AE Base Station a PC Server?

My AE Base Station shows up as a PC Server with the BSOD PC Icon in the Shared section of the Leopard finder.
My machine is hard wired into the base station with WAN port admin access.
Any idea why the base station shows up as a PC Server?
Thanks.
-paul.

Items that can cause interference with airport are:
Microwave ovens
DSS
Cordless telephones that operate in the 2.4 GHZ range
Adjacent base stations using nearby channels.
Any new electronic equipment been added recently? Could be a neighbor's equipment as well.
Lastly, do you have the most recent AE firmware installed?
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/airportexpressfirmwareupdate63formacosx.h tml
Along with the most recent version of Airfoil and iTunes?

Similar Messages

Airport Base Station - setting up base station to already existing network

Hello,
I just replaced a network switch on the network. Since I did that I am unable to get Internet connection from our main base station in the server room that distributes the IP addresses. I did a reset to the base station and tried to get it to show on the already existing network, but I'm having some issues getting the base station configured with the other base stations on the network. How do I get this main base station to show up on our network?
Right now our other base stations are not getting valid IP addresses. The base station that is setup to distribute IP addresses is getting valid addresses from our provider. If someone could give me any suggestions I would appreciate it.
We are running Apple 10.2.4 on our network.

OK - starts to make sense now. If you did a factory reset of the base station then more than likely the airport network name for it is the Apple default name, and you probably lost the WDS in Wireless Mode.
Do you know the old network name and the network password? Do you know how the other 4 or 5 base stations were configured - ie as a WDS network and whether as relay or remote base stations. You should not need to change anything on these base stations if you know how your AEB (main) was setup in the first place.
One step back from this, you need to confirm that the DSL modem is connecting to your ISP. Connect the ethernet cable from the DSL modem to your Mac and confirm that you can log onto your ISP or internet. If it works then lets go onto the AEB you reset.
Apple publish setup manuals for their AirPort Base Stations - they can be downloaded at: http://support.apple.com/manuals/#airport
1. Reset your AEB to its factory default again.
2. Turn-off the AEB and connect one of its ethernet ports to your Mac by ethernet cable, and connect the DSL modem to the WAN port on the AEB by ethernet cable.
3. Power up your Mac, the DSL modem and the AEB and wait for all to complete their startup sequence. Then open AirPort Utility - you should see your AEB under a generic network name. Click on the AEB.
4. Use the auto setup procedure by clicking 'Continue'. Follow the onscreen instructions for setting up a new network. When asked, use the 'original network name' for your school network. When asked for a network password, use the 'original network password' for your school network (what sort of network security were you using - WPA2 Personal - use whatever you had previously.
5. At some stage you will also be asked to give the AEB a name and admin password - use whatever they were previously.
6. When the setup procedure is complete and the AEB finishes restarting, the AEB will reappear in AirPort Utility. Click on the AEB and click 'Manual Setup'. You may be asked for the admin password to get into the configuration profile.
7. Click on the 'Wireless' tab and set the 'Wireless Mode:' to 'Participate in a WDS network' if not already set to this. While in this pane, look at 'Channel:' - do you remember what this was set to previously (if not, you may need to connect one of the other AEBs by ethernet cable to a Mac and use AirPort Utility to check the Channel setting.
8. Now, click on the 'Internet' icon at the top of AirPort Utility. Check that 'Connection Sharing:' is set to 'Off (Bridge Mode)' - if not, change it.
9. Now, click 'Update' and wait for the AEB to restart.
10. Now, disconnect the ethernet cable from the Mac to the AEB ethernet port.
11. Open Airport Utility, and hopefully, you can now see the AEB and the other 4 or 5 base stations.
Let us know what happens.

Base station causing interference with cable modem

I have a late model apple airport extreme base station with time machine. The unit is placed next to the cable box (that provides phone service) that connects to the modem that connects to the base station. When the base station is turned on and working (we use wifi ) there is a nuisance noise in the phones when making and receiving a call for the first 20 to 30 seconds and then disappears. When the base station is disconnected there are no problems with the phones.
Is there such a thing as shielding for the cable box and/or modem? Or is there a simpler solution?
Thanks in advance!
Luc

Hi thanks for your response.
I use a VOIP phone system provided by the cable company (no phone filters required). The VOIP connects to an analog phone management system called Talkswitch. So I have three VOIP lines connecting to the Talkswitch box and 7 lines leaving the Talkswitch box connecting to analogue phones (wired) throughout the office. So to recap:
Cable company line connects to a VOIP Box (ARIS TM604G).
A modem (Thompson DCM475) connects to the the VOIP Box and to the Apple Extreme Base station (with Time Machine).
Three phone lines connect the VOIP Box directly to the Talkswitch Box. The Talkswitch Box is NOT connected to the Apple Base Station.
The server (Mac Mini) is wired to the Apple Base Station.
When I make or receive a call there is a buzzing sound in the line. Sound disappears after 20 to 30 seconds.
When I turn the Base Station off (disconnect) the buzzing sound disappears.
When I leave the Base Station ON and I connect a phone directly to the VOIP Box, there is no buzzing.
I can only assume that the Base Station is interfering with something. Is it the Talkswitch box or the phone cables?
Should I move the Base Station further from the Talkswitch box? or Use shielded cables (which ones)? Or is there another solution? Or is it a voltage problem?
Thanks!
Luc
PS : I did not have this problem with the older Apple Base Station. Is the new one too powerful?

Adjusting the NAT settings on a snow airport base station

Hello,
Is it possible to adjust the NAT settings on the snow base station to lower them from strict? I'am trying to use xbox live and it wont allow online gaming or audio chatting because the NAT settings are set to strict. Thanks again for any help. It is much appreciated!!
Vinny

Adding to what Duane has already said...
It is extremely important that you manually assign your XBox a static IP address outside the range of IP addresses used by the Base Station's DHCP server. I suggest 10.0.1.201. The XBox will also need you to specify a subnet mask (255.255.255.0), router/gateway address (10.0.1.1), and probably the DNS server addresses of your ISP (get these from one of your Macs already connected to the internet). If you don't do this - and simply use the IP address your XBox has already been automatically assigned - port mapping may work unreliably if it works at all.

How do I find a hard drive connected to Airport Extreme Base Station?

*Apple Says:* "If your base station supports it, you can connect a USB hard disk to the USB port on your base station and computers on your network (both wired and wireless) can connect to it to access, share, and store files and data."
Cool. So I followed the instructions. The drive is recognized by the base station and listed in the Airport Utility. It looks like it's ready to go...
So... How do I access the drive? I don't see it on my desktop, it's not under network. I've tried "Connect to server..." and browsing, I can't see the drive, anywhere. Yeah, I've searched the crap out of this issue on google and this message board as well as apple support knowledge base. I'm sure this is a simple issue and I'm just missing the obvious. Help me out.

Hello Timothy Uhl. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
Try the following to mount the disk...
o Click on the Desktop to enter Finder
o Go > Connect to Server...
o Enter 10.0.1.1 for the server
o Enter Disk Password
o Connect
If this still doesn't solve the problem, let's double-check your disk sharing settings...
AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn) - File Sharing Setup
Either connect to the AEBSn's wireless network or temporarily connect your computer directly (using an Ethernet cable) to one of the LAN ports of the AEBSn, and then, using the AirPort Utility in Manual Mode, check these settings:
Disks - File Sharing
o Secure Shared Disks: <With disk password | With base station password | With accounts >
(Note: Choose "With a disk password," or "With base station password" if you want to secure the shared disk with a password, or choose "With accounts" if you want to secure the disk using accounts.
If you choose to use accounts, click Configure Accounts, click the Add "+" button, and then enter a name and password for each user that will access the disk.)
o Guest Access: <Not allowed | Read only | Read and write>
o Share disks over Ethernet WAN port: (unchecked)
(Note: Select the "Share disks over Ethernet WAN port" checkbox if you want to provide remote access to the disk over the WAN port.)
o Advertise disks globally using Bonjour: (unchecked)
o Workgroup: <Windows workgroup name>
o WINS server: <WINS server IP address>

Setting up airport extreme base station with Mac and PC

I have an '02 iBook with an airport card installed and an airport extreme base station. my roommate has a PC and has the DSL connection in her room. i want to wirelessly network my iBook via the airport base. how do i do this? (my base was given to me without any manuals/disks etc)

Your Netgear wireless router is your network's base station. Your parent's PC will not be "serving as a base station" - its presence on the network isn't at all relevant to what you want to do.
To connect your G5 to the Netgear wireless router's network - click on your Mac's Airport menu, click on the name of your Netgear wireless router's network (it will appear in the list when you click on the Airport menu), and enter the wireless network password (if applicable) when prompted by the MacOS. That's is - you are connected!

How can I set up my time capsule as the primary base station with a centurylink router? I'm trying to extend my coverage, increase signal strength, and be able to connect a printer.

I recently moved and now I'm trying to set up my Time Capsule as the primary base station or router with an existing network that has a Centurylink modem/router. The TC still has the settings for my old network. I also have backups on it. I have the data backed up to another HD so it's not an issue to return it to factory settings if doing so deletes the back ups. Do I need to restore it to the factory settings to set it up? Also, what settings would I select on the TC (and the Centurylink modem/router) in order for the TC to serve as the router, instead of the Centurylink router? I want to be able to use the TC to back up my Mac's, print wirelessly, and improve overall performance. I tried setting the TC up and ended with 2 different networks. Can anyone please help me with this?

The TC has to plug into the existing modem router by ethernet.. you cannot use wireless.
You have a choice of which is router.. only if Centurylink agree to bridge their modem router.. this has to be done by the ISP and often they do not allow it.
Is your broadband cable or adsl or fibre or ???
If it is cable and you are allowed to purchase your own cable modem pick a pure modem version with no router in it.. plug the TC into it by ethernet.
Setup the TC in DHCP and NAT mode.. (depending on broadband type).
You must reset the TC to factory to do the setup.. no files are lost at all.
Here is my current recommended setup.. with Yosemite life has become harder than ever.
Factory reset universal
Power off the TC.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the TC to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.
N.B. None of your files on the hard disk of the TC are deleted.. this simply clears out the router settings of the TC.
Setup the TC again.
ie Start from a factory reset. No files are lost on the hard disk doing this.
Then redo the setup from the computer with Yosemite.
1. Use very short names.. NOT APPLE RECOMMENDED names. No spaces and pure alphanumerics.
eg TCgen5 and TCwifi for basestation and wireless respectively.
Even better if the issue is more wireless use TC24ghz and TC5ghz with fixed channels as this also seems to help stop the nonsense. But this can be tried in the second round.
2. Use all passwords that also comply but can be a bit longer. ie 8-20 characters mixed case and numbers.. no non-alphanumerics.
3. Ensure the TC always takes the same IP address.. you will need to do this on the main router using dhcp reservation.. or a bit more complex setup using static IP in the TC. But this is important.. having IP drift all over the place when Yosemite cannot remember its own name for 5 min after a reboot makes for poor networking. If the TC is main router it will not be an issue.
4. Check your share name on the computer is not changing.. make sure it also complies with the above.. short no spaces and pure alphanumeric.. but this change will mess up your TM backup.. so be prepared to do a new full backup. Sorry.. keep this one for second round if you want to avoid a new backup.
5. Mount the TC disk in the computer manually.
In Finder, Go, Connect to server from the top menu,
Type in SMB://192.168.0.254 (or whatever the TC ip is which you have now made static. As a router by default it is 10.0.1.1 and I encourage people to stick with that unless you know what you are doing).
You can use name.. SMB://TCgen5.local where you replace TCgen5 with your TC name.. local is the default domain of the TC and doesn't change.
However names are not so easy as IP address.. nor as reliable. At least not in Yosemite they aren't. The domain can also be an issue if you are not plugged or wireless directly to the TC.
6. Make sure IPv6 is set to link-local only in the computer. For example wireless open the network preferences, wireless and advanced / TCP/IP.. and fix the IPv6. to link-local only.
There is a lot more jiggery pokery you can try but the above is a good start.. if you find it still unreliable.. don't be surprised.
You might need to do some more work on the laptop itself. eg Reset the PRAM.. has helped some people. Clean install of the OS is also helpful if you upgrade installed.
Tell us how you go.
Someone posted a solution.. See this thread.
Macbook can't find Time Capsule anymore
Start from the bottom and work up.. I have a list of good network practice changes but I have avoided Yosemites bug heaven.
This user has had success and a few others as well.
RáNdÓm GéÉzÁ
Here is why Yosemite has fundamental issues.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/01/why-dns-in-os-x-10-10-is-broken-and-what-yo u-can-do-to-fix-it/

Solution to Airport Extreme Base Station + Airport Express networking probs

I've been investigating this for 3 straight days after inadvertently destabilizing my network. There are tons of posts discussing a variety of issues, all of which seem related. My goal here is to provide links to other relevant posts and explain what I ended up doing to get things to work.
First, the background. You can skip below to SOLUTION if you don't really care... However, I highly recommend you take the time to read everything, as you'll get other useful information in the BACKGROUND section. I'm guessing many of you have similar, related problems so BACKGROUND might help provide context (and solutions) to some things you are seeing...
MY SETUP:
AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS) of type b/g (round one, not square one), connects to the cable modem, and creates a WDS network that is then shared across two standard AirPort Express (AEX) units (100megabit, not the gigabit ones). One AEX serves as a relay unit that accepts clients, the other serves as a remote unit that also accepts clients. The intent is to show a single network throughout the house and let users log on to one network and move between networking units without having to switch from network to network.
I have a variety of networked devices throughout the house all running on the same network (2 Mac Pros, a Powerbook G4, a Mac Mini, an Apple TV, a Windows XP laptop, two iPhones, two wifi printers, and a 5-unit Sonos system, plus the AEBS and two AEXs). Yeah, I'm a geek.
The Mac Pros are both running 10.4.11, and the Powerbook is running 10.5.2.
AEBS is running firmware 5.7
AEXs are running firmware 6.3
All Macs were initially accessing configs via the recently released AirPort Utility 5.3.1. More on that later.
BACKGROUND:
I've had this network setup working for about a year now. Recently, I've been having poor network performance problems and came to the conclusion it was a LAN problem (ie. problem with my home network, as opposed to with my ISP). Upon initial investigation, I began by looking at my networking logs (via AirPort Utility 5.3.1). You get to those by selecting the unit in question, choosing "Manual Configuration", the selecting the "Advanced" tab up top with the "Logging and SNMP" sub-tab. Click the "Logs and Statistics" button therein for log details from that unit.
The first thing I noticed was "Administrative access denied to ff80::xxxxxxxxx" messages - a lot of them. I didn't recognize the ff80:: address in question, and so became concerned it was someone outside the network trying to hack one (or all) of the AEBS/AEX units. You can see threads discussing that investigation here:
"Hack or panic?" - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1438486
"Administrative access denied" - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1438865
Long and short of it is that the recent AirPort Utility 5.3.1 release (current as of March 13) seems to have problems (keychain) when attempting to access the AEBS and AEX units. The "Administrative access denied" logs actually refer to the client machine you are using when you try to read the logs. The ff80::xxxxxx address is simply the IPv6 address for the machine you are using; if you turn off IPv6 on your client machine, that address should switch over to begin showing a regular IP address instead (something like 10.0.1.xxx), which makes it easier to associate the IP to the machine. I explain how to deactivate IPv6 on both Tiger (10.4.x) and Leopard (1.5.x) here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6814978#6814978
Anyway, in the process of investigating the "Administrative access denied" problem, I began tinkering with my AEX settings. Specifically, I ended up performing a hard factory reset (unplug unit, plug back in while holding down the little button with paper click/pen for ~10-15 seconds until light flashes green 4x then reverts to amber/yellow/orange). I began reconfiguring my entire WDS network using the newly updated AirPort Utility 5.3.1, and that's when the trouble started.
(If you are having problems seeing either your AirPort Extreme Base Station or AirPort Express, read this:)
In short, each time I thought I had properly configured things and then confirmed settings (kicking off a reboot on the AEX unit) the unit would restart with new settings but not properly join the WDS and not show up in the AirPort Utility list of units. More specifically, I would start with a "wiped" AEX and see both the AEBS and the AEX in my AirPort Utility list, but upon confirm/reboot the AEX would disappear and the AEBS would remain. However, that's not 100% correct. It seems that sometimes I would end up with the AEX and NOT the AEBS. Because both the AEX and AEBS were theoretically "hosting" the same network name (remember, WDS shares the network name across units) my auto-login feature for my client computer's wifi seemed to "jump on" whichever unit it first saw hosting the default network name for my house. In other words, it seems what was really happening was that I was ending up with two separate networks in my house, both with the same name but not talking to each other (as opposed to two units sharing the same network name and internet connection). The AEX would continue to blink orange/amber/yellow (whichever color it is to your eyes ) because it could not grab an internet connection -- and if I was on the network through that AEX unit I would not get internet. But if i was connected through the AEBS I would continue to have internet access. As far as my client computer (my Mac Pro) was concerned, I was on the home wifi network even if I was on the AEX rather than the AEBS -- it would show the home wifi network name as the name of the network it had connected to. But when I opened the AirPort Utility 5.3.1 I would see only the AEX (if I was connected through it) or the AEBS (if connected through it) -- a clear indication that the units were not truly sharing the same network.
I tried rebooting and reconfiguring the AEBS and AEX about 50 times (literally). I even tracked down an older version of the AirPort Utility 5.2.1 via this thread (see Tesserax post):
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1067565
One interesting thing re: 5.2.1 is that the "Administrative access denied" errors summarized above disappeared. As explained in a post reference above, the going theory is that this a permissions/keychain problem new and unique to AirPort Utility 5.3.1. However, even though 5.2.1 does have a slightly different interface with different settings, I still couldn't get the WDS to work.
EVENTUALLY, I came across this post:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1422527
MuaddibOfArrakis walks through setting up a WDS from scratch, and the workflow is different than what is possible with either AirPort Utility 5.3.1 or 5.2.1. He's doing it with the old version of AirPort Admin Utility, which I fortunately saved a copy of many moons ago when I had somewhat-related problems with my WDS (since forgotten). In fact, it's a lot easier. What's nice about this older app is that it literally does the heavy lifting of "connecting" the AEBS and AEX units during the configuration -- it reboots both at the same time as the config is happening, and lets you choose from a list of available units to "add" to your WDS network. In short, it's a FAR SUPERIOR workflow even though some of the GUI isn't as intuitive as the newer AirPort Utilities that were designed to replace it.
SOLUTION:
If still have a copy of the AirPort Admin Utility follow the instructions from MuaddibOfArrakis here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1422527
If not, try setting up your WDS network using AirPort Utility (hereafter AU), with these configs (take from my now-working network), as viewed through AirPort Utility 5.3.1.
I. Configure your AEBS.
Select the AEBS from AU, and choose "Manual Setup"
1. Under the AirPort tab up top:
a. Under "Base Station" sub-tab:
i.) assign a name for that specific unit, so you can later identify the specific unit from the list of units -- this is the name that will show up beside the unit in the AU list of configurable units. You can name it something like "kitchen", or "office". I have mine numbered, so XXXXXv1, XXXXXv2 etc where the XXXXX is the name of the shared network and the numbers help me tell the units apart. Just be sure you name each uniquely, and if you have several you might write the name on the unit itself.
ii.) pick a password for logging into that unit. This is different from the network password, its a security check to get in and change the configs on this unit later. Be sure to remember it in your keychain for the sake of simplicity, and write it down somewhere secure.
iii.) if you choose to set time automatically, pick a location that you will use consistently across all your units. I use time.apple.com.
iv.) uncheck "Allow configuration over Ethernet WAN port" unless you want to be able to remotely mess with settings -- which you almost certainly do not need to do.
v.) I left the "Options" button alone - no settings there.
b. Under the "Wireless" sub-tab:
i.) Wireless Mode: "Participate in a WDS network"
ii.) Network Name: this will be the name of your wifi network shared by all units, so be sure to remember what you pick. If you are already connected to this AEBS via wifi while you are making these changes, then you can use the same wifi name you already have set up -- you don't have to change it. Note that if you DO change it, after reboot your will LOSE connection to the network and have to reset your wifi settings on your client machine to match the new network/password in order to be able to access the network.
iii.) pick a Radio Mode. I'm using b/g compatible. You'll want to do the same, unless you are on the new gigabit AEX. I'm pretty sure about this, but not 100% -- others post if I'm wrong.
iv.) choose a Channel. This can be a more complicated procedure, but for now just pick something consistent across all your units. If you get everything working and find that you're having intermittent network problems, you could later try changing your Channel -- it can pick up interference from phones, microwaves, etc and changing it can help.
v.) I have wireless security set to WPA/WPA2 Personal.
vi.) Wireless Password is the password for access to your wifi network (not your unit itself). If you are connecting to your AEBS via wifi while doing this config, then you can use the same password you have already set up. Pick a good one unless you want other folks jumping on your wifi and stealing your bandwidth and/or credit card numbers . Remember it in your keychain and write it down someplace secure, because you'll need it for the other units too. As noted above, note that if you DO change it, after reboot your will LOSE connection to the network and have to reset your wifi settings on your client machine to match the new network/password in order to be able to access the network.
vii.) Click the "Wireless Options" button. I have my multicast rate set to 2mbps, transmit at 100%, timeout at 1 hour, and i have checked the "Create a closed network". This last step keeps your network from advertising itself to the outside world. Users can only find it by explicitly typing the network name into their wifi settings (e.g. AirPort -> Other... then enter Network Name, Security and Password). I leave interference robustness unchecked.
c. Under the "WDS" sub-tab:
i.) the AEBS should have it's WDS Mode set to "WDS main".
ii.) Check the "allow wireless clients" box on the AEBS; this lets you connect client machines to it directly too.
iii.) hit the plus button to add the Remote system (AEX). There are two types of configs for the AEX's - "remote" and "relay". Assuming you have 3 units like me (2 AEX and 1 AEBS) the key question is whether you will place each AEX within direct reach of the AEBS (remotes), or if you will have one AEX in the middle connecting to an AEBS on one side and an AEX on the other -- where the furthest AEX is out of reach from the AEBS (remote) and connects only to the AEX in the middle (relay). I'm using a relay setup. If you are using relay, you can still set up the AEX relay to serve client computers too -- it doesnt have to JUST relay. More on that later. For now, you want to add only AEX units that will talk DIRECTLY to the AEBS. So if you have a setup like mine, just add one (the one in the middle - the relay). If you have two remotes connecting directly to the AEBS, you will add them both here. When you hit the '+' button it will ask for both an ID and description. For description I use the name I'm assigning to each unique unit (as above, "kitchen" or XXXXXv1 or whatever you use). For AirPort ID, use the number listed on the AEX unit itself (not the number for "Ethernet", also on the AEX unit).
d. Under the "Access" sub-tab:
i.) I have it set to "Not Enabled". I'd suggest you start that way too, and you can go change it later if you get everything working correctly.
2. Under the "Internet" tab up top:
a. Under the "Internet Connection" sub-tab:
i.) Connect Using: Ethernet
ii.) Configure IPv4: Using DHCP
iii.) Ethernet WAN Port: Automatic (Default)
iv.) Connection Sharing: Share a public IP address
b. Under the "DHCP" sub-tab:
i.) DHCP Beginning Address: 10.0 . 1 . 2
ii.) DHCP Ending Address: 10.0.1.200
DHCP Lease: 4 hours
c. Under the "NAT" sub-tab:
i.) nothing should be checked;
ii.) nothing under Port Mappings either
3. Under the "Printers and Advanced" tabs up top:
Nothing special needs to be configured there.
THAT'S IT.
=============
I. Configure your AEX(s)
Select the AEX from AU, and choose "Manual Setup"
1. Under the "AirPort" tab up top:
a. Under "Base Station" sub-tab:
i.) pick a unique name for this unit, same logic as for AEBS
ii.) pick a password specific for accessing this unit, same logic as for AEBS
iii.) Set time automatically: be sure to use the same settings used on your AEBS
iv.) Options: no need to set any
b. Under "Wireless" sub-tab:
i.) Wireless Mode: Participate in a WDS network
ii.) Network Name: same name used for AEBS, this is the name of your wifi network
iii.) Channel: same as AEBS
iv.) All settings here (those above, plus Security and Password & in Options button) should be the same as for AEBS settings on this tab
c. Under the "WDS" sub-tab:
...if AEX is "in the middle" (as described above):
i.) WDS Mode: WDS relay
ii.) Allow wireless clients: check (unless you only want to bridge between the edges without letting folks connect on this AEX in the middle)
iii.) WDS Main: set to the AirPort ID (aka MAC address) for the AEBS. You can find it on the bottom of the AEBS, either labeled as such or at the bottom beside the logo of a wireless signal (square logo, with semi-circles mimicing a radio signal).
iv.) WDS Remotes: click the '+' to add any AEX's that will connect to this relay rather than directly to the AEBS. Same deal as above, use the name in the description and use the AirPort ID from the side of the AEX (not the Ethernet ID).
.....if AEX is connecting to a relay ("on the end", as above) or if there is no relay and AEX connects directly to the AEBS:
i.) WDS Model: WDS remote
ii.) Allow wireless clients: checked
iii.) WDS Main: if connected to a relay, use the AirPort ID of the relay AEX. If connected to the AEBS directly, use the AirPort ID of the AEBS
d. Under the "Access" sub-tab:
i.) MAC Address Access Control: Not Enabled (for now, you can change later)
2. Under the "Internet" tab up top:
a. Under the "Internet Connection" sub-tab:
i.) Connect Using: AirPort (WDS) -- should be selected and gray'ed out.
ii.) Configure IPv4: Using DHCP
iii.) Ethernet WAN Port: Automatic (Default)
iv.) Connection Sharing: Off (Bridge Mode)
3. Under the Music, Printers and Advanced tabs up top:
Nothing special needs to be configured there. You can worry about AirTunes settings later...
That should be it. I'd recommend setting up the AEBS first, then the relay (if applicable), then the remotes. Initially, you can bring each unit in the same room with you for configuring. After configured and restarted the AEX should blink then turn solid green. If it turns green you should be good to go.
HOPE THIS HELPS. As noted above, I did not config through AirPort Utility 5.3.1 so I haven't tested this procedure through that app. However, after getting my network to work I went back and transposed all settings into this post to help others. Please provide feedback on whether or not this is working, so we can collectively try to move towards a setup procedure that works for everyone....
Good luck!
Message was edited by: b.byrd

I'm not convinced that the problem lies in Airport Utility. This same thing was happening to me, nearly exactly as you describe it. The thing is that with me, the problems clearly started when I updated the firmware in my Airport Express (n). That's when all the wacky stuff started happening. Sometimes it would show up in AU, sometimes it didn't and even if it didn't, I could still access the internet through it.
But as you said, the problems got really bad when another Express (b/g) was put on the network with it. Even when it did work, the (b/g) would make it impossibly slow.
You know more about this than me, and clearly have more patience if you've restarted the network fifty times. I gave up at about ten.
In any case, your solution is more of a work around and if you're still having that slow connection problem, I'm not sure you've got it. But thanks for your reporting of this. At least I know I'm not crazy.

Manual Static LAN IP address for 802.11n Base Station when using PPPoE

We have a network of about 75 machines. We want to replace our main router with the new Airport Extreme 802.11n base station. WAN connection is PPPoE so we'd use the NAT function. All IP addresses of our machines on the LAN are statically assigned.
Problem is our machines are assigned to find the router at a specific address: 192.168.0.254. The default base station IP in that subnet is 192.168.0.1. Is there any way to change the IP of the base station to 192.168.0.254 from the default of 192.168.0.1? We can do it if we have it join our existing LAN in bridge mode, but we want it to provide the main NAT functions AND connect to our ISP's PPPoE server WITHOUT having to change all our LAN devices to find it at 192.168.0.1. Possible?

The HH will only show devices which use DHCP in the list of devices, unless you've set the device to use a static IP in the HH Home Network page. It's a bit of a silly idea and IMO the software on the router is terrible, but you do it like this...
- Set the printer to use DHCP to get an IP address.
- Log in to the HomeHub 5 and browse to the Home Network page (http://192.168.1.254/index.cgi?active_page=9130)
- Find the printer in the list of devices and click on it.
- Click on 'Yes' next to the "Always use this IP address" option.
- Set the IP address on the printer statically and update your devices to use the new IP address of the printer (if it changed from what it was before).
That will ensure that the DHCP server in the HH5 doesn't lease the same IP to another device. This will also allow you to see the printer in the list of devices.

Ghost Drives on my Airport Extreme Base Station.

I have connected 4 external hard drives to my Airport Extreme Base Station via a powered USB Hub. The drives are recognized under he Airport in my sidebar, and I can double click on them and they mount to my desktop. The problem is that none of my data shows up. They appear to be blank. However, when I disconnect the hub from the airport, and plug it directly into an open USB port on my laptop, all the drives come up and mount automatically, and all data is accounted for. Now I'm not a wirless network guru by any stretch, but I assumed it was sharing preferences. I went through and enabled to share connected drives via accounts and entered all required criteria and updated the settings to my Airport. Still to no avail. Also, just for kicks, I opted to Connect to Server from the Go menu in Finder, and attained the network address by mounting the drives individually and gettting info on them, copying the address and entering them into the Server Address, clicking to add them as favorite Servers. Still same result. They mount as an Airdisk, but no content is shown. I know it's an easy fix, but I just do not know what I'm missing???? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
P.S.- MAC for President 2012!

What troubleshooting steps have you already performed?
For example, If you do not connect the powered USB hub to the AirPort and connect only a single drive to the USB port on the AirPort, what happens?
If the drive works, then add the powered hub back in to the setup and connect the drive again. What happens?
If the drive works, add another drive. What happens?
If the drive does not work when you plug in into the powered hub...but it does work when you plug it in to the USB port on the AirPort directly, then you likely have a bad hub. They do fail. Some cheap USB calbles will work, others won't.
If you plug the hard drive directly into the USB port on the AirPort and you still cannot "see" the drive, that suggests a problem with the USB port electronics. Have the AirPort checked out at the Apple store or a servicer.

Started using my Time Capsule as a base station; now Time Machine won't work

Dear community,
I had been using my Time Capsule just for Time Machine backups, but I recently switched to using it as an internet base station as well. Now I can connect to internet via Wi-Fi, but Time Machine no longer works (it throws a "backup disk cannot be found" error). I assume this is related to the fact that the name of my Wi-Fi network differs from the name that my Time Machine used to have back when it was only my backup disk. Does anyone have any ideas for how to get Time Machine working again, hopefully without losing all my backup history? Thanks for your help.
I am using a Time Capsule (circa 2012) and a late-2011 MacBook Pro with OS X 10.9.3.

This is just typical Mavericks behaviour.
You must find the hard disk for it. Poor Mavericks cannot find its own tail let alone a network device as complex as a hard disk.
Does anyone have any ideas for how to get Time Machine working again, hopefully without losing all my backup history?
Let me say, that killing your backups is harder than simple resets or changing functions. In fact the only way to wreck the backups is erase them deliberately from airport utility, or have TM working over a faulty link and corrupt them.
The issue is simply that the hard disk is lost. And Bo Peep doesn't know where to find it.
Step in and mount the hard disk manually.
In Finder.. use Go, Connect to server.
Type in AFP://TCname.local
Where TCname is the actual network name of the TC. (Hopefully you are now using short names with no spaces and pure alphanumeric.. in which case network name = name. If not then you need to translate the name to the network name.
So Fred Blog's Airport Time Capsule which you name it in the utility comes out.
fred_blogs_airport_time_capsule as network name. Spaces and apostrophe are illegal.
Let me encourage you to go back to the airport utility and rename the TC something sensible like TCgen4 (it is a gen4) and use TCwifi for the wireless name. Then the network name is at least something like the actual name.
So in my case I would type in AFP://TCgen4.local
Local is the default domain and using it can also help.
The caps are irrelevant.
The other and better way of doing it in Mavericks is use IP address of the TC if it is static. ie if the TC is main router it will have IP 10.0.1.1 by default.
Then you type AFP://10.0.1.1
You will be asked for the password.. type that in and keep it in your keychain.
(BTW you can discover the actual names of everything via the netstat scan from network utilities. In Mavericks Network Utilities has gone walkabout, so you will need to search for it in finder). You should see the actual network names of everything listed here. Along with MAC address and other info.
Now you can reset TM and point it at the TC disk which is already open in finder.
See info on TM reset here.
A4 http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Please note when TM starts up it will show it is going to do a full backup.. this will not happen. It will discover the existing backup and then simply do incremental. (I hope!!) Nowadays with Mavericks nothing can be certain.
Good Luck.. !
Sorry I have made it over complicated.. Early morning here and not suitably caffeinated yet.
If you run into trouble post back.

Airport Extreme 802.11g base station loses internet connection often

I just installed an Airport Extreme base station (802.11g version Apple Base Station V5.7) last week. And it keeps dropping my internet connection at least once a day.
I simply replaced an old SMC Barricade wireless router that died (and was a POS). But I only had to reset the SMC about once every 2 months. Nothing else has changed in my setup. Only the router/base station is different.
The wireless part is fine. Even when the internet connection gets dropped the hard wired AND wireless clients can still access the local network. Reseting the DSL modem has no effect. The only solution is to power cycle (unplug and plug back in) the AEBS OR restart it from Airport Admin utility.
But you can't do that from offsite. When the AEBS drops the internet connection I can't access my office network from home!
Is there a place in Airport Admin Utility which tells you the status of your internet connection like most generic wireless routers with web-based software do?
Any ideas on resolving this?
Thanks

"Any ideas on resolving this?"
Looter,
Based on your description, open AirPort Admin Utility and check the configuration of your main base station on the "Internet" pane. If you're using ethernet cable from the modem to the base station, the top selector [Connect Using:] should show "Ethernet" and the second selector [Configure:] should show "Using DHCP"
Also, check your iMac's System Preferences>Network at "Show: AirPort" and check the PPPoE pane which should show no entries (unless your isp requires its use), and the TCP/IP pane which should show "Configure IPv4:" as being "Using DHCP" - while all other info is filled in automatically.
"Is there a place in Airport Admin Utility which tells you the status of your internet connection like most generic wireless routers with web-based software do?"
No, the AirPort Admin Utility is not web-based, only located on your computer with the information available to it necessary to operate the AirPort system. It does not actually administer the signal. I think that is done only by System Preferences>Network.
"I'm actually referring to the Airport Express base station not my MacBook Pro's wireless connection. Is there anywhere in the Airport Admin Utility software that tells you the status of the AEBS' internet connection NOT the wireless connection."
No, that info is not available in that utility. The information you seek is at System Preferences>Network, but only after the system scans for it. Click the "Assist me..." button and then, on the "Do you need assistance setting up a new network connection or solving a network problem?" panel that opens, click the "Diagnostics..." button. A "Network Diagnostics" panel will then open and if its scan shows there is no internet the lights to the left of "Internet" and "Server" will be yellow instead of green. Meanwhile, it continues scanning for the connection until it is re-established. I determined this by pulling my cable from the phone jack, later reinserting it.
Further information that may be helpful to you can undoubtedly be found in threads such as this other one:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=884049&tstart=0
edit-
In re-reading, I may not have given you what you need. It sounds as if you may be "timing out" somehow on your connection. You might want to check around at some of your log-on settings to see if there is that possibility connected to one of them, even though the only thing I can think of is the "Renew DHCP Lease" button which is unknown to me, as I've never used it.
Message was edited by: myhighway

Can Time Machine backup USB Drive connected to Airport Extreme Base Station

I need a new N based wireless router. I would prefer to get just the $179 Base Station and not the $299 Time Capsule. I already have a nice external USB 500GB drive that I would connect to the AEBS. So, once I have this new wireless router/base station installed at home and I have the external USB drive connected to it, can my new Macbook Air with a USB connected 400GB drive be used to backup what is on the Macbook Air and also backup the 500GB USB drive info that is connected to the extreme base station?
Thanks
tj

I found this when searching Apple's web site but it is old, October 2007, and said it could not be done. Has this changed since then?
Here is what I found.
Mac OS X 10.5: Time Machine doesn't back up to AirPort Disks
* Last Modified on: October 26, 2007
* Article: 306833
Time Machine in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard can be used to back up to many kinds of Mac OS Extended-formatted drives, but it does not support AirPort Extreme's AirPort Disk feature.
Time Machine can back up to another Mac running Leopard with Personal File Sharing, or to a Leopard Server volume, or an Xsan storage device.

Airport Express Base Station and HP Laserjet 1020 printer connected

Dear all,
I have a Laptop (PC) Sony Vaio PCG-Z1XSP and an Airport Express Base Station which work perfectly together (internet access and I-tunes). I recently bought a printer HP Laserjet 1020 and connected it to the Airport Express USB soket. I managed to make it work and print a couple of times, but as soon as I turn off the printer or the computer or Airport Express, the next time I want to print, it doesn't work anymore.
The Airport Admin Utility recognises the printer (I can see it listed). I have updated the Airport Express software to the Firmware version 6.3 as well as downloaded the latest driver available on HP's website for my printer. I've also substituted the USB cable. Can anybody help me here? Thank you very much and best regards.

Hallo everybody,
Thanks for all the answers. I have contacted HP's chat online and gone through the problem with 3 different technicians. I've tried a lot myself too. The issue was partially solved by restarting the printer spooler, i.e. stop, then start and then restart it.
However after I was so happy that the printer worked, I turn off everything. When I turn on again, it was not working anymore. Then I tried to see by exclusion what the problem is, I had to restart the Hardwar I don't know how many times.
Conclusion:
1. The USB cable must be plugged into the airport express before turning on anything.
2. Turn on the printer first.
3. Turn on the airport express and the computer.
4. If you try to print it doesn't work, even if you reset the airport express through the airport express utility software. The printer is recognized and appears in it though.
5. Disconnect the USB cable from the airport express and connect it to the PC directly.
6. Print a document.
7. Disconnect the cable and reconnect it to the airport express.
8. Now you should be able to print wireless. You may need to reset the airport expresst with the utility softwar, but I managed to print without having to do it.
9. The pörinter works even if you turn off and on again the computer, or you suspend the windows session and restart it, or if you put it in standby and restart it.
10. The printer works even if you turn off the airport express and the computer, or the airport express alone and restart them/it.
11. The printer doens't work anymore if you turn it off and onn again. In such a case you have to plug in/out as discribeb above.
Solution: Leave the printer always on, or make the plug in/out every morning when you start the computer and print one page direclty before being able to print wireless.
Does anybody have a solution to this problem? I mean it prints, but it is annoying to plug in/out every day, no?
HP's technician says that it is not a recommanded solution the HP Laserjet 1020 with the airport express, since the printer works on a host based server basis... I mean it is easy to say that, but one expects to buy a printer that works always and not to have to plug in/out everyday, restart spooler and so on.
Can anybody comment or suggest anything I can do to avoid this? Thank you and I hope this helps others too.

Base Station and wired network

I am looking to replace my current router and am considering an Airport Extreme base station. Hoping to get some questions answered...
I currently have several Macs sharing a cable modem connection. There is also a printer (Epson R200) attached through a print server breakout box. All connected computers are able to share the printer, using the GIMP drivers.
My set up is:
Cable Modem->10/100 router->10/100/1000 switch
The printer and some slower machines are attached to the ports on the router. The faster machines (with Gigabit) are attached to the switch. All connected machines are able to access each other, the net and the shared printer.
The Airport Base Station would replace the router. Ideally, I would like to eliminate the print server box and plug the printer into the print server port on the Base Station.
- Would all machines (wireless and wired) have access to the printer?
- Would it make sense to have some gigabit machines connect via Airport Extreme vs. wired? I realize that the net connection speed would not suffer, but would there be that much of a speed penalty within the network? (gigabit machine to gigabit machine).
- What are the advantage of the Airport Base station over the many other 802.11 b/g routers available?
Thanks,
--Joe

- Would all machines (wireless and wired) have access to the printer?
Yes. All network computer, both wired and wireless will have access to the printer if a suitable driver exists. I don't know about your Epson printer, but some printers have issues. My Canon i850 printer doesn't work well with Tiger when connected to the Airport, but my HP laserjet works perfect.
- Would it make sense to have some gigabit machines connect via Airport Extreme vs. wired?
There is some speed loss but its still really fast. I get a 3.5-3.7 MBits/sec when copying a file from a wired computer to a wireless airport extreme connected computer. Its fast enough unless you copy GB of data.
- What are the advantage of the Airport Base station over the many other 802.11 b/g routers available?
To me its the integration of the Airport with the Mac OS; easily configurable (try to get WPA protection on another station...); more secure because it can be setup to accept only Macs; printer sharing works great and it is simply beautiful. On the downside, the price.

AE Base Station a PC Server?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for