Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

vbmike73

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 8, 2008
149
3
What could cause my base station to suddenly provide a poor signal? I used to have great coverage in my house, upstairs, on my deck, etc. My base station is located on my first floor, and have just recently (past 3 weeks) noticed very poor reception. Sometimes I'll turn off Wifi on my iPhone so I'll get LTE, but I need to be on my network for Apple TV and Air Play, etc. Nothing else has changed in my house configuration. No new devices. No new Airport Express stations (I've had one for years). Any ideas? Could the base station just have something wrong with it? I do all the updates when asked.
 
Came here looking for a solution to the same issue. 3-4 year old Airport Extreme, suddenly losing connections all over the place. Firmware/software up to date.
 
I'd also check with your provider on the signal strength coming into your house. Sometimes they have to make adjustments or refresh the cable modem on their end.
 
How would the signal strength coming into the house affect the router? I mean I could be using my router without internet at all to achieve Airplay and all that.
 
Have any of your neighbors added a wifi network? They could be broadcasting on the same channel and causing interference...
 
Have any of your neighbors added a wifi network? They could be broadcasting on the same channel and causing interference...

I was wondering about that. The number of WIFI connections within range has definitely grown. Is there a way to "change channels" and try another one?
 
If it has happened quite recently it may be a conflict with another wireless device in your house or a neighbors house.

You can try manually setting the frequency in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands in the airport app to see if that makes a difference. The 2.4 band is most widely used so it is likely the conflict is there.

You can always revert it back to auto if that doesn't work.

Also USB3.0 can conflict with wifi. Do you have a USB3.0 device near the router? If so test with it (USB3.0) disconnected etc.

Some people have found a longer cable helps with putting the device further away from the router if that is the problem.
 
Not having luck changing the channels or GHz. Nothing is helping. But have a question. If I have a couple Airport Express off my Airport base station, wouldn't I want them all set up to Extend a Network rather than Join a Network? Is there any harm in that? Will that do what it sounds like it will do?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.