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Modem/Router? Urgent Help Needed.

CosmoPilot

CosmoPilot

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 8, 2010
1,537
372
South Carolina
I know this probably isn't the right forum, but I know there are a bunch of smart people in here, so figured I give it a shot.

I'm military and deployed. My wife and I communicate exclusively through Facetime. However, our internet connection at my house is getting worse and worse. A speed test revealed .20 Mbps download & .19 upload.

I suspect the modem is going bad. We've been having issues with it for a few months now and a technician is scheduled to come to our house and replace it.

So, I currently have an Airport Extreme Base Station plugged into the modem for our home wireless network (wifi). If we lose the wifi part, I will no longer be able to talk with my family via Facetime.

My question is this: If the modem is replaced, does my wife have to do anything special to the AEBS. In other words, can the modem be replaced with an entirely different one and the AEBS continue to work, or does it need reset to the new modem? My wife would not have the technical skills to do this, and I'm deployed.

I need absolute truth data, not speculation on this matter because we cannot afford to lose the WiFi piece. If the answer is not clear, I'll just have them replace the modem with a modem/router and take the AEBS out of the picture.

Thanks in advance. The tech is coming in a few days, so hopefully I can provide my wife some information as soon as possible.
 
Just replacing a cable (or DSL) modem?

Shouldn't be any problem for the wifi you have set up on your AEBS.

Worst case... she just unplugs (powers down) the AEBS from wall, waits 30 seconds, plugs it back in.

Good to go
 
Thank you so much! This is what I thought since the AEBS is plugged into a working internet connection (the modem). Therefore, it's just broadcasting that signal out. I just wasn't sure if I was missing something whereas the AEBS had to have some sort of handshake with the modem.

Murphy's Law applies. As soon as I'm gone, things go to crap!!!

If anyone else has more re-assuring news on the subject I certainly appreciate it!
 
If you have cable it should be a straight swap.

If you have DSL and you need to do anything with PPPOE then that should be fine as well, as long as it's correctly configured (and it sounds like it is).

Just make sure your wife doesn't let the tech leave until the airport tells you its ok. The utility should pop up automagically if shes on a mac. Otherwise you can tell by the status lights:

Green : All goods
Amber - Solid : Booting up
Amber - Flashing : Error
Blue : WDS (Manually Invoked).
 
Eddyisgreat said:
If you have cable it should be a straight swap.

If you have DSL and you need to do anything with PPPOE then that should be fine as well, as long as it's correctly configured (and it sounds like it is).

Just make sure your wife doesn't let the tech leave until the airport tells you its ok. The utility should pop up automagically if shes on a mac. Otherwise you can tell by the status lights:

Green : All goods
Amber - Solid : Booting up
Amber - Flashing : Error
Blue : WDS (Manually Invoked).
Click to expand...

It is a cable modem. Currently, the AEBS is showing a green light, but the internet download speed is only .20 Mbps.

Using the Apple TV, she was able to stream a movie from the AEBS from my computer without any issues. So I know the wireless part is strong. It's the Internet Service from Time Warner causing us issues. This modem has been acting up, so I suspect that is the issue. A tech is coming out to investigate. I just didn't want him to replace the modem and then all of a sudden I'm without any means to communicate with my wife on how to re-set it up.

Again, thanks very much for the information. I can now breath a bit easier.
 
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