Apple Releases Firmware Update 7.6.7 and 7.7.7 for AirPort Base Stations

[Undecided]

I don't doubt you saw an increase in speed. I'm just not sure the increase is for the reasons you cited. The increase in speed is more likely because you had one radio dedicated to your Mac, so you didn't have to share that radio's bandwidth and time with other clients. Wireless bandwidth is a shared resource. The more clients connected to a radio and the more they are using data the less bandwidth available per client -- even if all the clients are 3x3, 80MHz, etc. The wireless radio only talks to one client at a time, so that naturally creates a slowdown directly related to the number of clients that are using that radio, as the radio alternates transmitting data to each client one at a time.

Oh I get that. What I'm saying is that my link speed without my iPhone on the same channel was 1300 and with the iPhone on the same channel was 867. Taking the phone off immediately increased my link speed. And it's not just empirical - see this article, which says, in part:

While most 802.11n and 802.11ac clients support 40 MHz channels, not all 802.11ac clients support 80MHz channels, and no 802.11n clients can support it. So when an 802.11n client connects to an 802.11ac radio using 80 MHz channels, what happens? The radio drops down to a 40 MHz channel or 20MHz for that connection depending on the capabilities of the client. Obviously this means that during all communication with non-80 MHz clients, a 60 MHz or 40 MHz slice of channel capacity is going to waste.

After reading that, I tried it by taking my iPhone off the channel. (Frankly, I'm amazed I was able to find that article again.)

 

[iLog.Genius]

Keyword: Former. Also, sounds like you weren't doing your job right if you weren't getting people to the direct department. So it sounds like rather than you being knowledgeable on the subject, you were just an example of someone their job poorly.

And what does it matter if you speak with Tier 2, when Tier 1 gets the job done 99% of the time. If it needs to be escalated, it will.

It's not doing the job poorly when you solve the issue on hand which is the point I'm trying to get across. You have this idea that AppleCare reps are drastically different than Genius' when I've told you they aren't. You're right, doing my job "correctly" would mean I should direct to the correct department but why waste time if I can easily fix the problem instead of waiting in queue to connect to the correct department when 99% of all issues are at the OS X level that all reps are trained on? If you call with issues with your iMac, as a rep for portables, why wouldn't I try to help that person? There is nothing significantly different in terms of hardware between an iMac and a MacBook Pro. It's not like I'm troubleshooting, not fixing and then telling the customer, you're out of luck sorry and not transferring to correct department.

Me mentioning different tiers was to explain to you the the knowledge levels of tiers, that is Tier 1 is exactly like Genius' and they're the ones that any customer will deal with 99% of the time. If it needs to be escalated, then the problem at that point is more severe that passes OS X at the user level and becomes a programming issue - something a Tier 1 AppleCare rep or Genius' wouldn't be able to fix.

 

[JTravers]

Oh I get that. What I'm saying is that my link speed without my iPhone on the same channel was 1300 and with the iPhone on the same channel was 867. Taking the phone off immediately increased my link speed. And it's not just empirical - see this article, which says, in part:



After reading that, I tried it by taking my iPhone off the channel. (Frankly, I'm amazed I was able to find that article again.)

It does say that it does that for *that* connection and not all connections, though.

But if you're seeing an immediate drop down in link rate, then it must be having some effect. Interesting. I wonder if that's a "feature" of all AC radios or if some are better behaved than others.

 

[Undecided]

It does say that it does that for *that* connection and not all connections, though.

But if you're seeing an immediate drop down in link rate, then it must be having some effect. Interesting. I wonder if that's a "feature" of all AC radios or if some are better behaved than others.

Drop down, increase, now it's all over the place! Dude. My entire belief system is collapsing.

So much for being decided.

 

[JTravers]

Drop down, increase, now it's all over the place! Dude. My entire belief system is collapsing.

So much for being decided.

I'll try to collapse it even more, lol. On your Mac, hold down the option key while clicking on the wifi icon in the menu bar. I'm sure you already know that you can see the Tx rate here, but you can also see the channel width listed beside the channel and frequency. This will tell you whether you are connected with an 80MHz wide channel or not.

 

[Undecided]

I'll try to collapse it even more, lol. On your Mac, hold down the option key while clicking on the wifi icon in the menu bar. I'm sure you already know that you can see the Tx rate here, but you can also see the channel width listed beside the channel and frequency. This will tell you whether you are connected with an 80MHz wide channel or not.

Yes, I'm familiar with that. Honestly, I was relying on that article, and a perceived correlation.

 

[Zance]

It's not doing the job poorly when you solve the issue on hand which is the point I'm trying to get across. You have this idea that AppleCare reps are drastically different than Genius' when I've told you they aren't. You're right, doing my job "correctly" would mean I should direct to the correct department but why waste time if I can easily fix the problem instead of waiting in queue to connect to the correct department when 99% of all issues are at the OS X level that all reps are trained on? If you call with issues with your iMac, as a rep for portables, why wouldn't I try to help that person? There is nothing significantly different in terms of hardware between an iMac and a MacBook Pro. It's not like I'm troubleshooting, not fixing and then telling the customer, you're out of luck sorry and not transferring to correct department.

Me mentioning different tiers was to explain to you the the knowledge levels of tiers, that is Tier 1 is exactly like Genius' and they're the ones that any customer will deal with 99% of the time. If it needs to be escalated, then the problem at that point is more severe that passes OS X at the user level and becomes a programming issue - something a Tier 1 AppleCare rep or Genius' wouldn't be able to fix.

The difference being that the Wireless Multimedia advisors are trained and experienced with AirPort devices specifically, where as Genius Bar advisors are not. So again, yes, there is a vast difference. If you go into an Apple Retail Store and ask them if an AirPort router can extend the network of 3rd party routers, 9 out of 10 times you ask, they'll tell you yes, it can. Which is false. The knowledge and expertise levels between the advisors are absolutely different. I don't know why you try and argue this. It's a simple fact. And CPU reps are NOT trained on AirPort Utility. If you knew the app, great. But most don't and Genius Bar advisors only know enough to create a network, but know nothing about the settings.

Also, Portables and Desktop are the same department. If that's how it was setup when you worked there, you're points are completely invalid at this point. It's not setup that way and hasn't been for years.

 

[iLog.Genius]

The difference being that the Wireless Multimedia advisors are trained and experienced with AirPort devices specifically, where as Genius Bar advisors are not. So again, yes, there is a vast difference. If you go into an Apple Retail Store and ask them if an AirPort router can extend the network of 3rd party routers, 9 out of 10 times you ask, they'll tell you yes, it can. Which is false. The knowledge and expertise levels between the advisors are absolutely different. I don't know why you try and argue this. It's a simple fact. And CPU reps are NOT trained on AirPort Utility. If you knew the app, great. But most don't and Genius Bar advisors only know enough to create a network, but know nothing about the settings.

Also, Portables and Desktop are the same department. If that's how it was setup when you worked there, you're points are completely invalid at this point. It's not setup that way and hasn't been for years.

This is the last I will say on this, Apple Genius'/AppleCare jobs are interchangeable. I Genius can do an AppleCare job with no additional training and vice versa. Your example of extending an AirPort Extreme with third-party routers doesn't mean anything. That just means that person you talk to is not sufficiently trained and you could have easily got the same response from an AppleCare rep because I've seen it happen (it's basic product knowledge). These are entry level jobs. You'll be hard-pressed to find someone who takes a Genius or AppleCare job seriously. When I read your responses, I sense that you think AppleCare reps have more advanced training (they don't).

If you think AppleCare is more trained, I can't change your mind, but I can tell you doing both jobs that their knowledge level is about the same.

 

[Zance]

This is the last I will say on this, Apple Genius'/AppleCare jobs are interchangeable. I Genius can do an AppleCare job with no additional training and vice versa. Your example of extending an AirPort Extreme with third-party routers doesn't mean anything. That just means that person you talk to is not sufficiently trained and you could have easily got the same response from an AppleCare rep because I've seen it happen (it's basic product knowledge). These are entry level jobs. You'll be hard-pressed to find someone who takes a Genius or AppleCare job seriously. When I read your responses, I sense that you think AppleCare reps have more advanced training (they don't).

If you think AppleCare is more trained, I can't change your mind, but I can tell you doing both jobs that their knowledge level is about the same.

You might get that response from someone that is not from the Wireless Multimedia department, but that would absolutely not happen with a WMM advisor. Simple fact of the matter is AppleCare has specialty training. Genius Bar does not. There is literally no arguing that point

 

[JTravers]

There is literally no arguing that point

And, yet, here were are

 

[sguerra923]

Hi guys/gals,

I just updated but I'm curious what settings should I select after using "link-local only" to by-pass the drop connections?The options I have are "Host", "Tunnel", and "Router for IPv6 Mode.

Also, there's a setting to "Block incoming IPv6 connections" should I leave it checked or unchecked?

Thanks

 

[2013.1]

My biggest concern was if it would kill handoff, continuity or airdrop. Everything's good.

 

[Zance]

Hi guys/gals,

I just updated but I'm curious what settings should I select after using "link-local only" to by-pass the drop connections?The options I have are "Host", "Tunnel", and "Router for IPv6 Mode.

Also, there's a setting to "Block incoming IPv6 connections" should I leave it checked or unchecked?

Thanks

If you had it set to Link Local Only, you'll want to open AirPort Utility, select the base station, hit edit, select the Internet Tab, select Internet Options, and change Configure IPv6 to Automatically. Hit Save, Update, and Continue. You're all set!

 

[sguerra923]

If you had it set to Link Local Only, you'll want to open AirPort Utility, select the base station, hit edit, select the Internet Tab, select Internet Options, and change Configure IPv6 to Automatically. Hit Save, Update, and Continue. You're all set!

It's odd, I don't have the option to select "automatic" just the options "Host", "Tunnel", and "Router". I'm running windows 10 with Airport Utility.

 

[Zance]

It's odd, I don't have the option to select "automatic" just the options "Host", "Tunnel", and "Router". I'm running windows 10 with Airport Utility.

Oh ok. So that means you're running AirPort Utility 5. Do you have an iPhone or iPad by any chance (they can use AirPort Utility 6)? If you do, you can download AirPort Utility for free from the App Store. When you open the app, if there is a prompt that says Enter Password, select that and enter your password (likely your Wi-Fi password). You should then see an Edit button in the top right corner. Tap on that, select Advanced at the bottom, then select IPv6. Here you should have the selection that says Configure IPv6. Change that back to Automatically.

If you don't have an iPhone or iPad, I'll have to look up the settings for AirPort Utility 5 because I don't remember them off hand.

 

[sguerra923]

Oh ok. So that means you're running AirPort Utility 5. Do you have an iPhone or iPad by any chance (they can use AirPort Utility 6)? If you do, you can download AirPort Utility for free from the App Store. When you open the app, if there is a prompt that says Enter Password, select that and enter your password (likely your Wi-Fi password). You should then see an Edit button in the top right corner. Tap on that, select Advanced at the bottom, then select IPv6. Here you should have the selection that says Configure IPv6. Change that back to Automatically.

If you don't have an iPhone or iPad, I'll have to look up the settings for AirPort Utility 5 because I don't remember them off hand.

Here are my options:

And should I uncheck the "Block incoming IPv6 connections"?

 

[sguerra923]

Here are my options:

View attachment 634242

And should I uncheck the "Block incoming IPv6 connections"?


View attachment 634243

Anyone having similar settings??

 

[sandylp]

My Time Capsule just stopped working today. After calling Comcast and going through all the disconnecting and resetting of the modem and the TC, I happened to click on "update" and was surprised to see the firmware updated to 7.7.7. After the update, it works as usual. I didn't even know that there was a firmware update.

 

[GlenK]

Updated with no issues. Worked well before and after the upgrade.

 

[trombo22]

I don't know the exact technical reasons for the issues but 2 issues have come up for mew after the update. I have not yet tried to reset the airport extreme and set it up again. \
1. Wifi Calling stopped working and neither phone in house will connect with wifi calling, both work at other locations and used to work before the update.
2. Now after a power failure the airport extreme fails to connect to the ISP router in bridge mode. I have to unplug both for a few minutes then plug the modem in then the airport in. This does not always work on the first attempt but does work at some point.

 

[striders]

So it seems firmware 7.7.7 DOES CAUSE problem to some units. Since my home Internet is a necessity (like a utility), I won't update it unless Apple specifically mention if this fixed a specific security issues.

Anyway, the Airport Utility is now keep starting when I reboot my MacBook. How do I stop this? I didn't see it in the Login Items.

 

[BrentGoodale]

What modem do you use? Is it by any chance a Surfboard SB6141?

I have that modem and have to restart my Time Capsule every day or two because of connection issues. I've read that this is a pretty widespread issue

I have an Sb6120 and experience a lot of internet connection issues going out 20=40+ times a day. Where the "Internet" light in my airport utility is constantly turing orange and green

 

[GIZBUG]

How do you downgrade from 7.7.7 ?

 

[campyguy]

How do you downgrade from 7.7.7 ?

Open Airport Utility. Option-Click on the Version Number in an Airport unit - you'll see the immediately-available firmwares you can install, plus an "Other" option that will offer a modal dialog for other, downloaded FMs.

 

[GIZBUG]

Most of you run your 2.4 and 5.0 channels in auto or manual?
[doublepost=1466993473][/doublepost]

I just updated my time capsule with the 7.7.7 and working fine. In fact a laptop I use in the house farthest away from the time capsule usually only got 4 bars for wireless strength now it's getting all 5 bars and it's much faster. Nice update!!

This with manual or auto channel?