Airport Extreme Green Light

[skays]

Exactly what does the "GREEN" light on the Airport Extreme mean? I have a DSL modem located inside a wall panel in a closet apart from my home office. I also have an iPhone and do not like to download any apps or do any updates unless I am connected to my home WiFi network provided via my Airport Extreme. Before doing anything on my iPhone I check to see if I am connected to my WiFi, i.e., get the WiFi "fan" symbol. I recently started having problems staying connected to the internet..either DSL modem or other issues. However, during those outages, I have ALWAYS had a GREEN light on my Airport Extreme and have ALWAYS had a WiFi fan symbol on my iPhone showing I was 'connected to/receiving' my home network WiFi signal. Hmmmm. So that said, evidently the Airport Extreme keeps the GREEN light on even though it is not receiving a signal from the internet? I would think I would receive a steady YELLOW/ORANGE light. When opening up the Airport Utility app, it does show a yellow/orange icon indicating the internet has been disconnected, the the GREEN icons remain for the Airport Extreme. So all of that said..is there something wrong with my Airport Extreme or does the GREEN light always stay on even though it is not receiving an internet signal???

 

[lclev]

The green indicates a correct setup and connection to a network but not necessarily the internet because there is another device between it and the internet - your DSL modem. Because you are connected to a DSL modem, your light on the Airport Extreme can be green even if you have no internet connection. This can happen because the AE sees the DSL Modem which is its gateway to the internet. But your DSL modem could be not seeing it's gateway server to the internet from your provider as that could be down. Or you DSL modem could be getting flakey and dropping the connection.

I have a Time Capsule connected to a DSL modem. I disconnected the DSL cable to the internet leaving the modem still on. The Time Capsule green light stayed on but when I opened the Airport Utility it showed an orange light for the internet connection indicating it is not connected If I shut the power off to the DSL modem the Time Capsule exterior light immediately goes from green to yellow.

One more note: I have an Airport Extreme at work that we use to network our sound board to an app on the musician's ipads/iphones that allows them to adjust their earbud levels and also to operate the sound board from an ipad. The Airport Extreme has no internet access at all and its light is always green because it is part of an internal network.

Lisa

 

[skays]

I appreciate the response and information. All of the homes in the large HOA community where I live are all hard wired (fiber) for DSL network. Each home's DSL wireless modem/router is located in a central panel mounted in a closet wall...looks like a metal circuit breaker panel. That said, cannot 'see' any modem/router error lights that indicate loss of internet/DSL signal to my Airport Extreme. That said...wondering if I need to just retire my Airport Extreme rely solely on the DSL modem for hard wire and wireless connections (iPhones/laptops/Smart TV)?? Only concern I would have is the wireless signal strength with the modem/router encased within a metal cabinet installed inside a closet wall.

 

[chscag]

I don't know for sure, but you're probably going to need to put the AE into bridge mode in order to get it working right. If you're hard wired with fiber the AE is not going to work in of by itself. I have the same setup here in Texas. All of the homes that have Verizon fiber (FIOS) are hard wired with the modem in a special cabinet. However, the router we have been given can be mounted anywhere. I have mine sitting on a shelf above my desk in my home office.

 

[lclev]

I agree with chscag. Put the AE in bridge mode. I have a Time Capsule at home and I have it hardwired to my DSL modem. The TC is in bridge mode and takes care of the wireless access. The DSL modem takes care of the internet connection and DHCP.

Lisa

 

[skays]

Appreciate all of the info. Now to do some research on just what "bridge mode" is. Thank you.

 

[lclev]

Think of it as having the AE acting as a bridge to the modem. So the Modem would hand out IP addresses to your devices and your AE would handle the wireless and allow them to connect through it to the modem.

Lisa