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New Airport Extreme. 2.4 works, 5ghz suddenly stopped working

I

IrishTiger

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 23, 2010
229
19
Atlanta, GA
As the title says, my 2.4 is working just fine, and I just CANNOT connect to my 5ghz connection. It's still broadcasting, but my iPad, nor my iMac will connect to it. I've rebooted everything, and disabled the 5ghz option, and re-enabled it, rebooted of course again and still nothing.

I want to say I've heard of others running into this same problem - but I couldn't seem to find any threads or articles on the internet to support this. Just so you are aware of my setup, I have comcast cable, which feeds into the AE. I've never had a problem with any of my AE before.

Any suggestions?

Thanks! :D

-Ryan
 
Strange. Instead of rebooting, do a factory reset of your AE (Google), setup both networks (use a new name for the 5 network) and see if you still have an issue.
 
Yeah that was going to be my next step. I was just trying to avoid that. I have some ports forwarded, and it can be a pain in the neck to set up to make sure my system runs efficiently. But.... I'll go ahead and do that. :(
 
jenzjen said:
Strange. Instead of rebooting, do a factory reset of your AE (Google), setup both networks (use a new name for the 5 network) and see if you still have an issue.
Click to expand...

Alright well I just tried that and it still doesn't work. It just says unable to join. It's the strangest thing I've ever seen, and it's bugging the living daylights out of me.
 
IrishTiger said:
Alright well I just tried that and it still doesn't work. It just says unable to join. It's the strangest thing I've ever seen, and it's bugging the living daylights out of me.
Click to expand...

So you're unable to get any devices join the 5 network? I'm assuming those devices have 5 capable n radios? If that's the case, I'd just ring Apple at this point or just go and swap it since it is new.

I have a feeling, though, that something with your setup isn't right. Like the poster above wrote, did it work before? I think only your iPad is compatible.
 
jenzjen said:
So you're unable to get any devices join the 5 network? I'm assuming those devices have 5 capable n radios? If that's the case, I'd just ring Apple at this point or just go and swap it since it is new.

I have a feeling, though, that something with your setup isn't right. Like the poster above wrote, did it work before? I think only your iPad is compatible.
Click to expand...



Yes it was working just fine before - and my MacBook Pro works on the 5ghz just fine. I'm also thinking it might be the new firmware. I take it no one has any idea how to downgrade to a previous version of the software?
 
IrishTiger said:
Yes it was working just fine before - and my MacBook Pro works on the 5ghz just fine. I'm also thinking it might be the new firmware. I take it no one has any idea how to downgrade to a previous version of the software?
Click to expand...

Weird; search the forums, many people have downgraded.

I have 2 AEs with upgraded firmware running 2 networks and had no issue after the upgrade.
 
Okay so I'm able to connect to the 5ghz network now. I downgraded to 7.5.1 firmware and that fixes the connection issue, but the speeds are something else. It's so strange. According to speedtest... here's my speeds:

2.4ghz: 11.24mbps download in 17.13 seconds. Upload was 1.04mbps.
5hgz: 1.25mbps download in 67.56 seconds. Upload was 2.88mbps

Try 2

2.4ghz: 11.08mbps in 10.83 seconds. Upload was 2.88mbps.
5ghz: 8.37mbps download in 13.97 seconds. Upload 2.17mbps.


Seems the 2.4 is MUCH faster than the 5ghz. I have no clue why either. Here's two screen captures of my airport utility screens. Maybe someone see's something that might suggest something.

airport-1.jpg


airportwireless.jpg
 
At longer distances from the router, 2.4 will give you better throughput. Think of 5 as a short, fat pipe.
 
IrishTiger said:
According to speedtest... here's my speeds:

2.4ghz: 11.24mbps download in 17.13 seconds. Upload was 1.04mbps.
5hgz: 1.25mbps download in 67.56 seconds. Upload was 2.88mbps

Try 2

2.4ghz: 11.08mbps in 10.83 seconds. Upload was 2.88mbps.
5ghz: 8.37mbps download in 13.97 seconds. Upload 2.17mbps.
Click to expand...

How do these speeds compare with the situation where everything was working OK?

I agree that 5GHz should be much higher, but like the previous poster said, this depends a great deal on the distance and obstacles (walls).

What readings do you get when you alt(option)-click on the wireless icon in the menu?
 
jenzjen said:
At longer distances from the router, 2.4 will give you better throughput. Think of 5 as a short, fat pipe.
Click to expand...

It was the same distance. I typically use my wireless in my bedroom. Same before, same after.

lexvo said:
How do these speeds compare with the situation where everything was working OK?

I agree that 5GHz should be much higher, but like the previous poster said, this depends a great deal on the distance and obstacles (walls).

What readings do you get when you alt(option)-click on the wireless icon in the menu?
Click to expand...

I didn't know that was an option. I've been operating on the 2.4 network since I started having trouble. I checked the info you asked for on the 2.4, then switched to the 5ghz, and back to the 2.4. When I got back to the 2.4 there were some slight differences in the numbers. I'll bold those numbers.

2.4:
Phy Mode: 802.11n
BSSID: 90:84:d:df:12:cd
Channel: 11 (2.4 Ghz)
Security: WPA2 Personal
RSSI: -65 -61
Transmit Rate: 78 104
MCS Index: 12 13

5 Ghz
Phy Mode: 802.11n
BSSID: 90:84:d:df:12:ce
Channel: 149 (5 Ghz)
RSSI: -75
Transmit Rate: 78
MCS Index: 12
 
IrishTiger said:
2.4:
Phy Mode: 802.11n
BSSID:
Channel: 11 (2.4 Ghz)
Security: WPA2 Personal
RSSI: -65 -61
Transmit Rate: 78 104
MCS Index: 12 13

5 Ghz
Phy Mode: 802.11n
BSSID:
Channel: 149 (5 Ghz)
RSSI: -75
Transmit Rate: 78
MCS Index: 12
Click to expand...

It is normal that these numbers change a bit over time.

I think the transmit rate for 2.4 is OK. However, the transmit rate of your 5GHz is low (of course your testing also proved that). With good conditions (distance not too long, no walls) this transfer rate should be above 200.

In the Airport config program, under Wireless - Wireless network options, is the signal strength set at 100% and is the option for wide channels ticked?
 
lexvo said:
It is normal that these numbers change a bit over time.

I think the transmit rate for 2.4 is OK. However, the transmit rate of your 5GHz is low (of course your testing also proved that). With good conditions (distance not too long, no walls) this transfer rate should be above 200.

In the Airport config program, under Wireless - Wireless network options, is the signal strength set at 100% and is the option for wide channels ticked?
Click to expand...

Yes it is at 100% and I didn't have wide channels selected until all this started to happen. Then I selected it hoping it might help. Obviously it hasn't. I hate to do it - but would a hard reset of the AE be worth a shot? How do you do that anyways - just hold the reset button down for at least 10 seconds?

I'm open to all suggestions. My 5ghz was amazing. Now it's just crap!
 
No not yet, if I said reset I mean turned it off and turned it back on. I don't like doing the factory reset because it erases the data, and sometimes it has an issue getting the correct IP address from Comcast.

Also - last time I did do a reset, all of my settings were still in there, I think there was a "restore to previous settings" option. Is there a way to completely reset it and delete everything on the darn thing, basically making it like I am taking it out of the box for the first time?
 
IrishTiger said:
No not yet, if I said reset I mean turned it off and turned it back on. I don't like doing the factory reset because it erases the data, and sometimes it has an issue getting the correct IP address from Comcast.

Also - last time I did do a reset, all of my settings were still in there, I think there was a "restore to previous settings" option. Is there a way to completely reset it and delete everything on the darn thing, basically making it like I am taking it out of the box for the first time?
Click to expand...

Yes that's what I suggested in post #2, do a factory reset. Google and you'll find the steps.
 
jenzjen said:
Yes that's what I suggested in post #2, do a factory reset. Google and you'll find the steps.
Click to expand...

Alright - did the factory reset, and I'm getting great results from my 2.4, but still less on the 5 ghz. Strangest damn thing. Nothing has been moved or placed differently. I wonder if something in the AE just went bad? :confused:

I think I'm giving up at this point and time. Maybe I'll call Apple and see if I can exchange it or something. I think I bought it in November. It's a long shot, but you'll never know unless you give it a go.
 
So, let me see if I understand what happenend. Everything worked fine, upgraded the firmware things slowed down and downgraded firmware and did a factory reset (so we should be back to all good) but things are still slow?

I'd agree, call Apple sounds like hardware, and you could do one more thing as a test. Buy a new Apple router and see if you still have the issue.

If not, it is a router issue. If so, I'd say something changed in your home resulting in more interference vs before and happened to coincide with the firmware change.
 
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