Blinking Amber on Extreme "n" basestation

[orangemacapple]

ok, i thought this would be simple. i probably just can't process info properly anymore. i'm just plain befuddled and lost and can't figure out which way is up.

picked up airport extreme "n" base station today. ready to throw it in the trash. thought this would be simple like when i did the airport express. NO, this requires knowledge which i am incapable of.

plugged it in. the cat5 cable light glows steady green -- good connection there.

front light blinks amber. problem somewhere.

ok, load the software disk that came with it. follow all instructions to the best of my knowledge and capabilities (small, i know).

still can't get online with it. light still blinks amber. I've got full signal on my menubar icon -- i just can't do anything with it.
thought maybe also i would find some info or an app to upgrade the firmware in my mb to "n". maybe it did that in the background -- i don't know or how to check if it did.

finder did find my USB hdd and reported both volumes, with the correct free space -- however, it says there are NO files there.

i've paperclip reset the AP a couple times in the last 4 hours and am ready to throw it in the trash. BLINK BLINK BLINK

for some reason i expected the same simplicity as the ap express

BLINK! BLINK! BLINK!

i need an idiot's guide for dummies. i knew nothing about wireless before, and even less now.

this is my first apple flustration in years -- anybody have any ideas, or should i wait about a week to find out what the rest of you guys do when you try yours?

 

[iW00t]

Oh dear, it seems like I am starting to dread next Monday more and more...

I've read somewhere that you have to set up user permissions for the USB hard drives and printers you connected to the Airport, did you do it correctly?

 

[orangemacapple]

probably not correctly. the printer DOES work though.

i think i'll just put it aside and wait for you to figure things out for me on monday. (doubtful -- i'll just work at it 10 hours a day for the next week and get nowhere). the last 5 ours have whupped me for today.

it's probably something simple i'm not doing -- it always is. but it's not really the harddrives that have me worried. it's the lack of internet. if it wasn't for the green light on the cat5 i'd almost think i have a bad connection.

or maybe i just need some dinner and a beer.

but if you have any detailed ideas, i'd love to hear them. thanx for the permissions idea. i'll try that after dinner.

L8R

 

[iW00t]

I haven't received mine yet so I am just shooting out ideas, but gosh... your post and the other guy's post is really making the Airport Express to be a lemon.

Apple makes lemons, that is unthinkable!

 

[orangemacapple]

i'm sure it's not a lemon. it's just my ineptitude.

 

[orangemacapple]

ok, i got internet connection on it (using it now).

printer works through it fine.

still have blinking amber light.

 

[orangemacapple]

Security Setting

what finally fixed it!

unplug/replug modem while extreme is connected. gets internet, but light still blinks amber.

IF WIRELESS SECURITY IS NOT SET, IT WILL BLINK AMBER. set security wpa and light will turn steady green (even if you live in the middle of several acres like i do). you CANNOT operate this ap without security for it to work properly.

 

[orangemacapple]

and the hard drive works perfectly now.


insanity is when you keep doing the same thing over and over while hoping for a different result.

 

[Cybergypsy]

keep us updated, as I am thinking of getting one......but bought a new macbook today so tapped for a while

 

[balamw]

For those who have them. How's the range with .g?

I'm tempted, but looking fore real life experiences, since the device has no external antennas...

B

 

[flopticalcube]

what finally fixed it!

unplug/replug modem while extreme is connected. gets internet, but light still blinks amber.

IF WIRELESS SECURITY IS NOT SET, IT WILL BLINK AMBER. set security wpa and light will turn steady green (even if you live in the middle of several acres like i do). you CANNOT operate this ap without security for it to work properly.

Can you use WEP instead of WPA? My DS Lites won't do WPA.

 

[orangemacapple]

All in All, it's a WINNER!

the airport extreme "n" should work fine out of the box -- if you let it! don't try to use it without setting up security and password.

it works fine on: "n" ("b"/"g" compatible)
: "n" only 2.4 Ghz
: "n" ("a" compatible)
: "n" only 5 Ghz

the wireless hdd works fine, but USB is a bit slower than i'm used to (normally use firewire). glad the enclosure is USB/FW

USB hub works fine using scanner and 2 printers and hdd.

wish it would run itunes. now, i'll have to figure out how to run the extreme and the express at the same time (i'm not going to spring for the apple tv just to do that.

Everything is so neat and uncluttered now. i'm quite happy not having all those cables running into my macbook for a scanner and extyernal drive. i only have magsafe and monitor and mb's tucked safely away on the back corner of a shelf on my desk (away from beer/soda/fig-newtons). scanner, two printers, hard drive, dsl box, sound system are in a closet behind a folding door. nothing is visible on my desk but a dell 24" and BT MM/kb which slide in a cubby. i sit at a coffee table part of the time to compute and drink beer except when i need to get really close to the monitor for small work.

just remember -- when you're setting it up, don't try to fix the parts that ain't broke. it won't run without a security setting. i tried a couple other routers before xmas and the only way i could get them to work satisfactorily was to disable the security. apple doesn't work the way the rest of the world does.

 

[orangemacapple]

Can you use WEP instead of WPA? My DS Lites won't do WPA.

Security modes listed:
WEP (Transitional Security Network)
WPA/WPA2 Personal
WPA2 Personal

 

[orangemacapple]

For those who have them. How's the range with .g?

I'm tempted, but looking fore real life experiences, since the device has no external antennas...

B

i just paced 200 feet outside the house and lost 1 bar of signal. of course that's outside without a bunch of interior walls (nothing but the exterior walls of the log cabin between me and the extreme 'N'. i may have been getting some signal through the windows too, so that's not a very good test.

 

[quigleybc]

t

just remember -- when you're setting it up, don't try to fix the parts that ain't broke. it won't run without a security setting. i tried a couple other routers before xmas and the only way i could get them to work satisfactorily was to disable the security. apple doesn't work the way the rest of the world does.

so...do you mean you messed with some settings before you began? And if you would have just left it alone it would have worked "out of the box" ?

just asking cuz I'll be getting mine in a few weeks ....

great thread btw

 

[micsaund]

Do you owners see any options for mirroring two hard drives for data redundancy (aka RAID1 or equivalent, done by the Airport and not the client machine)?

Is "n" 5GHz the same as "n" 2.4GHz other than the frequency? If so, it seems like the 5GHz choice might be best as that band is not as polluted as the common 2.4GHz with cordless phones, microwaves, wireless cameras, etc.

Mike

EDIT: Added "RAID1 or equivalent" for clarity in what I'm looking for.

 

[orangemacapple]

mode doesn't affect distance.

i turned on the old emac 802.11g. paced the same distance with the mb and got the same results with.
put 5 walls and 60' between me and the ap -- full signal

set it on "n" 5Ghz. it knocked off the emac. tried the same distance pacing and got the exact same distance before i dropped a bar of signal. the 'n' doesn't go any farther than the n+g.

i imagine the speed is different though. didnt't attempt checking that.

 

[orangemacapple]

so...do you mean you messed with some settings before you began? And if you would have just left it alone it would have worked "out of the box" ?

just asking cuz I'll be getting mine in a few weeks ....

great thread btw

yes.
it started up with a blinking amber light and wouldn't go away.
the only thing that would make the blinking light go away is to set security.
i didn't read that far before i tried changing setting, thinking i might could fix things while reading along.
you don't get to that fix until page 26 when it tells you what to look for in the software summary.

if you can live with the blinking amber light and no security it'll work out of the box. if you want a solid green light, you have to set security parameters.

oh, did i mention that the thing is HUGE! same size as a mini. and way too much wire. it's got 8' of heavy gauge wire before the transformer and then over 10' of magsafe size wire from the transformer to the ap. it doesn't have the slide-off prongs like the magsafe and express have. there's enough wire to wrap a mummy in.

 

[orangemacapple]

Do you owners see any options for mirroring two hard drives for data redundancy?

Is "n" 5GHz the same as "n" 2.4GHz other than the frequency? If so, it seems like the 5GHz choice might be best as that band is not as polluted as the common 2.4GHz with cordless phones, microwaves, wireless cameras, etc.

Mike

i don't expect any problem with that. i think you'll be able to do anything you can normally do with USB hubs. haven't tried multiple drives, but the hub supports 1 hdd for me and 2 printers and a scanner.
i do wish it could be FW though. (probably next speed upgrade for apple in a couple years)

 

[Cybergypsy]

How is the speed compared to the airport extreme......

 

[nutts]

yes.
oh, did i mention that the thing is HUGE! same size as a mini. and way too much wire. it's got 8' of heavy gauge wire before the transformer and then over 10' of magsafe size wire from the transformer to the ap. it doesn't have the slide-off prongs like the magsafe and express have. there's enough wire to wrap a mummy in.

LOL! I really can't understand why they've done that; having so much cable, no built-in PSU, and no removable slide like other Apple products. Where's the logic?

Anyway I have a question. I'm visiting the US next week, and I'd like to pick up an Airport Extreme there and bring it back with me to the UK.
Does anybody know if the power supply is dual-voltage 110/240?
In which case I'll just need a 2-3-pin converter.

Any other issues I'm likely to have? I know that I'm not strictly allowed to use the 5ghz range over here, but it's cheaper and supposedly faster than the UK model, so I figure what the hell

Anybody else thinking of doing this?
Thanks!

 

[orangemacapple]

Anyway I have a question. I'm visiting the US next week, and I'd like to pick up an Airport Extreme there and bring it back with me to the UK.
Does anybody know if the power supply is dual-voltage 110/240?
In which case I'll just need a 2-3-pin converter.

110/240v 50-60Hz

 

[flopticalcube]

LOL! I really can't understand why they've done that; having so much cable, no built-in PSU, and no removable slide like other Apple products. Where's the logic?

I would think it was for flexibility of placement but it does sound a bit over the top.

Given the considerable range you are getting, it is small wonder that has forced WEP or WPA to be on!

 

[orangemacapple]

Given the considerable range you are getting, it is small wonder that has forced WEP or WPA to be on!

but if you stop to think about the fact that there are quite a few people like me -- in order to get within 200' of my house, you have to drive into my driveway. compare that with the number of people around here that actually have PORTABLE "n" capability, and one wonders why i need wireless security.

if you were a guru living in a cave on the top of a mountain in Nepal, of course you would definitely need wireless "n" security. i can just imagine little pygmies (or whatever they have there) all running around with "n" enabled macbooks poaching your internet connection.

 

[flopticalcube]

LOL! Yes, I live in a remote(ish) place as well but I would suspect 99% of Mac users either live in apartments/condos or have a neighbour's house 6 feet (3 feet if built within the last 3 years) away from yours.