Airport Extreme regularly goes offline

We have our computer network online using an airport extreme (about 4 years old), we also have an airport express that helps to extend our network. We have an issue with the airport regularly dropping our internet signal, basically it just goes offline for no apparent reason and due to the history I'm pretty sure it is the airport and not our cable modem.
To correct this problem I usually just unplug the airport and unplug the cable modem and this usually resolves the problem. I've had this problem in the past, and it got to the point where this no longer fixed the problem. I brought the airport to a mac genius bar and they reset it back to factory settings and that resolved the problem for about two months. Now the problem is back again, and the airport tends to drop our signal 5+ times a day (it would probably do it more, but we're not home for a good portion of the day to reset it).
As far as I know the airport is up to date on its firmware (v5.7), airport express v6.3. Any help you can give to correct this really annoying problem would be greatly appreciated.

The usual cause for this is RF interference from other devices operating at 2.4 GHz. If you can't remove the devices causing interference, you can change the channel used by the AirPort Extreme base station (AEBS) until you find a channel which works better or you run out of channels.
KB 58543, AirPort: Potential sources of interference

Similar Messages

Airport express constantly going offline

My airport express is going off line repeatedly. It wokred for the last few years as repeater with no problem. I have re-booted my airport Extrem every time and the express comes back on again. It would be great if someone could help me.
I have the latest OS X 10.9.2 on my IMac. My extrem is up to date. My netwrok has excelent connection showing. No idea why this keeps happening.
Appreciate your help

Apple's Wireless Diagnostics may supply some additional helpful information.
To use it, hold an option key while you click your Mac's Wi-Fi icon, and choose Open Wireless Diagnostics...
The following authentication dialog will appear:
Authenticate with your Admin password, then click the Continue button in the following:
The network analysis and diagnostic tests will take several minutes to complete:
When it completes, if your wireless network is functioning properly the following will result:
If something is amiss, supposedly the results will be different and you will be presented with helpful information.
Assuming your connection is "working as expected" select Continue to summary and click Continue:
Ignore the pre-populated text field, which is provided as a place for you to type in additional information should Apple ask for it in the course of obtaining technical assistance from them. Apple has no way of knowing where your router is located in your home, and certainly doesn't know if you even have an upstairs bedroom closet.
Click Continue.
The next step will also take a few minutes:
When it finishes, you will be presented with a summary that may or may not be useful to you. Let me know if it is.
The WirelessDiagnostics-xxx.tar.gz file deposited on your Desktop can be dragged to the Trash, or you may wish to expand it and examine its contents. It's up to you.

Airport extreme says printer 'offline'

I've spent some time adding a new printer to my list (of 2) in airport extreme, but each time I try to print wirelessly, it tells me the new printer is 'offline'. What am I doing wrong? Everything is plugged in, the printer appears in the list in airport, I've done everything I can think of. HELP!

Might be a good idea to work through the Printer Troubleshooting Guide to see if that provides a missing step.
Remember, if you open a document to print, you will have to select the specific printer that want to print to.
Finally, not all printers are compatible with the USB port on the AirPort Extreme. If you review all of the steps in the troubleshooting guide and things still don't work, that may unfortunately be the case here.

AirPort Extreme signal goes to zero

My AirPort Extreme base station is about 11 months old. Worked flawlessly for several months, then a few months ago it developed a problem in that the wireless signal strength (as seen by an iBook, two PowerBooks and a PowerMac G4 all using Apple cards) sometimes goes to ZERO. No bars, and the network disappears from the menu on all the clients, even the one sitting 10 feet away. Visually, only the center light is on, steady white. The problem is corrected by unplugging/replugging the power cord on the base station.
This sometimes occurs 2-3 times a day, sometimes it does not occur for several days in a row. It has happened in the middle of the day with all users active and it has happened at night with no one active (noticed when the first user tried to connect next morning). The problem may have started with a new level of AirPort software or firmware (we are running the latest available of both, with 3 clients on 10.4.8 and one on 10.3.9) but since the problem is sporadic we didn't associate it with any patch at the time.
The base station is running infrastructure mode, bridging to a wired Ethernet network, so it is not acting as DHCP server. (The wired network clients see no disruption in service when the AirPort goes dead.) 128-bit WEP and access control by MAC address are active.
Any ideas?
PowerMac G4 MDD Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hmmm, unfortunately, it sounds like the AirPort Extreme card inside your AEBS maybe faulty. Since you already know connecting wired clients to the AEBS is not an issue, would it be possible to remove the AEBS from the current network configuration, and install it as a new standalone wireless network...and then check to see if repeats the drop-outs when wireless clients connect to it? The rationale would be to eliminate any possibility that when it's connected to a wired network may be the cause of the wireless drop-outs.

HT1515 why does my airport express keep going offline?

i use airport for air play but it keeps going into flashing amber light about every week. why?

I found on some non-Apple tech sites some interesting info. One guy was having the same exact issues and wrote a script to see what was going on between the Airport base station and the Airport Expresses. It appears that the two devices were having security verification issues and that is why the Airport Expresses get getting knocked offline. In other words, when they talk with each other they fail the security verification and the Airport Expresses go haywire.
So the solution is to turn off the security on both the Airport base station and the Airport Expresses through the Airport Utility. Then, on the Airport base station you check the option to create a closed network. In other words, your wi-fi network is now unprotected but it is not broadcasting to anyone that it is there. From then on, you will have to choose "other" on your laptops/iPads/iPhones/etc and type in your wi-fi network's name rather than just choosing your wi-fi network from a list of options.
I did this a few weeks back and I have had zero issues since the very moment I did the above steps. The network is 100% reliable and faster. No more rebooting. Is it a tad bit unprotected? Yes, but no one knows the network is there. If someone is smart enough to be looking for non-broadcasting wi-fi networks and finding yours, then they are sophisticated enough to defeat your normal security protocols anyway. Maybe if Apple ever decides to fix this problem, which appears they might not be interested in doing, then you could go back to normal security protocols. But until then, this works wonderfully. Give it a try and see.

Airport Extreme not going through walls.

in my room I get full bars with the AE, but as soon as I put any wall inbetween me and the base station, i lose all connectivity. Not much of a point to have wireless if I cant have my room, I would have thought for $199 it would have been better Anyone know anything I can do to get it to go like 40-50 feet with a couple of walls inbetween me and the station. Thanks for any help

I guess its not the walls, I can go into the very next room, set the computer on a desk that is at about the exact same point of the base station, just on opposite sides of the wall and I get full reception.. I guess it just cant take being 20-30 feet away... I also tried making sure the antenna of the airport card in my 12' powerbook g4 was plugged in and it seems to be. But I guess it wouldnt be that if I am able to connect to my neighbors network, which im sure is well over 60 feet away from me, through many walls.

Airport Extreme wireless no longer working. Need help!

Until a couple of days ago, I had my brand new Airport Extreme (ver 7.2.1) connected to a cable modem and everything was ok. My Macbook and my Airport Extreme were going wireless fast and easy.
After moving out of town, I’ve changed internet provider and I had to buy a ethernet modem, thus I bought a NETGEAR ADSL2+ modem (model DM111P) and suddenly I lost my wireless connectivity.
The modem looks working just fine. Infact, if I connect my Macbook to the modem NETGEAR DM111P with an ethernet cable, everything is ok.
Also, if I connect my Airport Extreme to the modem NETGEAR DM111P with an ethernet cable, and than I connect the Macbook to the Airport Extreme with another ethernet cable, everything is still fine: I can surf the web without any problems.
But when I try to go “wireless”, my Macbook is not able to find any base. I tried reseting my Airport Extreme to the factory settings and starting over, but It is impossible to “configure” the airport express wireless, because the Macbook doesn’t see it.
I’ve tried also with a wireless pc, but it was not able to find any wireless device.
I tried reseting my modem NETGEAR DM111P and my Airport Extreme to the factory settings and starting over again and I’m still not able to establish a wireless network. I can only access to the internet via ethernet cable. I’ve also turned off encryption. The computer still didn’t see the network. The IP address looks to be valid: 10.0.1.1.
I don’t know what else to do.
Is the Airport Extreme to be considered out of order and should I obtain warranty service or it is just a matter of settings? If so, what kink of settings?

I have been having a similar problem using 802.11g
with the netgear DM111p it's happy with ethernet but apparently has compatibility issues with AEBS
I found a number of reviews from AEBS users who have effectively given up trying to make this work
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wo/StoreReentry.wo?productLe arnMore=TK797
I'd say both companies should find a workaround

Airport Extreme only works behind a router

Yesterday my cable modem suffered some kind of malady, rendering it inoperable. Don't know what happened, but it just stopped working. Time Warner replaced it, but now I've got the following problem.
The original cable modem went to an SMC Barricade router, and one of the LAN ports was connected to the WAN port on my Airport Extreme. Other ports on the router were used for connecting an old G4 (no wifi card) and a printer (Laserwriter 320 with Farallon iPrint interface). Our laptops connected to the Airport Extreme and the G4 accessed the internet through the router.
With the new cable modem, if I connect the router to it, nothing can access the internet. Putting the G4 on the cable modem by ethernet works, so the cable modem is working. I think whatever took out the cable modem, took out the SMC router, too. I can't even get the G4 to print through the router, so I think it's toast.
When I hook up the Airport Extreme to the cable modem, my laptops can see the Airport network fine, and under network status it says they are connected to the Airport network and are on the Internet, but no web page ever loads and eventually I get a statement in my browser that I'm not connected to the internet and to use Network Diagnostics. Network Diagnostics never finds and error and says to contact my ISP. HOWEVER, if I connect the G4's ethernet cable to the LAN port on the Airport Extreme, the G4 can access the internet, no problem. It's like the Airport Extreme will allow an ethernet LAN connection to the internet, but not a wireless connection. And I've got great signal strength and by all appearances everything should be working wirelessly, but they're not.
Then I remembered I had my sister-in-laws NetGear N wifi router in storage (I wish I could keep it, but I'm holding her stuff while she's moving and she'll want it back). I hooked it up to the cable modem and we could access wireless internet, and the G4 and printer could as well through the ethernet ports on the router. So it's not an ISP issue, it's an Airport issue.
On a lark, I hooked up the Airport Extreme to one of the LAN ports on the Netgear router. Now my laptops can access the internet through the Airport Extreme. ??????
Why is it that I can wireless connect to the internet when the Airport Extreme is going through the NetGear N router, but not when it is connected to the cable modem directly? With the original cable modem it was going through a router, too. Why won't it work when wired directly to the cable modem?
Update -- I did see that connection sharing was set to off (bridge mode). However, when I change it to "share a public IP address" and update it, I get an error that the DHCP address conflicts with the WAN IP address and to change it. The WAN IP of the Airport Extrme is 192.168.2.2. I've changed the beginning and end DHCP addresses to numbers much larger, like 192.168.2.100 - 192.168.2.200, but it still tells me that's a conflict. I don't see how that range could be a problem, so what am I missing?

I performed a reset on it from within the Airport Utility, but got an error after updating saying it couldn't connect to the AEBS. No signal from the base station. Hmmmm.
Then I pushed the reset button on the AEBS itself. I still couldn't see it wirelessly. I hooked up an ethernet cable to the LAN port on the AEBS, then I could access it.
I put in all the old values and I could now get a signal from the AEBS, so I disconnected the ethernet cable. But for whatever reason I couldn't access any web pages wirelessly, although the Network pref pane said I was connected by Airport.
I power cycled the cable modem. No change.
I checked every setting I could in the Airport Utility, nothing seemed amiss, but it wasn't getting an IP address. Embroiled in frustration, I restarted the base station.
And Voila! I can now access the internet wirelessly.
So, I think some serious ghost got in the machine, but a couple of resets, and a restart, and it seems to be working.
Next, let me hook up the ethernet printer and see if it "sees" it over the network. Ah, yes it does.
And I swapped an old airport card out of a laptop and put it in the G4, so it's wireless now, too.
Problem seems to be solved.
Thank you very much for your assistance.

Had a Airport Express connected to my stereo and it was working. I brought an Airport Extreme and suddenly it took over and Airport Express stopped working and disappeared from Airport Utility. What I am supposed to do? ar2ro

I have an Airport Express connected to my stereo and it was working without any problem.
Recently I bought an Airport Extreme to use it as my Base Unit connecting it to my DSL.
I followed the instructions of the Airport Utility, and it started working.
Suddenly, problems started happen the Airport express that was connected to the stereo , stopped working and it disappeared from the Airport Utility area , as it did not exist in the network. I tried to reset it but it did not appear in the Airport Utility page.
Apparently I have other problems with the private network that it created because I cannot use it because of problems with the password that was created. I can only use the network that I created for my guest...
I dont know if my problem is a configuration problem or there is problem with the equipment.
I read that other users where having the same problem with the Airport express , using non apple equipment as their base unit , but I thought that using the Airport Extreme was going to be compatible and no problems would happen.
What should I do?

Common Problem. Common solution.
Connect your Express via ethernet cable to the Mac while other network connections on the Mac are switched OFF.
After the Express shows up, change the settings of the Express to join the existing network. Take the appr. settings.
Unplug and reconnect your Mac to the network.
Check if the Express shows up in Airport Utility
Alternative solution:
Hardreset the Express to factory settings
(while on power push the Pin next to the audio plug with a paperclip. Plug out the Express still holding down the little button then replug the Express to power and release button)
After that, the Express will show up in the Airport Utility.
Make all needed settings.
I would prefer the first solution, its easier just to plug a cat5 cable.

Setting up Airport Extreme

Hello All, I'm going to become a first-time mac user very soon and was wondering if the experienced community could help me with a question.
I currently do not have a wireless network in my home. I have an old PC that is connected to a cable modem through Ethernet and a fairly new Brother MFC-7340 printer/fax that is also not wireless and connected to the PC through USB. I am going to buy a macbook laptop and want to buy the airport extreme. If I plug my PC to the airport through an Ethernet cable and the printer to the airport extreme through a USB cable, will I be able to print both wirelessly from my macbook and through the wired connection from my PC?
Thanks in advance
Kelly

The model of printer that you have is not on the list of compatible devices provided by the iFelix site, http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/8013.html . That doesn't mean that it won't work....it likely has not been tested yet.
Therefore, your best bet (assumiing that you do not get a response from a user who has actually tried this) is going to be contacting Brother to ask them if the device will work with an AirPort Extreme.
Going on averages, there's about a 75% chance that the print function will work when the device is connected to the USB port on the AirPort Extreme. It won't matter whether devices are connected to the AirPort Extreme using wireless or Ethernet.
But, only printing will be supported if the Brother device is compatible. If you need fax, maintenance, etc., you will still need to connec the Brother directly to your computer.

Airport Extreme missing, blinking yellow

I'm in the middle of setting up my AEBS, when suddenly it dissapeared from the Airport Utility scan. Now I only have a blinking yellow light, and no base station to choose (or configure). I've powered down, and resent via the reset button on the back of the AEBS. Still no base station in Utility. How do I "see"my base station again????

When the AirPort Extreme (AEBS) goes missing, try an Ethernet cable connection from your Mac to one of the LAN <-> ports on the AEBS to establish a direct connection, rather than wireless....which can be problematic
You may need to perform a Factory Default Reset again to get things back to a starting point again.
To do that....
Pull the power plug from the back of the AEBS
Wait a moment or two
Hold in the reset button and continue to hold it in an additional 8-10 seconds while you plug the power back in to the AEBS
Release the reset button and allow 25--30 seconds for the AEBS to restart to a slow, blinking amber light
You can keep the Ethernet cable connected to the AEBS until you have it updated with new settings, then you can remove it if you wish
Post back if you need a few more setup tips

Setup and connections for 3 airport extremes and 2 switches?

I'm finally getting ethernet wiring in my house rather having to rely on just wireless, but due to the lath and plaster walls I'll still end up having a separate Airport Extreme 802.11ac unit on each floor, otherwise the signal drops off dramatically with dead spots. I'm assuming that I should no longer do an extended network between the airport extremes, but I'm not sure of the proper wiring between the ethernet switches I'll have, the airport extremes, etc. either. Here's the gear...
2nd floor
cable modem
8 port ethernet switch
main airport extreme, should provide DHCP and NAT
cable modem plugs into the main switch
airport extreme plugs into the main switch
1st floor
airport extreme
there will be an ethernet cable from the basement ethernet switch to the 1st floor unit, which is the only feasible hardwire connection that I can make unless I pull a second long run of ethernet from the second floor, go to the basement and then back over to the first floor connection spot.
Basement
airport extreme
second 8 port ethernet switch
there will be an ethernet cable running from the 2nd floor ethernet switch to the basement switch
There are also additional airport express boxes attached to audio equipment and an AppleTV attached to an AV receiver for TV. Various printers, game consoles, etc. will plug into the ethernet switches.
As described above, all connections are going to the switches, not coming out of the main airport extreme and going to another airport extreme.
First of all, is the wiring described make sense or should it be handled differently?
Secondly, rather than an extended network, since I'll have hardwire ethernet connections between switches to all of the airports, what is the proper network topology to use in the airport utility? Does each of the three airports end up being their own wireless network, but just sharing the same name for 802.11 b/g, n, and ac? Any links to help me figure this out or do I need to make an Apple genius appointment?

2nd floor
cable modem
8 port ethernet switch
main airport extreme, should provide DHCP and NAT
cable modem plugs into the main switch
airport extreme plugs into the main switch
What is the make and model number of the modem?
If it is a simple modem....(not a modem/router or gateway device)....you cannot have an Ethernet switch between the simple modem and the AirPort Extreme.
Instead, the modem must connect to the AirPort Extreme, and the Ethernet switch then connects to the AirPort Extreme.
However, if your "modem" is a modem/router or gateway device.....you could connect the Ethernet switch to the modem/router......but you would not configure the AirPort Extreme to provide DHCP and NAT.....since the modem/router or gateway would already be providing those services.
Let's get this clarified before we go any further, since the entire network will depend on this.

Regularly lose connection with Airport Extreme

We have our computer network online using an airport extreme (about 4 years old), we also have an airport express that helps to extend our network. We have an issue with the airport regularly dropping our internet signal, basically it just goes offline for no apparent reason and due to the history I'm pretty sure it is the airport and not our cable modem.
To correct this problem I usually just unplug the airport and unplug the cable modem and this usually resolves the problem. I've had this problem in the past, and it got to the point where this no longer fixed the problem. I brought the airport to a mac genius bar and they reset it back to factory settings and that resolved the problem for about two months. Then the problem came back again, and the airport would drop our signal 5+ times a day. Someone suggested changing the channel on which the airport sends its signal. That seemed to help at first, some channels better than others, but again, each channel would lose the signal after a few days and we'd have to go on to resetting it. It's been working reasonably well on channel 8, but not it's gone back to dropping our signal at least once a day, if not 3-4 times a day.
As far as I know the airport is up to date on its firmware (v5.7), airport express v6.3. Any help you can give to correct this really annoying problem would be greatly appreciated.

Try using iStumbler's Inspector feature (select Edit > Inspector from iStumbler's menu) to determine the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) at different points around your house, by performing a simple RF site survey. Within the Inspector, note the values for "signal" & "noise" at these locations. This would be better done if you can use a laptop. Start with the laptop near the base station, note the readings, and then, choose the locations where you will typically use your computers to access the Internet.
SNR is the signal level (in dBm) minus the noise level (in dBm). For example, a signal level of -53dBm measured near an access point and typical noise level of -90dBm yields a SNR of 37dB, a healthy value for wireless LANs.
The SNR, as measured from the laptop, decreases as the range to the base station increases because of applicable free space loss. Also an increase in RF interference from microwave ovens and cordless phones, which increases the noise level, also decreases SNR.
SNR Guideline
o 40dB+ SNR = Excellent signal
o 25dB to 40dB SNR = Very good signal
o 15dB to 25dB SNR = Low signal
o 10dB to 15dB SNR = Very low signal
o 5dB to 10dB SNR = No signal
If the SNR is 20dB+ at each of these locations, then you should be getting reasonable performance from your AirPort. If less, either try to locate the source of the Wi-Fi interference or try relocating either the base station or the wireless clients until they are within a 20dB SNR range.

Extremes (Access Point Mode, Bridged) Constantly Going Offline

I have multiple Extremes (all standalone access point mode, bridged with static IPs) randomly going offline. Each Extreme is connected directly to a main switch. Status lights always remain green however I cannot ping the devices, they do not show up in the Airport Utility and they cease to be accessible/visible via WIFI. Plus, when this happens, I often can STILL connect to devices (e.g. printers) that are plugged into the LAN ports of the "offline" Extremes.
They appear to drop randomly, i.e. not under any particularly heavy load or anything. When I feel them physically, they don't feel unusually warm or anything.
Thoughts? I have already done a hard reset and reconfig on one of the problem devices.

Hello Julesomar,
It sounds like your Airport Extreme is having intermitent connectivity issues. You have already done what I would have started with by resetting the device. I recommend next troubleshooting for sources of interference with the following article:
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: Potential sources of wireless interference
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1365
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
All the very best,
Sterling

Airport Extreme Offline

I have an Airport Extreme 802.11n which goes offline intermittently. I usually leave my MacBook Pro on and sleeping and when I wake it up, I usually get an IP address. Once in a while, lately more often, I will have no connectivity. When I check the Network Preference pane and check Airport I the MacBook Pro has no IP address. When I try to connect using Airport Utility I can't find the Airport Extreme. When I check the Airport Extreme, the green light is on and all looks fine but I have to reboot it to gain access (get an IP address). It's using firmware 7.4.2. Not sure what to do to get it to stay online.

Welcome to the discussions, Bob!
+I have an older igloo airport extreme and every few days it will drop internet connectivity+
If the problem seems to have started recently, that would be a clue that someone near you has probably setup a new wireless network that may be interfering with your signal, or there may even be a new cordless phone next door that is causing some issues.
(My neighbor...across the street...can literally knock me off the internet if he happens to walk out his front door talking on his cordless phone; something I found out only by accident one day)
The easiest potential solution, without downloading utilities to try to identify other networks near you, is to simply experiment by changing the channel on your wireless network to see if you can find some better airspace. Keep a record so you can track your changes, what works better, what doesn't, etc.
Here's how to change the channel on your wireless:
Open Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility
Click Manual Setup
Click the Wireless tab below the row of icons
The Channel setting is on this page
Click Update to save your changes and the Airport Extreme will take about 20-25 seconds to restart again.
Maybe start on the high channel...11 and try that first, then work down from there as the lower channels 1 tend to be more crowded, but there are no hard and fast rules.
Hopefully, there are not too many networks around you and you'll be able to find the "right" channel.

Airport Extreme regularly goes offline

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