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Need help troubleshooting Airport Extreme and Mountain Lion

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Skylamar

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Mar 25, 2013, 2:47:00 PM3/25/13
to
Hi. I may have posted a similar message last year. My wifi network
stopped working last year after only working for about three weeks. I'm
trying to get it working again after having given up.

Here's my setup:

I have an IMac circa last 2007. I am running OS X 10.8.3. I am
receiving broadband service via Time Warner cable. I have an Airport
Extreme Base Station model # M8799L/A.

The base station is an old model. I bought it used on ebay. I didn't
need the power/range of a newer model because my apartment is small and
I'm really only needing wifi for an IPod Touch that is always close to
my IMac.

In order to get the Airport Extreme Base Station to work in Mountain
Lion, I had to download Apple's older Airport utility, Airport Utility
5.6.

Anyway, I've hooked the ethernet cable from my cable model to the base
station. The blinking lights on the base station indicate that it's
receiving communication from the modem.

I then turned on Wifi in Network System Preferences and then ran the
Airport Utility 5.6. Airport Utility recognized the base station and I
created a name for the network and a password.

However, Airport Utility is not recognizing that the base station is
connected to the internet via the ethernet cable. Airport Utility tells
me to connect the ethernet cable to the base station's WAN port. But, I
already have the ethernet cable connected to the WAN port.

I therefore don't understand why my internet connection is not being
recognized. I double-checked that the ethernet cable is connected to
both the modem and the base station. Are there other steps that I'm
missing? Or am I doing steps in the wrong order?

I was able to get this to work last year, but then the wifi stopped
working after a few weeks. But I really don't think the base station is
broken. Maybe the cable model is finicky -- Time Warner was unable to
help me troubleshoot in much detail.

If you have any suggestions, they'd be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Sky

David Stone

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Mar 25, 2013, 2:56:01 PM3/25/13
to
In article <2013032511470078399-nothingtoseehere@movealongnet>,
Skylamar <nothingt...@movealong.net> wrote:

> Hi. I may have posted a similar message last year. My wifi network
> stopped working last year after only working for about three weeks. I'm
> trying to get it working again after having given up.
>
> Here's my setup:
>
> I have an IMac circa last 2007. I am running OS X 10.8.3. I am
> receiving broadband service via Time Warner cable. I have an Airport
> Extreme Base Station model # M8799L/A.

[big snip]

Is your TW cable box acting only as a modem, or is it a modem/router?
If the latter, you need to make sure your AE base station is in bridge
mode.

To test your TW cable box, you'll need to hook your computer directly
to it and use the ethernet connection to examine settings etc. I'm
assuming that it has some sort of admin interface you can access
via a web browser; the documentation for the box should include that
information. Figure that out then, if it IS working ok, re-connect
it to your AE base station and re-check the wireless configuration.

Skylamar

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Mar 25, 2013, 4:18:17 PM3/25/13
to
On 2013-03-25 18:56:01 +0000, David Stone said:

> Is your TW cable box acting only as a modem, or is it a modem/router?
> If the latter, you need to make sure your AE base station is in bridge
> mode.
>
> To test your TW cable box, you'll need to hook your computer directly
> to it and use the ethernet connection to examine settings etc. I'm
> assuming that it has some sort of admin interface you can access
> via a web browser; the documentation for the box should include that
> information. Figure that out then, if it IS working ok, re-connect
> it to your AE base station and re-check the wireless configuration.

David, thanks for the reply.

Somehow, I got it working, although I'm confused about exactly what
fixed the problem. And the Airport software was also confusing.

I don't think my modem is also a router. But I did remove the battery
and shut down the modem before connecting it to the base station. I'd
done that before in the past too, but maybe it didn't work until now.

Thanks again.

Tom Stiller

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Mar 25, 2013, 6:32:52 PM3/25/13
to
In article <2013032513181734061-nothingtoseehere@movealongnet>,
It's been so long since I worked with just a cable modem that I forgot
that they tend to latch onto the first MAC address they see after
powering up and refuse to recognize any other device after that.

--
PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf
of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy. -- Ambrose Bierce

Bob Harris

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Mar 25, 2013, 7:20:14 PM3/25/13
to
In article
<tom_stiller-0A5D...@news.individual.net>,
As Tom Stiller has pointed out, may cable modems will ONLY talk to
the first device that connects to it after it is powered on.

If you swap devices plugged into the cable modem, you will have to
power cycle the cable modem each time you change the device
plugged into the cable modem.

Another problem that can make it appear that you do not have
internet access is if the ISP does not assign a proper DNS server
to your Airport Extreme base station when it also assigns it an IP
address. If that should happen, then when you ask to connect to a
website via the site name, the name does not get translated to an
IP address, and you do not connect. The test for this is to
assign your own DNS server via System Preferences -> Network ->
Advanced -> DNS. Google DNS servers are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.
OpenDNS servers are 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220.

Skylamar

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Mar 26, 2013, 12:50:59 AM3/26/13
to
On 2013-03-25 23:20:14 +0000, Bob Harris said:

> As Tom Stiller has pointed out, may cable modems will ONLY talk to
> the first device that connects to it after it is powered on.
>
> If you swap devices plugged into the cable modem, you will have to
> power cycle the cable modem each time you change the device
> plugged into the cable modem.
>
> Another problem that can make it appear that you do not have
> internet access is if the ISP does not assign a proper DNS server
> to your Airport Extreme base station when it also assigns it an IP
> address. If that should happen, then when you ask to connect to a
> website via the site name, the name does not get translated to an
> IP address, and you do not connect. The test for this is to
> assign your own DNS server via System Preferences -> Network ->
> Advanced -> DNS. Google DNS servers are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.
> OpenDNS servers are 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220.

Bob, thanks for the info.

I have a few other questions you might be able to help me with:

Are DSL modems less sticky than cable modems? Do they also only talk to
the first device connected to them? I'm interested in possibly
switching to a lower-cost DSL service if it expands to my area (it's
already available in surrounding areas).

I'm also thinking of using Skype or Magic Jack Plus for my phone
service and cancelling my phone service with the cable company. The old
Airport base station I'm using has a LAN port. Will that port work with
a Skype-enabled phone or a Magic Jack Plus device? I'm guessing it
will, but I'm wondering if there are limitations.

Thanks again!

Sky

Bob Harris

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Mar 26, 2013, 1:59:58 PM3/26/13
to
In article <2013032521505979423-nothingtoseehere@movealongnet>,
I cannot speak for all DSL modems, but when I had Verizon DSL, the
modem did not care when I switched routers. Your mileage may vary.

As long as you know the modem may lock onto the first device
connected to it after it powers up, you just need to be prepared
to power cycle it (and if it is battery backed up, disconnect the
battery) before changing the device it is talking to. You
generally do not change routers that often.

I do not know about Skype or Magic Jack except what I read on the
internet.

Assuming the Airport Extreme has the WAN port connected to the
modem, then the LAN port(s) will be on the same subnet network as
your WiFi. So if your Magic Jack or Skype device just needs an
LAN connection to your home subnet, you are all set.

David Stone

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Mar 26, 2013, 2:25:05 PM3/26/13
to
In article <2013032521505979423-nothingtoseehere@movealongnet>,
Skylamar <nothingt...@movealong.net> wrote:

> On 2013-03-25 23:20:14 +0000, Bob Harris said:
>
> > As Tom Stiller has pointed out, may cable modems will ONLY talk to
> > the first device that connects to it after it is powered on.
> >
> > If you swap devices plugged into the cable modem, you will have to
> > power cycle the cable modem each time you change the device
> > plugged into the cable modem.
> >
> > Another problem that can make it appear that you do not have
> > internet access is if the ISP does not assign a proper DNS server
> > to your Airport Extreme base station when it also assigns it an IP
> > address. If that should happen, then when you ask to connect to a
> > website via the site name, the name does not get translated to an
> > IP address, and you do not connect. The test for this is to
> > assign your own DNS server via System Preferences -> Network ->
> > Advanced -> DNS. Google DNS servers are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.
> > OpenDNS servers are 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220.
>
> Bob, thanks for the info.
>
> I have a few other questions you might be able to help me with:
>
> Are DSL modems less sticky than cable modems? Do they also only talk to
> the first device connected to them? I'm interested in possibly
> switching to a lower-cost DSL service if it expands to my area (it's
> already available in surrounding areas).

You may find that they automatically provide you with a combined
modem/router/wireless unit, unless they give you the option of
purchasing your own. The former seems to be increasingly common,
at least in my area.

Skylamar

unread,
Apr 12, 2013, 1:47:54 AM4/12/13
to
Hi. It's me again.

I'm still using the old Mac Airport Express base station, which I
bought used last year, and a cable modem from Time Warner.

I'm writing this time because my wifi stopped working all of a sudden,
once yesterday and once today. Today, for instance, I was using Skype
and it was working fine one second and then the next second there was
no connection.

I was able to get wifi working again, both yesterday and today, by
resetting the modem and the Airport Extreme base station. It's quite
possible that resetting only one of them would have worked, but I
didn't use the process of elimination to figure it out. I was just
pleased to get the wifi working again.

I'm running Mountain Lion, but I'm also running an old version of
Airport Utility (version 5.6) because the Mountain Lion version of
Airport Utility doesn't work with my Airport Extreme base station,
because my base station is too old. Airport Utility verion 5.6 is a bit
confusing, though, which is partly when I can't tell if resetting the
modem or the base station was what fixed the wifi network.

But, I'd like to figure out what keeps causing the wifi connection to
stop all of a sudden. Is there any way to tell whether it's the router
or the modem? Is there an application that might provide clues?

Some other possibly related facts:

For three years, before setting up wifi, I had my cable modem plugged
directly into my IMac. During that time, there were only two cases when
the internet connection failed: First, when there was a problem on Time
Warner's end, and second, when I accidentally kicked the ethernet cord
so it became unplugged from the modem. In the first case, eventually
Time Warner would reactivate the internet connection and I never had to
disconnect the ethernet cable or reset the modem to get the internet
working again. In the second case, I would just plug the ethernet cable
back into the modem and my internet connection would begin working
again. Again, I didn't need to reset the modem.

So, I'm wondering: does the fact that my internet connection was less
finicky before I began using the Airport Extreme base station mean the
problem with my wifi connection failing is probably due to the base
station?

If I have to, I'll get a new router. However, the reason I got the old
base Airport Extreme is that it fits my needs. It works with speeds of
up to 50Mbps (my internet speed is only 15Mbps for downloads) and its
range is far greater than the size of my tiny apartment. When I was
shopping for routers before settling on the used Airport Extreme, most
of them seemed like overkill and were pretty expensive -- that's
definitely true of all the current models of Airport sold by Apple.

Thanks.

Sky

nospam

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Apr 12, 2013, 2:20:11 AM4/12/13
to
In article <2013041122475445916-nothingtoseehere@movealongnet>,
Skylamar <nothingt...@movealong.net> wrote:

> Hi. It's me again.

hi

> I'm still using the old Mac Airport Express base station, which I
> bought used last year, and a cable modem from Time Warner.

which one? there are several versions.

> I'm writing this time because my wifi stopped working all of a sudden,
> once yesterday and once today. Today, for instance, I was using Skype
> and it was working fine one second and then the next second there was
> no connection.

that could be skype.

> I was able to get wifi working again, both yesterday and today, by
> resetting the modem and the Airport Extreme base station. It's quite
> possible that resetting only one of them would have worked, but I
> didn't use the process of elimination to figure it out. I was just
> pleased to get the wifi working again.

do you have both an airport extreme and an airport express? if not,
which one did you mean?

anyway, what you describe is a common failure of the 802.11g airport
express, but it also can happen with the n units. they are small and
can overheat.

unplugging and replugging the airport is probably all that's needed.

i haven't heard of that issue for the extremes, but that doesn't mean
it can't happen.

> If I have to, I'll get a new router. However, the reason I got the old
> base Airport Extreme is that it fits my needs. It works with speeds of
> up to 50Mbps (my internet speed is only 15Mbps for downloads) and its
> range is far greater than the size of my tiny apartment. When I was
> shopping for routers before settling on the used Airport Extreme, most
> of them seemed like overkill and were pretty expensive -- that's
> definitely true of all the current models of Airport sold by Apple.

if price is an issue, get a non-apple router. they're less expensive,
although if you are shopping used the difference may not be as much.

you also can use any web browser to configure it, rather than having to
keep an old version of airport utility which might stop working in some
future version of os x, leaving you with a brick.

Skylamar

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Apr 12, 2013, 4:21:49 PM4/12/13
to
On 2013-04-12 06:20:11 +0000, nospam said:

>
>> I'm writing this time because my wifi stopped working all of a sudden,
>> once yesterday and once today. Today, for instance, I was using Skype
>> and it was working fine one second and then the next second there was
>> no connection.
>
> that could be skype.

I'm sure it wasn't Skype because no other apps (Safari etc) worked either.

>
>> I was able to get wifi working again, both yesterday and today, by
>> resetting the modem and the Airport Extreme base station. It's quite
>> possible that resetting only one of them would have worked, but I
>> didn't use the process of elimination to figure it out. I was just
>> pleased to get the wifi working again.
>
> do you have both an airport extreme and an airport express? if not,
> which one did you mean?

Sorry, I was mistyping. I have an Airport Extreme base station. It's
the 802.11g.

>
> anyway, what you describe is a common failure of the 802.11g airport
> express, but it also can happen with the n units. they are small and
> can overheat.
>
> unplugging and replugging the airport is probably all that's needed.
>
> i haven't heard of that issue for the extremes, but that doesn't mean
> it can't happen.

Okay, I'll try that next time.

>
>> If I have to, I'll get a new router. However, the reason I got the old
>> base Airport Extreme is that it fits my needs. It works with speeds of
>> up to 50Mbps (my internet speed is only 15Mbps for downloads) and its
>> range is far greater than the size of my tiny apartment. When I was
>> shopping for routers before settling on the used Airport Extreme, most
>> of them seemed like overkill and were pretty expensive -- that's
>> definitely true of all the current models of Airport sold by Apple.
>
> if price is an issue, get a non-apple router. they're less expensive,
> although if you are shopping used the difference may not be as much.

Yeah, thanks.

>
> you also can use any web browser to configure it, rather than having to
> keep an old version of airport utility which might stop working in some
> future version of os x, leaving you with a brick.

Oh, that's useful info. How do I do that?


nospam

unread,
Apr 12, 2013, 5:20:11 PM4/12/13
to
In article <2013041213214991629-nothingtoseehere@movealongnet>,
Skylamar <nothingt...@movealong.net> wrote:

> >> I'm writing this time because my wifi stopped working all of a sudden,
> >> once yesterday and once today. Today, for instance, I was using Skype
> >> and it was working fine one second and then the next second there was
> >> no connection.
> >
> > that could be skype.
>
> I'm sure it wasn't Skype because no other apps (Safari etc) worked either.

skype can be very flaky, which is why i mentioned it, however, if more
than one app could not connect, then it wasn't skype.

> >> I was able to get wifi working again, both yesterday and today, by
> >> resetting the modem and the Airport Extreme base station. It's quite
> >> possible that resetting only one of them would have worked, but I
> >> didn't use the process of elimination to figure it out. I was just
> >> pleased to get the wifi working again.
> >
> > do you have both an airport extreme and an airport express? if not,
> > which one did you mean?
>
> Sorry, I was mistyping. I have an Airport Extreme base station. It's
> the 802.11g.

one thing to try is take the airport base station out of the picture
and connect your computer directly to the cable/dsl modem.

if you still have problems when the airport is not connected, then it's
obviously not the airport.

> > if price is an issue, get a non-apple router. they're less expensive,
> > although if you are shopping used the difference may not be as much.
>
> Yeah, thanks.
>
> > you also can use any web browser to configure it, rather than having to
> > keep an old version of airport utility which might stop working in some
> > future version of os x, leaving you with a brick.
>
> Oh, that's useful info. How do I do that?

just to be clear, that paragraph was in reference to a non-apple
router. apple airports require airport utility.

the problem, as you probably know, is if you're using an older airport
base station that needs an older version of apple's airport utility
(which is what you said you're doing), and for some reason that version
ceases to work on a newer mac or newer version of os x, then you're
stuck.

you would need to either keep an older mac just to run the older
airport utility, or you would need to upgrade an otherwise functional
airport to a newer one that is supported by a more recent airport
utility. either of those is silly when you can by a non-apple router
for next to nothing.

non-apple routers use an ordinary browser, which is available on just
about any system. you will always be able to configure a non-apple
router, no matter how old it is or what system you're using. that's a
very big advantage. plus, many of them do more than apple's airport.

Skylamar

unread,
Apr 12, 2013, 8:10:03 PM4/12/13
to
On 2013-04-12 21:20:11 +0000, nospam said:

> In article <2013041213214991629-nothingtoseehere@movealongnet>,
> Skylamar <nothingt...@movealong.net> wrote:
> one thing to try is take the airport base station out of the picture
> and connect your computer directly to the cable/dsl modem.
>
> if you still have problems when the airport is not connected, then it's
> obviously not the airport.

I never had any issues when the ethernet was connected directly to my
Mac's ethernet port.

But I thought maybe using a router of any type could be finicky.

>>
>>
>>> you also can use any web browser to configure it, rather than having to
>>> keep an old version of airport utility which might stop working in some
>>> future version of os x, leaving you with a brick.
>>
>> Oh, that's useful info. How do I do that?
>
> just to be clear, that paragraph was in reference to a non-apple
> router. apple airports require airport utility.

Ah, okay.

>
>
>
> non-apple routers use an ordinary browser, which is available on just
> about any system. you will always be able to configure a non-apple
> router, no matter how old it is or what system you're using. that's a
> very big advantage. plus, many of them do more than apple's airport.

Okay, I'll if my wifi connection continues to be unstable. If so. I'll
look into a non-Apple router.

Thanks for your help!

nospam

unread,
Apr 12, 2013, 8:32:27 PM4/12/13
to
In article <2013041217100378245-nothingtoseehere@movealongnet>,
Skylamar <nothingt...@movealong.net> wrote:

> > one thing to try is take the airport base station out of the picture
> > and connect your computer directly to the cable/dsl modem.
> >
> > if you still have problems when the airport is not connected, then it's
> > obviously not the airport.
>
> I never had any issues when the ethernet was connected directly to my
> Mac's ethernet port.

then it's probably the airport.

> But I thought maybe using a router of any type could be finicky.

they can flake too.

David Empson

unread,
Apr 13, 2013, 1:48:41 AM4/13/13
to
Skylamar <nothingt...@movealong.net> wrote:

> Hi. It's me again.
>
> I'm still using the old Mac Airport Express base station, which I
> bought used last year, and a cable modem from Time Warner.
>
> I'm writing this time because my wifi stopped working all of a sudden,
> once yesterday and once today. Today, for instance, I was using Skype
> and it was working fine one second and then the next second there was
> no connection.
>
> I was able to get wifi working again, both yesterday and today, by
> resetting the modem and the Airport Extreme base station. It's quite
> possible that resetting only one of them would have worked, but I
> didn't use the process of elimination to figure it out. I was just
> pleased to get the wifi working again.
>
> I'm running Mountain Lion, but I'm also running an old version of
> Airport Utility (version 5.6) because the Mountain Lion version of
> Airport Utility doesn't work with my Airport Extreme base station,
> because my base station is too old. Airport Utility verion 5.6 is a bit
> confusing, though, which is partly when I can't tell if resetting the
> modem or the base station was what fixed the wifi network.
>
> But, I'd like to figure out what keeps causing the wifi connection to
> stop all of a sudden. Is there any way to tell whether it's the router
> or the modem? Is there an application that might provide clues?

Based on your description (with reference to later posts for
clarification), you are talking about one of the 802.11b/g models of the
Airport Extreme. This is the "flying saucer" shaped model, with two
Ethernet ports, a USB port and an external antenna port. (Some models
also have a dial-up modem and associated socket for a telephone line.)

In my experience with two of these (one of mine and one of a client's),
they reasonably often (in the order of a week to a month) got into a
state where they had locked up and the WiFi network stopped working
until we pulled out the power plug, plugged it back in, and waited for
the base station to reinitialize.

This sounds like the same problem you are experiencing.

My client also had a couple of Airport Expresses (the original 802.11b/g
one) which had the same problem, leading me to suspect a general issue
with all of Apple's WiFi base stations of that generation.

All of my client's base stations were acting as simple WiFi access
points: "Create a wireless network" and Internet sharing "Off (Bridge
mode)", with their ADSL model acting as the router for the network.

For comparison, I've never seen this happen with any of the twenty or so
802.11n Airport Extremes, Airport Expresses and Time Capsules I've dealt
with, but that particular client stopped running their homestay so I
never got to try newer models for them.

I never established what was triggering the lockup, and firmware updates
didn't fix it. My client's base stations were dealing with a wide range
of clients, operating systems and applications, so it might have been
some specific software or usage pattern. Skype was likely to be used
quite often.

Overheating might have been a possibility, especially as the Airport
Extreme was in the roof of the house, but the two Airport Expresses were
in rooms of the house in positions which were unlikely to be affected by
heat from external sources.

--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz

Skylamar

unread,
Apr 13, 2013, 2:41:21 AM4/13/13
to
On 2013-04-13 05:48:41 +0000, David Empson said:

>
> Based on your description (with reference to later posts for
> clarification), you are talking about one of the 802.11b/g models of the
> Airport Extreme. This is the "flying saucer" shaped model, with two
> Ethernet ports, a USB port and an external antenna port. (Some models
> also have a dial-up modem and associated socket for a telephone line.)

Yeah, that's the model I have. It has an internal modem port.

>
> In my experience with two of these (one of mine and one of a client's),
> they reasonably often (in the order of a week to a month) got into a
> state where they had locked up and the WiFi network stopped working
> until we pulled out the power plug, plugged it back in, and waited for
> the base station to reinitialize.
>
> This sounds like the same problem you are experiencing.

Sounds like it. Next time the wifi network stops working I'll just
unplug and replug the Airport Extreme, without fiddling with the cable
modem, and see what happens.

>
> My client also had a couple of Airport Expresses (the original 802.11b/g
> one) which had the same problem, leading me to suspect a general issue
> with all of Apple's WiFi base stations of that generation.

Okay, it definitely sounds like I'm experiencing what you and your
client experienced.

Thanks so much for your post and the additional info which I didn't
quote in this reply.

I have a few questions:

As I mentioned previously, my internet connection never had trouble
when the ethernet cable was connected directly from my cable modem to
my Mac's ethernet port. Should a good router be that stable?

Could you, or anyone else reading this, recommend a non-Apple router?
My internet speeds, as I stated before, are only 15Mbps maximum. And
the devices I'm using (IMac, IPod Touch and Android phone) that connect
to my wifi network are only, at maximum, about 12 feet from the router.
Also, I bought my current Airport Extreme on ebay, and I'm thinking
that using ebay again to buy a used router might make the most sense
because when I was looking to buy a new router, they were all more
powerful than I need and were not cheap.

Thanks!

Sky

nospam

unread,
Apr 13, 2013, 3:50:10 AM4/13/13
to
In article <2013041223412161962-nothingtoseehere@movealongnet>,
Skylamar <nothingt...@movealong.net> wrote:

> > Based on your description (with reference to later posts for
> > clarification), you are talking about one of the 802.11b/g models of the
> > Airport Extreme. This is the "flying saucer" shaped model, with two
> > Ethernet ports, a USB port and an external antenna port. (Some models
> > also have a dial-up modem and associated socket for a telephone line.)
>
> Yeah, that's the model I have. It has an internal modem port.

wow, that's old.

> As I mentioned previously, my internet connection never had trouble
> when the ethernet cable was connected directly from my cable modem to
> my Mac's ethernet port. Should a good router be that stable?

absolutely. they can easily run 24/7 for years.

> Could you, or anyone else reading this, recommend a non-Apple router?
> My internet speeds, as I stated before, are only 15Mbps maximum. And
> the devices I'm using (IMac, IPod Touch and Android phone) that connect
> to my wifi network are only, at maximum, about 12 feet from the router.
> Also, I bought my current Airport Extreme on ebay, and I'm thinking
> that using ebay again to buy a used router might make the most sense
> because when I was looking to buy a new router, they were all more
> powerful than I need and were not cheap.

802.11g will be dirt cheap if you go used (i don't think they make
g-only anymore), but i would get something with 802.11n in it for
several reasons. first, 802.11n is more reliable over greater
distances. second, although your isp might only be 15mbps, the speed
between devices on your lan will benefit from the additional speed.
wireless syncing will be faster, copying files between machines
(although you did only list one computer) will be faster, etc.

a gigabit apple airport extreme is a good choice (the square ones, not
the older saucers), as is the previous generation 802.11n airport
express. later versions of the extreme support 450 mbps, versus 300
mbps for earlier ones (but you need the same support in the client
device to get 450), and they have a guest mode which can be convenient
if you have visitors. they are very reliable and will be supported for
a while, so although one day support might end, it won't be all that
soon. the express is $69 in the refurb section of the apple store.

for non-apple routers, it doesn't really matter what you get. the
differences are not really significant unless you are looking for a
specific feature. they're $20-30 and up for new ones, less if you catch
a sale.

some routers support third party firmware, such as dd-wrt, which if
installed, gives you all sorts of features that would otherwise cost a
lot of money to get. check the dd-wrt website for features and which
routers they support.

if you travel, a small travel router can be very useful. some are
extremely small (see pic below), while others can run on batteries and
some even support usb cellular modems or tethering to a cellphone for
instant hotspot, anywhere.

this one is probably the smallest wifi router, including 2 ethernet
ports on the back and a flip out ac plug as well as usb power:
<http://www.edimax.com/tw/Image/promotion/enews/pic/BR-6258n_04.JPG>
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