Airport Extreme Sudden Speed Problems

Router: Latest Airport Extreme model with the most up to date firmware
Main Device: 2012 Retina 15" running 10.9.4
Problem
I am having a rather unusual problem with my router. Until about 3 days ago, my computer iPad and other devices had consistent internet connection quality and speed. Now I am experiencing a slow internet connection, constant dropped calls in Skype, failure to access that App store, and a host of other internet problems on my Retina display 2012 15" macbook as well as slow connection on my iPad and iPhone. Websites will "hang" as they begin to load, nothing will happen, and then they will load a bit later. Streaming of videos is very slow and large file streaming and downloading is significantly inhibited (if it works at all). I have a fast broadband connection that is working very well with Xbox live (direct connection to the router) so I am quite sure that the router is the issue, not the internet connection. Interestingly, when I clock my speed my connection I get 10 and 1 mbps (using speedtest.net). I have all full wifi signal strength according to the indicator in the upper right.
Strange Airport Utility Readings
In airport utility, the internet symbol appears to be going orange (disconnected) and back to green. In the past, I have noticed a flashing orange light on my airport extreme but I would just restart it and it would go green. The light is currently green.
Troubleshooting
I have tried a factory reset and it has not done anything to help. I have tried changing the channel and it also does not seem to help.
Any help or direction would be much appreciated. I am hoping this is a problem that can be resolved here at home but I am beginning to suspect I may have a faulty router.

Yes, pack it up and take back to apple for checking / replacement. I think they are often unreliable.
See the long thread about this issue.
New Airport Extreme (6th Gen) Dropping Connection from Time to Time.
This has been ongoing since the AE gen6 came out..
And there are many many threads started like yours that don't get much attention.. but it is the same today..
Wireless issues with airport extreme for external sites only
And it is better to just let Apple deal with it..

Similar Messages

Why does a "linked" AirPort Extreme suddenly report problems?

I am stumped. I have a home network consisting of a new dual-band AirPort Extreme (which works flawlessly), an AirPort Express (which only rarely has problems) and an older "n" AirPort Extreme, which has recently begun to report problems on a daily basis. This is how it happens: I will be online with my MacBook (and I should add that no one else is online) and suddenly AirPort Utility will launch with the following message:
AirPort Utility found an AirPort Extreme with 802.11n (Fast Ethernet) that is reporting problems.
(Please note that this is NOT the AirPort Extreme I am connected to; I am connected to the 5 GHz band on the new AirPort Extreme.) When I attempt to resolve the problem by clicking Continue, or click on Manual Setup, I get the following message:
An error occurred while reading the configuration.
Make sure your Apple wireless device is plugged in and in range of your computer or connected via Ethernet and try again. (-6753)
The only way I can get the problematic AirPort Extreme to work is to do a hard reset and manually re-enter all settings. It then connects to the network perfectly -- until the same problem pops up the next day. What gives?

Is it possible one of your Airports isn't configured as a bridge, and is creating an IP address conflict?
You've "hard reset" the Extreme, but perhaps it's your other Extreme or the Express that's started to misbehave, leading you to think the problem is elsewhere. Have you reset them?
I'm reaching here; these are just two things that come to mind quickly.

AirPort Extreme HD causing problems

I've finally got my hard disk (Maxtor OneTouch 250GB) working with my AirPort Extreme.
The problem is that I have folders with upto 80GB of files in them, which just dont open when I click on them. I'd rather not format the disk because I have way too much required data on it.
Is there any way of making the disk work perfectly without having to wait for 10 mintues for a folder to open (which may/may not open and causes the HD to be disconnected)?

Actually although my hard disk is connected via AirPort Extreme, my iMac is connected to the network on Ethernet. So my iMac isn't using the wireless at all to connect to the hard disk.
My hard disk has stopped going offline randomly, but it doesn't make a difference anymore because I can't even open any of the folders on the hard disk.
I was told that if I formatted the hard disk and created smaller folders then the computers on the network would be able to access files faster.
I'm trying not to format my hard disk, so if anyone has an alternative solution that solves this then I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

My Atv2 is very slow movies and shows take forever to load it plays for a few minutes then pauses again. I thought if was a problem with my wireless router but I replaced it with a new airport extreme and the problem persists. Air play is just as slow.

My Atv2 is very slow with both AirPlay and rented and purchased content I spoke to apple rep and tried the things he suggested but the problem persists. Now it requires more lead time then the lenght of material being viewed. I haves broadband internet connection and airport extreme router so I don't think this should be a problem. Lately every time the unit goes to the screen saver an error message come up saying there was an error while loading content please try again later and you have to all over again. It is extremely frustrating. Any suggestions? What speed of transfer should I expect using AirPlay ?

I'm having the same issue. Ay fixes? Bought ATV today, music streams but videos don't and mirroring doesn't work either. Start mirror and severe lag then just drops. Been trying for couple hours. About ready to return it.

Airport extreme suddenly no more internet, tried it all, nothing works

so here i'm diving into my big PC to MAC project. first, bought a new macbook air & an airport extreme 802.11n box a couple of weeks ago. it all worked perfectly for about 3 days. during my installation of it all i got also the firmware updated on the airport extreme automatically to 7.3.1 and even then had no problems for the first 3 days even had another home pc wireless connected.
suddenly now though internet does not work anymore. the white box is connected to a VDSL (super fast connection here in korea) modem. thought something was wrong with that first, got a tech guy in but he showed me all worked well if i connected via a single ethernet cable.
then, when i run diagnostics out of safari (when i get prompted after a while) it shows me that the internet does not work but i'm connected to the white box. during that process, i'm asked to turn the modem on and off and then i can actually can get ONE single page downloaded wireless and then it stops again.
i have read a lot of comments recently from people experiencing time outs or also loss of internet from turning machines off and on for 15 minutes to changing ipv6 settings to downgrade the firmware to 7.2.1 . i have done it all and the best i can get is one page, atfer running that diagnostics prompt within safari.
i'm at the end with my limited mac knowledge and i'm ready to throw the box out of my home office. i start to wonder if my pc to mac strategy was right. i had alrady a headache getting xp installed onto parallels for my couple of windows applications that i can't replace with mac software and now this.
IF anybody has any more ideas, they will be much appreciated, thanks from seoul.

thanks for that dchao99. yes maybe the thing is simply broken .
1) yes can do that of course but that kind of defeats the purpose of having a wireless box and does not help me with my other machines in the home as they are too far away from it. i will test it of course as it will be interesting to see if in that way, the internet will at least work
2) yes i can see it and even upload firmware etc. just no internet connection anymore .
3) thanks will try that once i'm back home later this week (i'm on the road right now) and will let you know if it made a difference. if not , i guess i will finally have to get mac-support korea on the phone somehow as they don't work on weekends and thats mainly when i'm home...

Airport Extreme n Speed - What Apple Advertises

I successfully set up my airport extreme n router, updated the firmware, and have an all "n" network - the router is set to "n" only and my network adapters are all "n". Apple advertises on its Apple Store website and so do many of its competitors up to a fivefold increase in speed for an "n" network over a "g" network - up to a 300 mbps speed for the extreme "n" router. I am getting, according to my windows computers, a 130mbps speed, a far cry from the advertisement. Apple says there is nothing wrong with the router so they cannot help. Does anyone have any ideas or are you experiencing anything similar? Point of Note: when I click "connect to a network" in Windows and hover my mouse over my network name - a popup appears saying "Radio Type - 802.11g". I have disabled my g adapters that are installed inside my notebooks so that should not be an issue. I have external adapter cards which are "n" and are the only enabled adapters. I will definitely appreciate anyone's help or experience with this speed issue. Thank you.
Dell Inspiron 8600, Mac: Original 17" Flat Panel Imac, Dell 9200c, and eMachine M6811 Windows Vista
Dell Inspiron 8600, Dell Dimension 9200c, Mac Original 17" inch Flat Panel Imac, and eMachine M6811 Windows Vista

I also have an Apple TV. I don't believe that there has been a significant problem with streaming from iTunes to the Apple TV (this is not an Apple TV forum so I want to make this quick). Where things really slow down is when you are syncing your computer (iTunes Library) and downloading songs to the Apple TV via a wireless system - it is really really slow. I downloaded 4000 tracks from my G5 tower to the disk in my Apple TV and it took in the neighborhood of 12 hours. If I would have done it via ethernet it would have been much faster but the Apple TV and my main household computer are four floors apart.
Also note that my system, although I have an 802.11n AEBS, is all b/g - two desk tops and two laptops.
I also have three Expresses at various levels of my house as part of a WDS that have powered speakers attached and to extend range and they all work flawlessly with superb sound from my JBL Thing speakers. Couldn't be happier.

Airport Extreme IP address problem

Until about three weeks ago I had no trouble with my Airport network. All three computers (with my iMac as the base station) had no problem connecting to the internet. Then, with no changes, my network began to slow down. I went through all of the basic trouble shooting and contacted Charter, our cable modem service provider.
After 90 minuites of telephone trouble shooting, nothing was resolved. They sent a techie out the following week, who immediately told us that they were not trained in Mac format, installed a new cable modem (said the other was out of date), and still no solution. After a few minutes of updating through the Airport Extreme's utility, we had brief service. Then, we lost all service through Airport, and have extremely slow service without it, even though we are subscribed at the highest speed service (5Mb) we have available. The base station's IP address is not showing up as 1. HELP!
iBook; iMac; MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8) Airport Extreme Network
iBook; iMac; MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8) Airport Extreme Network

Thanks, got it!
Try the following:
AirPort Extreme Base Station Setup (AEBS) w/High-Speed Cable Modem
Modem/Router Power ReCycling
- Power-off the Cable modem, AEBS, & computer(s). (If possible, leave the modem off overnight.)
- Power-on the Cable modem; Wait at least 30 minutes.
- Power-on the AEBS; Wait at least 5 minutes.
- Power-on the computer(s)
Perform a "hard" reset of the AEBS.
- (ref: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107451)
Setup the AEBS
With the network components powered down, set up the AEBS, using the AirPort Admin Utility, connect your computer directly (using an Ethernet cable) to the LAN port of the AEBS, and then, try these settings:
AirPort tab
- Base Station Name: <whatever you wish or use the default>
- AirPort Network Name: <whatever you wish or use the default>
- Create a closed network (unchecked)
- Wireless Security: Not enabled
- Channel: Automatic
- Mode: 802.11b/g Compatible
Internet tab
- Connect Using: Ethernet
- Configure: Using DHCP
- WAN Ethernet Port: Automatic
Network tab
- Distribute IP addresses (checked)
- Share a single IP address (using DHCP & NAT) (enabled)

Airport extreme/hard drive problems

Any advice appreciated...
Our airport extreme only intermittently recognizes our Lace hard drive and it's driving us crazy. We bought macbook, the airport, and hard drive at the same time (yes we abandoned the PC world) and had a friend hook it up. For two months everything worked fine and we even hooked our printer to the airport and printed wirelessly.
Then for no particular reason, the harddrive disappeared and we can no longer access it wirelessly. We can, however, plug the harddrive USB into the Macbook and we can use the harddrive perfectly. Also, interesting, if we open airport utility and click on "disks", the harddrive is there, but it doesn't show up on the desktop or Finder and we can't access it.
I've called Apple tech support numerous times (We bought the extra service, but sadly that didn't keep us from having to spend an extremely obnoxious time on hold. We thought Apples were supposed to easy. but that's another story..). So far, we did get the airport and Macbook to recognize the hard drive by simultaneously renaming the harddrive and unplugging the hard drive and Airport. That worked for exactly 18 hours. Then the harddrive disappeared again. I called tech support twice but after 45 minutes on hold each time, I lost my patience. (They make us hold for the first step, then hold again for the product specialists. Gee we sure are glad we spent extra for the extended service!)
Other interesting tidbits: We've never had a problem with wireless internet service and have always been able to wireless send jobs to the printer.
Any ideas?
Signed and thank you,
Not so sure switching to Apple was a good move.

This is the most acceptable solution I have come up with:
Either go to the DHCP tab under internet settings on the router and "reserve" IP numbers for any hardware that interacts with the drive or manually set IP numbers in your network instead of using DHCP. The problem occurs when an IP number to any computer connected to the drive changes unexpectedly. This would be whenever the DHCP lease renews if your computer is asleep when this happens. I have not had a single drive issue since I set this up.
If you need to access your drive from a remote location where you don't have control over how the network there operates, then avoid letting your computer sleep while it is connected to the drive.
I chose to manually assign an IP number to my desktop and also to remote base stations, however this is not so convenient for my laptop because it then wants to use the manual settings everywhere unless I set up another "location" which has to be manually changed. This is where reserving IP numbers under the DHCP tab was really useful. The laptops on my network are still getting their numbers from the DHCP server but the server knows to give each one the same number based on their MAC addresses.
If you take a look at the default settings for DHCP, you will notice that not all the available numbers are being assigned through the DHCP server. You can use numbers outside this range (other than x.x.x.255) for your manually assigned IP numbers and still have DHCP running for when guests come over to use your network.
Message was edited by: Tom Alperin

Airport Extreme Internet Speed Loss

Hello All,
Just bought a Airport Extreme base station and i have the following issue.
When i connect my iMac directly to the Cable Modem is receive a speed of:
UP: 9.97Mb/s
Down: 118.91Mb/s
Ping: 8ms
But when i connect my Base Station to my Modem and connect the iMac (wired) to the Basestation, i receive:
UP: 8.74Mb/s
Down: 78.90Mb/s
Ping: 9ms
This is nog occasional, this is each time i switch between Modem or Basestation.
Can this have to do something with the settings?
Please help...
Thanks,
Richard

Wow, I'm jealous. I pay $60 monthly for 30mbps. I've heard the US is way behind the rest of the developed world in internet access but I didn't know we were that far behind... Thanks for the reply.

Airport Extreme Upgrade Speed Increase???

1) We currently have an Airport Extreme version 7.6.4 in our home. What version of wireless is this running? How do we determine this?
2) How much speed will we gain if we upgrade to the newest version of the Airport Extreme which offers next-generation 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology (assuming that all of the portable devices in the house are upgraded as well to the newest technology)?
3) As part of this query, we have a Comcast modem that feeds straight into our current old Airport Extreme. To get any of the hoped for speed increases, would we have to do anything with this Comcast/Xfinity cable modem?
Sorry these are such basic questions that likely reflect my poor understanding of this technology. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Last question first.
3) As part of this query, we have a Comcast modem that feeds straight into our current old Airport Extreme. To get any of the hoped for speed increases, would we have to do anything with this Comcast/Xfinity cable modem?
The Internet connection speed on your network will not improve. That speed is limited by your modem and the plan that you have with your provider.
Right now, the current AirPort Extreme that you have is capable of far greater speeds than your service provider can ever hope to deliver, so a new AirPort Extreme will not provide any improvement in terms of Internet performance.
) How much speed will we gain if we upgrade to the newest version of the Airport Extreme which offers next-generation 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology (assuming that all of the portable devices in the house are upgraded as well to the newest technology)?
The wireless speed capability will double to triple over what you have now, but these higher speeds will only be realized when you have both an 802.11ac router and 802.11ac capable devices.
There are no 802.11ac capable iPhones or iPads, so you will pick up faster speeds on a new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or iMac, etc.
The faster speeds will only help you if you are copying data from one computer to another or making backups of one device to another.
As mentioned previously, your Internet connection speeds will remain the same that they are now.
We currently have an Airport Extreme version 7.6.4 in our home. What version of wireless is this running? How do we determine this?
Please look on the bottom of the AirPort Extreme to locate the model number. It will start with an "A" followed by four numbers. Example.....A1143......A1301.....A1354.....A1408.
Post back with the model number, and we will tell you a bit more about the product.

Airport Extreme modem speed

My Airport Extreme will connect at 28.8 only even though the Airport Utility modem is set for v90.. it never ever connects at any higher speed... the modem in the iBook will connect at higher speeds when directly pluged into phone line.. is there some restriction built into the Airport regarding connect speeds? Or some other settings I should try?
Stuck in dial-up country (ugh)
Bud Baker

A simple reset of powering off the AirPort Extreme for a minute, then powering it back up will force the device to conduct a scan of channels that are available for a wireless connection in your area, so hopefully that might improve things a bit.
If you are unlucky enough to live a crowded area like an apartment complex, condo, etc. there often are not enough wireless channels available to handle all of the wireless routers that are trying to use them. The result is overcrowding, with slow and/or dropped wireless connections.
You should not expect wireless to equal the speed of a direct connection, so if you have your computer about 10-15 feet away from the AirPort Extreme with line-of-sight between the devices, you might get 85%-90% of the direct connection speed. As the computer moves further away from the router, or there are any obstructions in the signal path between the computer and AirPort, the speed will drop as well.

Airport Extreme Maximum speed

I was wondering if the Airport Extreme has a maximum speed? I have the n version dual band.
I just got a QWest DSL yesterday and they try a speedtest and was accessing the web at 35 to 38MB (I'm paying for 40MB/s, so on the technician laptop the speed was impressive.
I hook they modem to my AE and wirelessly on my new iMac I get max 25MB.
Is there anything I could do to improve the speed regarding setting in my AE.
I can provide info but not sure what needed.
Thanks for any input
Thierry
Actually an update: I tried from QWest site: http://seattle.speedtest.qwest.net/ and I get 38MB. I try from the speedtest site: http://www.speedtest.net/ and I get 25MB. Both test are run from the same company: Ookla. Very strange
Thierry
Message was edited by: ThierryR

Welcome to the discussions, ThierryR!
I just got a QWest DSL yesterday and they try a speedtest and was accessing the web at 35 to 38MB (I'm paying for 40MB/s,
Most service providers specify the rate in Mbps, not MB, so I think you meant to use Mbps here.
I was wondering if the Airport Extreme has a maximum speed?
That would be 1000 Mbps for an ethernet connection
300 Mbps for a wireless connection on the 5 GHz band
130 Mbps for a wireless connecton on the 2.4 GHz band
As you can tell, your Internet connection is the major "choke" point on your network.
I hook they modem to my AE and wirelessly on my new iMac I get max 25MB.
25 Mbps is very good, about 4-5 times the average that most users are getting. There is always going to be some loss in the routing process and performance of the firewall in the AirPort Extreme. You may be able to bet a bit higher speed if the computer is closer to the AirPort Extreme and/or you minimize any obstructions in the signal path.

What's the actual Airport Extreme-N speed?

Hey guys, I'm starting to think about getting one of those nice Airport Extreme (n) stations for all the nice features it has (printer and hdd usb port).
I'm also looking at other brands such as Netgear or Belkin. They seems to be very bold to state what are their max speeds whereas Apple (as far as I've seen) doesn't really say what's the max speed. Apple only says it runs as fast as 2.5x, but what is that? 135Mbps?
Does that make sense? One of the Netgear products I was looking at states it runs at up to 270 Mbps.
Anyway, I suppose I'll have to think about it, there's many things to consider yet such as the price (of course), the features others offer, and also the possibility of a new Aiport Express-N base station coming soon (just to benefit from the AirTunes feature). This last thing I don't know for sure since somehow I've got the feeling that the AppleTV seems to be the ultimate Airport Express.
Any input is welcomed and thanked for.

All of the above use multiple streams of data to get speeds of 300Mbps or higher. The approved 802.11n draft, in fact, spells out data rates as high as 600Mbps in some cases. 802.11n will also have backward compatibility with current Wi-Fi products. Metalink's Rude says, "That interoperability is a market requirement that's not questioned — it's a given." Chances are good (though not guaranteed) that such "Pre-N" products using the above chips will be software upgradeable to the final 802.11n standard when it's finalized.
These fiqures apply to all N Draft Wireless Routers. (ALL)
Don

Installed airport extreme having range problems

i have a mac osx and installed an airport extreme in my house, and wanted to extend the range down to my shop which is aprox 300 ft away. it is a wood building with windows. i bought a express and placed it in the window at the shop and the light doesnt turn green. (express is working i tested it at the house) last weekend i took my ipad and walked to the shop and about halfway down the signal strenghth went from 3bars to 2bars,when i get into the the shop there is barely 1bar. i want to stream the nascar races this season and am just beside myself. my internet carrier sold me a high speed modem that doesnt seem to make any difference. do i need to place another express between house and shop? if so how do i weather proof it? can i run a dsl line down to the shop from my house and hook it up to the express? been messing with this for over a month with no success.. please help me!

the range of the Extreme is more like 150 ft as you have seen from your quick check with the iPad. To get an adequate signal in the shop you could run the DSL line out there and put in another modem, or you could run an ethernet cable from the Extreme to the shop and connect that to the Express and then use the wireless signal of hte Express. Putting an Extreme mid-way and prviding waterproof enclosure protection, and power will introduce more issues to deal with.

Airport Extreme and DYNDNS problem - TESSERAX PLEASE READ THIS

Good evening to all.
I've a problem with the configuration of an airport base station with dynamic DNS.
I followed the advice of TESSERAX here, but without success: airport does not connect to DynDNS and does not update the IP address.
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3413
Days ago I was able to run DYNDNS but with completely different parameters, as described here (scroll to the middle, at the chapter: "Setup Your Dynamic Global Hostname in the AirPort or Time Capsule") :
http://dyn.com/support/airport-time-capsule-with-dynamic-dns/#setup-apple-airpor t
Unfortunately, after making some changes in the airport configuration (which is abolutely not related to the DYNDNS), this has stopped updating the IP. I've tried to restore the configuration, reflash ecc but without success.
This is my configuration:
- PC Windows XP-SP3 running AirPort Utility 5.5.3 (FWIW there is an annoying bug that prevents you from writing the dot "." in the hostname field, the only solution is to use the copy-paste).
- AirPort Extreme with 7.6 firmware ( 7.6.1 also available but I've read that isn't much better)
I also own an AirPort Express 2nd gen with 7.6.2 firmware, I've tried to use this in the place of airport extreme but idem, no success.
So, please please please HELP ME. Thanks everyone, Damiano

Hello Tesserax, happy to read you.
Yes, I referred to the part #2 of your guide but I've also read many of your other posts about it. In fact, let me thank you for your willingness, it's people like you that make the web a better place.
I also spent a good part of the night reading all the other threads on DynDNS but without success.
As for my DynDNS account, this is obviously a free account. The host name is like "<pc-name>.dyndns.org" as the user name using my email address (with or without domain "@ gmail.com" works anyway).
Click here to see a screenshot: http://i33.servimg.com/u/f33/16/33/96/86/dyndns13.jpg
In desperation, I also called a friend who lent me his Netgear modem/router, which supports DynDNS: well, it was enough to enter hostname, username and password so that everything started to work perfectly.
I am truly saddened
There's also an odd thing I don't understand: if I press the CTRL key and EDIT simultaneously in the AirPort window, appear three other fields... What are these?
Click here to see a screenshot: http://i33.servimg.com/u/f33/16/33/96/86/airpor10.jpg
Thanks in advance for all the help you'll give me. Damiano

Airport Extreme Sudden Speed Problems

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