Airport Express Conks out every week or so...

[whyrichard]

Hey,

I have an airport express, one of the ones before the n spec, and every few weeks it needs to be unplugged and replugged in in order to work. The modem is fine, all the macs are asking for a new password, even though the light is green... it still just requires to be unplugged and replugged in to get it working properly again.

Is is just getting old?
Is there a setting i can fiddle with?

Thanks,
r.

 

[peskaa]

Interesting, my parents' APX is doing exactly the same thing, and it too is an original model (non-N). However, theirs is doing it every few days and simply refuses to allow anything on the network (asks for network password and won't accept the right answer).

Fix anybody?


[EDIT: my Time Capsule, AirPort Extreme Dual Band and AirPort Express (same version) don't demonstrate this behaviour, only my parents']

 

[gwerhart0800]

I found myself resetting my 'N' Express weekly and eventually dumped it for a Time Capsule. I also have an older single band N Airport Extreme that I reboot every week or so. The TC and a new dual band Extreme seem much more stable. I only have to reboot them once a month. The symptom is they slow down ... rebooting gets the download speed back to where it should be. The Express and older Extreme tend to go catatonic ... not just slowing down.

 

[fsckminix6]

Thats interesting... Mines been up for almost 4 years.... Minus power outages. I have the first rev N extreme.

 

[whyrichard]

is it worth upgrading to a new express? are the build qualities inconsistent?

thanks,
r.

 

[waw74]

i have an older express that works great, had it probably 4 years.

Odd thing is, in my old apartment (#2 of 3 that i've used it in) i had to reset it all the time, in the #3 apartment, it's been almost rock steady, had to reset it maybe 2-3 times a year.

Maybe they are sensitive to power fluctuations or power line noise, any chance you have it plugged in on the same circuit with something noisy? like a fridge, window ac, fluorescent lighting?

although I had it in the kitchen both times, maybe my fridge was noisier in the old place?

 

[Squonk]

I also have one of the original "G" expresses and have experience the same need for resetting. Well, it worked fine at home for over 4 years and I recently brought it in to work since I upgraded to N for home. At work, I'm in the "need to reboot it every 7 to 14 days" and I keep mine plugged into a UPS. I don't think its a power issue.

I believe the problem is the number of other wireless networks in the vicinity. This would be consistent to what WAW74 experienced - worked fine in Apartments #1 and 3, but apartment #2 had problems.

At work, my iPhone is seeing 11 networks today besides mine. Aren't there only 10 or so channels available to B and G networking?

 

[gwerhart0800]

Maybe they are sensitive to power fluctuations or power line noise, any chance you have it plugged in on the same circuit with something noisy? like a fridge, window ac, fluorescent lighting?

One other possibility is heat. My express was toasty hot all the time. It could be that some folks have their express plugged in where there is better airflow than others. Mine was plugged in behind a file cabinet. That might have limited the air flow enough that it was dying from over heating.

As to other network interference, I live in rural Colorado. My nearest neighbor is more than 500 feet away. (5 acre lots) I know that there are issues in higher density locations, but those are usually constant things ... like always dropping the connections, always slow throughput, etc. When the Express just stops sending/receiving entirely, I tend to think that it is some other issue because the interference of other networks would be relatively constant.

 

[inveresk]

Airport extreme defect

I have 2 extremes, one new, one a couple years older. The older worked flawlessly until recently but after a sw update now needs restarted daily. The newer ae needed daily restarting straight out of the box. There's a pervasive problem with them that I only hope Apple is working on.