Internet performance degrades over time with AirPort Extreme

Hello, we have an AirPort Extreme (802.11n) which is about two years old, and I've noticed lately that if I don't reset it for say, a month or so, internet speeds become extremely slow, and there is no way to regain normal speeds without resetting it... I was just wondering if this is normal for an AirPort Extreme, and also, could this be due to the age of the unit (i.e. do AirPort Extremes slowly lose performance over time, and is buying a new one the only answer)? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

U have to find a good channel.
on 2.4ghz this is 6 unless other routers in the area are using it. if so use another channel.
Other things that can interfere: Microwave oven, frige - any thing that emits em fields
5ghz is better.
vicinity of your laptop makes a big difference - i get up to 57Mbps on speedtest net in vicinity of time capsule @ 5ghz.
Best performance is on ethernet cable.
Hope this helps

Similar Messages

Time Machine over WiFi with Airport Extreme

I have had an iMac for 5 years with a WD 500 gb drive hardwired (Firewire 400) into the machine for use with Time Machine. I just got a new Macbook Pro 15". When I opened the machine, I migrated everything over from my old iMac using the Time Machine Backups drive. Everything was working fine and TM recognized all of my old backups.
A couple days later, I wanted to up the portability of the laptop so I plugged my drive in USB to my Airport Extreme. The Macbook immediately recognized the shared drive and every put a little "Time Machine Backups" icon mounted on the desktop. I went into the Time Machine preferences and designated the network drive as my backup drive. It seemed to be working but the first time it went to backup, it created a new .sparsebundle file, even though I still have the Backups folder full of the old backups. It then tried to create another .sparsebundle file with the same name as my computer but with a 1 at the end.
I went to my local Genius bar and the guy plainly said "Time Machine does not work wirelessly unless its a time capsule. (Sarcastically) The only people who can answer that question are the software engineers who designed Time Machine".
The fact that Time Machine and the MBP immediately recognized the wireless drive as a backup disk tells me that its possible to do it. Is there anyway to tell Time Machine to include all of the backups on the drive and not to start from scratch??
Thanks.

iliv4apl wrote:
But I was not using a new backup drive, it was the same drive, just different connection. How do I tell it to incorporate the backup files on the drive into the time machine program?
You can't. Time Machine stores it's backups differently when they're done over a network, and you can't switch between the two.
You might be able to copy the "local" backups to be used over the network. See #18 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
And you need to know that backing up with Time Machine to a USB drive connected to an Airport Extreme is "iffy" and +*not supported by Apple.+* See Using Time Machine with an Airport Extreme Air Disk (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Printing stopped over wifi with AirPort Extreme

I've had an Epson and Brother wifi printers setup to print wirelessly using an AirPort Extreme. This worked fine for over a year. Now, however, neither will print. I've reinstalled all drivers, reset the AirPort and I still cannot print to a Mac with 10.8.2 or an iPad 3 with iOS 5 or 6 with either printer.
I either get a printer error message that says "filter failed" or "printer offline".
However, when I create an ad hoc wifi network on the Mac, I can connect and print to the printers wirelessly on both the iPad and Mac with no problems.
I've also tried to print with a new Time Capule and was also unable to print.

I found the problem. I had an ethernet cable connected from the AirPort Extreme to my Comcast digital cable box. This caused the printer to be assigned an IP address in the range of 192.168.* instead of the correct range of 10.0.1.*. Simply, unplugging the ethernet cable from the AirPort and cable box and restarting the printer fixed the problem—I can print again.

Please help me figure out why this thread's performance degrades over time

Hello.
The code below is from a Runnable that I've tested inside a Thread operating on a TreePath array of size 1500; the array 'clonedArrayB' is this TreePath array. The code is designed to create a more stepped version of setSelectionPaths(TreePath[]) from class JTree.
The performance decrease of the thread is very rapid; this is discernible simply from viewing the println speed. When it gets to about 1400 TreePaths added to the JTree selection, it's running at roughly 1/10 the speed it started running at.
I know there's no problem with maintaining a set of selected paths of that size inside a JTree. I also know that the thread stops when it should. So it must be some operation I'm performing inside the brief piece of code shown below that is causing the performance degradation.
Does anyone have any idea what could be causing the slowdown?
Many thanks for your help. Apologies if you would have liked an SSCCE, but I very much doubt it's necessary for this. Either you can see the problem or you can't. And sadly I can't x:'o(
int indexA = 0;
public void run() {
     // Prevent use of / Pause scanner
     try {
          scannerLock.acquire();
     } catch (InterruptedException exc) {
          Gecko.logException("Scanner lock could not be acquired by expansion thread", exc);
     while (!autoExpansionComplete) {
          while (indexA < clonedArrayA.length) {
               int markerA = indexA + 10;
               for (int a = indexA; a < markerA && a < clonedArrayA.length; a++) {
                    pluginTreeA.addSelectionPath(clonedArrayA[a]);
               indexA = markerA;
               System.out.println(indexA + "," + clonedArrayA.length);
                    if (autoExpansionComplete) {
                         break;
               stop();
};

Well, since I've had no responses, I tried to think of other ways to speed the code up.
I'd already made nearly every tweak I know. The only additional thing I could think of was to use addSelectionPaths(TreePath[]) on a subarray of the cloned array, instead of addSelectionPath(TreePath) on the cloned array's elements, since obviously it would be fewer method calls. It has sped things up an awful lot (my new code is shown below - I've left in some things I chopped out above, so you can see exactly what I see). The problem is though, obviously an increase in initial velocity doesn't solve the problem of deceleration occurring, if you get me.
// Clone the selection arrays to non-volatile arrays for better access
// speeds
final TreePath[] clonedArrayA = selectionPathsArrayA.clone();
final TreePath[] clonedArrayB = selectionPathsArrayB.clone();
// Create a new runnable to perform the selection task
Runnable selectionExpander = new Runnable() {
     /** Position within cloned array A */
     int indexA = 0;
     /** Position within cloned array B */
     int indexB = 0;
     /** Length of subarray grabbed from cloned array A */
     int lengthA;
     /** Length of subarray grabbed from cloned array B */
     int lengthB;
     /** Subarray destination */
     private TreePath[] subarray = new TreePath[100];
     public void stop() {
          autoExpansionComplete = true;
          automatedSelection = false;
          scannerLock.release();
      * Grabs 10 blocks of each selection paths array at a time, adding
      * these to the tree's current selection and then moving to the next
      * cycle
     public void run() {
          // Prevent use of / Pause scanner
          try {
               scannerLock.acquire();
          } catch (InterruptedException exc) {
               Gecko.logException("Scanner lock could not be acquired by expansion thread", exc);
          while (!autoExpansionComplete) {
               while (indexA < clonedArrayA.length || indexB < clonedArrayB.length) {
                    // Set subarray lengths
                    lengthA = subarray.length;
                    lengthB = subarray.length;
                    // If subarray length is greater than the number of
                    // remaining indices in the source array, set length to
                    // the number of remaining indices
                    lengthA = indexA + lengthA > clonedArrayA.length ? clonedArrayA.length - indexA : lengthA;
                    lengthB = indexB + lengthB > clonedArrayB.length ? clonedArrayB.length - indexB : lengthB;
                    // Create subarrays and add TreePath elements to trees'
                    // selections
                    System.arraycopy(clonedArrayA, indexA, subarray, 0, lengthA);
                    pluginTreeA.addSelectionPaths(subarray);
                    System.arraycopy(clonedArrayB, indexB, subarray, 0, lengthB);
                    pluginTreeB.addSelectionPaths(subarray);
                    // Remember the latest index reached in source arrays
                    indexA += lengthA;
                    indexB += lengthB;
                    System.out.println(indexA + "," + clonedArrayA.length);
                    System.out.println(indexB + "," + clonedArrayB.length);
                    if (autoExpansionComplete) {
                         break;
               stop();
// Create and start new thread to manage the selection task runner
selector = new Thread(selectionExpander);
selector.start();I really can't think what could be causing the slowdown. I've done everythng I can think of to increase the velocity, such as cloning the source arrays since they're volatile and access could be slightly slower as a result.
Nothing I try gets rid of the slowdown effect though :(
- Dave

REALTEK AUDIO DEGRADING OVER TIME WITH FLME - PC WINDOWS 7

I am having a real issue with the onboard Reatek audio card and The Flash Live Media Encoder. I am providing the signal to the onboard Realtk audio card via the mic in source on my computer. The video is coming from my DV cam. At first, the audio sounds fine but after a period of time, the audio begins to degrade until it becomes totally useless - muffled and weak. If I use the onboard DV mic, it's OK. Problem seems to be with the onboard Realtek card. Some times it appears to be related to making some changes in the FLME settings. If I reboot the computer, it fixes it for a while and then the problem starts again. Running a PC with Windows 7. Anyone else, experiencing this? I have had the same problem on two different machines.

There is no way to do it from windows direct to the TC.
It only presents AFP to the WAN side. And most ISP block SMB from internet access due to risks. There is AFAIK, no suitable AFP protocol utility for windows at the moment. If you google and find one, be aware it probably will not work to your satisfaction anyway.
You must use a Mac to access AFP but even then it is not a secure protocol and I would recommend against it anyway.
So basically if you had have asked before purchasing, I would have said, TC is unsuitable product. It is a backup drive for a Mac. It is not a NAS.. it is not designed for remote access by any computer other than a Mac. It does not support any other file protocol to the WAN interface.. and no secure protocol even there.
A NAS with Time Machine extensions from QNAP, Synology, Netgear all are designed for web access and are far more suitable. Researching a purchase beforehand is always worthwhile.
Anyway, your choices are.. return the TC and buy something more suited to the job.
Or if return is now impossible sell the TC on ebay.. etc and do the same thing.. buy a more suitable NAS.
Or buy a cheap mac mini (even second hand) and use that for communications with home.
Or, replace your current router with something that includes vpn. This is actually a good and commercially sound decision. VPN is generally used by business to connect to remote locations, because it is secure and will allow the greatest flexibility of connection. How hard or easy depends on the current setup. I would recommend a combined modem router with vpn server if you have adsl. Or for cable you can find plenty of routers with combined vpn. You can also use those for adsl if your ISP allows pppoe with bridged modem. The TC will have to be bridged as well. For other broadband it might be harder to find the right kind of box.
Once you setup a vpn you can access it from work using the appropiate vpn client in your work computer.

No FTP access over WAN with Airport Extreme 802.11n v7.3.2

hi there,
I've read through a few different posts on this topic (both here and in other forums) but I can't seem to find the answers I need.
I have an AEBS n with version 7.3.2 of Airport Utility. attached to the AEBS is a hard drive. I want to enable file sharing (mostly FTP, but AFP would be fine too) to access the drive through the WAN port.
here's what I've done:
- connected a USB drive. This is available through my LAN and is accessible using my OSX account login & password)
- enabled filesharing and "share disks over ethernet WAN port"
- enabled NAT and default host on the AEBS
- configured port mappings for FTP and ARD (I couldn't enable any other file sharing because of a port conflict. Is this because the hard drive connected to the AEBS is already set to use these?)
I created an account with DynDNS to resolve my ip to a domain name.
when I ping either my domain or the IP, I get the same results. it sees my isp but the destination host is unreachable.
port scanning my domain from 20 through 548 shows that 139, 445, and 548 are open. but no 20.
what am I doing wrong here?
thanks in advance

bump

Help! iMac would not Connect/Find with Airport Extreme

Strange issue. I used to connect my Airport extreme with iMac, until recently iMac could not join with aiport. Instead my iMac connected to my neighbor's network. I'm using Time Warner cable.
However, my MBP and my Dell laptop could connect to my airport. Any ideas what could interfere with my iMac? I already called the Tech support and even went to the Apple store, they all said is the iMac since the iMac was able to connect with all the airports at the store. The tech support suggested me to move my airport to a room with less interference. Is that right? the iMac or the airport should I move?
We spent 2 hours, resetting back to factory setting and still iMac could not join Airport Extreme.
Any suggestions or advices are appreciated.
Tom
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.10)
Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Thank you for your e-mail, Duane. Yes, the airport express (hooked up to my stereo in the dining room) does receive iTunes from my G5 in the office. The light is a blinking yellow, but it still receives the signal.
Last night, I was able to get an internet signal on my eMac (with airport extreme card installed) from the VersaLink router that my G5 uses in the office!
I figured out that the eMac and G5 were obviously not communicating with each other, and went to the Airport icon on the top of both screens to make sure that the Location Names were correct. I discovered that I needed to change the G5 from the Airport Express Location (stereo)to the name of the eMac location (Master Bedroom). Then I got the network connection. I suppose to play iTunes to my stereo, I will have to change the location, again, right?
Another comment: I was rather amazed that, after at least an hour and a half phone conversation with three different technicians, no one came close to this solution. And I'm paying for technical help (two years left on a three year contract)! Evidently, it is not common knowledge that a wireless router and an airport extreme card with mini-antenna can communicate? I came close to buying an Airport Extreme Base Station because I thought that I might need it!!!
So, I'm thinking I'm in the right ballpark but would welcome any more comments.
Thanks for listening.
Dave

Airport extreme loses internet connection all the time with imac and macbook pro

I keep losing the internet connection with airport extreme on my imac and macbook pro but NOT with my pc

Ok, so when you say you lose internet connection, is it disconnecting from your wireless network so there are no bars?
And are there usually full bars?

How do i set up time capsule to work with airport extreme base to extend wireless network?

i have a airport extreme base, how do i set up a time machine to extend the wireless network i have with airport extreme? i have also 3 airport express's connected to the same network to extend my wifi all over my house. thanks in advance.

Much better graphics, thanks.
You can leave the Time Capsule connected by Ethernet from the Linksys and configure for a "roaming" network as mentioned previously.
To do this, open AirPort Utility - Manual Setup
Click the Wireless tab below the icons
Wireless Mode = Create a wireless network
Wireless Network Name = Same name as the AirPort Extreme
No check mark needed next to Allow this network to be extended
Radio Mode = Same setting as the AirPort Extreme
Channel = Automatic
Wireless Security = Same setting as the AirPort Extreme
Wireless Password = Same password as the AirPort Extreme
Confirm Password
Click the Internet icon, then the Internet Connection tab
Connect Using = Ethernet
Connection Sharing = Off (Bridge Mode)
Update to save settings and allow the Time Capsue to restart
Then power down the entire network
Wait a minute or two
Start the modem first and let it run a full minute
Start the AirPort Extreme the same way
Power up the switch
Power up the Time Capsule for a minute
Keep starting devices one at a time about a minute apart
Now, your computer will automatically pick up a wireless signal from either the AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule, whichever device is closer and providing the stronger signal.

Time Capsule Airport Extreme Airport Express - IP Address Issues, Internet dropping...

I have a brand new Time Capsule 3TB functioning as my main wireless router from a Motorola SB6141 Cable Internet Modem. I have a Airport Extreme and Airport Express extending the network from my Time Capsule 3TB. After the intial setup there were no connection issues for several days. However, yesterday I began to experience issues where the Time Capsule starting telling me that other devices on the network were trying to assign IP Addresses to change from DHCPand NAT to Bridge Mode. What is the best solution for this? My temporary solution is just to do a hard reset of the SB6141 which seems to alleviate the issue until the next day. Please help!

There is definitely some issues with the SB6141 modem and the new AC version Extreme and TC.
I have recommended to several people to use a crossover cable or a small 10/100 switch.
Either is a very cheap item and I cannot promise a solution but it has helped.
Net time it happens please login with airport utility and take a few screenshots of the TC summary page and internet tab and post them here.

Will time machine work with airport extreme?

Hi all, is there a way to create a time machine back up on a USB disk that is attached to an airport extreme? I've tried it a couple of different ways and it's not seeming that it works very well. Any help would be appreciated.

I've tried several configurations all of which started with formatting the drive with a single partition Mac OS Extended (Journaled) GUID.
The first configuration was where I did a 100GB Time Machine Backup to the drive while it was connected (so I wouldn't have to deal with a slow first backup over wireless, because my MacBook Pro is of the older 802.11G wireless versus N). Then moved the drive over to my Airport Extreme, mounted the drive and started the backup. It failed with the following error message "The backup volume is not in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format, which is required."
The second configuration was where, after reformatting to single partition to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) GUID, I connected the drive directly to the Airport Extreme without having done a Time Machine Backup. After mounting the drive, I started Time Machine and it began to run. I left it over nite to back-up and, while it got started, it did not make it past about 9GB after over 6 hours and it stopped.
Trying the second configuration again...and it is running but 7 hours later 25 of 101GB done.
Thanks for any insight!
Happy New Year

Cisco router RVS4000 with Airport extrem and Time capsule.

Problem droping connection to internet when is Time capsule in extended wifi mode. When I turn off wifi on time capsule Airport extreme work fine.
Airport extreme and Time capsule is conected via ETH.
Any idea ?
Thaks
B.

If you use ethernet to connect the AE and TC .. you must NOT extend wifi.. you use Create a wireless network. And setup with same name and security. You are using roaming network.. not extended wireless.. if you want to use extended wireless no ethernet
see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4260

Is Internet Explorer incompatible with Airport Extreme for connecting wirelessly to the Internet?

repeat -is Internet Explorer incompatible with Airport Extreme for connecting to the Internet- I am trying to hook up my sister's / Windows 7...HP mini computer to my wireless connection (Airport Extreme to cable /BrightHouse ) all I get is -failed due to 'error 651' -am about to call the jockeys at the cable company to see if they have work-around. Any comment appreciate. Thanks./jimiros

Diane,
I have added very few apps to my G5. The majority of my time is spent editing photos with PhotoshopCS3. I have software updates set to run weekly and have always kept them up to date. I really believe it's a disk permissions issue...but repairing them doesn't help.
*+Upon installation, I used Archive and Install.+* While I agree that Erase and Install may sound like a good idea, it makes me nervous. I do have everything backed up on a bootable CMS drive, but I'm a photographer and was hoping to not have to erase the G5.
Yes, as I mentioned in the original post, I've downloaded and installed the Airport firmware update. And all software is up to date.
All was working just dandy before the upgrade. Unfortunately now it's sounding like I may have to erase my hard drive and install fresh.
If I do that, is it just a matter then of dragging my photos from the backup disk to the G5? And documents? Etc?? The thought of getting all my photos and important information back on the G5 seems a bit staggering.

Guest network feature of Time Capsule/Airport Extreme in conflict with DNS on OS X Server?

Hi, I want use the guest network feature of Time Capsule/Airport Extreme which requires an external DNS server but my OS X Server is the dns server...Can I configure server and airport with an external dns without messing up my OS server?
Thx Ron

If you want to use the guest network while also using your server for DNS - you will need to do the following: It's a bit painful - but it works.
On your Airport Device (Airport Extreme or Time Capsule) - in the Internet tab you will need to do one of the following:
1) Leave the DNS Servers Blank - which they will default to the DNS servers provided by your ISP.
2) Actually enter your ISP's DNS servers.
3) Enter Open DNS servers (I use 208.67.222.222 / 208.67.220.220).
The DNS servers specified in the airport device must be internet routable addresses (if you are going to use the guest network functionality) - and cannot refer to private ip address (e.g. 10.x.x.x, 192.168.x.x, etc).
Here is the painful part...on all of the devices (Macs, PCs, phones, ipads - that will be used on your "private" network 10.0.1.x - you will need to provide static DNS setting (but still allow DHCP to assign the devices IP address). You will specify 10.0.1.13 as primary DNS and 208.267.222.222 (or your ISP's primary DNS IP).
One you do this - your devices that you permanently use on your local network - will still use your server for DNS - and the external DNS - should your DNS server happen to be down.
Anyone visiting your house - will connect to your guest network - and automatically be DHCP assigned a guest IP address - and the external DNS servers that you specified in the Airport Extreme device.
This has been working great for me. I suspect that the guest network functionality is flawed in the Airport Extreme/Express and Time Capsule. Since I do not have another router that provides a guest network - I cannot say whether this issues is limited to the Airport devices - or whether this workaround would need to be done - regardless of which brand of router is providing the guest network.
In a nutshell - your household permanent devices will have to specify static DNS servers - but your guests will connect seamlessly without having to change and risk messing up any of their device settings.
If this solution works for you - Please be sure to click either "This solved my problem" or "This helped me".

Problem with Airport extreme and Time machine

I recently purchased a 320gig external hard drive for Time machine. I connected it to my Airport extreme but it is not being recognized for some unknown reason. If I directly connect it to my iMac it works perfectly. I've updated with the latest firmware and it should work via USB with Airport extreme. Any suggestions why it is not working?

angelop wrote:
I have used the following for about two years.
-MBP, Airport Extreme, External HD (1TB) for my time machine.
You probably know, that's "iffy" and +*not supported by Apple.+* See the Using Time Machine with a USB drive connected to an Airport Extreme *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
To get around this issue, I have switched off the Time Machine, and am only turning on once a week or so, to grab any changes or additions I've made. I've been doing this for about 6 months now with no problems.
Now whenever I do this, (It should only be backing up an album or two from iTunes,) it tries to back up my whole system again. EVERY TIME. It did not do this before.
If you go too long between backups, Time Machine will do a new, full backup. And once it decides to do that, it will keep trying until it succeeds. There are some other possibilities as well. See #D2 in the Using Time Machine with a USB drive connected to an Airport Extreme *User Tip,* also at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum.
If none of those seem to explain it, see #A1 there; download the TM Buddy widget, copy and post the messages here.
Why are you only backing-up once a week? Time Machine was designed to back up changes hourly, as long as your Mac is awake and the TC is in range. It will protect you best that way, and unless there's a problem, those backups will usually be very quick.
But if you're only going to back up once a week or so, then Time Machine is not the best app for you. See Kappy's post on Basic Backup, complete with links to the web sites of each product.

Internet performance degrades over time with AirPort Extreme

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