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AirPort Utility on Mac Mini can't find AirPorts

Hello forum

I have a mac mini attached to my TV. Internet is available trough airport extreme and I stream music to my living room through airport express. The airport extreme shows up as wifi network and the mac mini is connected to the internet through this connection.

But the problem is, that neither the airport extreme nor the airport express show up in the airport utility application on my Mac Mini.

When I start up the airport utility on my MacBook Pro, both airports show up and I can configure them. I also restarted both of them.

The strange thing is, that sometimes either one of the devices shows up on the airport utility application on the mac mini. But never both. When I restart search for airport devices suddenly no device can be found. But the mac mini is connected to the Internet through the airport extreme! How can the airport utility application not find the airport extreme, when the computer clearly has established a connection to it? Also in the System Profiler Application the AirPort Extreme is listet and I can ping the Extreme als well as the Express. I restarted the mac mini and one device showed up for some time and went lost again, when i restarted the search for airport devices.

That wouldn't be much of a problem as i can configure the devices with my Mac Book Pro, but unfortunately iTunes on the Mac Mini looses the connection to the airport express too! This can happen in the middle of streaming, which is very annoying!

The signal strength is perfect and there is no interference from other networks. Also the AirPort Utility on the MacBook Pro has no trouble finding the airport devices and doesn't loose connection to the airport express when streaming music with iTunes.

I am at the and of my wit. I can't tell when the mac mini finds the devices and when it doesn't. The problem appears to be random.

Any help is appreciated!

Cheers

meisterbrau

MacBook Pro, iMac, Macmini, Mac OS X (10.6.6), AirPort Utility can't find AirPort on Mac Mini

Posted on Mar 18, 2011 8:06 AM

Reply
1 reply

Mar 28, 2011 1:43 AM in response to meisterbrau

Could there be an update available to the Mini so it can better access the base station?
Which AirPort hardware models do you have in service?

Are these used together in a Wireless Distribution System?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4262

re: Airport extreme WDS network slow:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2424798&

Sometimes, when more than one computer is involved in an extended or expanded network
one of them may have a newer software utility or in some cases, the base station may have
a firmware update that one of the computers may find trouble with. Or an update is lacking.

Not sure which way to go on this; my own networks are comparatively simple; though they
could be expanded to be more complex, presently some of my extra gear is stowed in boxes.

Even with an excellent wireless signal, some external interference may effect a temporary
outage or block (overwhelm) your own signal, and stop your data connections for a time;
even commercial microwave communications towers, or nearby similar frequency devices.
More closely, in a home or office, it could be a microwave oven or a wireless telephone.

When you connect one or the other of the AirPort base stations +by wire+ and check their
configuration that way, do you get a more stable set-up? Within the settings for each Mac
you have the ability to choose wireless to configure a base station; or it can be turned off.

There must be a setting or a need to reconfigure (or test, troubleshoot) in order to tell if this
issue relates to the Mini's settings; to wirelessly control Airports and use AirPort Utility. A
few basic problems can go away by re-setting the base stations. When used together to
expand a network the AirPort base stations may need additional effort, if your area has
interference from external devices.

Even the type of materials in the building's walls and superstructure can cause odd effects
with a wireless network; a book shelf full of books can nearly completely block wi-fi...

Maybe a more technical reply will follow... it's getting a bit late here to think about it.
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

+{ edited }+

AirPort Utility on Mac Mini can't find AirPorts

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