30M Virgin Media 30mbps problems with Apple Airport Extreme

drmsa · 14-05-2011, 20:37

Hi there,

I am very new to Virgin Media. Just had Virgin installed in the morning today, everything went very well. Up and running in around 2 hours from the time the Virgin Engineer came in. Very pleased with the service.

My problems started when I tried to configure my Airport Extreme (dualband version) as a seperate wireless network while being connected through a LAN cable to the Virgin Super hub. The speed I am getting if I connect wirelessly to the Virgin is 30mpbs download and 3mbps upload. However if I connect wirelessly to the Airport Extreme for some reason it keeps coming up with a speed of 5mpbs download and 2 mpbs upload.

What am I missing? Can someone help me with this please.

Thanks in advance.

foddy · 14-05-2011, 21:31

I have an airport extreme, but not a SH. I get 50/5Mbps with no problem, the Airport is rock solid for me.

Do you have the airport configured as a gateway (i.e. NAT twice, once by the SH, once by the airport) or is it just working as an access point?

Also, what channels are your SH and airport running on? Do you have the same bandwidth problems on 5GHz as 2.4GHz?

drmsa · 14-05-2011, 21:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by foddy

I have an airport extreme, but not a SH. I get 50/5Mbps with no problem, the Airport is rock solid for me.

Do you have the airport configured as a gateway (i.e. NAT twice, once by the SH, once by the airport) or is it just working as an access point?

Also, what channels are your SH and airport running on? Do you have the same bandwidth problems on 5GHz as 2.4GHz?

Thanks for the prompt reply foddy. I am sorry but I am not a very network oriented person! I am not able to understand your explanation of NAT twice.

What I really want to do is basically only use my Airport as my router. I would rather not use the SH!

I have recently been trying http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/.../351913#M37829 method, however I keep continue to get the same speed issues.

If you could give me a step by step configuration method, it would be very helpful indeed.

Regards

---------- Post added at 20:54 ---------- Previous post was at 20:51 ----------

Sorry forgot to mention, I have tried changing the bandwidths to both 2.4 and 5 and still get the same speed problem. I also tried switching the wireless on my SH off but still continued to get the same problem.

foddy · 14-05-2011, 22:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by drmsa

Thanks for the prompt reply foddy. I am sorry but I am not a very network oriented person! I am not able to understand your explanation of NAT twice.

What I really want to do is basically only use my Airport as my router. I would rather not use the SH!

It sounds like that you are doing double-NAT. You won't be able to use the SH as a simple modem until they enable bridge mode on it...

In the mean time, you may want to stick with the superhub for routeing. You can disable the routeing features of the airport by putting it into bridge mode (the airport, not the SH).

Quote:

If you could give me a step by step configuration method, it would be very helpful indeed.

I'm afraid I don't have a SH, so I can't do that - I have a modem, firewall and airport in bridge mode.

Quote:

Sorry forgot to mention, I have tried changing the bandwidths to both 2.4 and 5 and still get the same speed problem. I also tried switching the wireless on my SH off but still continued to get the same problem.

Personally, I'd leave everything on the airport as automatic, it generally does a good job. Are you using a mac or PC? Do you know if you're connecting with 2.4GHz or 5GHz to the airport?

drmsa · 14-05-2011, 23:17

I am using macs. I am currently on 2.4ghz as iPhones and iPads are not 5.0 compatible.
Are there modems available which I could use to replace the SH?

Skie · 14-05-2011, 23:40

It seems an odd problem. If you connect by wire to the airport do you still get low speeds?

If so, its could be a config setting on the airport or a dodgy cable you are using between it and the superhub.

Stephen · 15-05-2011, 08:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by drmsa

I am using macs. I am currently on 2.4ghz as iPhones and iPads are not 5.0 compatible.
Are there modems available which I could use to replace the SH?

VM are only using the superhub now for all broadband speeds.

foddy · 15-05-2011, 10:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by drmsa

I am using macs. I am currently on 2.4ghz as iPhones and iPads are not 5.0 compatible.
Are there modems available which I could use to replace the SH?

I think you're stuck with your SH. Run the system profiler app and go to the Network/AirPort section. It should list your current connected network and any others available.

You should check that there aren't any using similar channel numbers (they overlap a lot). If everything looks good there, I'd try switching away from the double-router setup and change the airport to bridge mode, to see if that fixes it.

zekeisaszekedoes · 16-05-2011, 13:24

AFAIK the Airport Extreme isn't really capable of complex config tweaks as like most Apple devices it hides the advanced options from the user, plus the Super Hub can be ropey no matter how you set it up. It works fine assuming it's first in line after a modem (not a combined modem/router which the Super Hub is) so maybe you want to ditch the Super Hub and get a modem-only device from VM.

Helix · 16-05-2011, 13:44

I have an Airport Extreme working fine with the Superhub other than the typical Superhub issues with the Firewall and IP Flood detection. I set up the Airport Extreme in Bridge Mode so the Superhub still issues IPs and does the routing.

drmsa · 16-05-2011, 22:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by zekeisaszekedoes

AFAIK the Airport Extreme isn't really capable of complex config tweaks as like most Apple devices it hides the advanced options from the user, plus the Super Hub can be ropey no matter how you set it up. It works fine assuming it's first in line after a modem (not a combined modem/router which the Super Hub is) so maybe you want to ditch the Super Hub and get a modem-only device from VM.

How can I get the modem-only device from VM?

---------- Post added at 22:16 ---------- Previous post was at 20:31 ----------

Just tried thishttp://community.virginmedia.com/t5/.../351913#M37829 and it seems to just work perfectly. I have done the assisted setup on the Airport Extreme and it all seems to just work perfectly.

I really appreciate everyones help and input. Thanks once again.

zekeisaszekedoes · 16-05-2011, 22:24

If that solution fails, there are other options.

craigj2k12 · 16-05-2011, 22:25

the bridge mode is only a few weeks away, and to get awat from double NAT thats your better option, but the setup is fine for now

drmsa · 16-05-2011, 22:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by zekeisaszekedoes

If that solution fails, there are other options.

If you dont mind, could you mention the other options and the steps do it please. It would be extremely helpful just in case the current solution fails in the future.

craigj2k12 · 16-05-2011, 22:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by drmsa

If you dont mind, could you mention the other options and the steps do it please. It would be extremely helpful just in case the current solution fails in the future.

stick with the current one, in a couple of weeks there will be a modem mode on the superhub which will make it act like a standalone modem, so you can do all the routing with a proper, decent router