Airport Extreme Base Station ,VPN, firmware 7.4.2 and 7.5.2

Hi,
I have an AEBS Dual Band ( Gen 1). In Dec of 2010 I 'discovered' that a VPN server came with
MacOSX (client) and browsing the internet yielded instructions on how to turn the rascal on.
VPN uses udp ports 500, 1701, and 4500.
Every thing worked great until the beginning of the year. One morning I came down and
could no longer connect to the VPN running on my home network. ( note I was running
firmware 7.5.2).
Everything seemed to be working fine except that the VPN could not be reached ie there
was no log activity from racoon ( normally the connecting and authentication messages
appear in the system log.)
I went crazy for a couple of weeks, I could not understand if the problem was due
to my ISP or some malconfiguration on the machine hosting the VPN server.
I finally tried directly attaching the server to the cable modem and found I was able
to access the VPN from my iPad running on the 3G network.
I was also able to connect to the VPN ok from within my home network.
I found a simple python server and told it to listen to port 500 on the server and sent a
datagram from the iPad to the WAN address of the router and port 500 and found that
the datagram was not being passed through the router.
It appeared that even though the airport configuration showed that the VPN ports
where being forwarded to the server, in fact they were not.
I tried un-mapping and re-mapping the ports several times, it did no good.
I did some resets ( from within the Airport Utility and manually, holding the reset
button and applying power until the front light starting blinking ( I let it blink
for about 10 seconds).
It did no good.
I took the AEBS out and replaced it with an old Linksys WRT54G router while I
pondered the problem. ( the Linksys 'apparently ' did not support VPN).
The next day I did some more hard resets and reconfigures and suddenly
it was back to normal so I replaced the Linksys with the AEBS.
Everything worked fine for about a month and then one night we had a short
power fail.
The next morning the router seemed to be working ok but again the system log
showed no activity when attempting to connect to the VPN.
While I was pondering what to do I plugged the Linksys back into the cable
modem and tried again to see if I get the router to work with the VPN.
Again initially trying to connect to the VPN failed. Just for the heck of it
I turned off uPnP in the Linksys and viòla it worked...
I decided to try the next generation AEBS Dual Band II model. I dashed off
to the Apple Store and brought it home. I set it and and upgraded from 7.5.1
to 7.5.2 and it worked with the VPN immediately, I was happy.
I then plugged to Gen 1 router back into the cable modem and downgraded
the firmware to 7.4.2 and it instantly started working properly.
I then took the old one out and put the new gen 2 model back in and
the VPN no longer was accessible, madness and rage soon followed.
I did a couple of hard resets, it did no good. I downgraded to 7.5.1, it did
no good, I upgraded again to 7.5.2 did still did not work with the VPN.
Unfortunately the 7.4.2 firmware will not install into the gen 2 models.
I have decided to keep the old AEBS and keep the 7.4.2 firmware installed.
I have had a single failure with the old firmware but I was able to fix
the problem with unmapping the VPN ports and then remapping the
rascals. This technique does not work with 7.5.2.
I suspect persons with the new gen 2 model are hosed if they want to
use VPN...
It is going back to apple this week.
Anyone else have better luck with using VPN and AEBS?
Jerry

I had to downgrade to 7.4.2 on my Time Capsule to get VPN to work, but now Time Machine no longer works. Looks like it's an either/situation for me until Apple fixes this one.

Similar Messages

Airport Extreme Base Station - I am ready to throw this thing...

Dear All,
I'm about ready to throw this thing out the window, along w/ everything else from Apple I own... Sorry, at my wits-end and have finally had it with this thing.
My g/f and I live in an apt with an Airport Extreme Base Station (AEBS), 10/100baseT Switch, Xbox 360, PC clone tower (PowerSpec), and two Centrino Laptops... The topology our network is the following
DSL == Modem => AEBS => 10/100 Switch => (XBox 360, Powerspec)
Every other day, the AEBS drops out for no obvious reason. Not only for no reason, it DROPS the connection and causes interference on our wired network. If I'm playing Call of Duty 2, for instance, and using Skype at the same time, anywhere from 10-30min later, the WiFi connection will drop altogether and the wired network will go down too.
I've done multiple hard-resets and the issue persists. Apple wants $80 to talk to me (after we paid $150 for it because it's supposedly "the best") after only owning it for a little over a year. It seems that this problem has been persistent.
My g/f finally cracked down and bought a Verizon EVDO card and uses it while she is out, but in the house because she cannot use our home network reliably.
I've tried using it on WPA2, WEP, and even left it open but the thing still drops for no reason...sometimes within hours, or two two days. I'll come home, boot up my laptop, and the WiFi is completely gone...non-existant. Boot hers, same thing... I doubt it's interference because we have 1 cordless phone and it's a 900mhz, which we rarely use anyway.
Does anyone else have any of the problem(s) we're having? This has been semi-often since we got it, and all Apple told us was "interference" and won't help us because we use PC (I used to own a Mac, hence why I got this).

Update: Well, the AEBS 'bombed' out again when I got home on Friday, no access whatsoever.
I unplugged my DSL modem from it, plugged it in directly to my HP notebook, and was surfing the 'net w/out a problem. Power cycled the AEBS and it worked fine. That was just over one day on firmware v5.5.1, longer than it lasted on v5.7.
Here's my conclusion...
I'm 'convinced' that v5.7 is buggy and it's known, or well documented. It will cost more money to fix it, or release a new firmware version that repairs the bugs from v5.7, than to just leave it alone and hope people either downgrade to v5.5.1 or purchase a new AEBS (w/ 802.11n).
After countless hours of dealing w/ this, of which I feel like a complete and utter fool, I went out and bought a competitor's product (Linksys) and installed it on Saturday morning. As of this writing, I've had no drop-outs and the access seems to be more punctual, or responsive than when I was accessing under my AEBS. Therefore, I'm happy to say my problem of unreliable WiFi access in my apt is solved, but only after spending $50 to purchase a new router.
I spent $180 on the AEBS and I can remember the first time I had to call AppleCare about printing issues I was having with it; I could print from Windows XP (both wired and wireless), but not from Tiger OSX 10.4. No-one had a clue, but was only told that the issue was my "printer" not the AEBS or my Mac. Despite repeated attempts to re-inform that it works just fine under Windows XP with both my Lexmark and Canon inkjets, it would not print properly (bombed out half/way through the page) under Mac OSX.
So, here on my shelf, sits the Airport Extreme Base Station that I paid $180 for, and it is basically useless. Apple could care less about it, but then again, why should they--after all, it had a 1 year warranty and despite trying to resolve issues I had w/ it while it was in fact within the warranty period, that time has come and gone.

Airport Extreme Base Station as bridge for Westell DSL router

I have searched the forums & internet and for the life of me cannot get my network to work properly! I hope you can help.
Here is the situation (I rent so chances are we will not be moving hardware anywhere):
- Westell (Verizon) DSL wireless router downstairs connected to the internet, 1 iMac via ethernet, and 2 ibooks via Airport cards
- One lonely Powermac G4 upstairs that does not have a wireless card
- One extra Airport Extreme Base Station with firmware version 5.7 installed & connected via ethernet/LAN to the G4
I figured the "easy" thing to do would be to use the AEBS as a wireless bridge to get the G4 online. The network utility has occasionally thought that the G4 was connected to the internet, but the internet didn't work at all when it said that!
I have been configuring the AEBS using my wireless ibook (G3). I "unchecked" distribute IP addresses, and "checked" connect to network via WDS. I used the Westell's MAC address as the main WDS source. Under the "WDS" tab, I said to configure the AEBS as a remote station and the Westell router as the main station, and to allow wireless users to connect.
I have tried using the same Network name for each. WEP/WAP is NOT set up on either modem, so passwords aren't a problem. They are both set to channel 6. I am configuring the TCP/IP settings manually.
When the network names are the same, the internet either stops working, or the computers can't find the AEBS.
I don't understand why the AEBS seems unable to see the DSL network.

Hi,
Well, what I have been able to do is this:
I have a Westell Wireless DSL router, just like the one mentioned here, and just like the one mentioned in the article I made reference to, the one started by Mr. Müller.
As was mentioned in the Mr. Müller article, there are some possibilities that will work. They were submitted by a guy named Duane, from Texas. He gives three alternate possibilities, which he entitled "Solution #1, Solution #2, and Solution #3. He says all three of these alternatives will work, and in reading them over I came to the following conclusions: First, he really knows his stuff, and second, his proposed solutions would probably work.
Based on his comments I decided to take a risk yesterday - I put my older Mac Base Station in a drawer and invested in a new Airport Extreme.
Anyway, I digress...
What I've done is follow Solution #3. And it works! I now have a connection from my laptop to the Airport Extreme base station and the internet. I am typing this message using that connection. All I had to do was disable the wireless connection of the DSL router (using their software, of course), and connect the Airport Extreme, via the LAN Ethernet connector, to the Westel DSL router.
Now, all that remains for me is to extend the range of the base station, using an Airport Express. I haven't had any success with that yet, but I see no reason why I shouldn't get it to work eventually. If you can help me out with that, though, I'd sure appreciate it.
Best regards,
Patrick
Macintosh G5, Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

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!

Airport Utility cant connect to Airport Extreme Base Station, Error code -4

I am unable to use my Apple-product. Earlier it worked, with these settings: The Airport Extreme Base Station worked as a Gigabit switch and an Access Point. It was not supposed to work as a router, since I have a server "on the far side" of the AEBS.
In any case, it worked for a while. Then it started to act strangely, so I tried to check its settings. I was unable, so I did a factory reset. And haven´t been able to connect (for configuring) since. (It still works as a router and access point, but with the default settings, and with a blinking yellow led.)
When I use the Airport Utility (5.5.1) connected with a cable it finds nothing. Should I be able to configure it wired? When I connect wireless to the default "Apple Network XXXXXX" it finds the Airport Extreme "with default settings". I click "continue" or "Manual setting", and it says "Detecting wireless Apple Devices" (bear in mind that I translate the messages from swedish, It might get wrong), and then after a minute:
An error occurred while trying to access the base station. Make sure your network connection is valid and try again. Error Code: -4
I have shut off the firewall in both Windows and Panda Cloud Office Protection. I have tried to make lots of factory resets.

See this article for instructions on how to install AirPort Utility 5.6 for Lion on Mountain Lion:
http://www.macworld.com/article/1167965/mountain_lion_and_the_ancient_airport_ba se_station.html

Does firmware update 7.1 break the Airport Extreme Base Station?

Does firmware update 7.1 break the Airport Extreme Base Station?
See Digg
http://www.jayhaynes.net/2007/04/donot_install.html
April 10, 2007
Do NOT install AirPort 802.11n Firmware 7.1
This Firmware 7.1 update for AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11n should definitely NOT be installed.
Here was my problem:
I used AirPort Utility 5.1 to install the update. It is automatic - launch the utility and it asks if you want to install the update. I said yes because I had problems getting two AirPort n base stations networking together to extend my range (I gave up finally and just used an AirPort Express to extend the range).
After the firmware update, some sites would not load at all (www.nytimes.com) and others took forever to load. And worse, I could not send any email from any of my IMAP accounts. It seemed to be a DNS problem.
I have two 802.11n AirPorts, so I finally went back to the other one (7.0) and everything worked fine. The Apple tech support guy offered to replace my broken (7.1) AirPort.
Foolishly, I wanted to make sure the problem was actually with the 7.1 update and not the AirPort itself. So I updated my second 802.11n base station with 7.1. And it casued the exact same problem (some sites not loading, no outgoing email).
The Apple tech (at this point I was speaking with a wireless specialist) put me on hold to test a few of his AirPorts to see if he could revert back to firmware 7.0 or (ii) install a clean version of 7.1 (in case the version on my drive was corrupted).
Unfotunately neither option was possible, which is a design flaw in AirPort Utility.
Apple is sending me two new AirPorts in 1-2 days, which is great service, but I will not be installing firmware update 7.1 again. Fool me once...
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/airportextremebasestationwith80211nfirmwa re71.html
AirPort Extreme Base Station

Turns out that the firmware 7.1 does not render the AEBS useless.
My problem was resolved when I turned off my DSL modem, the AEBS and the computer. Then restarted in same order going to the next one after the first is compeletly up and running. I had no problems whatsoever after that.
Seems that the firmware update makes the IPs 'stick' somehow. I would think that even a reset of AEBS might have done it but I never got to that stage.
All my computers came alive in no time.
I suggest Smith tries this. Simply reset the whole network. Ah yes, my cable modem has an internal battery, I needed to disconnect this too. Only then did the modem go into the 'acquiring' or 'distribution' mode.

Can't connect to a VPN through Airport Extreme Base Station

I'm unable to connect through my Airport Extreme Base Station to my office via VPN. Is there something needed to be set up specially?
I'm using a notebook with WindowXP which connects to internet just fine.

Here is info:
Airport Utility finds an Airport Extreme with 802.11n(fast ethernet)
Base Station Name: Home
IP Address: 10.0.1.1
Airport ID: 00:19:E3:FA:A8:32
This is not the IP address of the modem. Even though light is green on Base station the ATV doesn't make the wireless connection.

How to downgrade Airport Extreme Base Station firmware?

I updated the firmware of Airport Extreme Base Station to 5.7 recently. However, I notice that the speed is very slow if one of the computer is downloading. I am thinking to revert the firmware to previous but don't know how to do it. Any advice and suggestion please?
Thanks

See if this helps.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=285838&tstart=0
Cheers Don

VPN... airport extreme base station

Have a Airport extreme base station... 7.5.2... running snow leopard.
trying to connect to vpn at work... the connection in network connect connects just fine... but when i try to browse to one of our internal sites on our intranet... it says that "safari can't find the server". I have spoken with tech support and they think it is some sort of DNS issue.
I have searched around on the threads here to try to understand this issue... but can't seem to find anything conclusive about what to change in the settings to be able to connect to the vpn through the AEBS.
Thanks in advance

That sounds like it would make sense since i have no problem connecting but none of the intranet pages will actually load.
The program is called "Network Connect" that the macbook uses to connect to the VPN. You start on a site ework.xxxxx.com and then it launches this little java applet that installs network connect. Then you click connect and away you go.
Tesserax- do you know of anyway to fix this short of manually plugging in the macbook ethernet to the cable modem?
I did notice that my DNS servers are different in my AEBS settings than they are for my "Network settings" DNS servers. I have a static ip address assigned manually to the macbook- as I use it as a dyndns server to stream all sorts of stuff to myself remotely.
Here is a little screen shot from the network utility program as it is connected to the VPN. I can't tell if its split or full but maybe this has some information that someone else can decipher.

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.

2 airport extreme base stations later and still no internet connection-

Sorry - yet another beginner with internet connection troubles! (I have read all the posts I could find relating, but without any help).
I have had a Demon broadband account now for about a month (I’m in the UK) and in that time I have purchased a D-Link DSL-300T Ethernet modem and an Airport Extreme Base Station. I got wireless internet working relatively easily – with a powerful range over the whole house and garden, but then one Sunday night, the internet connection via the base station suddenly ‘died’.
I spent the following 3 days scrutinising all of my settings of both the Modem and the Base station, re-setting both, and bought new Ethernet cables / micro filters etc but with no luck. (I’ll point out at this stage that my broadband account is still active, and if I connect the Ethernet modem directly to my iBook [wired] I can still get my broadband connection. Alternatively, I tried daisy chaining the modem to the base station and then via an Ethernet cable to an iBook, but no connection could be made).
When wireless, Airport Admin recognises there is a modem there, and under preferences > network under Airport it states I am connected to the internet – but I’m not.
I then phoned D-Link and they confirmed my firmware was up-to-date for use with Apple products and talked me through all of the modem settings and tweaked a few things, but there was still no connection to the base station. I then phoned Apple. They were incredibly helpful (as ever) and after 35 min. came to the conclusion the base station might not be re-setting itself properly. The replacement one came yesterday, and again I spent a number of hours trying to get it connected to the internet, but there is still no internet connection via airport and I can confirm this from both my eMac and iBook.
Reading through the forums on here, I understand that my particular modem is problematic with the base station, but I can’t work out why it use to work and now it doesn’t! One theory I have investigated is that the firmware of the base station is two advance for the modem following an update, but after reinstalling the original firmware I started with, I still have no luck.
- The eMac is running 10.3.9 / iBook is running 10.4.3. The base station is reinstalled with the latest firmware via system update. The first base station and the modem were delivered to me 31/10/05.
Any help or suggestions would be really appreciated if anyone has any ideas
Thanks for your time
Will.
UK.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2316
78&tstart=0
I think if you follow the instructions I gave in this
link you will be fine.
Remember, If you for any reason loose your
connection, it is normally always a Power Issue..Your
ISP is down for service ..or some other anomoly, If
you were good before your settings will still be
good...Good Luck...Don
Hi Don,
Thanks for you quick response. I printed off the instructions you posted on the support forum before, and ran through your procedue exactly, (twice) but I'm sorry to inform you that I haven't been able to re-establish my wireless internet connection. Would it be safe for me to assume at this stage that my modem is indeed fualty? It contines to work fine independantly, (I'm using it right now) but it can't seem to make contact with the basestation.
Will.

Why can I no longer print from my Windows XP computers to my Bonjour connected Canon printer thru an Airport Extreme Base Station (f/w 7.6.4, model A1301)?

Something has changed recently and I haven't figured it out. My 2 Windows XP computers are no longer able to print via Bonjour. I have tried removing and reinstalling Bonjour. Upgrading the firmware on the AIrport Extreme Base Station and comparing Port settings from an able to print Windows Vista laptop. Port settings match and Bonjour says it sees the printer...but the communication is not happening between the computer and the networked printer, it times out and produces an error in the print que. Both XP computers have no problem using the internet via the Base Station. One is wired and one is wireless. Thoughts?

Sounds a bit like a problem being discussed in this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2651093&tstart=0
I suspect some kind of update is at fault. Like you, my printer/base station setup had been working fine until recently.

Why does the new Dual-Band AirPort Extreme Base Station act as a proxy?

The previous thread
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1531675
has been archived and nothing came of it, but after testing, I'm certain that their findings are true.
The Dual-Band AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS) with firmware 7.4.1 acts as a proxy for TCP ports 21, 554, and 7070 when NAT is turned on. This can be verified by using Nmap on any external server known to NOT have the ports open and having Nmap return that the ports are open. You can telnet to these ports to verify that they're "open," even though they are not on the server.
This functionality appears to be undocumented and as far as I can tell, the only way to turn it off is to put the AEBS into bridge mode and having some other device do NAT further upstream.
As a computer professional, this functionality extremely undesirable, particularly since it is not documented and doesn't have an "off switch." I wasted a bunch of time with one of my network engineers because of this, thinking that some network router was spoofing our server. I also wasted a bunch of my time trying to detect whatever "stealthy rootkit" had opened a FTP server and some other botnet related ports on our server, when in reality, it was simply my AEBS tricking me.
Disabling NAT-PMP ("Enable NAT port mapping protocol") does not affect this.
Is it too much to ask to have a checkbox in the "Advanced" section of the AirPort Utility to turn this feature off?

Welcome to the discussions forum Michael Bennett2.
Thanks for investigating this odd behavior.
If you want your work to be noticed by those who can effect change, you'll have to tell Apple via their feedback link. It won't do any good to post it here.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Can't get PC laptop to connect to Airport Extreme base station. Help!

I've spent a lot of quality time on the phone with support staff at Apple, Earthlink, and Netgear. Now I turn to you fine folks.
I have an Airport Extreme base station. My G4 is connected to the base station via ethernet, and that works fine. My problem is with the wireless networking with our Dell laptop running Windows XP SP2. Wireless card is a Netgear WG511 with updated firmware. I've configured the network on the PC end using the Netgear Smart Wizard, rather than Windows (I don't know if that makes any difference).
Smart Wizard says the PC is connected to the network, and says that signal strength is excellent. However, there is no connection. I've tried pinging, but get no reply.
The status bar in the Smart Wizard window switches every 2 seconds from "Connected" with excellent signal to "Searching" with virtually no signal. The log shows that it's constantly connecting to and disconnecting from the network.
I've gone over IP and MAC addresses and whatever other settings I could check with all of the respective phone support people. I'm using WPA/WPA2 Personal security, and have double-checked the 13-digit password on both ends. I'm connecting using PPPoE, per Earthlink's settings.
This is maddening! Any suggestions? I'd really appreciate it.
G4 Mac OS X (10.4.10)

See if iFelix's suggestions work for you.
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/1000.html
Remember all the smart wizard stuff is strickley for PC Hadrware and Software and does you no good at all with a Mac.
Don

Connect to Linksys Cable Gateway via AirPort Extreme Base Station?

Thank you in advance for any replies.
I have the following new setup:
A G3 Blue tower running OS X 10.4.10 is successfully connected to the internet via a Linksys WCG200 Cable Gateway connected to RCN's cable internet service. The WCG200 unit has wireless capacity though it's connected to the G3 tower via ethernet cable.
A second Mac (G3 iMac DV running OS X 10.4.10) is in another room in the office. I'd like to set it up with internet by wirelessly connecting with the existing WCG200 unit using an Airport Extreme Base Station (AEBS) I've recently acquired. To ensure a smooth process, I reset the AEBS to factory settings and installed the AEBS software (version 4.2) onto the iMac DV. Finally I plugged in the AEBS into the iMac DV using an ethernet cable plugged into the AEBS's WAN port (AirPort Admin Utility advised me to do so).
That's the hardware configuration. Working out the software and configuration details is proving 'niggly'.
First, I used the AirPort Setup Assistant to configure the AEBS. I told it to Set up a new Base Station, then to set it up as connecting to the internet using a Cable modem (the top option of two—the second was to set it up with internet through a LAN). I set up the name and passwords for the Base Station and had the utility configure the AEBS accordingly.
No internet connection occurred. I tried using the Internet Connect utility in the Applications folder, but no button or visible option for connecting via AirPort appeared, as the Setup Guide indicated it should, only a button for a VPN appeared.
I called Apple and asked whether it was even possible to connect to the internet using the AEBS talking wirelessly to the WCG200 unit. A tech told me it could be done by going into the AirPort Administration Utility, going into Configuration, clicking on the WDS tab and inputting the MAC address for the WCG200 unit, then going into the Airport tab and typing in the channel that the WCG200 is using. Note that the WCG200 unit has 3 MAC addresses listed; one each for “modem MAC address,” “WAN-MAN MAC address,” and “WAN-DATA MAC address”. I used the “modem MAC address.
The Apple tech added that it might need further tweaking, but that Apple couldn’t provide this tweaking and that I might check various forums if need be.
I followed the Tech’s advice, at which point the utility informed me that it couldn't use DHCP or NAT with this setup’ and to make sure that the "Distribute IP Addresses" checkbox was deselected under the Internet tab. This I did, but it was already deselected. I told the utility to update the AEBS accordingly, and restarted everything, including the 2 Macs and the WCG200.
Result:
No connection.
Tried it again with the Ethernet plugged into the AEBSs LAN port, still no connection.
Help! Can’t I get the AEBS to even see the WCG200? I know wireless is properly functioning in the WCG200 because another user with a Windows laptop connects to it wirelessly. The Mac Tech also mentioned that this could be relatively easy with an AirPort Express piece of hardware (Card? Base station?) but that it would be difficult with the Airport Extreme Base Station.
At this point we’re willing to spend $100 on getting this up. What would be our best option in terms of equipment, or can connectivity be accomplished with what we have?
Thanks again,
skyheart

skyheart, Welcome to the discussion area!
In theory using WDS would provide what you need.
In reality the Linksys device is not compatible with Apple's WDS and therefore this will not work.

Airport Extreme Base Station ,VPN, firmware 7.4.2 and 7.5.2

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