Airport Extreme and Cox Internet IPv6 Problem

CromeYellow and Askin,

Just noticed something -- CromeYellow selected "Block incoming IPv6 connections" in Network Options. When I tried that, I lost connection to downstream Cat5 connected AE router used to extend range of our wifi network. When I unchecked that option and restated the AE base, it reconnected. I can't find any helpful explanation of that setting from Apple.

The "Block incoming IPv6 connections" setting enables the IPv6 Stateful Firewall. It should only be enable on the router connected at the border of the network, in other words, the router connected to the modem. All other routers should not have the setting enabled.

that's what i did. it cut off the downstream hardwired router. Wifi was fine

that might have been a fluke. Tried resetting it to "block incoming IP6 connections" again, and network now recognizes the downstream router. odd that I lost it right after selecting that on AE baae station before, and restored connection when I unchecked it. At least all seems to be working for now. Thanks Gino.

No problem. Just glad it's working now. Don't need another problem to crop up now that everything is working for you.

Yatbot, as far as I know Cox has just recently completed the roll-out of IPv6 nation wide. If you want to check if your configuration is working visit the following IPv6 test web site. You want to receive a test score of 19/20 (failing the Hostname test is normal.)

IPv6 test - IPv6/4 connectivity and speed test

Thought I had resolved my issue, reset the AE to factory and passed the ipv6 test all day, this morning it failed

I have Cox internet service in Orange County, CA. I have an Arris SB6190 cable modem with the latest Airport Extreme Time Capsule. I began experiencing problems in March 2016 with periodically losing connectivity between the Airport and the Router with IPV 6 configured automatically. The latest firmware update for the Airport, 7.7.7, seems to have corrected the issue. Since applying the update I have been able to enable IPV 6 and have not experienced a problem. My internet speeds are normal. Hope this is useful to you.

Hi Tom380, if you run the IPv6 test on this page, http://ipv6-test.com/ what do you get?

I ran the test on the linked page and got 19/20. I have the firewall turned off in OS X.

Great, just wanted to make sure that the IPv6 connection actually stays up.

So far, since the Airport firmware upgrade, the IPv6 connection has stayed up. I'll post back if I experience the previous symptoms.

jimpal wrote:

Thanks for your thorough comments above.

Some of us have been on this thread ever since the 1pv6 connection problems first showed up here at around March 1. I am in Williamsburg, VA, which fits your timeline. Fortunately for me, within a few days my system began working reliably again in early March, after absolutely no changes on my part. Before and after I have been using my six-month-old Time Capsule, my own Arris WBM 760 modem, and settings on 1pv6 Auto. The system worked before and still after firmware update 7.7.7. For literally three months I have had no problems since the initial ones in early March. This can only be accounted for by bug fixes Cox must have made in our area.

Since my experience indicates the problem was fixed by Cox, what caused this problem? Some have indicated Apple isn't always forthcoming about software or firmware changes they make. Perhaps. But in this case it seems that Cox may not be telling the whole story either. A lot of people have put a lot of effort into trying to get their systems to work. To continue the great help you are providing, I believe it would also be helpful to let people know what Cox did about this, besides just blame Apple. Clearly they must have done something. It's the only way to account for the way my system failed three months ago and after a few days "got well" and has worked perfectly ever since with no changes at all on my part.

We are all interested in achieving a permanent fix to this problem, in case it recurs. Knowing what Cox did to resolve it on their own, without pointing to Apple's 7.7.7, would be very satisfying to all of us who have been on this thread for the last three months. And would be helpful if problems recur. Cox is the company everyone "loves to hate" in our area. More info about what really happened would be a good step toward correcting that.

I appreciate your help.

Glad to hear it's working for you, both before and after the upgrade. There was nothing fundametally broken in our VA market, at least not that I was aware of. I'm in the corporate engineering group and work with our markets but they also do maintenance regularly so it's possible your area had issues that needed to be fixed. I'd tell ya if I knew more; you can see from my posts on DSLReports where users have raised isolated v6 issues and I've tracked them down and had them fixed - and owned up to them. This didn't happen in VA, again not that I'm aware of. If your issue was IPv6 specific, and your v4 connection worked the whole time, my best guess is that the local engineers found some configuration errors during one of our audits and fixed them. IPv6 didn't launch 100% cleanly across the 10M customer footprint on Day 1; nothing ever does. We got better and better at rooting out v6-specific issues over time, and continue trying to improve that capability daily. If you find instability that you believe is v6 related, post it here and PM me your CM MAC addr.

askin6305B wrote:

Glad to hear it's working for you, both before and after the upgrade. There was nothing fundametally broken in our VA market, at least not that I was aware of. I'm in the corporate engineering group and work with our markets but they also do maintenance regularly so it's possible your area had issues that needed to be fixed. I'd tell ya if I knew more; you can see from my posts on DSLReports where users have raised isolated v6 issues and I've tracked them down and had them fixed - and owned up to them. This didn't happen in VA, again not that I'm aware of. If your issue was IPv6 specific, and your v4 connection worked the whole time, my best guess is that the local engineers found some configuration errors during one of our audits and fixed them. IPv6 didn't launch 100% cleanly across the 10M customer footprint on Day 1; nothing ever does. We got better and better at rooting out v6-specific issues over time, and continue trying to improve that capability daily. If you find instability that you believe is v6 related, post it here and PM me your CM MAC addr.

Thanks for your thorough response. I thought any additional info might help those who are still having problems, or worse, problems yet to come. Your additions to this thread are very helpful, and any new info will be appreciated

I'm a Cox customer in Orange County. SB6182, latest AEBS running 7.7.7. After following thread, reconfigured for ipv6 using Cox defaults yesterday (Fri) at about 1400 PDT. Everything worked fine, 10/10 on test-ipv6 from OS X, iOS, Windows 7; wired/wifi.

Sometime today(Sat) between 1700 and 2000 PDT, the ipv6 froze up and I believe hung up ipv4 browsing (using both wired OS X and wireless iOS). Results of test-ipv6:

Your IPv4 address on the public Internet appears to be 68.5.166.XXX

Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) appears to be ASN-CXA-ALL-CCI-22773-RDC - Cox Communications Inc., US

No IPv6 address detected [more info]

Our tests show that you will have a broken or misconfigured IPv6 setup, and this will cause problems as web sites enable IPv6.

We have suggestions to help you fix your system. [more info]

Your readiness score

0/10 for your IPv6 stability and readiness, when publishers are forced to go IPv6 only

Power cycled AEBS. Now everything appears normal again:

Will try another round of this, but will be forced back into ipv4 local-link mode if it keeps failing. It did not fail in the early morning hours, as others have reported, but rather on a Saturday evening. Don't know if this information helps, but I'll report back if/when it falls over again.

Hi, there are no PM's on the Apple forum but how would one be able to reach you? Thank you