Time Capsule loses connectivity

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Time Capsule loses connectivity

I read multiple threads about people having problems with their wifi and their Time Capsule. Threads like:

However, my problem seems to be just slightly different and I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what the problem is. Some times I am losing a wifi signal like the aforementioned thread suggests, but most of the time it manifests slightly different. In my case, I have a 4th Gen TC (A1409) that I have been physically power cycling about 5 times a day due to lost connectivity. The TC in these cases never stops broadcasting a signal, but the connection to the internet is lost. This happens on all my devices (MacBook Pro, iPhone, Kindle, etc). The green light is on the front of the TC implying everything is good, but its obviously not. If I power off the TC, then power it back on, everything works again. Because I have a 100% success rate getting the connectivity back when power cycling the TC, I'm fairly confident that its not the cable modem.

Before I follow the instructions given on the other thread to reset the TC and downgrade the FW to 7.6.1, I just want to verify that is the proper steps to take for this problem as well. So any help would be greatly appreciated.

On a side note, I find it very disappointing that comments are suggesting these TCs only last about 3 years before they flake out. That seems utterly ridiculous considering the cost of these things. If I was buying a $15 generic router maybe, but how can Apple not make a product that lasts longer than 3 years? If that is the case, I almost certainly won't be replacing this one with a new TC... I'll opt for a standard wireless router and attach a network drive for half the price.

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2), 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo/4GB/750GB/SuperDrive

Posted on Feb 10, 2016 7:22 PM

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milnuts Author

Level 1

17 points

Feb 10, 2016 7:38 PM in response to milnuts

I need to clarify my previous post slightly. I have my entire house hardwired for ethernet, even though 95% of the devices used are wireless in the house. That said, I have an AirPort Extreme located upstairs in my house (the TC is in the basement). The AirPort Extreme is hardwired into the TC and acts as a bridge extending my wireless network in my house. I have it named differently, making it easy to know which access point I'm connected to. When I lose connectivity, the wifi signal generated by the TC (AppleNet/AppleNet 5Ghz) is no longer discoverable. The wifi signal generated by my AirPort Extreme (AppleNet2) is discoverable. But even if you are connected to it, there is no internet connection. So not only is the TC dropping its wireless signal, its seemingly losing all connectivity even to the hardwired connections. If it was just a wifi issue, anything connected to my AirPort, which is hardwired to the back of the TC, would presumably stay connected, but they don't.

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