[Airport Admin Utility Windows Download
Gildo Santiago
Installed Airport Extreme connected to my PC running XP Pro. Configured my wireless network successfully. Updated to Aiport Utility for Windows ver 5.5.2 and the Airport Utility shows the 'unable to find an Airport wireless device' message and the 'Rescan' button. I uninstalled the upgraded Utility software, unplugged the Airport Extreme, installed the original software from the supplied disc, held down the reset button while plugging the power back in and waited till I got the amber/green fast flashing lights at which time I released the reset button. No change. Then upgraded the Airport Utility back to 5.5.2 and still no change. I can connect to the web from my PC and to an open wireless network named Apple Network f9561d.
That open wireless network that your PC is connecting to will, most likely, be the one provided by your AirPort Extreme. By default, the AirPorts will broadcast an unprotected network with the name, Apple Network NNNNNN, where the Ns are the last six digits of the base station AirPort ID.
Please try temporarily connecting your PC to the AirPort Extreme by Ethernet, and then, try accessing with the AirPort Utility again. Be sure to use the latest version of the Utility. If this still doesn't work, be sure to (temporarily) disable either the WinXP firewall or any third-party software firewall that you may be using on this PC. The AirPort Utility needs certain ports to be opened in order to "find" and communicate with the base station.
PC was/is always directly connected to Airport Extreme via ethernet. Windows XP Pro firewall always has been disabled (double checked). No firewall software. Disabled PC Tools malware protector. No virus protection or scanning software.
Did another factory(?) reset as described before and pressed 'Rescan' button 15 times with no change. Devices connected via wireless are Nexus smartphone & HP laptop running Vista. All can access Internet, but slowly.
Tried rebooting PC several times with no difference. Tried plugging the PC ethernet cable into different ports in the Airport Extreme before I realized that I could always access the Internet from the PC so I was wasting my time : )
Airport Utility software upgrade (no others). As soon as it finished installing, I ran it and ended up with the error. I didn't install anything else or even run any other software. I saved the configuration, checked for and installed the upgrade. I haven't changed ANY settings on the PC or run any software other than Firefox to create my Apple account to report this problem.
Further...4 more factory resets (amber/green flashing), 2 hard resets on square, white airport extreme. Unplugged for 1/2 hour and plugged in power while holding reset button. Same 'Unable to find' message and Rescan button. Windows firewall disabled, no firewall or antivirus software running. Have disabled all the background processes I dare.
PC connected to Airport just fine before upgrade. How would Utility upgrade change the way the PC connects to it? Not complaining, just wondering if different protocols or ports used? Need different hardware or drivers?
Anyway, just got back from work. Airport was unplugged all day. Moved ethernet cable from PC to wife's Vista laptop so laptop is connected to Airport via ethernet cable. Disabled Vista firewall and McAfee antivirus. Installed Airport Utility on laptop, plugged in power cable to the Airport, then upgraded Airport Utility so it's the same version as the PC. Ran utility and could see the Base Station on the left pane. Yay!
Airport ID - F8:1E:DF:F9:56:1E. Bad news is can't configure it. Both 'Manual' and 'Continue' buttons start 'scan for wireless...'. Every option on menu also starts the scan. Scan always finishes with Error 4. Gave laptop back to wife, hooked up ethernet to PC and PC still gets 'Rescan' button.
Unplugged both modem & Airport and hooked up wife's Vista laptop to Airport via ethernet cable to try again. Disabled all firewalls and antivirus software. But this time I thought to disable wireless connections (physical switch) on the laptop. Powered everything up. Created & verified the LAN connection. Started the Airport Utility and got the same behaviour as my PC. Just got the 'Rescan' button and couldn't find the Airport Extreme. Disabled the LAN connection, unplugged the ethernet cable from the laptop, then enabled wireless connections (physical switch) on the laptop. Discovered and enabled the Apple wireless connection. Started the Airport Utility and Bingo, got the Dual Band Airport Extreme with default settings. But, as above, whenever I try to configure it, it scans and says it can't find any wireless devices (Error 4).
Honestly, did the upgrade brick this router? Do I go buy another one? Or should I give up on Apple? I don't have a receipt. It was a gift because I wanted a wireless router that could act as a print server and use an external drive (bought both printer & terabyte xternal HD). I thought it was great, but I only got like 5 minutes use out of it.
Yes, the default LAN-side IP address of the base station is: 10.0.1.1. The AirPort's administration is only by way of the AirPort Utility, there is no telnet interface. I'm not aware of any diagnostics program to test the base station itself. The utility to flash the base station's firmware is the AirPort Utility.
With other Windows (ie 98, 2000) you usually install a configuration utility from the manufacturer of the card to administer your wireless card, as XP has "zero wireless configuration" the concept is to plug in your wireless and it works... the reality can be a little different.
This will bring up the following window, if you are running a closed network then you should not be able to see your network in the Available wireless networks window. For the first time you are connecting a Windows XP PC to an Airport network it can make sense to broadcast the Airport Network Name (SSID) until you have sorted the connection. I have also experienced some wireless adapters which can not connect to a closed wireless network.
The Wireless ASCII Equivalent Password is the plain text network password you use to access your Airport network with a Mac. An example plain text password could be: airportpassword. For 128bit WEP networks you should choose a 13 character ASCII password this in theory is hashed in the same way by all vendors.
If you are using WPA then WPA Personal on the Airport corresponds to plain WPA, with a pre-shared key (PSK) and TKIP encryption for Windows. The same alphanumeric password should work on both and there is no need to use any HEX key.
Remember that the WEP key will depend on the level on encryption been used, and if you are using 128 bit that the key will be a 26 digit hexadecimal number and not the plain text you used in the AEBS, unless the plain text password is 13 characters.
If you are using 64 bit encryption, requiring either a ten character HEX key (or 5 character plain text password) then you may want to upgrade to 128bit as there have been some reported issues with connecting a PC to a 64 bit encrypted AEBS.
If you enable WEP on the AEBS, you need to note down the Hex Airport Network Password, if you are using 128bit encryption this will be a 26 characters. If you open the Airport Admin Utility, you need to click a button called Password depending on which version of firmware you are using.
If your IP address is 10.0.1.x then okay, if it is 169.x.x.x then something ain't right, as a 169.x.x.x IP address is a self-assigned IP address when a client (such as your PC) can not retrieve an IP address from a DHCP server.
If you click the Details button the Physical Address setting is the MAC address you would use when creating an access controlled network (one where you restrict who can access your network).
Note, however, that some workarounds listed for specific issues may also work for other AirPort issues. Run through the entire list of solutions if those associated with problems you are experiencing are unsuccessful.
Toggling of firmware versions (the edition of controller software stored on your wireless router) is perhaps the most successful fix for dropouts from virtually all wireless router models. By "toggling firmware," we mean trying different versions available from your manufacturer until one provides a more stable connection. In other words, a user's first attempt should always be use of the latest firmware version, but sometimes older versions provide better stability.
Unfortunately, the trick is in locating appropriate firmware updates. You can usually find the different firmware editions on a router manufacturer's Web site, but some vendors fail to offer the updates or old versions in Mac-based installer packages.
For Apple Base stations, the process is as easy as downloading and installing the desired firmware edition on an AirPort Express or Extreme Base station. Apple maintains older firmware versions on its download page, and they are easily applied from a familiar installer interface.
Toggling AirPort Extreme firmware The latest AirPort Extreme firmware version is 5.7 and this edition should be used primarily. However, the most commonly successful solution for constant AirPort Extreme dropouts is a downgrade of firmware to version 5.5.1. Reverting (or updating to) this edition of the firmware has eliminated dropouts for a surprisingly high number users.
A quick caveat: Downgrading your firmware potentially poses some significant security risks that should not be overlooked. By reverting, you'll also lose the enhancements made in the latest firmware edition, including purported performance enhancements.
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