How to view log of connections to my network under Airport Utility 6.3.6?

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Level 1

122 points

How to view log of connections to my network under Airport Utility 6.3.6?

I'm having network instability problems--can't maintain VPN connection to my work campus. One of the troubleshooting steps I'd like to do is review the devices that have connected to my network in the past few days, to make sure that there aren't any unknown devices that might be causing trouble.

I've got an Airport Extreme (if I'm reading the info in Airport Utility right, version 7.6.8) and can no longer see a way to get at those logs of connections/MAC addresses. Can I still view that info?

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Dec 3, 2017 12:16 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,144 points

Dec 3, 2017 12:20 PM in response to Donot Haveone

Sorry, but Apple dropped log information, and a number of other useful features when they introduced the 6.3.x versions of AirPort Utility for the Mac and AirPort Utility for iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad.

About the best that you can do at this time, is check to see which wireless devices might be connected to one of your Apple routers.

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Answer 2

Donot Haveone Author

Level 1

122 points

Dec 4, 2017 8:07 AM in response to LaPastenague

LaPastenague wrote:

VPN on Apple routers can be difficult. I doubt the issue is caused by people hacking in. It is simply that Apple do not use VPN (much) and don't test their routers on the various VPN flavours.. But they do use Back To My Mac and IPSEC security is involved.. so some issues can arise with conflicting ports.

What VPN type are you trying to use?

I work on several different campuses and each has their own VPN. This is not me with a single personal VPN, but dealing with campuses that each want a different type of secure connection, and the problem is the time required to restart a session interrupted when the primary internet connection is unstable. It turns out to have been a modem issue, but I did want to complete that troubleshooting by checking MAC addresses.

As a general note.. the airport is very much a domestic router.. if you want to run VPN you are much better buying a better router. One that has HTML pages and logs.. you can keep the Airport for WAP so it does not need to be expensive.. For point and click setup, Asus are tops.. but if you want something more semi-pro look at Ubiquiti.

As a BTW, you can see the logs on the latest Airports.. but only by using the 5.6 utility on older Mac OS or Windows.. anything from win7 to 10 should be ok

Up until they deprecated the Airports, software updates provided with the Apple routers made me more comfortable than trying to be my own IT keeping up a non-applenetwork. Plus, they 'just work(ed)'. But no more, apparently.

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Answer 3

Donot Haveone Author

Level 1

122 points

Dec 3, 2017 12:35 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Wow. With all the hacking risks of the internet of things, it seems like this is one of those features that a security conscious company would continue to support. Appalling.

Thank you for the quick reply.

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Answer 4

Dec 3, 2017 12:55 PM in response to Donot Haveone

VPN on Apple routers can be difficult. I doubt the issue is caused by people hacking in. It is simply that Apple do not use VPN (much) and don't test their routers on the various VPN flavours.. But they do use Back To My Mac and IPSEC security is involved.. so some issues can arise with conflicting ports.

What VPN type are you trying to use?

As a general note.. the airport is very much a domestic router.. if you want to run VPN you are much better buying a better router. One that has HTML pages and logs.. you can keep the Airport for WAP so it does not need to be expensive.. For point and click setup, Asus are tops.. but if you want something more semi-pro look at Ubiquiti.

As a BTW, you can see the logs on the latest Airports.. but only by using the 5.6 utility on older Mac OS or Windows.. anything from win7 to 10 should be ok.

On the whole the actual log on the airport is about the least useful I have ever seen.

Here is a small chunk which is repeated ad nauseam.

Dec 02 10:22:13	Severity:5	Connection accepted from [fe80::42e2:30ff:fe92:2685%bridge0]:61712.
Dec 02 10:22:14	Severity:5	Connection accepted from [fe80::42e2:30ff:fe92:2685%bridge0]:61726.
Dec 02 10:22:14	Severity:5	Connection accepted from [fe80::42e2:30ff:fe92:2685%bridge0]:61729.
Dec 02 10:51:06	Severity:5	Rotated CCMP group key.
Dec 02 11:16:07	Severity:5	Rotated CCMP group key.
Dec 02 11:19:00	Severity:5	Clock synchronized to network time server 0.au.pool.ntp.org (adjusted -1 seconds).
Dec 02 11:34:00	Severity:5	Connection accepted from [::ffff:192.168.2.87]:54707.
Dec 02 11:34:00	Severity:5	Connection accepted from [fe80::42e2:30ff:fe92:2685%bridge0]:54720.
Dec 02 11:34:00	Severity:5	Connection accepted from [fe80::42e2:30ff:fe92:2685%bridge0]:54726.
Dec 02 11:51:06	Severity:5	Rotated CCMP group key.
Dec 02 11:58:46	Severity:5	Connection accepted from [fe80::42e2:30ff:fe92:2685%bridge0]:56359.
Dec 02 11:58:47	Severity:5	Connection accepted from [fe80::42e2:30ff:fe92:2685%bridge0]:56376.
Dec 02 11:58:47	Severity:5	Connection accepted from [fe80::42e2:30ff:fe92:2685%bridge0]:56383.
Dec 02 12:00:39	Severity:5	Connection accepted from [fe80::42e2:30ff:fe92:2685%bridge0]:56542.
Dec 02 12:00:40	Severity:5	Connection accepted from [fe80::42e2:30ff:fe92:2685%bridge0]:56568.
Dec 02 12:00:40	Severity:5	Connection accepted from [::ffff:192.168.2.87]:56574.
Dec 02 12:16:07	Severity:5	Rotated CCMP group key.
Dec 02 12:19:00	Severity:5	Clock synchronized to network time server 0.au.pool.ntp.org (adjusted -1 seconds).
Dec 02 12:51:06	Severity:5	Rotated CCMP group key.
Dec 02 13:16:07	Severity:5	Rotated CCMP group key.
Dec 02 13:19:00	Severity:5	Clock synchronized to network time server 0.au.pool.ntp.org (adjusted -1 seconds).

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