Airport Extreme Dropping Connection to One Device

Question

Airport Extreme Dropping Connection to One Device

Okay, here's my setup:

Cable comes into my Airport Extreme which provides a wireless network to the house (extended by a couple of Airport Expresses). There are some devices plugged in via Ethernet, too… my iMac and two Tivos. The TiVo in the living room regularly drops off the network. Sometimes resetting the TiVo helps. Sometimes resetting the Express helps. Sometimes plugging my MacBookPro into the TiVo's ethernet connection helps. But nothing consistent.

I've switched out the TiVos in the living room, so I know it's not the TiVo itself. I can plug my MacBookPro into the ethernet connection in the living room, so I know it's not the ethernet cable.

I've tried to tell the AirPort Utility to always accept the Network ID of the TiVo. That hasn't seemed to help either.

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3)

Posted on Mar 5, 2018 2:07 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 5, 2018 5:30 PM in response to Thomas Zahler

You should not use stranded cable for infrastructure cabling.. you might get away with it.. but if you used standard krone type punch down connectors.. stranded can let go or become oxidised and offer high resistance.. At the very least I would take the wall caps off and re-terminate.. It is a few minutes work.. but well worth the effort. They do have special wall adapters for terminated cables.. not really recommended though.

A windows computer gives a huge amount of stats for network.. much better than the Mac for testing.. you can also use iperf application and do a proper test of the cable.. you have to install Java to use the Mac version.. which is a major pain now.. someone pointed me to the free test app. That works really well between two Macs.. or a Mac and a PC. Load the server onto one computer and the client onto the other..

Throughput Test

As a simple extra if you don't also run a switch at the Tivo end that is worthwhile.. almost any gigabit switch can help with transmission if the lines are not perfect.

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Answer 2

Mar 5, 2018 4:28 PM in response to Thomas Zahler

Connections by ethernet should be rock solid.

I am guessing the Living room has proper infrastructure wired ethernet in the wall back to the Extreme location?

I can plug my MacBookPro into the ethernet connection in the living room, so I know it's not the ethernet cable.

That will depend on how you tested.. we have been through this before with another poster.. He had the opposite..the Tivo worked fine but the Mac failed.

The issue was the ethernet cable wiring was poorly done with broken pairs.

Go carefully through the thread..

Macbook won't connect to Internet over long cable?

Make sure your Macbook is actually connecting at 1000mbps.. if not then something is wrong.

Also make sure the airport Express are set correctly.. they are either set to Extend wireless.. with no ethernet connection.. or are set to Create a wireless network with ethernet..

If you try and use Extend wireless with ethernet plugged in you will cause a loop in the network.

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Answer 3

Mar 5, 2018 5:04 PM in response to LaPastenague

First, I apologize for being unclear, but the Expresses are only on the wireless network. They aren't connected via ethernet, so they're not an issue as far as I know. I was just trying to be complete.

I read the linked article, and I think my ethernet cable might be a patch cable, not core. My father and I ran it ourselves through the wall. I think I understand the issue about core vs. patch, but it worked for years without a problem before. I don't think there are any new electric sources, and the cable itself is undamaged.

All that said, I did the test on the MacBookPro that the article recommended and when I reconnected the ethernet cable to the Tivo, now it works. I suspect it will until the next reset or power outage as has been it's pattern. If I can, I'll replace the cable when I can.

Thank you for your response!

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Airport Extreme Dropping Connection to One Device

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