AirPort Extreme 802.11n (5th Generation) won't reset

Forgive me if you already know some of the answers that I'm going to offer you.

The 5th gen AirPort Extreme base station, was the last of the "flat" models, that came out in mid-2011. In my experience with these particular base stations, they were fairly dependable ... although, I would say, regardless of which generation you have, their typical life expectancy is around 5-7 years running 24x7x365. The fact that yours is still (maybe) working would be more rare.

As far as resets, there are three types: Soft, Hard, & Factory Default. For when you don't remember any of the base station's password, you only need the "soft" reset. This will allow you, up to five minutes, to access it with any password being required. Ref: How to reset your AirPort base station - Apple Support

The fact that the status LED is going back to orange is not a good sign. It typically indicates a failed power supply.

The very latest version of the AirPort Utility, is 6.3.9 ... and it is still the version being used with macOS Sonoma. Apple, obviously, does not appear to be interested in updating it any further since they stopped producing these base stations in mid-2018.

6.2.x was designed to work with OS X Lion thru Mountain Lion ... a bit outdated unfortunately. You would need 6.3.7 for Sierra, or 6.3.9 since macOS Mojave.

WDS, was pretty much retired with the newer models, which still support extended wireless networks via wireless connections between base station ... but their performance was suspect, especially for streaming.

I'm assuming that you prefer wireless connections, over wired ones ... correct? Is that because your home does not support existing Ethernet connections, or your not interested in using PowerLine adapters?

I will be happy to assist you where I can. Bob Timmons may chime in, as well. I consider him the AirPort guru here, as I moved on from Apple networking back in 2018-2019, and switched to Ubiquiti gear. Both of us also recommend either Synology or Asus routers as excellent replacements.

FYI ... I did let Bob know.

As far as "not breaking the bank," a couple of options if you only need to connect a single device by Ethernet, would be:

• Use an AirPort Express base station. (These can still be found online at places like eBay)
• Use a third-party "travel" router, like the TP-Link AC-750 (around $40 US)

Both of these would be configured to join the wireless network, provided by your current Netgear, and in turn, provide an active Ethernet port for your device.

One thing to note. If the "main" wireless router is a non-Apple one, you cannot extend it wireless range, wirelessly, with the AirPort base stations. That's because the Apple uses a propriety technology for extending ... so your current base station would not help you with this ... unless, you can connect it by Ethernet to your Netgear.

I'm assuming that you are still referring to your AirPort Extreme base station ... correct? If so, and we can get it working again, if you connect it back to the Netgear router with Ethernet, you can now extend the Netgear's wireless range with the Extreme.

Before I give you the necessary setup steps, I just want to make sure what you want to try. Again, I am assuming that you want to connect the Extreme to the Netgear by Ethernet. If that is the case, please verify that for me and we can go from there.

The issue is that the Extreme will need to continue to be connected back to the Netgear by Ethernet to work as you intend it to. If you disconnect the Extreme to move it to its desired location, it can no longer extend the wireless of the Netgear.

The advantage of having it wired, is that the Extreme can broadcast a wireless network, with the same SSID as the Netgear, basically extending it at the location you place it. This would provide a strong wireless signal for any wireless network devices nearby it ... and its Ethernet ports can be used for wired clients or an Ethernet switch to provide even more ports.

This is where you still have a few options, but it will require getting additional hardware.

As I mentioned, an AirPort Express would be a better fit. It would connect wireless to your Netgear's wireless network. In turn, you would use its Ethernet port for wired devices, including the Extreme. However, overall throughput performance will suffer in this configuration.