Airport Extreme and Cox Internet IPv6 Problem

keg55 what kind of setup do you have there? During this period wifi has worked for iPad and iPhone devices, but hardwired iMac and wifi iMacs had the problems described above that led me to revert to local link.

CromeYellow wrote:

keg55 what kind of setup do you have there? During this period wifi has worked for iPad and iPhone devices, but hardwired iMac and wifi iMacs had the problems described above that led me to revert to local link.

3- iPhone6, 2 - iPads, 3 - rMBP, 1 - Mac Mini. I only have a single AEBS.

The Mac Mini and one of the rMBP's are using ethernet through a Gigabit switch to the AEBS. The rest are on WiFi.

Thanks. Anyway other than "knowing I am ipv6 ready" I get no benefit from the ipv6 settings. Speed's the same - when it works, and it doesn't work once a day. So I stick to local link for now.

Reverted back to Cox DNS from Google after updating firmware to 7.7.7 and haven't had a disconnect since. Wi-fi humming along normally for the past 3 days or so.

New to this thread - thanks to all for the wealth of information. This has been very helpful. A few more data points in a familiar story:

• Started having internet connection issues around first of year after many years of very reliable internet and wifi service with Cox / Airport combo (plus Cisco DPC 3010 cable modem)
• Calls to Cox received the usual diagnostic, "everything looks fine on our end, must be a problem in your home network" (both robo-diagnostic and human tech support).
• Triple checked all connections and settings (Cisco DPC 3010 cable modem, 2 yr. old Airport Extreme Base, Netgear Gigabit switches, 4 year old Airport Extreme extender connected via old Cat5 cable in walls, Mac laptops, lots of A/V electronics - multiple Sonos units, Apple TV, etc., most connected to one of the switches via Cat5e or Cat6 cable)
• Cox pulled some new cable through our neighborhood about a week ago, and when I asked the guys, they said there appeared to be some line damage.
• Our neighbors said they've had more TV problems than internet problems. We don't watch much TV and they don't use internet much except for streaming, and said their internet has been stable (old Linksys router).
• Outages continued, so called Cox again on May 30, and got a very helpful tech support guy. Told him about the new cable in our neighborhood, our config., and my prior trouble-shooting efforts. He said there have been compatibility issues with AE routers since about the first of the year, apparently related to IPv6 implementation. He said thought Apple had issued a firmware update in late December that supported IPv6 in a way that is not always side-by-side compatible with IP v4 (Cox is still IP v4, at least in our area -- website describes a dual stack approach). He also noticed our older Cisco cable modem showed a high number of "power adjustments" and said it may be failing. It was plugged into a surge protector, and he asked me to plug it into the wall directly to rule out the surge protector as the source of the problems, which we did. He suggested:
  • Check for newer Airport firmware update (I found and installed 7.7.7)
  • Change IE IPv6 config to Link-local only (as described in very helpful detail by others in this thread)
  • Get a new cable modem
• So far, I've applied the 7.7.7 updates to both AE units, and changed the AE config to Link-local only. We've been completely stable with excellent down/up bandwidth since I made those changes 3 days ago. I have not swapped the cable modem yet (but bought new ARRIS SB 190 which is ready to go).
• Now I'm wondering if 7.7.7 update alone fixed the problem, or if Link-local is the key element here. I see mixed experience with that so far in the thread above, and will continue to monitor this thread and post updates.

Do all signs point to this being a specific compatibility issue between Cox and AE routers concerning IPv6 implementation? It seems Cox has no problem with other routers (based on what I've read, heard from tech, and my neighbor), and AE has no problem with other ISPs (based on what I've read here). I've read others' thoughts about what the specific disconnect might be. I must say, the timing of Apple pulling the AE routers out of their stores last week is interesting, as is the speculation about why they did that and what is coming next.

Thanks all.

Although others have had luck with the Cox ipv6 standard settings, I did not even with the latest Time Capsule / Airport Extremes and 7.7.7 upgrade (I have not tried Google DNS lately).

I remain on local link and am getting advertised or better speeds up/down and no connectivity issues at all.

As well, during the hours when I was on ipv6 standard settings I had no better speed at all than with local link, which is to say that I saw no benefit whatsoever. I don't believe ipv6 is anything to worry about for some time. By the time it is, they (meaning AAPL and Cox) will have figured this out.

Try reverting to Automatically instead of Link-local and see if the connection stays up? I'm not using Link-local OR the Google DNS workarounds and my connection has been stable. You may need to restart both the router and modem after making the change.

Why do we have to login every time we go to his board? No way to remain logged in? 😝

Currently, local link is the only setting that works for me long term (beyond 36 hours). No loss in speeds, no point (for me) in trying any other setting.

Back again after a couple of months. Leading up to the 7.7.7 update things were good. Using only Google DNS and IPv6 set to automatic. I live in Irvine, CA, btw.

AFter the the update to 7.7.7. Had to revert back to "link local" and Google DNS to keep things stable. No speed degradation though luckily. If this doesn't last, I'll go back to Cox's DNS and "link local" and report back.

From what I can see from how long this thread has been active, it's a Cox issue with how they're rolling out IPv6 as people in different areas of the country are reporting different success stories and solutions, right?

My theory is that if your Apple Extreme/TC is new enough to use the 7.7.7 firmware, the problem is fixed. If yours is older, which means it uses the 7.6.7 firmware update, you will still have problems trying to use the Apple router, regardless of Cox or Google DNS setting, Auto or Link Local routing. My solution for the older Apple router, as previously posted, was to stop hoping and switch to a Netgear router...which solves the problem and brings additional capabilities such as faster wireless, QoS, etc.

Theory incorrect. I have the latest TC / ApE 7.7.7 and yet only local link works for me as far as stability beyond 36 hours.

Appears that all this could have to do with region, who knows what else, as some people were claiming no problems with Google DNS ipv6 auto settings even before with the old firmware, and some, like me and the_arje experience issues no matter what except with local link.

OK, so maybe we can drop it down to:

• Most thread reports from firmware 7.7.7 users are reporting the issue is solved, but some continue to have issues. We don't know why, but perhaps it relates to the specific Cox IPv6 configuration in their Cox service area.
• Thread reports from firmware 7.6.7 users are reporting this issue is not solved by this firmware update on their older Apple routers, regardless of DNS or router settings.

Adjustment of these observations is welcome. 😎

the_arje wrote:

. . . . From what I can see from how long this thread has been active, it's a Cox issue with how they're rolling out IPv6 as people in different areas of the country are reporting different success stories and solutions, right?

That's my conclusion, too, as I indicated several pages above.

Since an initial few connection losses three months ago when I joined this thread, my system has been operating continuously without fail with Cox DNS and 1pv6 Active. My modem is my own Arris WBM 760, and my Time Capsule is only six months old (it worked the same with previous 7.7.3 as it does with 7.7.7 which had no effect on this problem). Either Cox rolled out 1pv6 early on here in Williamsburg, VA three months ago, and then promptly fixed the glitches that were causing me problems then, or (horrors!) they haven't rolled it out here yet, and when they do I will have to go through what many of the rest of you have had to deal with.

While I would readily bet that the root cause is Cox (other ISP's don't seem to have the problems with Apple gear), and Cox is Cox, I am intrigued with Apple's actions to remove Airport Extremes and Time Capsules from their stores, but still continue selling them online. We all may understand that better soon.

According to this posting over at idownloadblog.com, AirPort routers are back in stock in Apple Stores and the reason they were pulled was an FCC compliance issue.

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/06/02/airport-base-stations-are-now-back-in-st ock/

Quick update - we've been rock solid (stable and fast) since applying Link-local config change and AE firmware 7.7.7 update on May 30 (see details in thread above if you are new to this topic). Not sure which one was the key ingredient, but for what it's worth -- just left a chat session on this issue with a Cox tech and he said Cox completed IPv6 rollout last week (around May 25), and he thought that was nationwide. That was about the same time Apple issued 7.7.7 update. He said as far as he knows, they are back in sync and we should be able to revert to "automatic" IPv6 config on AE routers. I haven't confirmed that myself yet, but will probably do so over weekend. I understand this group has had mixed results with that, so there may still be regional / config-specific differences. Also, another Cox tech told me Cox had not completed IPv6 rollout as on May 30, so one of them had inaccurate info.