2 TB Time Capsule keeps falling offline

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CAP2010 Author

Level 1

4 points

2 TB Time Capsule keeps falling offline

Hello,

I have an Apple 2 TB Time Capsule I purchased last year. It is currently using version 7.7.3 of the airport software. I also use the Time Capsule for Time Machine backups of my iMac. The Time Capsule has worked great up until a month ago. Unfortunately, it now loses connection to the internet every 8-12 hours. The light on the Time Capsule stays green the entire time and I am still able to use Time Machine, but cannot connect to the internet. I am using Cisco DOC 3010 cable modem that is plugged into the Time Capsule. The modem appears to be functioning well. I have plugged the modem directly into the iMac for three days and never lost the internet connection (which is why I am fairly confident the issue is the Time Capsule). I have tried reverting to older software versions (7.7.2) and performed a factory reset of the Time Capsule, to include creating an entirely new wireless network for my house, but nothing seems to fix the problem. When I performed the factory reset, the Time Capsule worked well for about 48 hours, then went back to falling off the internet every 8-12 hours. Any help would be very much appreciated, as I am at my wits end constantly restarting the base station to get the internet to work.

Cheers,

Scott

Posted on Feb 14, 2016 7:37 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 14, 2016 11:24 AM in response to CAP2010

This is a hard one to fix or even understand, but the most recent generation airport Extreme and TC both have WAN issues. The most problematic modems are the SB series like 6121 and 6141, but it also happens to other modems.

The fact that it was fine for several months or even more than a year is also experience replicated by lots of people. However once it starts to play up there is no way we have found to fix it. And neither the modem or the TC is faulty.. they just don't work properly together.

So pick one of these. Replace the cable modem with the Zoom.. that has been successful.

See

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7360161

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7427491

Or replace the TC as the main router.. this is forced on me due to similar sort of problem.. I run another router, using a firmware called gargoyle, which provides me more controls than average and is very reliable. A cheap router will do this just fine, eg WR1043ND v2 (<$50 Amazon) .

You can keep using the TC for wireless and backups. Just not as the main router.

You can of course if the TC is still under warranty return it to Apple.. but the replacement is unlikely to solve it. The issue is too wide spread.

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