5 Max connections/devices to the internet? Is my ISP limiting me somehow?

jwcooper

Member
Oct 25, 2005
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I have a strange limit where I can only have 5 devices connected to the internet at any given time. More than 5 devices can connect to the router, either through WIFI or ethernet, but only 5 can use the internet.

I've tried this on a Buffalo router, and now I have the Apple Airport Extreme. The different routers didn't matter.

Can the ISP somehow limit the number of devices connecting to the internet, even behind a NAT router? Is there a setting I need to change in the Airport Extreme to hide the presence of multiple devices?

My ISP is Nextera Communications according to speedtest.net.

More details: The computers are actually connecting to the router. Just no outside internet. The devices are modern devices, such as iPhones, iPads, Macbooks, and Windows 7 PC's. This has been happening for a long time, and through multiple routers. The limit is definitely fixed at 5 devices.

It's a condo. The internet is wireless beamed from the roof to a tower (according to their site). It's likely split out from a box on the roof out to the other 200 condos. I have one wired connection coming in, and the Airport Extreme connects directly to that. The devices connect directly to the Airport Extreme.

A Windows 7 PC and an XBox are connected via ethernet. 2 iPhones, 2 laptops, and an Apple TV are connected via wifi. If 5 devices are on at one time, anything else that tries to connect to the internet fails. I can reset the router and connect any five devices again.
 
Last edited:

bobdole369

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2004
4,504
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No way your ISP knows about additional devices behind the router. That buffalo is the layer 2 block. All the ISP knows is the MAC from the buffalo and that IP connections are coming from it. Have you tried any other router?
 

jwcooper

Member
Oct 25, 2005
42
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0
It turns out the Airport Extreme was configured in bridge mode. The NAT router on the roof splitting out to the condos must have had a limit on the number of devices per IP set to a fix limit of 5. By setting it up as double-NAT, I can now connect more than 5 devices.