Airport Extreme Base Station/Airport Problems on Snow Leopard

Update: The only thing that fixed this problem was reinstalling Snow Leopard. :( During the reinstall, I had backed everything up, but it didn't overwrite my user directory anyway. When the install was all done, Airport worked fine. I upgraded to the latest Airport software via Software update, and the problem didn't come back. (Until July, and it was actually different - and worse - when it came back, but I *had* recently updated system software that time.)

Rather than polluting my blog with the gory details, I figured I'd write it up here first, and then if/when I find a fix, I'll post that. Here's the situation:

Within the past few weeks, my Macbook Pro has been dropping the connection to my Airport Extreme Base Station, randomly and without any sort of pattern that I can see. This is different than the OSX Airport issues I reported on and solved back in Dec 2008. With my previous issue, Airport would connect normally, but the signal was weak and would occasionally drop off. Switching to N-only at 5 Ghz fixed the issue and I have not had any problems since Dec 2008.

This latest issue is something that at first seems similar, but is different enough that it doesn't seem to be related.

When I start my laptop, Airport connects to my Airport Extreme Base Station normally. Full, strong signal.

If I hold down option while clicking on the Airport icon, this is what I see:

After a seemingly random amount of time - sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes 10 hours (although usually closer to 10 minutes), my connection drops. The Airport icon in my status bar still appears to be connected at full strength, however when I click on it, my own network is no longer checked off as the network I'm connected to. So it's showing full strength in the icon, when it's not actually connected to any network. At this point I have no access to the internet or my network drives/computers.

Unlike when I have had previous issues with Airport, the icon does not show that I am disconnected. It is not until I realize I have no 'net connection, or until I click on the Airport icon and see that although it's showing a full signal, it's no longer actually associated with any network that I realize I've been disconnected.

My Macbook Pro:

Software: OSX 10.6.3
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP41.00C1.B03
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled

If I try to select my network from the list to reconnect, I am prompted for the network password (which is stored, so it shouldn't be asking me in the first place). I type in the password, click OK, and the connection times out every time.

If I then attempt to connect to my neighbor's unsecured linksys router, it attempts to connect (you can see the Airport icon attempting to establish an IP address/connection) and then after about 10 seconds, Airport shuts off completely, leaving the empty triangle icon in my status bar. Clicking on the icon confirms that Airport is no longer turned on.

At this point , NOTHING I can do short of rebooting will allow me to turn Airport back on. Attempting to turn it on from the status bar and/or Network Preferences does absolutely nothing. It doesn't even attempt to turn on.

Update: This problem has gotten worse. If I have my own network selected as higher priority than the neighbor's linksys, and I restart my computer, 9 times out of 10, Airport will not turn on at all. Empty triangle thingie, no response when I click to "turn Airport on." I then have to change the ordering of networks in my preferences and reboot in order to get online at all (using the neighbor's router.)

The image below shows the network activity as graphed by AP Grapher during one of these episodes. The green steady line just before the fluctuations is the status while the network is connected and fine, and the fluctuations start when the network seems to have disconnected and I cannot access the internet.

Since this problem started happening, I have noticed that when I connect to the network immediately after a reboot, when things are "fine", my network drives show up differently than they used to:

Where my networked drives, lundegaardmain (PC) and mybookworld (networked 1TB storage drive) would normally show up each listed under "shared", they no longer do. Instead, my own Macbook - the one I'm using to connect - shows up there with a series of numbers after it, and the other drives are only visible if I click on "All".

After a disconnect, my networks drive pathnames change slightly when I reconnect. This may be expected behavior from OSX. For example, my path will go from /Volumes/Downloads/ on my external TB drive - to after a reboot /Volumes/Downloads-1/. Also getting a lot of "file changed on disk, do you want to reload from disk or keep changes" prompts from BBedit.

At my office, I am able to connect to the network just fine, although they use a B/G compatible network, if I recall correctly. This would normally lead me to believe that my router is shot, except for the fact that Airport is turning itself off when I try to connect to my neighbor's Linksys.

I have also noticed that my Airport Express Hub is no longer showing up listed in my Airport Utility. It is plugged into the wall, and shows a slow-blinking yellow light. (I have since unplugged it, to remove it from this equation.)

I can't think of anything unusual that I upgraded or installed around the time this problem began. I upgraded Firefox to 3.6.3, but nothing else system related. I live on a mountain in the middle of nowhere, with only 2 other houses on my block. At any given point in time, only my network, my neighbors linksys, and occasionally one other wifi network are being broadcast.

What I have tried

My kneejerk reaction would be that the router has gone bad, but the fact that I cannot reconnect to Airport at all, even on the neighbor's Linksys, seems outside the scope of a bad router. I replaced the router with a brand new Apple Airport Extreme, and the problem remains. It's clearly not the router - it's a problem with my system and/or the way my system is trying to connect to the network.

Airport Logs

Apr 05 11:25:34 Severity:5 Initialized (firmware 7.3.2).
Apr 05 11:25:37 Severity:5 (WAN) link state is Up.
Apr 05 11:25:37 Severity:5 Deauthenticating with station ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff (reserved 3).
Apr 05 11:25:37 Severity:5 Rotated CCMP group key.
Apr 05 11:25:37 Severity:3 No Address for NTP server time.apple.com.
Apr 05 11:25:38 Severity:5 Internet Configuration leased -- host <67.82.55.250/255.255.252.0> gateway <67.82.52.1> dns <167.206.245.129 167.206.245.130> wins <> lease <172800> domain <>
Apr 05 11:25:52 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted +8 seconds).
Apr 05 11:26:05 Severity:5 Associated with station 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 05 11:26:05 Severity:5 Installed unicast CCMP key for supplicant 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 05 11:26:05 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32771 to 10.0.1.7:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 05 11:26:05 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32772 to 10.0.1.7:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 05 11:26:10 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::223:12ff:fe1f:a16b%bridge0]:49268.
Apr 05 11:26:11 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::223:12ff:fe1f:a16b%bridge0]:49282.
Apr 05 11:26:11 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::223:12ff:fe1f:a16b%bridge0]:49283.
Apr 05 11:53:51 Severity:5 Idle timeout for station 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 05 11:53:51 Severity:5 Disassociating with station 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b (reserved 4).
Apr 05 11:53:51 Severity:5 Disassociated with station 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 05 11:53:52 Severity:5 Rotated CCMP group key.
Apr 05 11:54:45 Severity:5 Associated with station 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 05 11:54:45 Severity:5 Installed unicast CCMP key for supplicant 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 05 11:54:56 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32771 to 10.0.1.7:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 05 11:55:29 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32772 to 10.0.1.7:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 05 11:55:59 Severity:5 Binding dropped for udp to 10.0.1.7:5353
Apr 05 11:56:03 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32769 to 10.0.1.7:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 05 12:05:56 Severity:5 Associated with station 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 05 12:05:56 Severity:5 Installed unicast CCMP key for supplicant 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 05 12:06:08 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32771 to 10.0.1.7:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 05 12:06:30 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32769 to 10.0.1.7:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 05 12:26:01 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted +0 seconds).
Apr 05 13:04:44 Severity:5 Associated with station 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 05 13:04:44 Severity:5 Installed unicast CCMP key for supplicant 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 05 13:05:12 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32771 to 10.0.1.7:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 05 13:05:41 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32769 to 10.0.1.7:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 05 13:26:01 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted +0 seconds).
Apr 05 13:52:11 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::223:12ff:fe1f:a16b%bridge0]:50103.
Apr 05 13:52:13 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::223:12ff:fe1f:a16b%bridge0]:50109.
Apr 05 13:52:14 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::223:12ff:fe1f:a16b%bridge0]:50110.
Apr 05 14:05:13 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32771 to 10.0.1.7:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 05 14:05:41 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32769 to 10.0.1.7:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 05 14:26:01 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted +0 seconds).
Apr 05 15:05:13 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32771 to 10.0.1.7:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 05 15:05:41 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32769 to 10.0.1.7:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 00:11:51 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted +0 seconds).
Apr 06 00:12:02 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32769 to 10.0.1.199:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 00:12:02 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32770 to 10.0.1.199:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 00:17:34 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 67.82.55.250:51413 to 10.0.1.199:51413 with lifetime 3600
Apr 06 01:11:52 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted -1 seconds).
Apr 06 01:12:02 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32769 to 10.0.1.199:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 01:12:02 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32770 to 10.0.1.199:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 01:17:34 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 67.82.55.250:51413 to 10.0.1.199:51413 with lifetime 3600
Apr 06 02:11:52 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted +0 seconds).
Apr 06 02:12:01 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32769 to 10.0.1.199:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 02:12:01 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32770 to 10.0.1.199:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 02:17:34 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 67.82.55.250:51413 to 10.0.1.199:51413 with lifetime 3600
Apr 06 03:11:52 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted +0 seconds).
Apr 06 03:12:02 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32769 to 10.0.1.199:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 03:12:02 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32770 to 10.0.1.199:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 03:17:35 Severity:5 Binding expired for tcp to 10.0.1.199:51413
Apr 06 03:17:35 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 67.82.55.250:51413 to 10.0.1.199:51413 with lifetime 3600
Apr 06 04:11:53 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted +0 seconds).
Apr 06 04:12:02 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32769 to 10.0.1.199:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 04:12:02 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32770 to 10.0.1.199:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 04:17:35 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 67.82.55.250:51413 to 10.0.1.199:51413 with lifetime 3600
Apr 06 05:11:53 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted +0 seconds).
Apr 06 05:12:02 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32769 to 10.0.1.199:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 05:12:02 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32770 to 10.0.1.199:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 05:17:36 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 67.82.55.250:51413 to 10.0.1.199:51413 with lifetime 3600
Somewhere around here is when my connection dropped. I had a tweet from ~4 hours prior to waking up (so around 5:30AM), and then when I rebooted, new ones from an hour prior to waking up (around 8:30AM).
Apr 06 06:11:53 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted +0 seconds).
Apr 06 06:12:03 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32769 to 10.0.1.199:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 06:12:03 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32770 to 10.0.1.199:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 06:17:37 Severity:5 Binding expired for tcp to 10.0.1.199:51413
Apr 06 06:17:37 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 67.82.55.250:51413 to 10.0.1.199:51413 with lifetime 3600
Apr 06 07:11:55 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted -2 seconds).
Apr 06 07:12:03 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32769 to 10.0.1.199:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 07:12:03 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32770 to 10.0.1.199:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 07:17:36 Severity:5 Binding added for tcp, 67.82.55.250:51413 to 10.0.1.199:51413 with lifetime 3600
Apr 06 07:55:19 Severity:5 Idle timeout for station 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 06 07:55:19 Severity:5 Disassociating with station 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b (reserved 4).
Apr 06 07:55:19 Severity:5 Disassociated with station 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 06 07:55:20 Severity:5 Rotated CCMP group key.
Apr 06 08:11:55 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted +0 seconds).
Apr 06 08:17:37 Severity:5 Binding expired for tcp to 10.0.1.199:51413
Apr 06 09:11:56 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted +0 seconds).
Apr 06 09:12:04 Severity:5 Binding expired for udp to 10.0.1.199:4500
Apr 06 09:12:04 Severity:5 Binding expired for udp to 10.0.1.199:5353
I woke up in here, realized it had happened again, and rebooted.
Apr 06 09:41:35 Severity:5 Associated with station 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 06 09:41:35 Severity:5 Installed unicast CCMP key for supplicant 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 06 09:41:39 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32770 to 10.0.1.199:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 09:41:39 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32771 to 10.0.1.199:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 09:42:12 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::223:12ff:fe1f:a16b%bridge0]:49309.
Apr 06 09:42:14 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::223:12ff:fe1f:a16b%bridge0]:49310.
Apr 06 09:42:14 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::223:12ff:fe1f:a16b%bridge0]:49311.
Apr 06 10:11:56 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.apple.com (adjusted +0 seconds).
Happened again around here.
Apr 06 10:29:03 Severity:5 Associated with station 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 06 10:29:03 Severity:5 Installed unicast CCMP key for supplicant 00:23:12:1f:a1:6b
Apr 06 10:29:06 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32770 to 10.0.1.199:4500 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 10:29:06 Severity:5 Binding added for udp, 67.82.55.250:32771 to 10.0.1.199:5353 with lifetime 7200
Apr 06 10:29:14 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::223:12ff:fe1f:a16b%bridge0]:49231.
Apr 06 10:29:17 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::223:12ff:fe1f:a16b%bridge0]:49232.
Apr 06 10:29:17 Severity:5 Connection accepted from [fe80::223:12ff:fe1f:a16b%bridge0]:49233.