Charter & Airport Extreme: random drops/disconnections

The 6th Gen AirPorts have had a lot more problems with modem compatibility than the earlier Generations, so if you have the time.......connect the 5th Gen AirPort to the modem and set it up to do DHCP and NAT and put the 6th Gen in Bridge Mode......to see how things work that way.

Charter may not have IPv6 active yet, but they and just about every other provider have been adding new equipment and making changes on their service. This may be a factor in your connection issues.

Yes, I am sure that Charter will say that this has had no effect at all on their regular IPv4 service......since ISPs always claim that they are not having any issues when you ask them about their service.

If you decide to swap the 6th Gen and 5th Gen as I suggested above.....and you still have connection issues.....then you are going to have to decide on whether to keep the AirPorts and try another brand of modem.....or.....keep the modem and try another brand of router.

I haven't had problems with this setup until recently. Based upon your points, however, it could even be a combination of a Charter's fiddling around and a persnickety 6th Gen.

If the AirPort Extreme were 3+ years old, then that might be something to consider.....but it's not. It's possible....but unlikely....that an electronic component inside the 6th Gen has developed an intermittent issue.....in which case it will be almost impossible to find.

That's why I suggested swapping the routers. If the 5th Gen works reliably, then you know it is something in the 6th Gen. The 6th Gen still might be OK set up in Bridge Mode.

But.....if the 5th Gen acts up as well.....then you have to conclude that the ISP's service is the culprit. They will never admit it, though.

I don't think that two different AirPorts have suddenly decided that they are both going to have issues with your modem. I think you have an ISP issue.

If you decide to try another modem, and still have issues, then you will know for sure that it is the ISP.

I'm not on Charter, so have no experience with their service. I use Time Warner and keep two modems on hand and swap them out about every other month, just to keep things interesting.

Both the Zoom 5341J and Netgear CMD31T have both been flawless over about a 2 year period, so if Charter supports one of those models, you might want to give one of those a try. The Zoom has a more traditional modem appearance. The Netgear matches the design of some of their Ethernet switches.

Good luck!