Time Capsule/Airport repeatedly losing internet connection

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Level 2

205 points

Time Capsule/Airport repeatedly losing internet connection

Greetings,

Over the last month or so I've experienced a problem with intermittently losing internet connectivity several times a day between my Apple Time Capsule and my cable company router. This was occurring several times per day. In the Airport Utility, my Time Capsule would show a "green" status light, but the "Internet" status was yellow. It would resolve on its own after several minutes, or if I rebooted the Time Capsule.

I did some troubleshooting and here is what I was able to determine:

My internet company is Charter Spectrum, and I am using an Arris Modem. The modem status lights showed the upstream connection to the internet was good, and Charter's tech support indicated there wasn't a problem between their servers and the modem. So this appeared to be an issue with connection between the modem and the Time Capsule.
In digging into the settings on the Time Capsule, I noted that at some point the default settings under Airport Utility -> Internet -> Internet Options -> "Configure IPv6" on the Time Capsule changed from "Link-Local only" to "Automatically". I don't know for sure when this change occurred, but it was possibly with the Time Capsule 7.7.3 firmware, which I installed right around the time the problems started.
I changed the Time Capsule IPv6 settings back to "Link-Local only" and since then haven't lost internet connectivity once

So it appears to be some incompatibility between the IPv6 configuration at my ISP, and the Configure IPv6 "Automatically" setting on the Apple Time Capsule. At this point both IPv4 and IPv6 are still being supported in the internet, but once IPv4 goes away at some point in the future I will need to change the settings. Hopefully by then a firmware update from Apple or my ISP modem will fix this incompatibility.

Hope this is helpful to someone else!

Posted on Apr 25, 2016 9:12 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

LaPastenague

Level 9

67,208 points

Apr 28, 2016 9:34 AM in response to Jim Little

There is a document with settings for Apple airport routers on IPv6 with Comcast.. I know this works with TWC and it will probably also work with Charter.

http://mydeviceinfo.xfinity.com/download.php?file_id=35

There is going to be teething problems with IPv6 for a while.. Cox is the main one that is problematic at the moment and there are a number of posts that also have recommended settings.

The IPv6 can also work if you use google IPv4 dns servers.. So the same instructions as the document above but simply replace the ISP DNS with google values.

Your Arris modem can also be an issue.. we have seen issues with the AC model AE and TC WAN port with a number of modems.. this is completely apart from IPv6 issue.

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Answer 2

Apr 25, 2016 2:31 PM in response to Jim Little

I don't know about Charter, but we've seen reports from some Cox users who say that using the Google DNS servers.......8.8.8.4 and 8.8.4.4......instead of using the Cox servers has worked well for them. It might work on Charter as well, if you have some time to experiment.

Interestingly, Cox support still says on their website that the changes that they have made to their system to incorporate IPv6 are not compatible with Apple routers.....and users must use the Link Local Only setting (which won't allow IPv6 from the Internet, of course). A guess would be that Cox does not want to tell users to use servers from another supplier.

The exact same Comcast settings work just fine on Time Warner, which I use. No connection drops in over 3 months since I began to experiment with the IPv6 settings. I use the normal Time Warner DNS servers, not the Google servers.

As far as I know, neither Comcast or Time Warner are using actual IPv6 DNS servers yet, so things are working for now in what is known as a "dual stack" setup.

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Answer 3

DNVA

Level 1

4 points

Apr 26, 2016 2:16 PM in response to Jim Little

Hello Jim,

Thank you very much for your post. It helped resolving my issue with repeatedly losing internet connection. I had exactly same problem as you described in your post. I have changed my setting as you mentioned and my internet is now up for entire day.

Regard,

DNVA

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Answer 4

Jim Little Author

Level 2

205 points

Apr 28, 2016 9:34 AM in response to Jim Little

Well... methinks I spoke too soon. Although the number of dropped connections has decreased significantly by changing my Time Capsule IPv6 settings to "link-local", I have still had several dropped connections. This appears to be a problem between the Time Capsule and my (Charter supplied) Arris modem. Status lights on the modem don't indicate a problem. Airport Utility shows Internet connect goes "yellow", and I can't connect to the outside world. This will usually resolve itself after few minutes, but sometimes I need to reboot the Time Capsule. Problem seems worse when I have multiple wireless devices utilizing the Time Capsule, but also affects Apple TV that is connected to the Time Capsule via ethernet cable.

I have been using OpenDNS as my DNS servers because I like their DNS filtering and logging options. Don't think that is the issue since the Time Capsule is actually showing connection to the modem is dropping. But I suppose it could be a factor, so I may try and switch back to Google DNS servers.

So... few questions for the hive-mind here:

1) Any other suggestions for troubleshooting or resolving this?

2) Any recommendations on a reliable, high speed cable modem that I can purchase to replace me current Charter supplied Arris modem? Specifically, is there one brand or model that is more compatible with the Time Capsule/Airport?

Thanks!

Jim

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Answer 5

Jim Little Author

Level 2

205 points

Apr 30, 2016 7:47 AM in response to Jim Little

Bump. Any suggestions for best cable modem for Airport/Time Capsule??

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Answer 6

Apr 30, 2016 3:12 PM in response to Jim Little

So... few questions for the hive-mind here:

1) Any other suggestions for troubleshooting or resolving this?

2) Any recommendations on a reliable, high speed cable modem that I can purchase to replace me current Charter supplied Arris modem? Specifically, is there one brand or model that is more compatible with the Time Capsule/Airport?

I would not replace the arris modem.. although we do know there are issues with some models I am also not sure what to recommend to replace it with..

Some people have success with the Zoom if they are supported by Charter.

At the same time it is not the modem that is really the issue.

I would replace the Time Capsule as your router.

Buy another brand that is known to work well.. I recommend the lower end TP-Link for cheap models.. eg WR1043ND or C5 / C7 archer.

Or buy the AC1900 models if you want a more complete replacement. Netgear R7000 or Asus RT-AC68U.

You can then bridge the TC to it and use it specifically for TM backups.

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