airport utility 5.6 does not recognize my password

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Level 1

50 points

airport utility 5.6 does not recognize my password

Here's the deal. I have Airport Extreme and Airport Express. I moved our TV temporarily from the family room to the the guest room. The Airport Extreme is still in the family room next to the modem. Internet works fine for the computers. I have a Sony BD DVD player that allows access to Netflix. Outsmarting myself I remembered my Airport Express (called "extender" by Airport utility) so I connected the Sony to the Express thinking I could get Netflix like I did when it was with Airport Extreme. Patience, please. So I go to AD and I see a discussion that says I need Apple 5.6 in order for Extreme and Express to work together. Aha! Problem solved! Wrong. Airport Utility will not recognize my password for Airport. Other folks can come over and I give them the password and no problem. I am totally perplexed. Help, please.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 20, 2012 8:22 PM

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Answer 1

HACKINT0SH

Level 5

5,810 points

May 21, 2012 2:02 AM in response to Tom Perkins1

I think you are confusing the router password with the network password. These are two different things.

Try looking up your airport passwords in the keychain.

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Answer 2

Tom Perkins1 Author

Level 1

50 points

May 21, 2012 9:42 AM in response to HACKINT0SH

Just to clarify, Mr Hack, "network" as in Comcast? I also forgot to mention, as you may have surmised by now, I am techno-impaired. I'll try the Comcast password and get back to you. Thank you for taking the time to help!

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Answer 3

Tom Perkins1 Author

Level 1

50 points

May 21, 2012 9:52 AM in response to Tom Perkins1

Bummer, no luck. Also checked my passwords on keychain. Still the same. Here's the request I get from Airport Utility: "Enter the password for the selected Airport wireless device."

I'm wondering if I should try a complete reset of both router and modem. Would that do any good?

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Answer 4

HACKINT0SH

Level 5

5,810 points

May 21, 2012 11:49 AM in response to Tom Perkins1

No, the password will have nothing to do with your comcast. When you first set up your router, you would have assigned a password for that router. If you forgot and it's not saved in the keychain, then you can try a soft-reset and then get in to change your settings (this doesn't always work though).

Worse comes to worse, you can do a factory reset and just re-set it all up from scratch again.

If you don't save your passwords in the keychian, then you really should write them down on a piece of paper or something in the future.

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Answer 5

Tom Perkins1 Author

Level 1

50 points

May 21, 2012 11:54 AM in response to HACKINT0SH

Thanks, I will try both. I do have my passwords saved in the key chain. That is why this is all so frustrating. And, now my wireless printer no longer recognizes my laptop so I'm wondering if that is in the mix as well. Thanks!

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Answer 6

HACKINT0SH

Level 5

5,810 points

May 21, 2012 12:44 PM in response to Tom Perkins1

no luck. Also checked my passwords on keychain.

I do have my passwords saved in the key chain.

This seems a bit contradictory...

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Answer 7

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,114 points

May 21, 2012 12:55 PM in response to Tom Perkins1

no luck. Also checked my passwords on keychain.

I do have my passwords saved in the key chain.

Things seem to be going in circles here.

Checking the passwords and saving the passwords in KeyChain Access is one thing.

The real question here is whether you are able to retrieve the actual password(s). What steps did you take to do this?

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Answer 8

Tom Perkins1 Author

Level 1

50 points

May 21, 2012 2:28 PM in response to Bob Timmons

First off, many thanks for helping me and your quick responses and patience. Can I come work for y'all? Ok, that was unnecessary. When I go to my keychain access I type in "Aiport". I then scroll down to my name and cllick on it. I check the box "show password" and it gives me my password. It this what we are talking about? I know that this is the password that I originally set up with Airport Extreme. I remember chuckling that they required 13 characters for the password. Does this help?

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Answer 9

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,114 points

May 21, 2012 2:51 PM in response to Tom Perkins1

You have two passwords for the AirPort Extreme.

One is for the wireless network. That is the one that you are giving out so that other users can connect to your wireless network.

The other password is for the AirPort Base Station.....aka device password.

AirPort Utility 5.6 is looking for the device password (not the wireless network password) to be able to access the settings on the AirPort Extreme.

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Answer 10

HACKINT0SH

Level 5

5,810 points

May 21, 2012 5:15 PM in response to Tom Perkins1

I remember chuckling that they required 13 characters for the password.

I would chuckle too, because that 13 requirement means.... you were using that PoS 128-bit WEP...

That's almost as pointless as having no password at all.

If your PW was only 8 characters, that would actually be a tone of a lot safer.... ironicaly.

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Answer 11

Tom Perkins1 Author

Level 1

50 points

May 21, 2012 6:17 PM in response to Tom Perkins1

I think I'm going to cry. So now I have to try and find something called "device" for a password? Yes, I see what you are saying, but lord, I have no idea what it is or even where to find it on my keychain, if, in fact, I saved it to my keychain. And then the thing about 13 characters...anyway I can change that? Well, I'm off to keychain land to see if I can locate it. Is there a way to do a complete hard reset for both wireless devices and start over?

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Answer 12

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,114 points

May 21, 2012 7:48 PM in response to Tom Perkins1

So now I have to try and find something called "device" for a password?

Please review my answer again. I advised that you needed to look for a listing in KeyChain Access for the AirPort Base Station password. Something like this, for example:

This is the password that you assigned to the AirPort Extreme device when you originally set it up.

Is there a way to do a complete hard reset for both wireless devices and start over?

If you want to delete the current settings for your AirPort devices and return everything to original factory settings, you can do so with a Factory Default Reset.

The instructions for this are found in this Apple support document:

Resetting an AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule FAQ

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Answer 13

Tom Perkins1 Author

Level 1

50 points

May 21, 2012 7:48 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Thank you! I'm getting there. I am slowly catching on. I did a soft reset on my base station and, sure enough, it did require two passwords. I had no idea what the original password was for the device. My "Express" or "Extender" disappeared so I am now checking AD on how to bring that into the network. I did read where my Express is so old that the message stated I have to use Airport Utility 5.6. So I'm in the process of trying to bring that on.

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