Cannot get multiple wired connections with Comcast

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Level 1

20 points

Cannot get multiple wired connections with Comcast

I have a (2013) Airport Extreme base station. I am on Comcast Xfinity using a Zoom modem that I purchased. It is on the approved list of modems from Comcast. With the Airport I can only do wireless connections to get on the internet. They all work great. Every wired connection - even a single one - plugged into the Airport will stop working after about 24 hours. I know that the cable modem only assigns a single IP address. But I thought the Airport was supposed to be able to manage multiple wired connections into it, just like it does with wireless. I have 2 devices that are wired and I am unable to use them.

This has been a problem since I bought the Airport. I talked with Apple tech support and they said my modem must be configured wrong. But when I open up the Admin page for the modem there are no options to adjust or configure anything.

Do the wired connections on the Airport work different from the wireless? At my last home I had an older Airport connected to a cable modem and it easily handled multiple wired connections. Is there a setting I need to make in the Airport Extreme? Or do you think I really have a bad modem? Do I need to install another router or switch or something in between my modem and the Airport?

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Aug 28, 2015 6:08 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 28, 2015 6:23 AM in response to Mikey_Byte1

I talked with Apple tech support and they said my modem must be configured wrong

And, chances are if you talk to Comcast, they will tell you that the AirPort Extreme is configured wrong, or acting up.

Do the wired connections on the Airport work different from the wireless?

No

At my last home I had an older Airport connected to a cable modem and it easily handled multiple wired connections.

That AirPort was working correctly. Chances are, your current AirPort is not.

Is there a setting I need to make in the Airport Extreme?

Possibly, but the setting would depend on the type of Zoom modem that you have. Can you provide the model number that that device?

Or do you think I really have a bad modem?

Everything that you have told us so far indicates that the modem is working fine. If the modem were acting up, then you would lose connections on all devices. When you lose a connection on one or more individual devices, the "suspect" is the AirPort Extreme.

I have a (2013) Airport Extreme base station

Is this a "tower" shaped AirPort Extreme or a "flat or square" shaped AirPort Extreme.

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Answer 2

Mikey_Byte1 Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 28, 2015 6:23 AM in response to Bob Timmons

It is a Zoom 5341J Modem. I have the tower Airport Extreme.

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Answer 3

Aug 28, 2015 6:40 AM in response to Mikey_Byte1

This is an excellent modem. You very likely already have the AirPort Extreme configured correctly to work with the modem. To verify.....

Open AirPort Utility

Click on the picture of the AirPort Extreme, then click Edit in the smaller window that appears

Click the Network tab at the top of the next screen

The Router Mode should be set to DHCP and NAT

If that is the case, then the only other setting that might help would be to change the DHCP Lease setting for connected devices. To see that setting, click on the Network Options button on the same page that you are on now......then change the setting for the DHCP Lease from 1 Day to 7 Days. Click Save, then click Update to save the new settings

If wired devices continue to lose their connection after only 1 day, then the AirPort Extreme is very likely defective.

All that you can really do that this point is reset the Extreme back to factory defaults and set it up again to see that will help. I assume that you have already tried different Ethernet cables. If the reset doesn't help, then the Extreme will likely need to be replaced.

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Answer 4

Mikey_Byte1 Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 28, 2015 6:45 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks Bob. I had it set to DHCP and NAT. I will change the Lease option from 1 to 7 days and see if that helps. The weird thing to me is that when I first switched to Xfinity I was using the older flat Airport Extreme model from 6-7 years ago. And I had this exact same issue. I tried everything and finally decided to get the new tower one. I did the full set up and wired connections worked. For a day. So it did it with my old one too. I will let you know if the Lease change solves it. Or if I have to do a full factory reset, etc.

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Answer 5

Aug 28, 2015 6:52 AM in response to Mikey_Byte1

Very strange. Are the wired devices connected directly to the AirPort Extreme, or do they connect to a switch or some other intermediate device? You have replaced all of the Ethernet cables, correct?

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Answer 6

Mikey_Byte1 Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 28, 2015 7:08 AM in response to Bob Timmons

The 7 day option had no effect. Basically as long as you leave your wired device on it works. The minute you turn it off then turn it back on, all connectivity is lost for good. I will do a full system restore but I remember doing this when I first bought the device 2 years ago. And my old Airport had the same issue once I switched to Xfinity. I may just buy a cable/router/wireless combo approved by Comcast to see if that solves it.

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Answer 7

Mikey_Byte1 Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 28, 2015 7:19 AM in response to Bob Timmons

They connect to the back of the Extreme. So it goes cable into Zoom. Zoom Ethernet cord into Extreme. And then I use the 3 ports on the back of the Extreme to plug in other devices. I have tried 3 different cables. Let me do a restore later today.

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