Mac G5 drops/loses connection to Airport Extreme wireless base station

When I power up my Mac, it connects normally to the AE wireless base station. After some time (sometimes minutes, sometimes hours) the connection will be lost, although all indications are that it is operating normally, i.e. the AE icon at the top of the screen shows that there is a connection, there are no error messages. The G5 is just not connected to the Internet: the browser won't connect to a Web site, I can't upload or download files to my Web space.
I originally had the problem with a D-Link wireless router so I replaced that with an AE base station. I have replaced that AE base station with a new one (it's the one that looks like a flying saucer) thinking that I might have gotten a faulty one from the factory, I've replaced the original wireless card in the G5 with a ndw Airport Extreme card, I've moved the AE base station into the same room as the G5 (right now it hangs on the wall directly above the G5). I also connect a PC laptop and a MacBook Pro to the Internet via the AE base station and have no problem with either one of them. The G5 and MacBook are running Mac OS X 10.4.10, the PC is running Windows XP.
Also, when I connect the router directly (hardwire) to the G5 it works fine.
The router is a new Siemens Speedstream 4100 (this is also a replacement for the original router).
Since all the equipment in my system has been replaced with the exception of the G5, I assume that the problem lies within the G5.
Perhaps there are settings that can be changed on the G5 to make it more stable in the system,although I have enabled Interference Robustness to no improvement? I am at a loss to come up with a solution. I can't find any literature that addresses this problem specifically. Each time the connection is lost, I have to restart the G5 to get back online which means, of course, saving my data, shutting down all running programs and then restarting. Turning the AE card off and back on does not work.
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.
Thank you,
Don

I could find no solution in the troubleshooting and set up pages. The only thing I couldn't check out was "Hardware access control" since I don't know how to access this control and no instructions that I could find were given as to how to do this.
I ended up hardwiring the G5 directly to the Airport using the Ethernet ports. This is less than ideal since I am required to locate the Airport near the G5, defeating the purpose of having the Airport, at least for the G5. I am still able to connect my PC and MacBook Pro wirelessly, though and, ironically in the case of the PC, have never had any trouble with these. I am still baffled but don't have the time to "play" anymore and at least I have a functioning, if not ideal, system.
I don't see the point in purchasing a new AE, since I have had this same problem throughout with various configurations and pieces of hardware and the problem persists in exactly the same way no matter what I swap out. I recently purchased and installed the latest issue of AE card in the G5. I think the problem is in the G5, either in the configuration or in the hardware.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Don

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Apple TV often drops connection with AirPort Extreme and Express stations

Here's my setup:
- Mac Pro in basement office connected to AirPort Extreme (802.11n) station via Ethernet
- AirPort Extreme station running WPA/WPA2 security and 802.11n (b/g compatible)
- AirPort Express station across basement room connected to stereo expressly for AirTunes purposes
- Apple TV and MacBook Pro on house ground floor, both connecting to the network via WiFi
(unless specified, the software and firmware in my devices is all extremely up to date. I write about Apple news for a living so I know when the updates land and install all of them almost immediately)
Here's what's going wrong:
Since I have one of the first gen Apple TVs with a 40GB hard drive but a 100GB iTunes library, I use streaming almost 100% of the time. The Apple TV can usually connect to my iTunes library for streaming via WiFi, but if the AirPort Express (a b/g device, mind you) is active on the network, the Apple TV and even my MacBook Pro get booted off the network usually between 12-24 hours, if not 48. Sometimes WiFi seems to work itself out and I can get the MacBook Pro back online, sometimes it even needs a full restart, as Mac OS X will start giving me nothing but "there was an error trying to join this network" warnings. Just as frustrating though, the Apple TV getting booted off means I need go through the whole tedious process of connecting it to WiFi again (it doesn't remember the password for some stupid reason), and then manually surfing again through the Sources list just to get back to streaming my media.
What the heck is going on? Is it the kind of security I'm running? Should I try WEP or... none at all? I would try "downgrading" the Extreme station's network type to only b/g (excluding n entirely), but I don't see that option in the radio settings anymore; it's all just flavors 802.11n now. When I set up the AirPort Express to connect to the network just for AirTunes streaming to the stereo, I used the setup wizard that the AirPort Utility provides. Should I attach it a different way? Perhaps manually set it to "participate in a WDS network" or "extend a wireless network?"
Any thoughts or similar experiences are very, very appreciated. My wife and I love this setup, but its unreliability is really getting on my nerves. Thanks in advance.
Message was edited by: bedoughty

Firstly, the easiest bit (although I don't believe you need to do this):
I would try "downgrading" the Extreme station's network type to only b/g (excluding n entirely), but I don't see that option in the radio settings anymore
You will get additional settings if you hold down the option key while browsing the radio settings drop down menu.
Moving on: Unfortunately a dropped connections seems to be a problem with umpteen causes and not only is it difficult to troubleshoot with someone in a forum it can also be made even more difficult because many problems are associated with network settings on a router that the person who is trying to help is unfamiliar with.
However you seem to be convinced your problems arise when your express is running which may narrow things down a little if correct, if not it may actually lead us away from the answer to your issue.
Is it the kind of security I'm running? Should I try WEP or... none at all?
I use WPA and have no problems (password = 8 Characters)
Should I attach it a different way? Perhaps manually set it to "participate in a WDS network" or "extend a wireless network?
I have my expresses set to participate in a WDS network, but that's because I use them for other things other than itunes, I would have thought 'join a network' would be fine.
You could check that all your devices are using independent IP addresses and all are using the same subnet. You could also check that no two devices have the same mac address, I've been told a million times this can't happen, but I've seen it. You may be wise to check these things before and after your devices have been 'kicked off the network", you may even want to write them down to see if any are changing.

Connecting 2 Airport Extremes wirelessly....can it be done?

Connecting 2 Airport Extremes wirelessly....can it be done?
I have 2 Airport Extremes. I'm only using 1 of them right now connected to a cable modem. It works well. I can get a wireless signal in most of the house and even outside a bit. However there are upstairs bedrooms on the other side of the house that I don't get a very strong signal on. No "big" deal really but here is what I thought.......
Can I set up my 2nd Airport Extreme to wirelessly receive the signal from the 1st (main) Airport Extreme and place the 2nd Airport Extreme close to the bedrooms with weak reception? I was thinking that the 2nd AirPort Extreme could just pickup and boost my original signal.
Is this possible? I can't find it mentioned in my Airport Manual.
If so, what is the term for this? That way I can search for information on how to configure all of this. If you have any other ideas on how this might able to work please let me know.
Thanks for your help

OK, you will need to make configuration changes to both of your Extremes.
For the main Extreme (the one connected to your modem now):
Open AirPort Utility, click Manual Setup
Click the Wireless tab under the icons
Look on the wireless setup page and make sure there is a check mark next to "Allow this network to be extended". This may be under the Options tab on the wireless page. If you have a dual band Extreme, you can only extend the main network, not the 'guest" network.
Update to save settings
For the remote Extreme, temporarily locate it near your computer so that you can configure it:
Open AirPort Utility, click Manual Setup
Click the Wireless tab
On the wireless setup page, change the Wireless Mode to "Extend a wireless network"
You will select the name of wireless network created by your main Extreme. Enter the password if needed.
Make sure there is a check mark next to "Allow wireless clients"
Update to save settings
That should do it.

How do I make my new Airport Extreme a base station?

I have been using an Airport Extreme (5th generation) as my base station router for a few years. I set the main network for my and my wife's use and created a guest network for when my sons visited and needed to use the wi-fi connection. I used passwords for both networks. Today I purchased a new 802.11 ac Airport Extreme. I unplugged the 5h gen. Extreme and plugged in the new Extreme. After a short hunt, my new 27" (late 2013) iMac found the new Extreme and had me set up a name and a password for it using Airport Utility. I was expecting it to ask if I wanted to set up a guest network, but it did not. I was expecting it to ask since I believe that is what happened when I installed my 5th gen Extreme a few years ago. For the 5th gen Extreme, I had to enter a password to protect settings on the Extreme, a WPA2 password for my main network and another password for my guest network. It took about 10 minutes to set up. For this new Airport Extreme I entered just one password. It took about 2 to 3 minutes for the entire setup. When I checked the menu in the Airport Utility under "Base Station", all lines are grayed out. Under the File Menu in Airport Utility, "Configure Other" is available, but "Import Configuration file" and "Export Configuration file" are also grayed out. I checked Network Settings in System Preferences and I see my new network name in the Wi-Fi menu and under the "Advanced..." button, I see the old and new Networks listed in the "Preferred networks" box.
So, how do I get the new Airport Extreme to act as the Base station and be able to enter a guest network? Does it require me to delete the old Network name from the Advanced... button page in System Preferences > Network Settings? Will I just have to start all over with the new Extreme to make it a base station?

Hello Leo,
I'm not at home so can't confirm but I can only assume that maybe some of the "old" settings in airport utility have changed, and simplified. Hence why you probably only need one password.
When I bought the new "tower" like AirPort Extreme, I just plugged it into the Ethernet, powered it on with the previous generation Extreme in place and in Airport Utility it just asked me if I wanted to copy the settings to the newer device, which included a few "port forwarding" settings. All done in this sequence. I didn't have guest network set up but you can still set up guest network under wireless in Airport Utility, hope this helps!

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.

PowerBook G4 17" Airport loses connection to Airport Extreme

I am presently running 10.4.5 on a PB17 G4 connecting at home to an Airport Extreme Base Station running V5.7. I additionally connect to another Airport Extreme Base Station at my office running V5.7. After about 5 minutes of connection time, my PB17 begins an off and on connection cycle which never seems to end. After a few minutes of handshaking between each Airport, the PB17 would maintain a connection for 5 minutes or so and then begin dropping the connection all over again.
This problem has been occuring for several weeks and existed when the PB17 was running 10.4.3, as well.
If it did not seem to be some consistant over time, I would wonder if the internal antenna is no longer seated properly.
BTW, I also run an iMac G5 (with built-in iSight) on the same network. It never has a problem.
Any suggestions??
PowerMac G4 DDR 1 GHz

Problem is still there .. and it's getting worse. Is there any possibility to uninstall this "security" patch from January?
Maybe this'll help a little:
Ping shows up this strange behaviour when the connection is lost:
ping: sendto: Host is down
ping: sendto: Host is down
*snip about 15 lines*
ping: sendto: Host is down
ping: sendto: No route to host
ping: sendto: Host is down
ping: sendto: Host is down
*snip about 15 lines*
ping: sendto: Host is down
ping: sendto: No route to host
and so on .. the log of the various routers tell me, that the Mac disconnects every 8 seconds after reconnecting to the network. And it takes another 26 seconds for the MAc to retry the connection (without success ) ...

PC laptop continuously loses connectivity with airport extreme

I use an airport extreme at home and an airport expresses to extend my network. I get perfect connectivity with my macbook pro but with my older Gateway laptop that uses XP, the connection comes and goes making it frustrating to be online with the PC. why is this happening on the PC and not the MacBook and what can I do to correct the problem?
Airport uses version 7.4.2, WPA/WPA2 Personal, 802.11n b/g compatible.
Gateway m505b2, windows XP HE 2002 service pak 3

Recently had a similar problem connecting a friend's PC to my network and thought I would post my fix in order to hopefully help others.
I noticed that everything worked fine when I disabled wireless security, so my problem was a security issue.
I re-enabled security on my router and copied down the first actual HEX key (key 1) instead of just using the password. Then, on the laptop with a Netgear wireless card, instead of selecting to type a password, I opted to use a network key and pasted the actual key, and it worked like a charm.
Maybe it has something to do with aftermarket network cards, but it solved the "network did not assign a network address" problem.
Hope I've helped and not given a useless answer.
Adam

Can't connect 2nd airport extreme wirelessly to airport extreme base station

I have an Airport Extreme base station connected to my cable modem. I have a 2nd Extreme I am trying to connect wirelessly to the base station to extend my network. The Airport Utility does not see the second AE. Also the status light on the 2nd AE is flashing amber. I have tried hard resets and the Utility will not find it.

OK, thanks for the information.
I'm not sure if this has anything to do with your issue or not, but according to Apple, a Windows PC cannot be used to configure the newer models of the AirPort Extreme correctly. Here is what the Specifications page for the new AirPort Extreme indicates:
Setup and Administration
iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 6 or later and AirPort Utility 1.3
Mac with OS X Lion v10.7.5 or later and AirPort Utility 6.3
http://www.apple.com/airport-extreme/specs/
I don't have a PC here to test out the setup.
We can try to configure the 2nd Extreme to extend the 1st, but if that is not successful....and you used the PC to configure the 1st Extreme....it may be necessary to start all over again and reconfigure the 1st Extreme using recommended software before the 2nd Extreme can be set up.
For now, temporarily move the 2nd Extreme to the same room or close proximity to the 1st Extreme. Power up the 2nd Extreme for a few minutes, then hold in the reset button on the device for 8-10 seconds and release. Allow a full minute for the 2nd Extreme to restart to a slow, blinking amber light.
On the home screen for an iPhone or iPad.....
Tap Settings
Tap Wi-Fi
Look for an option to Setup a New AirPort Base Station
Tap on AirPort Exteme just below that option
The utility will open up and take a minute to analyze the network, then suggest that the 2nd Extreme will be configure to extend the 1st Extreme. Enter a device name that you want to use for the 2nd Exteme and tap Next.
The utility will configure everything for you. When you see the message of Setup Complete, click Done.
Now move the 2nd Exteme approximately half way between the 1st Extreme and the area that needs more wireless signal coverage and try things out. Extending this way using wireless will usually result in a loss of about half of the potential network speed, but that is not avoidable with a wireless method.

Another slow internet connection via Airport Extreme wireless thread

Has anyone actually solved this mystery? The last substantial thread I came across regarding this subject ended with a solution using a dell wireless driver. That ended somewhere in December. Any solutions, tips?

I seem to have found a fix, thanks to Michael G. Noll (http://www.michael-noll.com/blog/2006/07/24/intel-imac-wireless-connection-slowd own-with-wpatkip/).
I switched to WAP Personal from WEP and my iMac is now able to connect via wifi from a router in another room, and at normal speeds! Thanks Mike! I hope it lasts. I also changed my routers channel and made it static instead of automatic, but I don't think this had anything to do with the fix (though it may have solved my MacBooks problem of dropping the connection for a second every minute or 2).
I still have the problem of having to manually select my network after start-up and wake-up, however. It does not turn on automatically.
(Brand new Intel Duo iMac and 1-yr old Intel Duo MacBook)

Why? xbox live doesn't connect to Airport Extreme wireless network

Xbox live wireless adapter is not connecting to my wireless network. xBox live support said to change to WEP security (does not support WPA security). Tried this but it doesn't work either. I can't find any information on Apple support or xBox live support that confirms whether or not the router is even compatible with xbox live. Does anyone know or have experience with this?

Go to your computer and run the Airport Utility. Click on the Manual Setup button. In the tabs you'll see Summary, Base Station, Wireless, etc. Select Wireless. Look about 1/2 way down and you'll see Wireless Security. Click on the popup button and select None. At the bottom of the window click on Update. You'll go offline momentarily as the base station is updated. Now go back to your XBox and connect. Now download all the updates you can.
Once this is finished, go back to the base station and repeat the steps except set the security to WPA and see if your XBox will connect. If not, set the airport for WEP and see if that works.

Airport Extreme Gigabit Base Station problem

Today when I tried to get on the internet, my MacBook Pro would not recognize my AEBS. It cannot find it in the AirPort Utility or when I type the name of my network and password into Airport from the Menu Bar. My PowerBook is running fine on the same network. It recognizes and joins the network when it wakes from sleep and it sees the AEBS in Airport Utility.
Last week my MacBook Pro experienced a kernel panic while using Safari over a different wireless network. My best guess is that I may have a bad Airport Express card... is there any way to run a test on it to find out?
Also, my MBP never remembers my networks that I visit requently.... all of them are hidden networks and I have to retype the network and password every time I visit that same network. This is not the case with my PowerBook... and I have no clue why.
Any help is appreciated.
Computer Stats:
PowerBook G4, 1.67 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 10.4.10
MacBook Pro, 2.4 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 10.4.9
Just ask if you need any more info about my computers or about my AEBS.

Hi K,
I'm glad I'm not the only one experiencing this problem. I was beginning to think that I made a mistake in purchasing the Airport Extreme BS (Gig). Since our jobs are printing perfectly when the printer is directly attached to our macs running Leopard, I have to assume this is a wireless issue. Currently, my Extreme Station is configured to run at 5 GHz and backward compatible with the other devices. Unfortunately, because my Powerbook is the only one that can take advantage of the 5GHz range, the base station has to allow for 2.4 GHz as well, and I'm beginning to think this is the culprit but I guess we have no choice. Because the 2.4 range is quite crowded (my cordless phone runs at that frequency), I imagine this might be what's causing the computer and base station to be confused. I hope Apple can fix this and make it more rubust. Incidentally, there is a toggle option in the Airport Utility where it does allow for more "robustness" but warns that this could slow down the overall performance of the network. I tried, but I'm still having the same sort of printer issue as you described. What do you think?

Is it possible to boot from the Airport Extreme "N" base station?

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https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1419772?start=0&tstart=0
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http://www.ebuyer.com/262957-tp-link-adsl-modem-router-1x-ethernet-port-td-8816 (don't take this link as an endorsement, I have no idea whether it will work).

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Mac G5 drops/loses connection to Airport Extreme wireless base station

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