OT - help configuring AirPort Extreme

Hey - if anyone out there has any experience with the AirPort, I'd appreciate some troubleshooting advice! I just picked one up and have spent two hours trying to get it connected without any success. There's nothing like the failure of a supposedly plug-and-play piece of electronics to humble a man.

I want to use the AirPort to connect to the wireless network already in my home. When I connect the AirPort and plug it in, the AirPort utility finds the Express.

I enter the name for the base station, and enter a password. And then I hit "continue".

The next screen is the radio button for "I want AirPort Express to wirelessly join my current network", and I click continue to proceed.

I select my network (the only one visible in the drop down menu), with security "none" because at the moment I've disabled all network security to try and ease the connection pains.

The utility tells me that "The settings for this AirPort Express have been successfully updated. You can close this window or wait for the Apple wireless device to restart"

And it hangs up right there. The AirPort has a steady green light. I leave that window untouched for 10 minutes and nothing changes. Then when I close it, and re-launch the utility, I get the "unable to find any Apple wireless device" message and the option to 'rescan'

What's going on here? What am I missing?

Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.11) AirPort software v 5.3

Reset your modem.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Thanks, Joe... Done that about 6 times by now!

Every time I go through the initialization process, and it hangs, I have to do the 'hard reset' where you hold the button down for 10 seconds to restore factory default.

Soon as I do that, the AirPort Utility will find the AirPort Express without a problem, and then I repeat the steps above - find network, connect, and *poof*, suddenly the AirPort can't be found.

OK...I just noticed something and I don't get it. Why are you hooking up 2 wireless base stations? You only need one so unhook the Express and just use the Extreme and I bet it works.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Thanks again for the help, but that was a typo on my part... I'm having problems telling the silly Apple products apart after a couple of hours of surfing their troubleshooting boards.

I only have the Express... I'm trying to get my Mac Pro connected to my existing wireless network. The 'base station' I'm using is my Belkin cable modem & Linksys wireless router.

Any other thoughts? I really appreciate the help -

Jeff

I don't know about the express my friend. I use the Extreme because that is also my router (worth the extra $50 bucks, I will tell you that - only $150 on Ebay). Sounds like a router issue...not maintaining a IP address. Is your router set to DHCP (automatic IP issuance)? I would first unplug the router and try to connect to the express by itself. Process of elimination. I bet it's the router.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

I used to have a Linksys wireless router and although my PC laptop, MacBook Pro and Nintendo Wii would recognise it, I never once managed to connect to the internet through it -even via ethernet cable.

When I moved house and set up a new ADSL subscription it came with a Siemens wireless modem/router so I dumped the linksys and now everything connects perfectly -even visiting friends' computers.

I've heard the same story from a few other people regarding the linksys. I don't want to unnecessarily or unfailry condemn a product or brand but I can only tell you that it never worked for me despite hours of online research into how to set it up and the Siemens connected right out of the box. YMMV as interweb people say.
James

For those still wondering how this all turned out... I solved my problem. The solution ranks up there as a pretty big D'oh!

The answer was just to get an AirPort card installed on my MacPro. Problem solved. Apparently, the AirPort Express is a wireless transmitter, not a receiver. I didn't factor that into my problem-solving because two different sales people at the Apple store told me otherwise. I spent 10 minutes trying to explain in very simple terms that I needed a device that would receive an existing wireless signal, and not transmit. The two sales monkeys were quite clear that all I needed was the AirPort Express.

Plus, the packaging on the box states that the Express will "connect your computer to a wireless network". And the setup instructions have several pages on using your Airport Express to "join an existing wireless network". It all completely fails to mention that you need an Airport card first, something the handy genius bar guy pointed out.

So, for half the cost of the Express... problem solved! Stupid Apple and their misleading, Orwellian packaging.

Thanks for the feedback, Joe! I'm sure it would have been spot-on had I been sold the right gear to begin with!

No prob, pal. You know...I was going to post "you DO have an Airport Card in your Mac Pro, don't you?" but I figured you already did. The Mac Pros do not come with it from the factory...you have to add it in the "configure" site when building your box.

Glad it worked out for you

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.