Tip: For those losing airport extreme connectivity after 2007 update

Question

After the most recent Airport Extreme update, I started losing my connection to previously working wireless networks. There was never an issue for the 6 months prior to this most recent update. Therefore the update changed something. Many of the posts regarding this subject steer the finger pointing away from Apple. All I know is that my wireless connectivty worked fine for the last six months and stopped working after the update. The following link from MacFixit.com worked for me: http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20070129234632441
The MacFixit posting is as follows: "Success with .plist deletion A more innocuous workaround -- deleting potentially corrupt .plist files (as described in our Wireless troubleshooting tutorial) -- has been successful for others.
One reader writes:
"After applying the Airport Extreme Update 2007-001, my Airport Extreme was shutting down every time my Aluminum PowerBook G4 went to sleep. It was very frustrating, but I thought it might have been a "security feature" in the new update. Then I found your wireless troubleshooting tutorial and following directions in the "Delete specific .plist files" section did the trick.
The files to be deleted are located in the ~/Library/Preferences/ directory (this is the Library directory within your User folder), and are as follows:"
com.apple.internetconfig.plist
com.apple.internetconfigpriv.plist
com.apple.internetconnect.plist
After deleting these .plist files I have had stable connectivity again with no issues. The update apparently corrupted one or all of these files. I would try deleting them and then restart your computer. As noted, it is an easy fix and does not hurt anything to try...I hope it helps others looking for answers on this subject. Don
MacBook Pro - 17" - Intel 2.16Ghz - 2G RAM   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

Answer 1

I too have run into the same problem as ‘controls.freq’ although sometimes the light just stays amber (like controls.freq’s documented post) and other times it stays solid green after clicking "Update." No matter, the result is the same -- I have to perform a hard reset (pull the plug) of the Airport Extreme and none of my changes have been made. I not only run into this when trying to add static DHCP addresses (like controls.freq), but also when trying to add MAC addresses to timed access control lists, or (when playing around) trying to change my wireless network name .... honestly, it probably fails for many other changes too.
So I tried what Bob suggested -- but no luck. A lot of effort but no reward. I tried loading 7.4 firmware (tried both 7.4.2 and 7.4.1 which ran more reliably in my environment) and then doing the factory reset, then upgrading to 7.5.2 and setting everything up. But after maybe one successful save of settings, all subsequent saves failed as described earlier. Then I tried a factory reset while running 7.5.2 and ran into the same problem after maybe the first successful save.
The only reliable workaround is to DOWNGRADE to 7.4.x, make the necessary changes, and then upgrade again to 7.5.2. I must say ... if there were some way I could get the system to stop offering new code reliably (that doesn’t even work even when I tell it I don’t want to check for updates), then I’d just stay with 7.4.1 throughout the environment with success.