Connection issues plague Apple AirPort Extreme, Time Capsule
Users of Apple's latest Airport Extreme Base Station and Time Capsule hardware, released in October 2009, have reported instability and significant reductions in speed when using the routers at the 5GHz wireless band.
A thread on the Apple Discussions features a number of users who claim issues with the hardware. In posts dating back to November and stretching into February, users say they have experienced much slower speeds on the 5GHz band, regardless of proximity to the base station.
"Stability and speed is terrible on 5GHz network," user 'Koskimaa' wrote. "Not to mention, now when I try to watch the streamed iPad Keynote in Quicktime, it crashes my PPPoE connection. Also, Time Machine backup has been far from smooth."
Some have said that transferring large files in 5GHz mode can freeze the connection, and there are numerous reports of instability while accessing 802.11-N mode on the 5.2GHz band. The same problems, users say, are not experienced at the 2.4GHz frequency.
User 'playtech1' wrote on Monday that his new 1TB Time Capsule is "hopeless in the 5GHz band." He said download speeds are about 420Kbps slower than at the 2.4GHz band.
"This is a real shame, given that I bought it to occupy the 5Ghz band - in my apartment I can see over 20 wireless networks in the 2.4ghz band and only one in the 5ghz," they wrote.
Last October, Apple updated its Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme hardware with a new speed boost. The devices include a new antenna design that aims to offer up to 50 percent better wireless performance, along with a 25 percent improvement in range over previous models.
The new hardware operates simultaneously over both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, allowing multiband devices to use the best available band. Apple said the new feature ensures better compatibility with devices that may interfere with one another through wireless transmission.
But rather than seeing improved performance with the new dual-band antenna, a number of users claim that their connection speeds are significantly reduced when operating at the 5GHz band.
"My 5GHz are so slow its unusable," user 'lagstrom' wrote. "Pretty often it (loses) contact and hooks to the 2.4GHz network instead. Please release a firmware fix soon."
"Sometimes I even need to restart my Airport card on my (MacBook Pro) because it hangs after getting connected to the 5GHz network which is extremely unstable," user 'Hank the tnak' wrote.
In December, AppleInsider reported that the AirPort line of routers had lost market share in 2009. Apple's hardware was fifth in the market, thanks in part to higher prices, behind Linksys, Belkin, D-Link and Netgear. And while the Time Machine consumer network attached storage device is a market leader, it satisfies a very small niche market.
A thread on the Apple Discussions features a number of users who claim issues with the hardware. In posts dating back to November and stretching into February, users say they have experienced much slower speeds on the 5GHz band, regardless of proximity to the base station.
"Stability and speed is terrible on 5GHz network," user 'Koskimaa' wrote. "Not to mention, now when I try to watch the streamed iPad Keynote in Quicktime, it crashes my PPPoE connection. Also, Time Machine backup has been far from smooth."
Some have said that transferring large files in 5GHz mode can freeze the connection, and there are numerous reports of instability while accessing 802.11-N mode on the 5.2GHz band. The same problems, users say, are not experienced at the 2.4GHz frequency.
User 'playtech1' wrote on Monday that his new 1TB Time Capsule is "hopeless in the 5GHz band." He said download speeds are about 420Kbps slower than at the 2.4GHz band.
"This is a real shame, given that I bought it to occupy the 5Ghz band - in my apartment I can see over 20 wireless networks in the 2.4ghz band and only one in the 5ghz," they wrote.
Last October, Apple updated its Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme hardware with a new speed boost. The devices include a new antenna design that aims to offer up to 50 percent better wireless performance, along with a 25 percent improvement in range over previous models.
The new hardware operates simultaneously over both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, allowing multiband devices to use the best available band. Apple said the new feature ensures better compatibility with devices that may interfere with one another through wireless transmission.
But rather than seeing improved performance with the new dual-band antenna, a number of users claim that their connection speeds are significantly reduced when operating at the 5GHz band.
"My 5GHz are so slow its unusable," user 'lagstrom' wrote. "Pretty often it (loses) contact and hooks to the 2.4GHz network instead. Please release a firmware fix soon."
"Sometimes I even need to restart my Airport card on my (MacBook Pro) because it hangs after getting connected to the 5GHz network which is extremely unstable," user 'Hank the tnak' wrote.
In December, AppleInsider reported that the AirPort line of routers had lost market share in 2009. Apple's hardware was fifth in the market, thanks in part to higher prices, behind Linksys, Belkin, D-Link and Netgear. And while the Time Machine consumer network attached storage device is a market leader, it satisfies a very small niche market.
Comments
I can't believe people waste money on Apple's wireless base station hardware. The same can be done with third party solutions for far less money. Time Capsule is an overpriced joke.
Did I waste money buying a MBP when I could have purchased an Acer for far less money?
I haven't had any issues with my TC. I backup a Macbook and an Air with no hiccups. I'll keep my eyes open though.
No issues here either. I replaced my failed Time Capsule with the one. Apple then replaced my old TC no questions asked due to the power supply problems and it was 20 months out of warranty. Can't complain.
Did I waste money buying a MBP when I could have purchased an Acer for far less money?
Depends on who you ask.
Any idea if the problem is HW, driver or firmware related? Things have been great on my end.
probably shoulda added issues with Aperture 3 eating hard drives alive with this post.
1) That should be it's own article, not one about routers and WiFi.
2) The hyperbolic "eating hard drives" is just a memory leak, so if it's "eating" anything it's virtual memory, not the HW itself.
3) There are plenty of reported issue withe Aperture 3, so if they do an article it should contain all these various issues not just one in an unrelated article.
Time Capsule is an overpriced joke. I would much rather backup over FireWire than wireless or Ethernet.
One backup for one machine is fine for your setup but TC has its benefits.
The idea is great and it's great when it works. They need to issue a fw update asap.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wirel...irport-extreme
Basically, the antennas are badly connected.
Adi
I haven't had any issues with my TC. I backup a Macbook and an Air with no hiccups. I'll keep my eyes open though.
Same here, no issues, I connect my iMac and Air all the time, and my wife's MacBook, and my iPhone, and other people's wifi devices. My wife's MacBook and my Air back up over the air to a connected hard drive... and no issues at all.
I'm out in the middle of nowhere, though, where there's no other signals so maybe that's what's going on with other people's routers?
The problem occurs with my older G5 as well as my new iMac 27". I can't use my wireless connection to transfer large number of movies to my Apple TV, the wireless service goes down. I had to resort to using an ethernet connection to do the job. Syncing a single movie is OK though.
This must be a recurring issue. Why some people have problems and others don't, who knows, but it is frustrating to say the least.
This has been discussed in the past :
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wirel...irport-extreme
Basically, the antennas are badly connected.
Adi
Interesting...
Did I waste money buying a MBP when I could have purchased an Acer for far less money?
... uuuuh except he wasn't commenting on the MacBook Pro vs. other brand notebooks, he was talking about the AirPort Extreme vs. other brand routers. Different products, different uses, different functions. Think before you post, really.
I can't believe people waste money on Apple's wireless base station hardware. The same can be done with third party solutions for far less money. Time Capsule is an overpriced joke. I would much rather backup over FireWire than wireless or Ethernet.
My overpriced joke is the best router I've ever had. Easy to set up, use and fast, fast, fast. No problems whatsoever thus far.
probably shoulda added issues with Aperture 3 eating hard drives alive with this post.
Yeah, this is a poor day for Apple's quality rep. Reading some of the general chatter on the web about Aperture makes me glad I haven't installed the trial yet.
I can't believe people waste money on Apple's wireless base station hardware. The same can be done with third party solutions for far less money. Time Capsule is an overpriced joke. I would much rather backup over FireWire than wireless or Ethernet.
I don't know any other SOHO router that gives you IPv6 set up so easily, if at all.