Airport utility not connecting to Airport Express

jom1133

hi all, i've had an airport express for years and recently, i got a new broadband connection which i had to reset the AE.

In Airport Utility - I've "join my existing wireless connection" etc.. then when it restarts the light goes green but the airport utility seems to hang and it keeps scanning.

When i try and reopen Airport Utility and scan - it doesn't pick up the airport express.

I can see it only when i reset but unalbe to enable airtunes to stream from itunes... anyone have any suggestions?

J-blk

I'm starting to think the Airport Express is a complete piece of sh*t - I loaned mine to a friend for a couple of days, didn't work with his router after all.

When I got it back, it now refuses to be seen by Airport Utility, doesn't show up no matter what I do, wireless or wired, connected to two different Macs, nothing. All I get is that bloody solid yellow light and nothing else. I think it's going in the bin...

Sad Professor

J-blk wrote: »

When I got it back, it now refuses to be seen by Airport Utility, doesn't show up no matter what I do, wireless or wired, connected to two different Macs, nothing. All I get is that bloody solid yellow light and nothing else. I think it's going in the bin...

Have you tried resetting it?

J-blk

Sad Professor wrote: »

Have you tried resetting it?

Yep, every possible way I can find documented, even a "hard" reset to restore to factory defaults seems to have no effect. Still stuck at a solid yellow light and nothing detects it. Very odd really, but I think it's toast.

Talisman

The solid yellow light indicates an internal component failure - if I remember correctly.

J-blk

Talisman wrote: »

The solid yellow light indicates an internal component failure - if I remember correctly.

Yep, I've seen a few threads pointing to that - Apple simply describes it as "there was a problem starting up, AE will restart in 60 seconds". Which it actually seems to do, I get a flicker of the green light for a second every so often, then it goes to solid yellow again so yeah, seems it's dead.

I just find the timing weird... I literally have not moved/messed with it in almost 2 years and it worked for my friend (as far as being detected but he couldn't get it to work with his router as an extender), then it went haywire as soon as I plugged it in at home .

barryj

J-blk wrote: »

I just find the timing weird... I literally have not moved/messed with it in almost 2 years and it worked for my friend (as far as being detected but he couldn't get it to work with his router as an extender), then it went haywire as soon as I plugged it in at home .

You sure your friend didn't drop it?

BTW - if you have AppleCare on your Mac, it also covers and Airport Express or Extreme. According to the Apple website:

The AirPort device or Time Capsule must be purchased up to two years before your Mac purchase or during the term of your AppleCare Protection Plan coverage.

J-blk

barryj wrote: »

You sure your friend didn't drop it?

BTW - if you have AppleCare on your Mac, it also covers and Airport Express or Extreme.

Yep, pretty sure the friend in question didn't drop or damage it .

No AppleCare either, got my last new Mac in 2009 and it's been all iOS devices since . Think I'll have to replace it with another AE after all as I've noticed my WiFi signal is not so great at the other end of my place without it in the loop...

barryj

J-blk wrote: »

Think I'll have to replace it with another AE after all as I've noticed my WiFi signal is not so great at the other end of my place without it in the loop...

They usually have them on the refurb store for a bit less. That's where I got mine. Use a few of them around the house for iTunes streaming and printer sharing.

- barry

J-blk

barryj wrote: »

They usually have them on the refurb store for a bit less.

Yep, saw them on there for a bit of a discount, thanks. Will need to get something else in order to qualify for free shipping though .

jom1133

guys, just discovered through some google searching that Eircom Zyxel modems are not compatible with apple home sharing networks for some reason... there probably is a way of getting around it through changing the settings and if anyone knows please do share...but a quick fix is to plug the yellow eithernet cable from the modem directly to the airport express and then select the apple network.. everything seems to work then - airplay/apple tv/airtunes

Talisman

You didn't need to go to as far as Google.

Wireless on an iMac not up to scratch - Post #3