Airport Extreme and Cox Internet IPv6 Problem

Link-Local disables the IPv6 Internet connection, but allows IPv6 connections over the "local" network. So, while it might "work" in terms of keeping the Internet connect more stable, you won't realize the benefit of the IPv6 service that you are paying for as part of the Cox package.

We've seen a number of posts from other Cox users who report that Cox has agreed to lower their monthly service fee until the IPv6 issues are ironed out. It's not hard to figure out that Cox would not be agreeing to do this if the problem was with Apple.

Things are just fine at Comcast and Time Warner with IPv6 and Apple routers, a fact that Cox does not want to admit.

Would you be able to point me to those posts from others who are getting their fees lowered by Cox?

Today I had the pleasure (?) of speaking with both Cox and Apple technical support on the issue. I guess both sides can point to the other about responsibility but the post that links to the Cox web page is somewhat disingenuous, claiming the problem exists with Airport firmware version 7.7.3 and earlier, leading one to believe there is a firmware update to be had. The truth is 7.7.3 is the current version, so ALL Airport base stations have the problem, and Apple tech support is not aware of any specific firmware upgrade in the works for it. They have reports of other routers experiencing similar issues - not sure if just with Cox or other providers, too.

On the other hand, Cox has failed miserably in communicating this issue to it's tech support and should remove the word Communications from its name. After three phone support calls and two scheduled service visits, today Cox (Providence area) called me about the ipv6 problem that they've know about for months!

BTW, the local-link only workaround seems to have solved the problem for me.

Would you be able to point me to those posts from others who are getting their fees lowered by Cox?

Unfortunately, that would involve manually searching hundreds of posts. But, none of the users who say that their monthly rates have been reduced received the offer from Cox. It was more like the user telling Cox that in order for the user to continue as a customer, they expected that their bill would be reduced by the amount of service that Cox was not providing.

In other words, Cox is providing both IPv4 and IPv6 service. Since the users are unable to take advantage of the IPv6 service......half of the service.....their bill would be reduced by half.

A good friend of mine who lives in the New Orleans, LA area, is providing me with details of his journey with Cox in this regard. His journey began after a call to Cox a few weeks ago to say that he was suddenly losing his Internet connection after years of trouble free service. Cox support told him that Apple had just made some software and firmware changes to their routers, and this was the cause of the issue, and to call Apple for resolution.

As you know, the opposite is true. Cox is the one that has been making changes, and as a result have now declared on their website that they have determined that Apple routers are not compatible with their IPv6 service.....but users can disable the service and the connection issues might improve.

As you know, Apple has not made any changes to the AirPorts in well over a year. Things worked just fine with Cox until Cox began to try to bring their new iPv6 service online about a month ago. At the same time, things are going very smoothly at Comcast and Time Warner. I've had IPv6 up and running for about 3 months now with Time Warner, without one single hiccup.

The best that Cox can do at this point is admit that they are trying to implement things in a different way than other providers, and things are not working out all that well. In the meantime, users who have been affected by the Cox changes should be offered some form of compensation from Cox.

But, that's my opinion. Good luck!

Bob Timmons wrote:

As you know, Apple has not made any changes to the AirPorts in well over a year. Things worked just fine with Cox until Cox began to try to bring their new iPv6 service online about a month ago.

The best that Cox can do at this point is admit that they are trying to implement things in a different way than other providers, and things are not working out all that well.

100% agree. Tired of this finger pointing with Cox and Apple when Cox, to me, clearly is the issue. Cox's Internet Forum has several posts regarding this and Cox's response is to use the Link-local only setting in the Airport router. Hardly a permanent solution in my opinion.

So far after 24 hours, the temporary fix to set my Airport Extreme AC (Internet tab / Internet Options button) to Link-local only has been keeping my connection up without having to power off/on the router after 6-7 hours to re-establish Internet connectivity.

Why does Cox internet service seem to work OK now? Has anything changed?

Like others on this thread, I have begun losing internet connection, which returns after rebooting. This hasn't been a problem for me until this past week, when I lost internet connection three times in a day -- always recovered by rebooting.

I am using Cox, in Williamsburg, Virginia, with my four-month-old Time Capsule.

I know the prescribed fix is to change settings to Link-Local from Auto, but I have been reluctant to suffer the speed reduction if I do that. So, I have continued with the 1pv6 Auto setting to see what happens. I have gone a couple of days now with reliable internet service. Has Cox somehow changed something (none of their phone people would know), or has something else changed.

Does anyone know what might have happened? Or am I just living on borrowed time, and will resume losing internet periodically? I will report back if that's the case.

jimpal wrote:

Why does Cox internet service seem to work OK now? Has anything changed?

I have gone a couple of days now with reliable internet service. Has Cox somehow changed something (none of their phone people would know), or has something else changed.

I can't answer your fortunate luck of everything working in Virginia. Maybe Cox in your area made some changes to their IPv6 implementation and your area is working fine. I know here in Arizona, this is not the case.

I know when I spoke to Cox support here they are supposedly working with Apple (Cox has Apple's 7.7.3 firmware code) to fix the issue. So hopefully, the finger pointing will stop and they'll work together to resolve the issue.

I have the same problem in Orange County CA. I have made the IPV-6 changes everyone has recommended, and lost some speed. But I am still forced to restart my Airport/Time Capsule one to three times a day. FWIW, a friend with an older MacBook Air had no trouble getting onto the internet, when Network Diagnostics showed my internet and service connections (yellow lights) were down. Is this the new normal, is there hope for a change, and will anyone tell us?

PS: I am flattered to be labeled Level 1. I am in over my head.

I Live in Williamsburg as well and this problem started for me last Thursday. After several days of rebooting the modem and AirPort, I finally contacted Cox via support email. We had had a series of short power outages just before all this started acting up and Inthought the modem must have been damaged as a result. I explained all this to Cox in the email and they came back with explaination of the IPv6 not being comptable with AirPorts, etc., etc. They did not mention that they just rolled out IPv6 in our area. In short, I was convinced it was a bad modem, so I took it into the local Cox store and explained the situation to the guy behind the counter. He gladly sold me a new modem, but gave me a 10% discount because to "old" modem was less than two years old. He never mentioned the Cox/Apple/IPv6 incompatibility. He did offer to upgrade me to the ludicrous speed internet service for only $5 dollars a month.

After setting up the new modem and "activating" it online (an extremely frustrating experience by itself thanks to Cox's inept customer service) it worked fine for a few hours and then dropped of line again. So now, I've configured to local link only and we will see how it goes. I have no idea if my speeds dropped as a result.

and lost some speed

I haven't seen any loss in speed since turning OFF IPv6 in the router. I have a Preferred account and am still getting 59-60mbps download and 6-7mbps upload.

I live in Williamsburg as well, and this problem started for me last Thursday. . . . .

Again from Williamsburg, Virginia. My system continues to work fine with Cox and 1pv6 in Auto, as I mentioned above 3 days ago. Sorry to learn you are still having problems. Perhaps a closer look at equipment and services would be helpful to you:

My wireless router is a four-month-old Time Capsule. 1pv6 set at Auto.

I have "Preferred" internet service from Cox (about 50 Mbps).

My modem is an inexpensive Arris WBM760. Cox didn't furnish this; I own it myself. It's not on Cox's recommended modems list, but was provided to me by Comcast in Minneapolis a couple of years ago for their high speed service.

Agree Cox customer service is spotty. Often bad, but in this case a knowledgeable phone rep told me about using the 1pv6 Auto to Link-Local resort. Which I found I didn't need to do, as I stated above. I agree it would have been helpful if Cox had issued a warning ahead of time, but that wouldn't be characteristic of their operations.

You mentioned you have no idea if your speed was affected. Probably you know this, but you can easily check it by using the free speediest.net site which is available for OS X and iOS devices.

I may just have jinxed myself by saying is all is well with Cox and 1pv6. If so, I'll post again and own up to it.

Hope this helps.

I also have not noticed a loss in speed with iPV6,set to Link-Local, also have preferred and speed test is showing 57 mbps verified with Speediest

I Just checked my wireless speed on my extreme on cox with the local link only engaged on my iPad. 142 down/32 up. Yes I pay for the ultimate speed.

hard wired on our iMac is over 350 Meg's down and 35 up.

does still drop out every few days but a reset fixes it.

Caflashbob wrote:

I Just checked my wireless speed on my extreme on cox with the local link only engaged on my iPad.

does still drop out every few days but a reset fixes it.

Set your Airport Extreme to Local-link only in the Internet tab / Advanced Options button instead of on your iPad. This should reduce or eliminate the drops every few days that you're experiencing.

I reconfigured to local link only last night and the connection stayed on overnight and throughout this morning. I tested my connection with several on-line speed test providers and the results varied widely, from 4.7 -14.62 UP and 36.2 to 86.7 DOWN. Frankly, I don't know what this means as I never checked the system before reconfiguring. Also, I changed my plan to Advanced High Speed Internet when I was at the store yesterday and received a conformation email late yesterday, although the email reference Advanced TV. I'm not sure if it is the same thing.

I see iStat shows my AirPort Extreme operating at 1.96Gb IN and 278Mb OUT. Again, I don't have a baseline to compare it to.

I just tested my "speed" on Cox's web site and it provided 12.04Mb UP and 97.75Mb DOWN.

Just wanted to chime in on this Cox IPv6 vs. AEB thing. But first thanks to everyone for posting and sharing. At least we're getting a handle of the problem ourselves (more so than tier 1 CSRs and retail store people).

I live in Orange County in SoCal. The "Link Local Only" solution worked for about one week for me. The DL speeds were definitely slower (cut by about 1/2) but at least I didn't have to restart the AEB every 2 or 3 hours or so. THEN, the dream ended and I started to have to restart the modem regularly. Ordered a new router, but still had a tech come out. He shared that other customers were finding a solution by going back to Automatic IPv6 (not Link Local Only) and changing the DNS the DNS server addresses to Goog'e's public ones (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). So reinstated IPv6 to configure "Automatically" and entered the 2 addresses in the DNS servers spots (not the IPv6 DNS server spots).

So far speeds are back up to before this whole IPv6 problem and resetting of either the modem or AEB has not been necessary. Don't know why this works, there are smarter people out there than me. But this strikes me as a better solution since I get the high download speeds again and no more resets.