Airport Extreme extremely slow

This past Friday, suddenly and for no obvious reason, my utterly reliable nearly five and a half year-old Airport Extreme (firmware version 5.6) became positively pokey. Web pages that once loaded in seconds took 15-25 seconds to load, and sometimes longer. Mail uploads and downloads were also affected.
I tried accessing a number of different websites using three different browsers, and while there were some minor differences in the time it took pages to load, they were all uniformly slow no matter which browser was in use. My ISP checked my line and ruled out any problems there. When I plugged the ethernet cable directly into my Powerbook, the delays vanished, ruling out a modem problem and isolating it to the base station. I did a hard reset on the base station, but the problem remains.
What's going on and how can I fix it?

I have a 4 year old AirPort Extreme. 7 computers is currently on it. I pay for 20MP per/s internet download. My AirPort get's me 4.2 - 8.1MB per/s download speed. All I can say is it's getting old. I have to reset mine every 15 - 40 minutes. Get's annoying. Ready to go get the new one!
Here is a post I posted back in February: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1913022&tstart=0
Message was edited by: Wildmnky247

Similar Messages

Airport Extreme Slow Ping (Internet) Response

I am having problems with my dual-band airport extreme. When connecting to the external internet, I'm seeing high ping responses (>500ms) after about 5-10 minutes of resetting (hard reset) the Extreme and initially seeing 15-30ms response times.
I've tried:
1. Moving the router physcially in the house (no improvement)
2. Trying different channels on both 2.5 and 5 (some, but inconsistent improvement)
3. Multiple hard resets and reconfiguring the Extreme
4. Reinstall the firmware (haven't tried going down in firmware)
5. There are no cordless phones in the house
6. Absolute speed to the internet is strong (above my provider's stated speed)
7. If I connect my Macbook pro directly to the cable router, everything (ping + speed) is great.
8. Seeing slow ping responses both on my MacBook Pro and a separate PC
Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot? Seems like it a problem with the wireless connection and/or interference.
thanks!
Dale

had a 5th gen Extreme that I bought with 7.5 and immediately upgraded to 7.6. Saw the exact issue you described. exchanged it for a 6th gen Extreme, and am experiencing the same behavior again... both with 7.5.2 and 7.6 firmware.
everything is hunky dory when plugged directly into my cable modem.
third time's a charm, hopefully.

Airport Extreme slowing down internet connection to a crawl

Hi,
Can anyone explain this one?
Just this afternoon my internet connection slowed to a crawl. Pages would stall loading and I couldn't even collect emails. There was a connection there. A Google search might take a minute or so but anything else would barely flinch.
So I did a few restarts and complete power downs of all my peripherals, computers and network devices but no joy. I called my broadband provider who did a remote test of my cable modem and confirmed it was responding well.
So I removed the Airport Extreme from the network and connected directly to the modem. All was fine, in fact that is how I am working now. But when connecting the Airport Extreme back in I have this extremely slow connection. I have looked at both the Network preferences and Airport Setup Utility. Both claim the connection is good.
I also have an old G4 in another room. It was switched off during all the goings on this afternoon but I powered it up to see if the same problem persisted. Sure enough it does, as it is also connected via the AE. However, the local connection between computers is just fine.
So how do I resolve this? Why would the AE cause such an internet slowdown?
Thanks,
Colin

I've had similar symptoms on my network. Here are network details:
Comcast is the ISP
I have an Extreme and an Express set up as a single wireless network.
Extreme is plugged in to the cable modem. Express is an extension of the Extreme.
Devices that are regularly "on network": Mac Mini (G4), MacBook, Mac Pro, 2 TiVO Series 2.
All Macs are running 10.4.10.
Symptom: Over the course of 3-6 weeks, wireless access slows to a crawl for the Intel-based MacBook and MacPro, but not the PowerPC Mini. All web sites, email traffic, etc., for the Intel Macs becomes painful: CNN's home page loads in minutes, not seconds, for example. Unplugging and replugging the Express doesn't do anything. Powering off and on the Extreme resolves the issue. For now. There are no pending firmware updates for the Express or Extreme that I'm aware of.

Airport extreme slow in feb-2012

With update 7.6 me airport extreme became slow. Worst of all, with this upgrade, I lost my administrator functionality to downgrade the firmware to a good workinf release. Can anybody help?

My download speeds are 40Mbps and have been for over a year. After the firmware 7.6.1 / utility 6.0 update my Airport extreme and airport are under 8Mbps, however my hard wire connections are still at 40Mbps. What gives? Any thoughts Apple gurus or am I going to have to purchase a non-apple wirless router?
Thanks

Wired Mac on Airport Extreme slowing down Wireless network?

I have an Airport Extreme 802.11n and a MacBook Pro 15" (unibody). I recently added a MacMini Core 2 duo as an iTunes server, and since it didn't have 802.11n (it's an older one), I shut off the WiFi and ethernet cable'd it to my Airport Extreme. It works great; I can see the Mini in Shared devices from the MacBook Pro, share the screen, and my Apple TV syncs beautifully as well.
Then today I noticed that the internet connection on my laptop was really slow. After some chasing I realized that the same speed tests from http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ ran on the ethernet-Mini vs the WiFi-MacBook Pro were radically different. At any given time, the speed on the MacBook Pro was as low as 25% the speed on the Mini… sometimes even worse!
I discovered that if I shut down the Mini, the MacBook Pro speed increases. Not to the same point as the Mini, but I can attribute some loss to just being on WiFi and only getting about 60% signal strength (according to iStumbler -- even though the mac WiFi signal strength shows full bars… anyway). But in the past (before the Mini was added) I've run those speedtests and seen results like I'm seeing now only on the Mini.
So why would this tethered Mac be causing such a slowdown?
I'm about to upgrade to the new Time Capsule with separate 802.11 b/g and n antennas but would like to understand this problem before I make that upgrade. Something else feels wrong to me.
btw I did recently upgrade to the 7.4.1 firmware (at the same time I did the Mini addition… poor science, I know), and so I tried reverting it back to 7.3.2 to see if that made any difference, and it did not.

So I started poking around a bit more this morning, and ended up doing a slew of tests. A LOT of tests. I tested two different portables and the Mini, tested with the Mini off and on, and tested with Safari 3 or 4 (depending on what was on each system) and Firefox 3. I then tested the portable plugged directly into the wire.
I ran each test three times and averaged them.
There are some very interesting results.
Tests with Mini on vs. Min off makes a negligible difference on average on Safari. However Firefox performance consistently went down with the Mini off.
But here's the big shocker – performance of any wired computer was between three and TEN (!!!!) times that of the wireless! This is unbelievable.
Worth noting I was sure to disable all other wifi devices on the network, even the other portable, when performing the tests. Apple TV and iPhones were all powered down during these tests.
All my test results are visible here on iWork.com here: http://bit.ly/KYGTj (I think anyone can log in using an apple ID, if not then email me or post your email address here and I'll add you to the list)
Feel free to download the Numbers files and perform your own comparison charts.

Airport Extreme slow

I have the Airport Extreme and its about 3Mbits slower than my old cheap free Netgear router from Virgin Media.
On my other halfs Vista PC its WORSE than dial up.
Im NOT impressed and am thinking of selling it on eBay.....wish I had never bought the piece of c**p now
Anyone else haveing slow connection probs???
1st ever bit of Apple kit that I think is c**p and HATE with a vengeance GRRRRRR

I'm having exactly the same problem. Since last week, either through ethernet (Cat5e and Cat5) or 11n my Airport Extreme simply stopped working properly. It's been extremely slow.
Connecting my Mac straight to my cable modem is solving the problem, but it's awkward that the most expensive router in the market is slow as ****.
Best,
Flavio
Rio - Brazil

Apple TV and/or Airport extremely slow syncing - Unique or common problem?

This is my first post and I'd appreciate help.
My Apple TV has worked fine for the last few weeks but started playing up last weekend. It now syncs either very slowly or not at all. Have tried every workaround suggested in this forum. Also spent 3 hours on phone with Apple technician this morning who could not diagnose problem (but has gone away to consult internally).
Apple TV is (was) connected wirelessly to Airport Extreme which is connected via ethernet cable to iMac, with all the latest software installed on everything.
Factory resets of both Apple TV and Airport Extreme worked for a bit, then same problem re-emerged. Direct ethernet connection of Apple TV to Airport Extreme also worked for a bit, but then same problem appeared, and then Apple TV disappeared from Devices list in iTunes and could not be recovered even after reboot. Direct connection to iMac also worked initially, but then same problem (slow syncing, then disappears from Devices list) re-emerged. Can see Apple TV in Devices in iTunes if wireless connection is restored, but only with extraordinarily slow syncing.
Anyone know what the problem might be? Is it unique or common? Any suggestions for fixes?
iMac 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mac OS X (10.4.10) Airport Extreme, Apple TV

By current release software I was referring to the AEBS firmware, the Apple TV software and iTunes. You can run the "Check for Updates" tool for each to make sure that they are up to date.
Since you reported the same problem when connected either by Ethernet cable or by wireless that would obviously rule out any wireless problems such as RF interference. The only possibilities left would be that something else is loading down your network or there is a hardware failure somewhere.
If there is a bad component in the AEBS I would expect it to affect your computer as well as the Apple TV. If there is a hardware failure in the Apple TV I would expect it to show up whether syncing, streaming or watching movie trailers or YouTube videos.
One other possibility might be that if you have any anti-virus software on your computer it might slow things down if it is scanning the files while they are syncing or streaming.
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.9) The more I think, the more I think I shouldn't think more.

Does new Airport Extreme slow down when used with Airport Express?

Maybe this is self-evident.
If get the new Airport extreme and use an old airport express to extend it, will signal slow down to the old speed?
Does the AE have a greater range? Perhaps I don't need the Express to extend.
I live in NYC and there are so many signals in the air. It seems like having the additional airport helps keep me connected.
Thanks.

The airport express is g technology not n technology, so it will be at least as slow as your old network. Also, I'm not sure but I think the the range will be a bit longer than with the old g system, but does not have the full potential of an n system.
I've set up my new system but none of my machines are n capable. I extended the system using my old expresses. The speed of the system is no greater than what it was before the n.
I bought the system to upgrade my technology because everytime my Applecare runs out, I get a new computer which isn't too far down the road. I've purchased an Apple TV which will also work better with the n technology when I upgrade. It's either buy it now or buy it later. I'm also hoping that some third party like Belkin will develop a PCIX card to provide n technology to those of my computers that aren't currently n capable. I'm sure there is many like me out there.

Airport Extreme Slowing Internet Connection

Hope someone can provide some direction for me!
A few weeks ago I started noticing slowed internet speeds,but thought nothing of it, and attributed the slow down to peak periods. About a week ago was the first time I ran a speed test due to a noticeable depreciation in connection speed. Then, and still today, I’m averaging about 3.4 mbps down / 6 mbps up both wireless and wired with Ethernet cable through the airport extreme. I have Comcast Blast which, until the slowdown, was averaging 20 mbps down / 6 mbps up.
My setup:
Macbook (mid-2010), OS X 10.7
Mac mini (early-2009), OS X 10.7
Motorola SB5100 Modem
Airport Extreme 802.11n (3rd Generation)
Here’s the kicker: when my macbook is directly connected tothe modem (removing the airport extreme), I get amazingly fast internet (26mbps down / 6 mbps up).
I’ve been browsing around here looking for solutions since my warranty’s expired and have tried the following:
thanks to this previous discussion
-Changed Frequency Channel to less populated channels
-Changed Fireware Versions (was 7.5.2, tried 7.4.2, 7.4.1,and 7.4)
-Moved the router’s location
-Moved the
-Reset the modem
-Reset the Airport Extreme
-Factory reset the Airport Extreme
-Made sure “Ethernet WAN Port” was set to “Automatic(Default)”
-Changed/Temporarily Removed Security
Some users have found success (as discussed in the discussion linked above) by swapping out their cable modem. I own mine, so it would be a matter of purchasing a new one (though I'd rather not buy a new one if it's actually my Airport that's failing)
Could my Airport Extreme be dying and it’s time for a new one?
Any suggestions or thoughts of things to try?
Thanks, Everybody!

Well, I'll see if you can explain this one:
As suggested, I used Airport Utility to switch the Radio Mode from "Automatic" to "802.11a/n - 802b/g." I was unable to find the option to select "802.11n (5) only - 802.11n only (2.4)."
I ran the test again with the following results:
     Client Side: [ 4] 0.0-60.0 sec 497408 KBytes 67909 Kbits/sec
     Server Side: 0.0-59.7 sec 497408 KBytes 68253 Kbits/sec
No Change.
I then discovered that under "Wireless Network Options..." my checked "5GHz Network" had become unchecked. I re-checked this box and connected both server and client computers to this new network and re-ran the test:
     Client: [ 4] 0.0-60.1 sec 392192 KBytes 53496 Kbits/sec
     Server: 0.0-60.1 sec 392192 KBytes 53476 Kbits/sec
Seemingly slower.
HOWEVER, now when I run an internet speed test, I'm consistently getting ~28mbps down/~6mbps up across all devices (mac mini, macbook). I'm sort of unclear as to what's causing this change, but it appears, at least for the time being, that the issue has resolved.
Should I be concerned that the AEBSn is not transfering data near the 300 Mbps on the 5GHz channel? What else could be playing into this issue?

Airport Extreme - Slow until power cycle every few hours (wired, not modem)

I have the latest Airport Extreme Base Station (no time capsule) connected to a Motorola Surfboard 6121 modem.
When wired directly to the AEBS I get download speeds of 90Mbps+, but after a few hours (I haven't determined if it is consistent) the dowloand speed drops to about 1-4Mbps. Power cycling the cable modem brings back the original speeds.
Please Note: When wired directly to the cable modem the speed of 90Mbps+ are consistent over several days (I haven't tested longer).
The drop in speed only happens when connecting through the AEBS, no matter if I'm connected wirelessly or directly.
My next test will be to see whether powercycling only the AEBS resets the speed the way powercylcing the modem does.
Any thoughts? I would rather not have to restart my connection everytime I go to use it.
Thanks!

The issue happens when I have the following setup:
MacbookPro (mid-2008) wired directly into:
AEBS (brand new, no time capsule) wired directly into:
Motorola Surfboard 6121
or
Samsung BD-5900 Blu-Ray Player (2013) wired directly into:
AEBS (brand new, no time capsule) wired directly into:
Motorola Surfboard 6121
or
MacbookPro (mid-2008) and two iPhone 5 devices all wirelessly connected to
AEBS (brand new, no time capsule) wired directly into:
Motorola Surfboard 6121

Does adding a second airport extreme slow the wifi speeds?

I get 17mbps from my airport base station hardwired to uverse router. On the new 5th gen extreme.used to extend network, speeds are 7mbps at best. is a second device incapable of the same bandwidth as the originating extreme?even when well within range?

My only issue is, i've not got the AE's on "bridge Mode"
That's quite an issue, since you only want to have one router handling DHCP and NAT on the network. You have two routers both trying to provide the same services if the AirPort Extreme is distributing IP addresses. Conflicts are inevitable. The AirPort Extreme needs to be in Bridge Mode.
I can't seem to put the AE back into the connection sharing option that says "distrubute a range of ip address"
This setting would be used only if your ISP has assigned multiple IP addresses to you....and the AirPort Extreme is the "main" router on the network.
"Share a public IP address" would be the setting to use.....if the Uverse router will tolerate another router on the network. Sometimes you can find a workaround, but then you have to put up with Double NAT errors and other unpredictable things on the network.
I used to be able to operate without bridge mode off the uverse router/modem but can't anymore.
Probably due to updates on both the Uverse and AirPort routers to prevent users from trying to run two routers on the same network.
Uverse routher which is impossible to figure out to reserve ip's etc for externetal devices.
Is this a Motorola router, or 2-Wire? Either should have online support for this type of basic router service.

Airport Extreme Slow Wifi Network

Hi All,
I have a airport extreme setup as the Wireless access port to a network. The LAN network is a Gigabit network. When I ping the server/router via the network I do get a ping of 0.400ms. However when we go via the Wifi the airport extreme give us connect of a very high ping.
Ping has started…
PING 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=128 time=8.471 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=128 time=2.605 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=128 time=2.419 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=128 time=2.780 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=128 time=3.030 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=128 time=1.914 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 6
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=128 time=2.348 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=128 time=2.220 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=128 time=12.246 ms
--- 192.168.1.1 ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 9 packets received, 10.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 1.914/4.226/12.246/3.410 ms
We have changed the CH to 1,6,11 but still the same problem. We have tried the settings on more than one Airport Extreme.
Just to recap. The ADSL(Internet) Router is giving DCHP address via the LAN network to the Airport Extreme. The Airport is connected to the LAN via the WAN port.
Any advise will be great!!

Hi All,
I have a airport extreme setup as the Wireless access port to a network. The LAN network is a Gigabit network. When I ping the server/router via the network I do get a ping of 0.400ms. However when we go via the Wifi the airport extreme give us connect of a very high ping.
Ping has started…
PING 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=128 time=8.471 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=128 time=2.605 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=128 time=2.419 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=128 time=2.780 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=128 time=3.030 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=128 time=1.914 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 6
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=128 time=2.348 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=128 time=2.220 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=128 time=12.246 ms
--- 192.168.1.1 ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 9 packets received, 10.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 1.914/4.226/12.246/3.410 ms
We have changed the CH to 1,6,11 but still the same problem. We have tried the settings on more than one Airport Extreme.
Just to recap. The ADSL(Internet) Router is giving DCHP address via the LAN network to the Airport Extreme. The Airport is connected to the LAN via the WAN port.
Any advise will be great!!

Airport extreme slow blinking amber light. Can't see through airport utility.

Unsuccesful trying to reset. On a hard reset, it still goes from steady amber to slow blinking amber. Never get a rapid blinking amber light. Have tried to connect directly to it via ethernet and airport utility doesn't see it. Any help?

I have this same issue. Internet works, I can connect to it, but i doesn't show in the Airport Utility. Also, it doesn't let me connect to other computers or my AirDIsk. I am using 10.5. Unplug and plugin style reset fixes it...for a while. Any ideas anyone?

Slow Airport Extreme 5th Gen Data Transfer

Airport Extreme Slow Data Transfer
When transferring files between PC – Nas, Nas – PC, & PC – PC my speeds are extremely slow (1.3 – 3.3mbps). Files range in size from 350mbps to 4gb. Here is my set-up:
Acer Aspire 5532 Win 7 x64 (internal 5ghz nic)
Toshiba Toshiba Satellite C655 Ubuntu 12.04 (internal 5ghz nic)
Gateway GT5418E Win 7 x64 (USB 2ghz nic)
Iomega 2TB Nas
Seagate GoFlex Home 3TB Nas
5th Generation Airport Extreme
Firmware Version: 7.6.3
Wireless Security: WPA2 Personal
Channel: 149 (automatic), 11 Automatic
Radio Mode: 80211.n Only (5ghz) – 80211n Only (2.4ghz)
Multicast Rate: High (also tried low and medium)
Use Wide Channels: Checked
2nd Generation Airport Extreme 5ghz extended network
It doesn’t seem to make a difference if I am using the extended network or sitting 5 feet from the primary (either band) with the extended disabled. I ran a LAN Speed test: averaging 12 – 16mbps write and 20+ read. Any advice would be helpful!
Thanks!

Hi madtytan,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
These settings will help ensure maximum performance, security, and reliability when using Wi-Fi.
For more information on this, take a look at this article:
iOS and OS X: Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4199
Best of luck,
Mario

Internet very slow after changing my previous airport extreme to my new 2T TC

Hi,
I just got a new 2T time capsule to replace my Airpot Extreme that worked fine. After installing it I chose to import a previous wifi network to the new TC and my internet became very slow. I read a few online documents sugesting that the internet slows down when backing up large data, but I dont think it is backing up (I did a force quit on systems preferences that "froze" with the cursor becoming a spinning ball) and after that tryed to restart my mac pro, but it has been recovering space from file vault for 2 hours. I am trying to access the internet from my mac air, but the speed is 10% of what I usually get.
Any suggestions? Starting to regret getting the TC, I had high expectations about it.
Thanks
Rubens

Thanks William.
I got help from Apple by phone and aparrently after importing the old airport extreme configurations, my time capsule ended with wrong "Radio channel selection" and after changing the 2.4Ghz to 9 and the 5Hhz to 157 the internet connection is back to normal. thanks

Time Capsule with an Airport Extreme bridge resulted in slow LAN speeds

Wondering if other people are seeing this. I am unsure if this was a result of upgrading both my TC and AEx to 7.6, but my LAN speeds had suffered in this configuration.
1. Comcast cable modem connected to the WAN port on my TC.
2. Connected an ethernet cat6 cable from the TC to my Airport Extreme, which was configured as a bridge.
3. My desktop was connected to the Airport Extreme.
4. When doing file transfers within the LAN or general internet usuage, my network speeds were extremely low.
5. Disconnected the cat6 cable from the TC and plugged that directly to my desktop.
6. Network speed jumps up by a factor of 5. LAN file transfers and internet usuage has returned to what I had expected.
Is there a known issue where a bridged AEx conncted to another Airport "main" device will result in all machines connected via the AEx to have slow LAN speeds?
I didn't see this issue months ago. I did less than 2 months ago upgrade our machines to the 7.6 firmware, but after experiencing some hiccups on the network, reverted back to 7.5.2. However, the slow LAN speeds haven't gone away when the two airport machines are connected to each other.
Any insight or advise is appreciated.

By now, millions of users have updated to 7.6 and I cannot recall seeing a post similar to yours on this forum.
As far as a "known issue", you would need to contact Apple regarding that.
Suggest that you have the AirPort checked out at an Apple store if you have one near you.

Airport Extreme extremely slow

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for