Airport Extreme dropping Internet connection

[dc2447]

I have been using an airport extreme for two years (purchased May 2011).

It's a simple setup with my ISP (Virgin UK) providing a Modem (superhub) and I expand the wireless by adding and Airport Express.

This has worked beautifully for two years. The connection was super stable, fast and the wireless strength very good.

A few weeks ago my connection started dropping. The airport extreme would have no connection to the internet (but everything else on it looked ok) - I could solve the problem by power cycling the Airport Extreme but the problem would reoccur every few hours.

Steps I have taken so far

1. Factory reset of the Airport Express
2. New Modem from my ISP
3. Had my ISP come out and check the line (several times)

But still the problem reoccurs.

At the moment I have removed the Airport Extreme from the network and am using the Modem directly. My connection is rock solid.

It looks to me like the Extreme is the problem, any advice?

 

[drsox]

I have been using an airport extreme for two years (purchased May 2011).

It's a simple setup with my ISP (Virgin UK) providing a Modem (superhub) and I expand the wireless by adding and Airport Express.

This has worked beautifully for two years. The connection was super stable, fast and the wireless strength very good.

A few weeks ago my connection started dropping. The airport extreme would have no connection to the internet (but everything else on it looked ok) - I could solve the problem by power cycling the Airport Extreme but the problem would reoccur every few hours.

Steps I have taken so far

1. Factory reset of the Airport Express
2. New Modem from my ISP
3. Had my ISP come out and check the line (several times)

But still the problem reoccurs.

At the moment I have removed the Airport Extreme from the network and am using the Modem directly. My connection is rock solid.

It looks to me like the Extreme is the problem, any advice?

If the AE is missing, what are you using as a router ? What's providing the DHCP service ? If you have more than 1 device connecting the the ISP, where's the NAT ?

Is your modem really a router/modem ? Has this device previously been operating just as a modem ?

EDIT. Yes, the superhub is a combined modem/router. That's where your problem is. It's the interaction between the superhub and the AE.

What do you want the AE to do ? Act as a Router or just as a WiFi access point ? Do you have the option to make the superhub act just as modem ?

 

[dc2447]

If the AE is missing, what are you using as a router ? What's providing the DHCP service ? If you have more than 1 device connecting the the ISP, where's the NAT ?

Is your modem really a router/modem ? Has this device previously been operating just as a modem ?

EDIT. Yes, the superhub is a combined modem/router. That's where your problem is. It's the interaction between the superhub and the AE.

What do you want the AE to do ? Act as a Router or just as a WiFi access point ? Do you have the option to make the superhub act just as modem ?

the superhub can either act in Modem only mode or in dhcp / nat

I am currently using the superhub in dhcp mode but was using it in modem only modem with my AE

 

[drsox]

the superhub can either act in Modem only mode or in dhcp / nat

I am currently using the superhub in dhcp mode but was using it in modem only modem with my AE

If the superhub is acting as the router, then the AE needs to be in bridge mode. Don't think the AE defaults to bridge mode, so you might want to have a look at that. What WiFi settings are you using ?

Does the superhub also have WiFi settings ? Can you disable the superhub WiFi and only use the AE for WiFi ? Set it to Create a Network etc.

Alternatively, you can reset the superhub to act as a modem and have the AE be router and WiFi, but try the other way first (IMO). If you revert to having the AE as a router, then turn everything off and on again to ensure that they get IP addresses anew from the AE.

EDIT. It occurred to me that if you have been changing the network config without rebooting, you may well have duplicate IP addresses or even some subnet problems. You might also try rebooting everything and see if that also has an effect.

 

[dc2447]

If the superhub is acting as the router, then the AE needs to be in bridge mode. Don't think the AE defaults to bridge mode, so you might want to have a look at that. What WiFi settings are you using ?

Does the superhub also have WiFi settings ? Can you disable the superhub WiFi and only use the AE for WiFi ? Set it to Create a Network etc.

Alternatively, you can reset the superhub to act as a modem and have the AE be router and WiFi, but try the other way first (IMO). If you revert to having the AE as a router, then turn everything off and on again to ensure that they get IP addresses anew from the AE.

with respect, this is not a setup issue.

The AE works well for a few hours then loses connectivity via the superhub in modem mode.

Appreciate your post nonetheless

 

[drsox]

with respect, this is not a setup issue.

The AE works well for a few hours then loses connectivity via the superhub in modem mode.

Appreciate your post nonetheless

Have you checked the settings and rebooted stuff ?

 

[dc2447]

I have factory reset everything and replaced the modem

 

[lemond68]

this is happening to me as well
this is so frustrating

i have an MBP, MBA and iMac running 10.8.4 with a 2010 airport extreme
i connect directly to my comcast modem and get 60 MBP on the wifi network i am getting 0.5 to 3 mbp.

the apple support communities don't seem to have any answers for this

 

[dc2447]

this is happening to me as well
this is so frustrating

i have an MBP, MBA and iMac running 10.8.4 with a 2010 airport extreme
i connect directly to my comcast modem and get 60 MBP on the wifi network i am getting 0.5 to 3 mbp.

the apple support communities don't seem to have any answers for this

Your issue is entirely different.

There is no problem with my Internet speed when it works

 

[lemond68]

perhaps i have a fix!
i went to airport utility option clicked on the firmware drop down menu on my express and downgraded to 7.6.1

now getting speeds of 30+mbps

hope this sticks

 

[lemond68]

it is very similar problem
if i restarted the modem and power cycled the express it would speed up as well but then would slow down again also, while direct connections to modem would always be normal

nonetheless

my firmware downgrade has worked

computers getting 50mbps now

 

[bscardin]

Your issue is entirely different.

There is no problem with my Internet speed when it works

I hate to reply to such an old post but did you ever figure out what was happening? I am having the exact same symptoms and it has been hard to find someone else through all the "my internet is slow too" posts.

I've switched to an old Linksys WRT router and the connection is solid (but slow due to older hardware) but the AE drops the internet connection to the modem at least one out of every every 30 minutes. Otherwise it works great and I get 108+ MBPS when it is up.

 

[dc2447]

I hate to reply to such an old post but did you ever figure out what was happening? I am having the exact same symptoms and it has been hard to find someone else through all the "my internet is slow too" posts.

I've switched to an old Linksys WRT router and the connection is solid (but slow due to older hardware) but the AE drops the internet connection to the modem at least one out of every every 30 minutes. Otherwise it works great and I get 108+ MBPS when it is up.

Turned out to be my cable modem being flakey

 

[Altemose]

I hate to reply to such an old post but did you ever figure out what was happening? I am having the exact same symptoms and it has been hard to find someone else through all the "my internet is slow too" posts.

I've switched to an old Linksys WRT router and the connection is solid (but slow due to older hardware) but the AE drops the internet connection to the modem at least one out of every every 30 minutes. Otherwise it works great and I get 108+ MBPS when it is up.

If this is the older flat model then try downgrading to 7.6.1 then re-do the factory reset. Is it in DHCP & NAT mode or bridge mode?

 

[mjdindc]

similar problems

I was having similar problems. I tried reading all the ip addresses and soft reboots, and ensuring everything was connected in order. Still happened. I finally did a hard reset on the airport and that seems to have resolved the problem.