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Just bought a new Airport Extreme base station - couple issues & questions...

dmk1974

dmk1974

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 16, 2008
2,491
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My D-Link DIR-655 that I have used for a few years is starting to have some issues disconnecting and dropping WiFi. So last night I went to the local Best Buy and decided to try out the $179 Airport Extreme router (latest model MD031LL/A).

Seemed pretty easy to set up from my 2011 MacBook Air using that Airport Utility. Definitely a lot less settings and options than the previous router, but seemed to do allright. Excellent connections and speed to our laptops in the house.

One issue I am having though is that I cannot get either of my 4th gen iPod Touch devices nor our iPhone 4's to work with this router. On each, I even set up new network connections on the devices and got it to see the network, but when I open Safari or anything else for web access (App Store, email, etc.), nothing happens. Is there some special trick I'm missing for these handhelds? Also, when I wake them from sleep or completely reboot them, it takes a really long time for them to see the network (if they do at all). I did not have this issue ever with the DIR-655.

One other question...I've never used dual-band before. Is there a noticeable difference when connecting to my 2011 MacBook Air to use the 5 GHz band instead of the standard 2.4 GHz band?

Thanks in advance for your replies!
 
As far as I know Apple devices such as phone will not connect to 5Ghz network. Don't know if you have tried this yet, but I remember having this same issue with my extreme. It will only see and access the 2.4 network.
 
dmk1974 said:
My D-Link DIR-655 that I have used for a few years is starting to have some issues disconnecting and dropping WiFi. So last night I went to the local Best Buy and decided to try out the $179 Airport Extreme router (latest model MD031LL/A).

Seemed pretty easy to set up from my 2011 MacBook Air using that Airport Utility. Definitely a lot less settings and options than the previous router, but seemed to do allright. Excellent connections and speed to our laptops in the house.

One issue I am having though is that I cannot get either of my 4th gen iPod Touch devices nor our iPhone 4's to work with this router. On each, I even set up new network connections on the devices and got it to see the network, but when I open Safari or anything else for web access (App Store, email, etc.), nothing happens. Is there some special trick I'm missing for these handhelds? Also, when I wake them from sleep or completely reboot them, it takes a really long time for them to see the network (if they do at all). I did not have this issue ever with the DIR-655.

One other question...I've never used dual-band before. Is there a noticeable difference when connecting to my 2011 MacBook Air to use the 5 GHz band instead of the standard 2.4 GHz band?

Thanks in advance for your replies!
Click to expand...

I have not experienced what you are with the handheld devices not being able to see the network.

When it comes to 2.4 vs. 5 GHz, they both have their strengths and weaknesses. With 802.11g, the only real difference is that there is more interference on the 2.4 GHz wavelength in a normal home, but it's a lot better at getting through walls and such. With 802.11n, 5 GHz is preferable since you can reach greater speeds.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

When it comes to wifi n.....

Iphone 4 will connect to 802.11n 2.4ghz
Ipad2 will connect to 802.11n 2.4 or 5ghz
 
Chic0 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

When it comes to wifi n.....

Iphone 4 will connect to 802.11n 2.4ghz
Ipad2 will connect to 802.11n 2.4 or 5ghz
Click to expand...


Just adding that Apple TV 2 will also connect to a 5ghz network.
 
I'm pretty sure that I had the 5 GHz band disabled at the time when trying to connect the iPod Touch and iPhone, but I'll try again tonight. Just seemed weird that the WiFi would sometimes show, but then no internet.
 
What radio mode are you using for your 2.4GHz band? Is it a/b/g/n compatible? N only?

Also, if you're naming your network the same as before, it could be worthwhile to go into the preferences on the handheld devices and select "forget network." There may be some settings they're retaining that are making it fail.
 
skorpien said:
What radio mode are you using for your 2.4GHz band? Is it a/b/g/n compatible? N only?

Also, if you're naming your network the same as before, it could be worthwhile to go into the preferences on the handheld devices and select "forget network." There may be some settings they're retaining that are making it fail.
Click to expand...

Yes, it is the same name and PW. Tonight I'll make it forget the DIR-655, switch routers, and then try with fresh connection info. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Well, I also found a 4th gen Airport Extreme MC340LL/A on craigslist tonight for $60.00 so I bought it as well. The 4th gen set up just perfectly and all of my iOS devices connected right away just fine (I only "forgot" the network on my iPhone 4 while the DIR-655 was still connected, but the other 3 iOS devices I left as-is and they were fine).

I'll test this 4th gen for a few days and if all ok, the 5th gen will go back to Best Buy. I left the 5 GHz band off for the time being. Thanks for all the tips!
 
dmk1974 said:
Well, I also found a 4th gen Airport Extreme MC340LL/A on craigslist tonight for $60.00 so I bought it as well. The 4th gen set up just perfectly and all of my iOS devices connected right away just fine (I only "forgot" the network on my iPhone 4 while the DIR-655 was still connected, but the other 3 iOS devices I left as-is and they were fine).

I'll test this 4th gen for a few days and if all ok, the 5th gen will go back to Best Buy. I left the 5 GHz band off for the time being. Thanks for all the tips!
Click to expand...

May I ask why you turned off the 5 GHz band?
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

For the OP, I also have dual band AEBS. I have it running N only on both 5ghz and 2.4ghz without any problems

The network name for both bands are the same except the 5ghz band has '5ghz' automatically appended to the end of it. This can be set using Airport Utility
 
Chic0 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

For the OP, I also have dual band AEBS. I have it running N only on both 5ghz and 2.4ghz without any problems

The network name for both bands are the same except the 5ghz band has '5ghz' automatically appended to the end of it. This can be set using Airport Utility
Click to expand...

The AEBS uses both 2.4 and 5 GHz under the same name as default and the devices that can will switch between the wavelengths depending on which one is the strongest. The only reason you can check the "5 GHz network name" box is if you want to be able to force a device to connect to the 5 GHz band.

So by unchecking that box, you're not deactivating the 5 GHz band...
 
hafr said:
The AEBS uses both 2.4 and 5 GHz under the same name as default and the devices that can will switch between the wavelengths depending on which one is the strongest. The only reason you can check the "5 GHz network name" box is if you want to be able to force a device to connect to the 5 GHz band.

So by unchecking that box, you're not deactivating the 5 GHz band...
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks for clarifying. I guess then that I don't have the 5 GHz turned off, but I just did not go in and check the box for a separate 5 GHz connection under the "Wireless Network Options" section of the Airport Utility. My intent was to keep it similar, at least for a while, to my previous DIR-655.
 
Make sure you are using a WPA or WPA2 Network Key and not a WEP. iOS devices seem to disagree with WEP keys and will always have issues connecting.
 
rw3 said:
Make sure you are using a WPA or WPA2 Network Key and not a WEP. iOS devices seem to disagree with WEP keys and will always have issues connecting.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes, I have it set to WPA2.
 
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