RENEW DHCP LEASE/WIRELESS CLIENTS LIST - APPLE AIRPORT ROUTER (2016)

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lovell.2011 Author

Level 1

8 points

RENEW DHCP LEASE/WIRELESS CLIENTS LIST - APPLE AIRPORT ROUTER (2016)

Hello Apple Community,

I am having an issue with my Apple Airport Express router. Recently, I had some issues with my ISP (Timer Warner Cable) regarding speed. This issue was resolved when my cable modem was replaced with another, no big deal. The technician just swapped out my old modem for a new one and my speed issues were solved.

Anyhow, before and after this modem replacement, each time I had to repower my modem and router regardless the reason (reset/power outage), my Airport Express will blink the amber/orange color and not turn green to give me a solid network. Luckily, I have the Airport Utility app on my iPhone that tells me that I need to renew the DHCP lease, each and every time the router comes back online, no matter how long the router is on before hand. Once I do this, the router works as it should without any issue, but if I don't, it just sits and blinks. This never used to be the case, even when the first modem was working the way it should, the router would connect and turn green without assistance each time. This issue started about three months ago.

Also, I have another Airport Express router at another house and using a different network that is working as it should. With the exception of the wireless client list. Instead of showing the devise names as we have named them, it shows each device connected as some weird number that I have never seen before. All of our connected devices are Apple with only a few exceptions.

Any ideas?

Thank you,

Joey

Posted on Feb 2, 2016 5:44 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

148,369 points

Feb 2, 2016 10:55 AM in response to lovell.2011

What is the make & model of the cable modem that your ISP has recently provided you?

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Answer 2

lovell.2011 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 2, 2016 8:48 PM in response to Tesserax

It is a Time Warner Cable modem.

Make is Arris

The model is DG860

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Answer 3

Tesserax

Level 10

148,369 points

Feb 3, 2016 1:00 PM in response to lovell.2011

Ok, thanks for the device info. Your Arris DG860 is a combination modem & router or gateway device. Regardless any time you introduce new networking hardware it is always important that you perform a full power recycle of all of that hardware to get them communicating properly with each other. See the following AirPort User tip for details. Please post back your results.

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Answer 4

lovell.2011 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 4, 2016 5:15 AM in response to Tesserax

No problem on getting the information. I used your steps and preformed a full power cycle on both the modem and the router. As well as the reset. But no luck. After I get the Airport set back up, the light turns green and it works as it should. The minute I turned it back off, simulating a power outage or a general reboot, the light will not turn green until I renew the DHCP lease. Which is weird because I never have to do this. Before, it would automatically turn green about 10-15 seconds after rebooting once the modem was back up and running.

I also did this task on the other Airport device, the one that is no listing the device names correctly, no luck there either.

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Answer 5

Tesserax

Level 10

148,369 points

Feb 4, 2016 8:55 AM in response to lovell.2011

Try temporarily connecting the Express to one of the available Ethernet ports on your Arris gateway. See if recycling power on the Express allows it to re-obtain an IP address from the DHCP service provided by the Arris in this manner.

Also, what exact model of the Express do you have?

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Answer 6

lovell.2011 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 4, 2016 12:41 PM in response to Tesserax

I apologize, I should have mentioned how the Express and the Arris have been connected. Since we do not have a desktop computer requiring a wired connection, all of our devices running OS X or IOS are all wireless.

So as of right now, the cable Arris modem has the power cord, cable, and Ethernet connected. The Ethernet is connected right into the Express via the Ethernet port.

I do believe the technician had to call the ISP to figure out how to manually put the Arris into Bridge mode and turn off the built in WIFI.

I have the latest model of the Express, I believe it is the 2nd generation? I bought it from the Apple store not to long ago.

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Answer 7

Tesserax

Level 10

148,369 points

Feb 5, 2016 5:50 PM in response to lovell.2011

I do believe the technician had to call the ISP to figure out how to manually put the Arris into Bridge mode and turn off the built in WIFI.

Hmm, I'm not sure why you wanted to make your AirPort Express to be your "main" router when the Arris was providing that function. Also, the Express has 100 Mbps Ethernet ports, whereas the Arris has 1000 Mbps ports ... so the Express would be the "bottleneck" here in this configuration. You can still use the Express with your Arris gateway in a roaming type network, but I don't see why you would want to.

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Answer 8

lovell.2011 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 9, 2016 9:57 AM in response to Tesserax

I made the Express the main router because I like how these routers work so well and are easy to set up with other Apple products. The WIFI service that our ISP provides is not all that great, it often cuts out and/or has a spotty range. We have never had issues with the Express until now. So the Arris and Express are both hooked up the way they should be, and I get a great signal and receive the correct MBPS that we are paying for.

The questions still remain (1) why do the client list inside of the Airport Utilities application not listing the name's of the clines as they should on one Express and (2) why do I have to renew the DHCP lease each time the network gets powered down on the other?

Both routers are hooked up the same way just in different houses.

Thank you

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Answer 9

Tesserax

Level 10

148,369 points

Feb 9, 2016 10:56 AM in response to lovell.2011

(1) why do the client list inside of the Airport Utilities application not listing the name's of the clines as they should on one Express

The AirPort Utility's wireless clients list has not been consistent in my experience. You will get one of the following: 1) The device's Bonjour name, 2) The device's DHCP Çlient ID, 3) The device's MAC ID address, or 4) its assigned IP address. The list should show the wireless client(s) connected to that base station's BSSID and would be specific to that base station.

(2) why do I have to renew the DHCP lease each time the network gets powered down on the other?

Most likely, because every time you recycle the other Express, it has to re-establish a network connection with the other router and that router is not configured to release the DHCP assigned address soon enough.

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