Airport signal drops

When playing music via iMac or iPad using my airport express through the hifi the signal repeatedly drops either for a second or two or more recently for hours. Any ideas?

Do you currently have the 802.11n AirPort Express Base Station (AXn) configured to "join" the wireless network provided by the BT HomeHub router? That is, within the AirPort Utility, does Wireless Mode = Join a wireless network?
Is the AXn in the same room, different room/floor from the HomeHub? Approximately how many feet apart are they? When the drop-outs occur, where is the iTunes host (iMac or iPad) located ... near the HomeHub, the AXn, or somewhere else?

Similar Messages

Airport signal drops randomly

I use Airport Express to connect to wireless Internet. Recently I've had this problem where the signal just randomly drops every few hours - if not every hour. Airport Express is showing a green light.
When I re-start my computer then it still won't show the signal bar at the top. So I basically have to turn-off the computer and unplug the Airport Express to get it work.
I don't have this problem when I use wireless at other places.
Any advice on this problem?

I think my problem is fixed. You see I was using my airport express as a booster to my linksys, which worked for over a year until recent OS X update.
The Fix:
Instead of just setting up my express to join an "existing wireless network" , which was my original set up....I opted to use the option "Creat a wireless network" and I gave it another name, and under WDS tap I enabled it as a remote base station and under the "main airport ID" I selected my linksys router. Using the airport express this way, now I have two network names, the name of my main linksys router, and the name of my air express. Of course you get a better signal from one versus the other one depending how close you are. You also need to manually switch to the one with stronger signal, but at least both of them work through out the house, and my airport express has not dropped of for 3 days now. It works. Not sure why, but I am glad it works. If you are using your airport express a signal booster or as a remote base, and you are having your signal drops off, try to set it up this way, and see if it works for you.
I hope apple can shed some light to this issue, and I hope this works out for you
Mark

Airport Signal Dropping

When I boot up I have full strength, then when I go to a web page the page loads and then the signal will drop. I reset airport and get full strength. I go to another page and the signal drops again and I reset and get full strength. I do this several times and the signal finally stays at full strength.
Is changing channels something that might fix this?
Thanks

You should probably check out the other threads here on wireless performance issues with the Macbook. This has been a big problem for many people.

Airport signal drop after Microsoft applications launch

Ok here is the deal. I've recently noticed over the past several weeks that I would lose my Airport signal whenever I launch either Microsoft Entourage or Messanger.
It is truly bizarre. I have a Macbook Pro and I also have a Dell PC laptop and Dell PC desktop that all connect to the base station wirelessly.
Everything works fine until I try to launch one of those applications. I have to restart the base station to get the signal back. It is driving me mad.
Any ideas?

I had one AE base unit, where network connection would disapear every other day. The light would still be green on the AE, but the signal from the AE could not be picked up nor seen by the computer. Only turning the AE off and back on, would make it appear and work again. I Changed the AE unit, and I dont have the problem any more. I didnt change any settings at all.
So in my case, it was the AE base unit that was malfunctioning.
I have also seen similar problems with a different cause: That the wifi network card in the computer wasnt connected properly. ..
I dont think its a software problem
good luck

Lost Airport signal drops connection over whole network!

Hi-
I have a G5 1.5 GHz tower (I think that's the right speed), running OS 10.4 and connecting to our cable line via Airport Extreme to our router. We also have a PC that is hardwired to the router. I was having trouble for a while with my connection dropping if the computer went to sleep, but that seems to have been fixed. In its place, though, is a worse problem- almost daily, I lose my signal, and it will knock our entire connection offline so that we have to unplug the whole setup in order to reconnect. It seems like this happens with high-traffic or graphic-intensive sites.
Do you think switching the channel will help in this case, or is there something else I should try? Please let me know if you need more information.
Thanks!
-T
G5 1.5 GHz (?) Mac OS X (10.4.6) 1GB RAM, Airport Extreme, Super Drive

tcano, Welcome to the discussion area!
Changing the channel is free, quick, easy, painless, etc. so it is certainly something to try.

When iBook G4 wakes up, it drops Airport signal temporarily

My wife and I both have iBook G4s and we share the same Airport Extreme network. We have the most current software updates. When her iBook wakes up after being asleep, it temporarily drops the Airport signal. The signal reappears within a few seconds, but it takes 10-15 seconds to actually be able to access a website. Until then it comes up as "unavailable," which suggests the computer is logging into the network every time it wakes up, and that's the delay.
My laptop doesn't have this problem. It keeps the signal when it falls asleep. What might be causing this problem with hers?

Thanks for the link. When I started working through the process, I remembered that I had changed the "by default join" setting from "Automatic" to "Preferred Networks" a while back. I was having trouble with my laptop joining networks I didn't want it to. So I did some research and shifted to "Preferred Networks" and removed the networks I was unintentionally joining. My guess is it is this change, and not the 10.4.11 upgrade that caused my issue.
When I realized this, I didn't finish the steps on the link. I just changed back to "Automatic" and that seems to have taken care of it. If I find I'm having trouble with the Automatic setting, I'll try removing my encrypted network and then adding it back in, as suggested in the article.
Thanks so much.
kabing

Ibook drops airport signal, have to reboot iBook to get AE signal back,

my powerbook is working fine and the AE light is always green, but my iBook drops the AE signal whenever it goes to sleep. upon wakeup the airport is on but no signal and I have to reboot the computer to get the signal back strong even though it's fine on the powerbook. all updates, firmware etc. done. any ideas?

You might want to try resetting the PMU. It has some control over sleep and wake issues.
Read about the nightly maintenance routines that run if a Mac running OS X is not shut down or allowed to sleep in this Apple Knowledge Base article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107388
If you set the iBook (in Energy Saver Preferences) to just sleep the display (and leave it plugged in at night and open), these routines can run and she won't lose the AirPort signal, either.
I only close mine when I'm going to put it in its bag and take it somewhere (in that case, it would lose the AirPort signal anyway).
Maybe the PMU reset will do the trick for you and she won't have to use it the way I use mine (if she doesn't want to).

AirPort Express Base Station signal drops on and off

My Airport Express Base Station signal drops on and off about every 2 minutes. It’s quite frustrating. I currently have a Windows XP PC, with a Linksys Wireless Router. I’ve taken several steps as prescribed in the support chats to no avail. I’ve switched channels, updated software/firmware (iTunes, Base Station and my Router), reconfigured my security settings to no security back to my regular security settings, I’ve placed the base station right next to my router in case it was due to interference, I’ve used headphones in the event it was my stereo, I’ve changed different utility settings (interference robustness, stream size, etc). I’ve opted to use the option “Create a Wireless Network” versus “Existing Wireless Network” and back to “Existing Wireless Network”. Again, all to no avail. Can someone offer some insight to help solve this problem? The problem is so annoying that I no longer use the base station.
Thanks in advance,
Rene
AirPort Express Base Station Windows XP

Maybe Windows is trying to get an 802.1x authentication which should be disabled:
Ensure that the Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network check box is not checked.
http://www.efelix.co.uk/tech/1010.html
It seems updating Windows XP to Service Pack 2 fixes that.

We use one windows machine and two mbp's (post 2012) at home. We have a modem *** router from a non apple vendor that airport utility finds and connects with absolute ease. But doesn't stay connected. The signal drops often, what can I do?

We use one windows machine and two mbp's (post 2012) at home. We have a modem *** router from a non apple vendor that airport utility finds and connects with absolute ease. But doesn't stay connected. The signal drops often, what can I do?

No, not all network clients -- only the two mac portables and they run together very rarely. The windows machine is hardwired to the modem router combo, and that's always sailing smooth. The mbp that is most used is perhaps 20 feet max from the router - and in another room. But it also happens when I take in into the same room as the router. On occassion, I have noticed while using network diagnostics, that one digit in the IP number sometimes appears to go awry. I then try to set up manually - and it works for a bit but is hugely erratic.
I rigged a hand me down airport express and set up a separate network for the two macs and it ran beautifully for some weeks, but that little piece is now dead and none of the retailers in my suburb seem to have one in stock. I don't want to be forced to buy an airport extreme and here in India, there's no trustworthy online ordering option.
The man from the ISP's been here several times and I don;t think it is a modem/dsl issue because the smartphone connects and the macbook drops when both are the same distance from the router? I am truly foxed and intensely irritated! :-(

Why does my signal drop every time I try to use an application.

I've got a UFO style 802.11g, which I unfortunately kept up to date with the updates.
For well over a year now I've had my gear set up like this, airport in the den, my wife's older Imac in the den with it, the printer in the den as well and my Imac across the house. Now, everything in the den connects like cake. Always up, always a great signal.
My Imac across the house has always had it's ups and downs, we've got a stone fireplace and out kitchen in between. Basically, it's 3 rooms away. A whole bunch of walls and corners for the signal to bounce off of. So, I know, not an ideal set up. But it's worked ok for a good long time.
So, a few months ago I performed the recommended update. It said that it would increase connection quality. So I thought, hey, this might help me out! At first glance my connection seemed great! I never lost a bar, not while I was looking anyway. Then I started noticing that occasionally I switch a webpage or some such and it would tell me that I wasn't connected to the internet. What? I look up and I've got all the bars, so I try again and get through... then I notice the bars just flat out go dead. Now I can't connect again. Odd.
Ok, so I start paying attention and it just drops out at random... now, the signal used to fluctuate up and down fairly regularly before the update. I'd researched the problem and found out all the things that can interrupt my signal, and basically I've got em all in between my Airport and my Imac. I could live with that, because it would slow down, but it stayed connected for the most part. This was something new.
Ok, back to the problem at hand. Now I see the signal is either all bars or none. No 2 bars, no 3 bars. Here or gone. And while I'm paying attention, I notice that practically every time I click on something, from my mail app to a preview image the signal drops to nothing. Seemed a coincidence at first, but know I'm certain that it isn't.
So, random complete signal loss and complete signal loss when I use and app. Really not pleased.
Ok, so I figured maybe there's a fix on the way, but I've heard nothing of it. I installed the most recent update, absolutely no effect. Oh, and this one too was supposed to provide better connectivity. Where? I'm not seeing it! Everything in the den works just as well as it ever has. That's one of the things I've loved about Mac for more than 10 years. Easy to use and reliable. But this, this is just a big old pain.
I've tried to extend the network unsuccessfully with the Express. I've got another option to try with that, so my fingers are crossed. But I just don't get why my network is now worse than when I set it up when the only change that's been made have been the updates that I installed at Apple's insistence that my signal would actually be better.
Sorry for being so long winded, and for anyone who made it this far... is there anything that I can do? I really do prefer to have my office in the room that it's in, but it doesn't help me at all when I have to move my Imac to use it online.

This may sound stupid, but I'm gonna throw it out there anyway. Is it possible, that if I have enough junk on my desktop it might disrupt the signal? It seems odd, but it kind of looks like my signal is strong and relatively steady now that I've cleaned my desktop. I do tend to get very cluttered. I use a lot of reference images and save text clippings to use later... it just piles up very quickly.
So, I wonder if all that extra effort my system has to do keeping up with the junk might have something to do with the drop outs?

Airport Connection 'Drops' on Mac Pro Running 10.5.6

I have read the many incidents on this forum of Leopard problems / connection inconsistencies via Airport & a a wireless router.
It has become almost impossible to sort the wheat out from the chaff with regards to solutions for this problem.
I have tried the following 'solutions':
Deleting potentially conflicting / out of date preferences,
Clearing / deleting caches using Onyx,
Repairing Permissions,
Creating a new 'location' in Network Preferences,
Using Open DNS service
The connection still drops at least once every hour as detailed in my Bug Report (sent via online form) below:
Any updates on this? Is there a definitive solution, yet?
I don't have the option to rollback the operating system with Time Machine... my Time Machine drive failed just before this. Fortunately, all of my documents are backed up elsewhere.
If you need more info, feel free to ask.
Thank you!
Bug Report below:
Hello,
I have a Mac Pro (profile copied below).
I'm running Leopard 10.5.6
This set-up connects to the internet via a Sky (UK) ADSL wi-fi router (only a matter of months old).
Since upgrading to 10.5.6 I have been experiencing drops in my internet connection every 5 minutes - 1 hour.
Drops = the airport signal strength signal drops from 5 to 1 or 2 bars [but doesn't drop to no bars] and the connection 'fails' -- i.e. downloads stop, pages fail to load, I can't access e-mail accounts.
The connection does reinstate itself, but is much more unstable & from that moment drops much more frequently.
This wasn't happening until I upgraded to 10.5.6
I have a MacBook Pro (one of the original models) and that experiences no connection problems at all, connecting to the same router (the MacBook Pro is also running 10.5.6)
This is incredibly frustrating.
It has rendered my £2500 system useless for work.
I need a solution, badly.
On your own support forums, it appears that there are a number of people suffering similar problems.
Will you please offer a solution / a fix ASAP.
If you need any more information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Many thanks.
Adam Walton
Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro1,1
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 6 GB
Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP11.005C.B08
SMC Version: 1.7f10
Serial Number: CKxxxxxxxxx
AirPort Card Information:
Wireless Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x87)
Wireless Card Locale: Worldwide
Wireless Card Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0
Current Wireless Network: SKYxxxxx
Wireless Channel: 1

I had a similar problem which I've fixed!
I have four machines here which can connect to my Netgear DG834N via Aiport. (I say can because they normally connect via ethernet.) My MacBook Pro always used to be fine when connected wirelessly but recently, not aware of any changes I've made, it connects for about 10 seconds then disconnects. All other machines are fine and hold the connection.
This is what I tried before finding my solution:
1) Deleted all references to the network in the keychain and remade them.
2) Created another user to try
3) Changed channels on the router even though I can't see any neighbour's networks.
4) Made sure computer and router were up to date with firmware/software.
I'm assuming that it has to be a computer problem as the PowerMac, iMac and iPod Touch have no issues at all. However, the cure was in the router.
I run with SSID broadcast turned off, WPA2 encryption and MAC address filtering. Allowing broadcast of the SSID cures my problem. Turn it off and the computer connects then drops it ten seconds later. Turn broadcast on and it maintains the connection. I've tried it all afternoon, leaving it connected for about 30 minutes at a time before turning SSID broadcast off again. Works every time! Broadcast SSID - fine, no broadcast - drops after ten seconds.
Now, if only I knew why! And why only the laptop?

New topic, old problem: Airport Express dropping out

I'm aware of the many threads on Airport Express issues on here but since no solution has emerged I feel I must rake over it again in the hope that someone at Apple will pick up the ball and create a fix for AEX BDS or Bizarre Dropout Syndrome as I call it.
Playing my iTunes music, via my 2T Time Machine>MacBook>AEX (extending my network to the basement) used to work seamlessly until...approximately... I upgraded to Leopard>Snow Leopard although if I'm honest I can't swear to this coincidence. Anyhow the symptoms are the similar as other ppl report elsewhere on this forum: ie Connecting prompts a microburst of a tune then randomly more bursts of varying length, never longer then 15secs, then after an hour or so it suddenly decides to play continuously for 4 or 5mins at a time but always dropping out again ad nauseam.
I called Apple tech support who could only offer it was interference from neighbour's WiFi networks at work, I checked but my neighbours are all on different channels to me. I have tediously checked, rechecked, rebooted, reconfigured, reinstalled iTunes and OS, moved the unit even tried a brand new 11n AEX but to no avail, always the same problem (so at least I can rule out a hardware issue with the AEX unit itself). I'm hoping there is a fix out there.......otherwise the AEX units are just very expensive paperweights.

I do not know if this answer will help much, but it is based on solid experience.
I tried using wi-fi and it kept dropping out. I went through 3 routers! A local salesperson told me enough with the new routers, it's your d*mn ISP.
Well, I started using speedtest.net to monitor my ISP's performance/signal strength. I discovered that my signal FREQUENTLY dropped to very low levels.
My theory is that whenever the signal dropped, which was very, very often, I lost wi-fi connectivity.
I went to ethernet and never looked back, but with all these wireless devices, I'm wondering if I need to take a look at wifi again. My ISP has cleaned up its act, so I might do better.
Unfortunately, I haven't tried it yet, so I can't announce the results. But I thought it might possibly relate to your situation.

Airport Express drop out

Hi. First post here and I'm in need of help. I've connected my Airport Express to stream iTunes from my PC (Vista OS) to my stereo and while I can wirelessly connect to my network, after approximately 30 minutes of play, the signal drops out and the Airport Express is no longer recognized by either the utility, my iTouch remote app or iTunes.
I then tried a reset, disabled the wireless function and configured the device to stream via ethernet but now have the same problem.
I have changed my Firewall settings to allow all network and program rules access to the Utility and iTunes and have even disabled the Firewall with no luck.
Help!!

have you checked for _*wireless interference*_ ?
perhaps your neighbor's wireless networks interfere with yours. you could download iStumbler (free) or AirRadar (it has a trial period) and note the channels other networks in your vicinity are broadcasting on. change the channel of your network as far away as possible from those.
JGG

Airport signal becomes MUCH worse after 10.4.7 update?

Airport signal in 10.4.7 is 50% of what it was in 10.4.6. It also now cuts in and out. What changed?
And how can one go back to the good signals and stable reception under 10.4.6?
Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Yes, I'm noticing the same. It first hits 4 bars,
but then goes down to 2 after a minute or so. Then
it drops in and out consistently.
Am trying to find a solution before I kick something.
I switched my settings on internet to 802.11b, and now I have great connection on all my computers...b ... not g/b or g.It has been steady for a month now. Cheers

Bell TV receptor signal drop every 4 min caused by TimeCapsule

I just got my Fibe 50 installed here in Quebec, Canada, and every 4 minutes there is a signal drop. I had 2 technicians coming home and finally we discovered that there is a DHCP conflit between both of them. When I turn off the TimeCapsule and uses only bell router, the problem disappears. Does anybody had the same problem or know if there is any configuration to solve the problem? In the TimeCapsule settings I have already changed to allow 5Hz bandwidth but did not work. Thanks a lot.

If you are supplied a router then the TC has to be in bridge mode.. that is router bridge..
Open the airport utility and make sure in the dhcp and NAT section you have it set to bridge.
Then you can set fixed channels to the wireless that are different to the bell router.. or turn off wireless altogether.. you can still access the TC via the bell router.

Airport signal drops

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