Older airport extreme

Trying to set up an older airport extreme for my father in law. Airport Utility says:
This version of AirPort Utility doesn't support this base station. Use AirPort Utility 5.6 to configure or manage this base station. AirPort Utility 5.6 is available at AirPort Service and Support.
When I downlad 5.6 and try to install it I get the message that I can't run 5.6 on on my MacBook Air running 10.8.2.
What can I do to set this up? Should I just through away this perfectly good (but older) airport extreme?
Thanks in advance for your help.

You have a number of options:
Use another Mac that is running Tiger, Snow Leopard, or Lion to configure the AirPort base station.
Use a PC to configure the AirPort base station
Use a utility like Pacifist to install AirPort Utility 5.6 on Mountain Lion. This article will tell you how:
http://www.macworld.com/article/1167965/mountain_lion_and_the_ancient_airport_ba se_station.html

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Connecting and older AirPort Extreme to my MBPro Retina (MBPr)

I have a older AirPort Extreme ( the round white saucer type) maybe 2005? Was give to me by a friend. I am trying to hook up the AirPort E and the airport Utiltiy see it. But when I click on the base station I get this "This version of AirPort Utility doesn’t support this base station. Go to AirPort Service and Support for more information. Also in the AirPort Utility page it shows the world glob that has a green light and then down from that my AirPort Extreme and it has NO green light.
I have click onto the support link and downloaded the utility 5.6 but that can't be intalled. It tell me it's not supported by any of the drives or something like that?
My intenet, I use AT&T 2wire & the Ethernet cable connect to the AirPort E. I can print with USB connect to my MBPr but not via Wifi. I can print from my iPad using a Handyprint app.
What I like to do is print wifi without haveing to use the USB and I like to set up my AirPort E basestation. Can anyone help me? I don't really want to buy a newer basestation. I was never able to print via wifi on this MBPr and even before i used the handyprint app. However, I have print via wifi on a PC with the basestation hooked up just like I have hooked up with on my MBPr.
I hope you can understand my question, I am not very good at posting my question. New to the Mac world. I also look for support in the forms but could not get fine what I need.
Thanks ahead of time for any help!

Just another reason to never use an Apple router. All other routers I have ever heard of use a Web Browser to do all configurations. I have a router I bought in the early 2000s that I can still use if I like, actually several of them.
Leave it to Apple to restrict access to older Airport base stations making people that think they need to buy a new Apple router to go with their Apple computer.
Just give that Airport base station back to your friend or stick it in a closet. You don't need an Apple router. Any router will work, or should work, with any Apple computer or other Apple device.

I have an older Airport Extreme (disc shaped) that we use with my wife's PowerBook (OS 10.5.8) and my MacBook Pro (OS 10.9.4). We currently only have Airport Utility on her Mac, but I want to upgrade the utility so I can use it on mine.

I have an older Airport Extreme (disc shaped) that we use with my wife's PowerBook (OS 10.5.8) and my MacBook Pro (OS 10.9.4). We currently only have Airport Utility on her Mac, but I want to upgrade the utility so I can use it on mine. Which version of the utility will work on my MacBook, and still control the older Airport Extreme?

if I update the Airport to the latest version, and "control" it with my MacBook Pro, will the older G4 still be able to use the signal from the new Airport?
Yes. Your G4 shouldn't have any difficulty connecting to a Wi-Fi network provided by the latest 802.11ac AirPorts as they support the earlier radio modes that the G4 uses.

I have a airport time capsule, an older airport extreme, and an airport express. I want to hard wire my Mac Mini to the network. What is the best arrangement of the devices? which ones should be hard wired to optimize extending the network?

I have a airport time capsule, an older airport extreme, and an older airport express. I want to hard wire my Mac Mini to the network. What is the best arrangement of the devices? which ones should be hard wired to optimize extending the network?

I am using TM Unifi with an ASUS RT-N18U Wi-Fi router. I would like to know could I use Apple AirPort Time Capsule to extend (repeater, booster) my Wi-Fi to a part of the house where the Wi-Fi signal is poor
Yes,, if you plan to connect the AirPort Time Capsule to the ASUS router using an Ethernet cable connection that will remain fixed and permanently installed at all times.
No, if you were planning to have the AirPort Time Capsule connect wirelessly and extend the Asus WiFi signal, since it would not be compatible with another manufacturer's router for that purpose.
Another way of saying the same thing here would be that if you want to extend the network wirelessly, it will take two Apple routers to do so

I presently use an older AirPort Extreme but my reception comes & goes does this occur with the new extreme?

I presently use an older AirPort Extreme but my reception comes & goes. Does this occur with the newer version?

1) If the reception comes and goes as a result of wireless interference from other sources in your home and around the home...other wireless networks in the neighborhood....or...nearby cordless phones.....then a new router is likely to experience the same issues. See this Apple support document for symptoms and fixes of wireless interference.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1365
2) If the reception comes and goes as a result of an aging power supply in the older AirPort Exteme or another component that is intermittently acting up, then a new router should take care of that.
What we cannot tell you is whether 1) or 2) applies to your situation. If possible, it would be good idea to take the older AirPort to an Apple Store or Apple Servicer....if you have one near you....to let them take a look.

How to replace a older Airport Extreme with a newer model? (OS 10.6 w/ Mac Mimi)

How do I replace a older Airport Extreme with a newer model? (Mac Mini OS 10.6.8 )

There is not much more to it than to buy a new one, and configure it using AirPort Utility.
You should be using AirPort Utility 5.6.1.
Power down your modem before removing your older Extreme and connecting the new one.

Older Airport Extreme with new Airport Express

I have a new Airport Express and an older Airport Extreme (I think 1rst gen). I have been using the Extreme for a few years now and just got the express to help me extend the extreme. The Extreme's signal is very weak in some parts of my house. I cannot hook the two together via ethernet. Needs to be wireless. What's the best method? I only use the wi-fi for internet access and tv (netflix, HBOGO, etc). I do not share printers or hard drives. I'm wondering if the new express is better (range) than my older extreme? Should I use the express as my main base station?

Your Extreme should still provide better overall range over the 2nd gen 802.11n AirPort Express Base Station, so I would still recommend that you leave the Extreme as your "main" router.
You will want to use the following instructions to extend the wireless network from this Apple Support article.
The key to success if extending the Extreme is to place the Express within a 25+ dB SNR range of the Extreme as it can only repeat the signal with the same bandwidth that it receives it. If the signal is very weak the Express may not even be able to extend it at all.
Check out the following AirPort User tip for details on optimal base station placement. Please post back your results.

Older airport extreme base station as a network extender with new time capsule

I just bought a new time capsule (802.11ac). Can my older airport extreme base station (model A1143) be used as a network extender with it?

Yes, although it maybe disappointing..
There are two kinds of extending.. wireless repeater type which is poorest as it has to transfer all packets in two steps instead of one.. hence will halve the speed.
Or using ethernet to the old extreme and set it in bridge.. You can then setup roaming network... this is much better.. but getting ethernet to the right place could be messy or expensive or both.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4260
wireless extend doco.. mind all of this is out of date.. the basics are correct.. the methods via the airport utility may be obsolete.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4145
Documentation has rather lagged lately.

Setting up network with newer and older AirPort Extremes

Okay, I thought this was going to be so simple. I have a newer (like a year old - square) Airport Extreme that I have three computers wirelessly hooked up to in the house. Great... so now, I want to hook up the old iMac in my son's room that doesn't have a wireless card to the network. It is too far away to use the ethernet cable into the back of my newer Airport Extreme station so I figured I'd dust off the old saucer type base station, plug the ethernet cable into that in my son's room and then just easily get the old base station to network with the newer one wirelessly.
Not so easy. The newer one has no reference how to make a network with other base stations whatsoever and the old book describes how to with the Airport Admin Utility which is not available to the newer version, just Airport Utility and it does not have the WDA options listed. I tried to extend the network and then Doh! The whole network disappeared.
Is this a compatibility issue with the older and newer base stations? Would it just be easier to put in a wireless card to my very old iMac, if that's even possible? Has anyone successfully networked an old and new base station together? If so how?
Thanks!

Welcome to the discussions!
When you have an older "g" device (the flying saucer) and a newer "n" device (the square one) in order for them to communicate using wireless only, you must configure both of them in what is known as WDS configuration.
This is a quite tricky setup for most users. The best set of instructions that I've seen for this comes from expert user Tesserax in this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2355832&tstart=0
If you elect to try this type of setup, you will probably need to hold down the option key on your Mac while you click on the Wireless Mode selection box to get the WDS option to appear. (My guess here is that Apple "hides" it because it slows down the network substantially). But, it's the only way to do what you want to accomplish with and old and new device.
Other options would include the wireless card you mentioned for the iMac. Even better might be a pair of ethernet powerline adapters. One adapter goes near the AirPort Extreme and the other near the iMac. The AC wiring in your home transmits the ethernet signal of the powerline. Works great, almost no configuration required and better than wireless in many cases.

Can I replace an older Airport Extreme with a newer one by importing configuration file

Can I import the configuration file from an older Airport base station into a newer replacement Airport base station? It would seem this would save me a lot of extra work. First, it would hopefully save time by automatically configuring the new base station without me having to fiddle with the settings. Second, it might hopefully save some more time if I would not have to re-enter the network parameters for all the devices currrently connected to my Airport (wi-fi) network.
Read on for more details.
My old Apple Airport Extreme Base Station (AEBS) is not a gigabit one. Moreover, it's been experiencing some hardware failures recently. So, I recently purchased a new Apple Airport Extreme (base station) that is a gigabit one (Model# ME918LL/A with 802.11ac Wi-FI). Now, I'd like to replace the older base station with this newer one with the MINIMAL amount of disruption and manual work possible.
Regards,
Tony

I relaced an older AEBS with the new one, recently, and did not need to import anything, but if you can save the configuration file from your old one, then you can import it to the new one. I've never tried that when I switched, and it didn't seem to matter which suggests the configuration file may be on disk somewhere.

Setting up TC on N (5 GHz), with older AirPort Extreme and Express on B/G

Hi there,
I've done a search through the forums (and the net) to see if I can find a solution to my query, but the answer currently escapes me so I thought I'd ask outright....
I have recently purchased a Time Capsule. Previously my wireless network relied on an AirPort Extreme Base Station (one of the older white models that looked like a UFO) over 802.11 b/g which was extended by an AirPort Express (again, non-N).
What I would very much like to do is create a setup that has the Time Capsule running 802.11 N only over 5 GHz, with the AirPort Extreme connected to it over Ethernet and still running a B/G network out with the Express.
There is a diagram here, which shows exactly what I want, but their instructions are far from complete or up-to-date with the current AirPort Utility software: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/03/31/exploringtime_capsule_wifi_802_11n_and_the_5ghzband.html
However, I can't for the life of me work out how to do this. If someone could help me out I would very much appreciate it.

For the TC, I suggest that you change the Radio Mode to: 802.11n only (5 GHz) - 802.11n only (2.4 GHz).
For the AEBS & AX, I am assuming that you still want them as an extended wireless network ... correct? If so, all that would need to change is the following for the AEBS:
o Connect the AEBS directly to one of the TC's available LAN (opposing arrows) ports by Ethernet. Connect this Ethernet cable to the WAN (circle-of-dots) port on the AEBS.
o Reconfigure the AEBS as a bridge. (ref: AirPort Utility > Select the AEBS > Manual Setup > Internet > Internet Connection > Connection Sharing = Off (Bridge Mode))
o You may want to rename the AEBS/AX wireless network with a new Network Name (or SSID). This is totally optional, but may prove helpful as a reminder that you only want non-"n" clients to connect to it. For example, and with absolutely no imagination on my part, you could name your TC's wireless network: My Really Fast Network, and the AEBS/AX's: My Not So Fast Network.
o Finally, you will want to be sure the the AEBS/AX wireless network is at least 3-5 channels away from the 2.4 GHz network provided by the TC. This will prevent any Wi-Fi interference between them.
The WDS settings created earlier when you configured the AEBS & AX for an extended network should remain the same.

I want to replace one of my older Airport Extremes with the new model. Any tips?

I have 2 older airport extreems that are connected by a network cable. They share the same Netrwork ID.
I want to replace one of them with the new model as I want to use the old router on another project.
Any tips out there for a no-issue switch?
Should the newer and faster Extreme be connected to the Modem or does it nt make a didfference?
Thanks

use the new router as your primary router with the modem - this will be a factory install from the default configuration - as long as you use same network name password and type a password that you used for the express in bridge mode, you should be able to plug it in and have it work like before. just make sure that you configure everything individually and then power all devices down and repower each one individually starting with the modem then the router in the express and that should work

Connecting to an older Airport Extreme

I have my Cable Modem connected to my old UFO Airport Extreme in one room. Can I bridge the new Airport Extreme 802.11n to the existing UFO internet conncetion so i can connect not only my Macbook Pro via Airport but also my old iMac through its ethernet port? Plus an external hard drive for Time Machine.

You can do what you describe but you're mixing terminology a bit. At present your older Extreme is serving as your wireless router. If you add the newer Extreme to your network, and you want it to communicate with the older one wirelessly, you will need to reconfigure your network so that both Extremes "participate in a WDS network".
A "bridge" in a network context describes a device that connects one kind of network to another. That's what you want to do with your iMac, by connecting its Ethernet port to the Extreme's LAN port. You can also connect an external USB hard disk for Time Machine.
Using the right terminology will help you configure everything properly, and will help others understand what you're doing in case you need help.
If you don't already have an external HD, getting a Time Capsule instead of the Extreme might be more cost effective.

Installing Airport Utility 5.6.1 in order to configure older Airport Extreme/g model doesn't work as it won't install with OS 10.8.5 Mountain Lion. Solution?

I need to configure Airport Extreme Base Station 802.11b/g but Airport Utility 6.3.1 will not work.
I found this page: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5022
it recommends installing Airport Utility 5.6 which downloads as 5.6.1
but it will not install on Mountain Lion OS 10.8.5
so what to do?

AirPort Utility 5.6.1 is for Snow Leopard. Use 5.6 for Lion or Mountain Lion.
You can use the following workaround to install AirPort Utility 5.6 on a Lion or Mountain Lion Mac:
Be sure to read the caveats at the end.
Lion / Mountain Lion's package installer will refuse to install superseded versions of AirPort Utility. Instead you will need to use a package extractor such as Pacifist or unpkg. Pacifist is shareware, unpkg is free.
Download Pacifist here: http://www.charlessoft.com/
Download unpkg here: http://www.timdoug.com/unpkg/
Download AirPort Utility 5.6 here: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482
When the AirPort Utility .dmg file finishes downloading, open it to expand and reveal the AirPortUtility56.pkg package installer file.
Directions for Pacifist (I do not have screenshots for unpkg but the idea is similar):
Open Pacifist and from its File menu, navigate to the package and open it.
Click the "reveal triangles" until you see AirPort Utility 5.6.app:
Select it and then click Install from Pacifist's toolbar. It will then be installed in your Utilities folder, and you can quit Pacifist.
The most recent version of AirPort Utility included with Mountain Lion should be used to configure 802.11n - capable AirPort Base Stations. Make no attempt to delete it. It and the older version (which will bear the unique name "AirPort Utility 5.6") can peacefully coexist. Use the older version only as necessary for older AirPort Base Stations that cannot be administered any other way.
If you happen to have an archived copy of the AU 5.6 app somewhere, such as a Time Machine backup or equivalent, you can simply restore it or drag the app to your Mountain Lion system's Utilities folder instead of resorting to the above procedure. It will run without complaint. It is only the package installer that is the problem.
Keep in mind that Apple's decision to abandon support for the original AirPort Express and AEBS was for reasons known only to them. Remember that you are using obsolete equipment, should some future OS X feature not work for you.

I have an older airport extreme,

when i try to configure it, i get "This version of AirPort Utility doesn’t support this base station. Go to AirPort Service and Support for more information." I'm on 10.8.5 on 2011 MBP.

If this is an older "round" or "dome" shaped version of the AirPort Extreme, this model was discontinued 6+ years ago and is no longer supported in Mountain Lion and Mavericks operating systems.
If you have a Mac running Leopard or Snow Leopard, or a PC, you can sdmininter the AirPort Extreme that way.

Older airport extreme

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