Adding airport extreme to existing network breaks wifi
After spending a lot of time trying to solve this issue with no success, I unplugged everything and went away for summer holiday. Came back a few weeks later and plugged everything back again and now it works.
Yeah, it has worked for over a month.
I would start with the easy stuff first:
- Make sure the ethernet connection plugging into both AirPort Extreme is going into it's WAN port (the one with the circles icon above it) -- on the newest units that's at the very bottom of the Extreme. Note: this is crucial as plugging into any other outlet can cause trouble. For example If either extreme has routing mode enabled and you connect the Ethernet coming from the time capsule into one of the other outlets you will get no connectivity and IP addresses will feed back into the network. If the units are not set up with routing mode, plugging into the other outlets can cause there to be WiFi signal but NO internet.
Download the Airport Utility application on your iPhone or use a Mac for the next steps. Open the Airport Utility and check your configuration on each Airport Extreme and the Time Capsule. For your setup it should be set to:
Base station tab-- Consider giving each unit a unique name so you can find them and configure them easier during troubleshooting.
- Internet tab-- Connect using DHCP. Consider entering manual DNS numbers such as 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 for cloudflare and google DNS numbers. Note: This step will help you determine if there are DNS issues from the Edge Router, or circumvent issues if the Time capsule or one of the extremes has routing mode on and is causing trouble.
- Wireless tab-- Create a wireless network. Try using the exact same name and password/security settings. Then try using a different wifi name for each extreme to see if it works better for you and you'll be able to troubleshoot which unit or which ethernet connection is having trouble. Note: when troubleshooting it is important to determine which of the two airports are causing issues, with one WiFi name it is hard to determine. With two you can join one, test to see if things work, then join the other and test to see if things work. This step is crucial in isolating where your issue lies.
Network tab-- Router mode (Off Bridge Mode) Note: as mentioned earlier, having routing mode on can cause unexpected behavior, so set it to bridge mode so you can know what behavior to expect. You want all your traffic and routing to be determined by your Edge Router.
If you’ve tried the steps above, then consider the WiFi scanning to change channels and such. It’s crucial to have the basics above done first. Cables running into the proper outlets, settings set as simple and expected as possible (bridge mode), and give yourself the separate WiFi names for testing purposes. Once things are working with the different names, then you can change the WiFi name back to the same name/security/password. Then if the issue returns you can try checking the WiFi channels.
Tip regarding WiFi scanners - sometimes the “free” channel looks open but there is other interference on that channel. I’ve had trouble with channel 1 on occasion - it looks clear with the scanners but the service is slow and troublesome. A quick thing you can do is when you’re trying a channel is hold the option key down on your keyboard and click the WiFi icon. You’ll get great info like TX rate. Then you can try channel 6, and channel 11 and see which one works best in your area.
Last tip is to consider separating out your 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz network while testing. I’ve had a AirPort Extreme that had antenna issues on one of the two and I only determined the hardware defect after splitting out the channels. The computer kept joining the 5Ghz automatically, and even nearby it had terrible service speeds.
All these steps boil down to: Try the simple stuff first, connections in right spots, settings as simple as possible. Then try to isolate where the problem is using different WiFi names, and consider splitting off the 2.4/5Ghz networks. Then simplify the network down to how you want it set once you’ve isolated the problem component or channel.
Note: I do not have the benefit of commenting in order to gather more info and ask basic questions. Each of these steps sounds simple but has a very concrete reason behind checking. Below each suggestion you will see the reasoning to do this.