Time to give up on Airport Base Station/Airport Utility?

Version 7.9.1 is the current version for the Time Capsule. Excellent. You were running older firmware before that was creating issues.

It is OK to "Allow Setup over WAN" if you want.

Apparently, the password for the device is the same as the wireless password for my primary network (but where the heck is this in my keychain?)

It's complicated, and we're trying to keep things simple.

You can type in a new password for the Base Station if you don't want to use the same password for the Base Station and Wireless Network. Best to write things down.

When you open AirPort Utility again, it may ask you for the new Base Station password if you have elected to have different passwords for the Base Station and WiFi.

I'm also assuming I can just change the password for the primary and guest network by just typing in new passwords into the "Wireless" tab, correct?

Normally yes. Worst case, if things get messed up, you will have to reset the Time Capsule back to factory default settings and then set it up again as a new device.

Strongly recommend that you do not use a "hidden network".....and Apple does as well.......since they often will not allow some WiFi devices to connect to your network.

Is Time Machine on your Mac now backing up? Or, do you need some help to get things going again?

Power off the Time Capsule by pulling the power cord from the back of the device

Power off the modem by pulling the power cord from the back of the unit

Shut down your Mac

Wait a few minutes

Power up the modem and let it run by itself for a full minute

Power up the Time Capsule and let it run for a full minute

Power up your Mac and let it run for a minute

At this point, the indicator light on the Time Capsule should be green.

If the indicator light is slowing flashing amber........post back immediately for more instructions.

Open AirPort Utility to see if the Time Capsule appears

If yes, click on the picture of the Time Capsule and small window will appear

Look to see if you see an Update button, similar to the example below

If an Update button appears, click on the Update button to bring the Time Capsule firmware up to date.

If an Update button does not appear, click on Edit in the small window and another window will appear that looks similar to the example below.

Please report on your progress and we will continue.

If you see an error message at any time, please post back with the exact text of the message.

I have an Airport Extreme Base Station (yes, I know they were discontinued some years back), and it still works as a wireless router and as a backup drive

Not a big deal, but an AirPort Extreme does not have a built in hard drive, so it would not be working as a backup drive.......unless you are saying that you have a separate USB hard drive connected to the USB port on the AirPort Extreme.

Maybe you meant to say that you have a Time Capsule? That is an Apple WiFi router with a built in hard drive that was designed to store backups of your Macs.

Let's first figure out what you have and how old the device might be before proceeding any further with this.

Is your AirPort Extreme (or maybe it is really a Time Capsule) tall shaped, like a "tower" about 8 inches tall?.....or.....is your Apple product "flat" shaped, like a small white pizza box?

If you have the tall version, just call it the "tower". If you have the flat version, look on the bottom of the product to find the model number. It is usually embedded in the foam pad base. The model number starts with an "A" followed by 4 numbers. Post back with that info please.

but AirPort Utility hasn't worked correctly in probably four years, at least.

If you have tried AirPort Utility on a Mac and another device like an iPhone or iPad, the problem is not with AirPort Utility, it is with the AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule. It will take more investigation, but off hand it sounds like the AirPort has not been updated with the most recent firmware for the product.......probably because you cannot access the AirPort to update the firmware.

Kind of a Catch 22 here. But first, we need to know what product you have......an AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule, and if it is an older "flat" model, we need to know the model number.

As far as "giving up", if the AirPort model is 6-7+ years old, it is probably time for a new router anyway.

Thanks, but we still don't know what model of Time Capsule that you have. Could you review what we asked previously and provide some more information?

Is your Time Capsule) tall shaped, like a "tower" about 8 inches tall?.....or.....is your Apple product "flat" shaped, like a small white pizza box?

If you have the "tall" version, just call it the "tower" Time Capsule.

If you have the older "flat" version, look on the bottom of the product to find the model number. It is usually embedded in the foam pad base. The model number starts with an "A" followed by 4 numbers. Post back with that model number please.

Keep in mind that we don't know what type of "modem" that you might be using with the Time Capsule, or what operating system your Mac is currently using.......so unfortunately there will likely be more questions. But first, we need to know what model of Time Capsule that you have.

Note.....we don't need the serial number......just the model number.

Don’t feel bad that you can’t identify the router more specifically – Apple actively tried to prevent users from being able to discuss these routers intelligently by calling successive versions of the airport base stations the “airport,“ “airport,“ “airport,“ “airport,“ “airport,“ and, of course the latest version, the “airport.“

This was the point at which I began to understand that companies were taking a governmental approach and deliberately obscuring a great deal of information about their products and services to keep their users off-balance and uninformed. Knowledge is power, and nowadays companies want to make sure that they, and not their customers, have it. Google‘s been doing it for years, as has Microsoft, and now Amazon is doing it (to their employees, if not so much to their customers), along with countless others. When you encounter vague, confusing documentation these days, it’s more likely deliberate than a product of literary incompetence.

Great, it sounds like the firmware update has solved the issue with AirPort Utility. As we noted previously, the issue was not with AirPort Utility......it was with the Time Capsule.