AirPort Extreme message

Question

AirPort Extreme message

My Aiport Extreme goes into amber blink mode every two minutes with the following message: Check the AirPort base station and if it feels hot, try changing its location or removing anything that is obstructing its ventilation.

then it returns to green light and works properly. This is a continuous cycle.

There is no overheating or ventilation issues.

Any idea what's causing this?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

Posted on Mar 15, 2017 8:19 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

151,911 points

Mar 15, 2017 8:26 AM in response to Bella Vista Dave

The status LED is indicating that the base station "thinks" it is overheating. This can be for a number of reasons:

The base station is running in an environment outside of its operating temperature range. (32-95 deg. F or 0-35 deg. C)
There is dirt, lint, etc. in the ventilation slits or attached to the fan.
The power circuitry may be faulty.
The "heat sensor" is faulty.

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Answer 2

4cbmelin

Level 1

10 points

Mar 22, 2017 10:49 AM in response to Bella Vista Dave

I had the same issue and Apple replaced it with a refurbished that started having the same problem within a month.

Today, I pulled it out again and updated the firmware. Amber light came on again.

I checked out the settings and turned off enable file sharing (In Airport Utility, click on the icon of your base station and then select Edit from the popup window, then select Disks tab). I thought I would turn this off since my model does not have the internal disk.

Low and behold, the light went green and is staying that way.

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