Electronics & Computers Deals here!
Certain sites cause AirPort Extreme Base Station to fail when accessed with Safari
MacFixIt reader Brent Rossow describes a problem where certain websites cause AirPort Extreme base stations to fail completely, i.e. no machines using the base station are able to access network services. We are seeking additional confirmation for the issue.
Rossow writes: "I have a PowerBook G4 667/512MB RAM, 10.3.5, AirPort, AirPort Extreme Base Station, all available software updates, latest firmware on AirPort Extreme Base Station, etc. I also have two WinXP machines (one wireless, one wired) and a PowerBook G3 with AirPort as well. This is all on a home network with a 3Mbps cable modem connection. The AirPort Extreme Base Station is connected to the cable modem on the WAN port and serves DHCP/NAT for the network on the LAN port.
"Now the problem: More and more frequently my AirPort Extreme Base Station seems to just disappear lately. I've been thinking that the AirPort Extreme Base Station is going bad, even though it's only a year old. However, tonight I accidentally discovered that it seems that trying to load certain websites is somehow killing off the AirPort Extreme Base Station connection. My sister sent me this URL tonight and it quit in the middle of loading: http://homepage.mac.com/brossow/macfixit/safari_aebs_crash_page.html [Note that, as described, your network may drop when accessing this page]
"I figured the AirPort Extreme Base Station had 'died' -- AGAIN! -- and so I checked for Internet connectivity on one of my Windows machines; nothing doing. The AirPort Extreme Base Station was not visible via AirPort Admin Utility. I rebooted the AirPort Extreme Base Station and we were back up and running with Internet access on all my machines. I test-loaded several websites, from MacFixIt to Microsoft to a personal website and everything was fine. I tried to load the above URL again and, once again, the connection suddenly died. Again I rebooted the AirPort Extreme Base Station and tested connectivity when it came back up. This time, I surfed other sites for about 45 minutes without issue, giving the AirPort Extreme Base Station a chance to kick off again if it was going to. Then I tried for a third time to load the above URL and again the AirPort Extreme Base Station died instantly."
"This is all when I try to load the above page in Safari. If I try to load the same URL in Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Camino, the page loads fine and my connection is unaffected. But once I attempt to load the above URL in Safari, the connection is shot for everyone and only rebooting the AirPort Extreme Base Station fixes the problem. [...]
"The Activities window in Safari seems to indicate exactly where the connection dies, sometime between loading the CSS file and the JavaScript file for the site in question. It dies in exactly the same way every time."
If you are experiencing a similar problem -- where accessing certain sites in Safari causes destruction of network connectivity for all other machines connecting through an AirPort Extreme Base Station - please drop us a line at late-breakers@macfixit.com.
Resources
<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/brossow/macfixit20040910.html">
http://homepage.mac.com/brossow/macfixit/20040910.html</a>
Included are my original message and a subsequent follow-up report with
screenshot.
The above URL looks right but doesn't work when clicked; the last / was
somehow eliminated in the link. Copy and paste this instead:
http://homepage.mac.com/brossow/macfixit/20040910.html
Sorry about that.
Thank you for this valuable information.
We have had "untraceable" drop outs of our Airport Base station which I
did not understand, and it was only present when I surfed the web using
a Powerbook G4 and Safari - never when my wife used the web, as she
browses with Firefox on an iBook.
Will try to reproduce error, avoid error using another browser, and come
back here to report!
RE Brent Rossow's description of his network:
"The AirPort Extreme Base Station is connected to the cable modem on the
LAN port and serves DHCP/NAT for the network on the WAN port."
That's exactly backwards. The cable modem should be plugged into the Base
Station's WAN port, and his network should be on the LAN port.
--Colleen
You're right -- I wrote it backwards, but it's wired correctly. Obviously, it
shouldn't be working at all if I had it wired backwards. That's what I get for
filing a late-night trouble report! ;-)
Base Station.
Are you loading the site in Safari? What version of Safari? What version of OS
X? All updates installed? Etc.
And which BS -- modem or no modem?
although I never thought it was an issue with Safari... I'll have to do some
experiments, too...
I have had problems with my Airport Extreme dying every 4 to 7 days
regardless of browser. I have a couple of TiVo's and another PB G4 1.33Ghz
with Airport 802.11g on the wireless network. I can still see the Airport
Extreme in the AP Admin utility, can communicate internally with other
devices, but cannot get access to the outside. The TiVo's can't get out either.
I've resest the Airport Extreme, reloaded the firmware, changed transmitter
power, removed any ACL lists, removed WEP security, and nothing has
helped. I have to restart it through the Admin utility or just pull the plug. I
finally got Apple to send me a replacement. I'm waiting for it to arrive.
property_morephotos.cfm.htm">http://www.btinternet.com/~crillboy/
property_morephotos.cfm.htm</a> on my G4 Dual 1.42, using OS X 10.3.5,
with Security Update 2004-09-07 (and all previous updates). Using the latest
Airport Express software, and an Airport Extreme Base Station, Safari 1.2.3
(v125.9). I accessed that page, waited until it had completely loaded, then
comfirmed internet access was still present.
Which AIrPort Extreme BS -- modem or no modem? Trying to narrow this
down....
No problem on my end either. Web page loaded quickly without any glitches
at all. Airport Extreme, Comcast Cable and Safari on Powerbook 15 in
See my note below. The page in question has changed since I reported the
problem. I should have archived it for future reference. :-(
every few days. I'll be replacing it with a third party solution soon.
---
-d
I have a win2000 machine connecting through a vpn, and three mac 10.3.5
laptops on my network.
---
-d
wired computer to WAN. This configuration is backwards. The cable modem
should be connected to the WAN and your other computer that is hard wired
should be connected to the LAN port of your base station. Is this what you
have?
As Willy Wonka would say, "Strike that. Reverse it." I meant the opposite. It's
wired correctly. Sorry for the confusion!
since I first reported the problem. It used to have a graphical menu down the
side, which is now gone. The page now loads correctly for me under Safari,
but not because Safari is now working properly but because the page
changed. If I find another page that kills the AEBS, I'll report back. Those of
you reporting that the page loads fine in Safari may be seeing the updated
version of the page rather than the one with which I had trouble.
- by brossow September 13, 2004 7:01 PM PDT
- <class="merchant"><span>></span><div class="datestamp"><i>This is a reply to a previous comment by brossow</i></div></class><br />
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (25 Comments)Google's cache of the above URL (still showing the old site) causes the
symptoms described as well. As their cache may change soon, I have in turn
cached Google's cache at this address:
http://homepage.mac.com/brossow/macfixit/safari_aebs_crash_page.html