mrstee

Q: Airport Utility & Time Capsule-not showing up...

Good morning all! I have an older TC (not sure how old but at least 3 years old) that shows up in Airport Utility on my iPhone but not on my Mac. I have my TC in Bridge mode.

 

Sometime during the night we lost our internet connection so this morning I restarted my Comcast modem/router. It looked like my TC started up just fine but when I open Airport Utility on my Mac it's not there but if I open Airport Utility on my iPhone 6 it's there. I am wondering why it's showing up on one and not the other...

 

Thank you for your valuable insight and knowledge! Judy

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), iPad (4th gen); iPhone 6

Posted on Aug 26, 2016 4:51 AM

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Q: Airport Utility & Time Capsule-not showing up...

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  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Aug 26, 2016 6:04 AM in response to mrstee
    Level 10 (105,008 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 26, 2016 6:04 AM in response to mrstee

    You only need one device with AirPort Utility installed to be able to administer all of the AirPort routers on your network.....and, as you have found.....the software on the iOS version of the utility is better than the software on a Mac.

     

    So, one option would be to use Airport Utility on the iPad and not use it all all on the Macs.

     

    If you still want AirPort Utility to work on your Macs, there are some settings to check and possibly change which might help with the "disappearing AirPorts" issue, which has been with us for a few years.  No guarantees that this will help, but it won't hurt either. Post back if you have 10-15 minutes to spare to work on your Macs, and we'll see what we can do.

  • by mrstee,

    mrstee mrstee Aug 26, 2016 6:59 AM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (89 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 26, 2016 6:59 AM in response to Bob Timmons

    Thank you, Bob Timmons. Up until today the TC has always shown up on my Mac in Airport Utility so I would like it to show up again. I have the time now to follow your instructions if you have time. Judy

  • by Bob Timmons,Solvedanswer

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Aug 26, 2016 8:52 AM in response to mrstee
    Level 10 (105,008 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 26, 2016 8:52 AM in response to mrstee

    On your Mac.....

     

    Open System Preferences (gear icon on the dock)

    Open Network

    Click on WiFi on the left panel to highlight it

    Click Advanced at the lower right of the window

    Click the TCP/IP tab at the top of the next window

     

    Make sure the the setting for Configure IPv6 is set to Link Local Only

    Click OK

    Click Apply in the next window that appears

     

    This will bring you back to the main Network window again

     

    Click on Ethernet to highlight it, then perform the same steps as above

     

    After you have clicked Apply, shut down the Mac, then restart it

     

    If the Mac can now "see" the Time Capsule, then some IPv6 settings will likely need to be changed on the Time Capsule using AirPort Utility.

     

    No guarantees here. The changes help some users and not others.

  • by mrstee,

    mrstee mrstee Aug 26, 2016 8:54 AM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (89 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 26, 2016 8:54 AM in response to Bob Timmons

    Hi Bob-I followed your instructions and when I got to Network I saw that instead of my home network being selected in Network Name it was xfinity wifi! So I changed it to my home network and that worked! I don't know why it selects xfinity wifi. I don't want that but whatever, it's fixed and I will make a note of this for the next time it happens! Thanks again, TGIF, Judy

  • by Bob Timmons,Helpful

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Aug 26, 2016 9:31 AM in response to mrstee
    Level 10 (105,008 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 26, 2016 9:31 AM in response to mrstee

    I don't know why it selects xfinity wifi. I don't want that but whatever, it's fixed and I will make a note of this for the next time it happens!

    Please try this on your Mac:

     

    Open System Preferences again

    Open Network

    Click on WiFi to highlight it

    Click Advanced

     

    Here, you will see window with a list of wireless networks to which the Mac has connected. The Mac will connect in the order of the list. If your Time Capsule network is not at the top of the list, drag it to that position, so that it will be listed as the first network to appear in the list.

     

    Click OK, then click Apply

     

    Restart the Mac and it should connect to the network that you have positioned at the top of the connection list.