCOVER&gt;wlan2: flags&#x3D;e943&lt;UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,LINK1,LINK2,MULTICAST&gt; metric 0 mtu 1500        options&#x3D;80000&lt;LRO4&gt;        extra flag&#x3D;1&lt;NOINET6&gt;        ether 70:73:cb:b8:1b:b1        media: autoselect mode 11ng wds        status: running        ssid "" channel 6 (2437 Mhz 11g ht/20) bssid 70:73:cb:b8:1b:b1        authmode 802.1x privacy OFF txpower 11 bmiss 7 scanvalid 60        protmode CTS ht20 -htcompat ampdulimit 64k ampdudensity 8        -amsdutx amsdurx shortgi stbc ldpc wme burst bintval 1So how mad are you .. really??