Airport no longer works with my MacBooks. Help an old lady get wireless again!

Question

First, I have to tell you that I'm as dense as granite when it comes to technology, so please talk to me in the simple terms you'd use with a dazed higher primate. Assume that I know nothing.
My story: I have the world's oldest MacBook Pro and am also using a new MacBook Air. I had a new Airport base station that was working fine with the MacBook Pro until I moved two years ago. I know nothing was dropped or mishandled, because I moved the electronics myself. But when I set up stuff in the new house, with Airport in a spare room and using the laptop in my bedroom where I have little room for anything but me, the MacBook would no longer recogize the Airport.
I tried moving Airport into the same room, thinking there might be something wierd with the walls of the house, but still no dice.
So I've been wired to the Comcast modem ever since. I trip over cables so often, I can do it in the dark.
Things are getting complicated now, because I've added a printer/scanner. Since I can't use it wirelessly and don't wish to trip over the cable every time I stand up, I hardly ever use the thing. Also, I'm shopping for a new TV and have dreams of being able to connect it with the Mac for watching movies, etc. The thought of using more cables makes me sad.
BTW, I'm currently using a borrowed MacBook Air, circa 6 months ago. It doesn't recognize Airport either. Airport is currently sitting in its box, bored and depressed.
Since nothing I own is under warranty any longer, I'm looking for free advice here instead of paying Apple by the hour.
Two questions:
(1) the ****? How do I get wireless again?
(2) Is Airport interchangeable with other wireless modems, like the one Comcast offers me?

Answer 1

When you connect your MacBook Pro to the Comcast modem using its Ethernet cable, you are establishing the same sort of connection with it that would be used by your AirPort sitting in the box. The modem does not care what is connected to it, but it can connect to only one device at a time. Most of them "remember" that device as long as it is powered up, and will refuse to communicate with anything else.
So the first thing to do is power down the modem. Unplug it. Then, connect your AirPort's WAN port to it (Extreme or Express, whichever one you have) and then power them both up. With any luck your MacBook Pro might just connect wirelessly like it used to in your last home.
If it does not, you probably need to reconfigure the AirPort Base Station again as if it were new. To do that, "hard reset" the AirPort Base Station by pressing its tiny reset button and holding it depressed long enough for its LED to flash rapidly. Then, the LED will glow solid amber for a moment or two, then it will begin to flash slowly. When that occurs select its network in your Mac's Wi-Fi menu. Its name will be "Apple Network nnnnnn" where nnnnnn = a code unique to your base station. Select it.
Then, launch AirPort Utility - it is in your Utilities folder - and it will detect that your AirPort base station has been reset. Click the Continue button, answer the questions, and it will reconfigure the AirPort to those settings. The questions should be self-explanatory. When you are finished you will be prompted to restart the AirPort.
The next step confuses people, because after restarting the AirPort Base Station the network name that you had been using to configure it immediately ceases to exist. AirPort Utility may as well just sit there forever so just quit AirPort Utility. You have to manually select the network you just created by selecting it in the Wi-Fi menu again.
If you run into problems and need more help, meaning you must communicate using the Internet again, just remember the first paragraph - power down the modem whenever you change what is connected to it. Make it a habit.