AE BASE Station upgrade?

Question

Level 1

6 points

AE BASE Station upgrade?

I have an older....not even sure because we have been using it for SO LONG..... AE BASE STATION. It is the one that is shaped like a UFO. Recently, we have been experiencing the occasional power outage in our area, which is not uncommon. When the power comes back up, it is rare that the router comes back up normally. I nearly always have to do a complete reset of the modem and router and wait for sometimes hours before I see the longed for BLINKING LIGHT to have a connection! COULD it BE that this old router is just ready to be replaced? Or could the Cat5 or Cat5E cables need to be replaced? Do these things make a difference? It is just frustrating why this is happening more and more all the time. I noticed our neighbors router signal comes right back on without a hitch after a power outage.

Input MUCH appreciated. Guess we have been lucky to be using this old dinosaur for all these years, eh

PowerBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Aug 25, 2013 2:22 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

LaPastenague

Level 9

67,226 points

Aug 25, 2013 2:54 PM in response to lutra

Old power supplies may be the problem.. but the expense of replacing them only to find the router is also faulty means it is better to replace the lot.

Cables are fine.. they should last for many years as long as they are not being moved around.. plugged and unplugged constantly.

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Answer 2

lutra Author

Level 1

6 points

Aug 25, 2013 3:01 PM in response to LaPastenague

Many thanks for your quick reply. My husband purchased another AE Base Station a while back (but a newer model) with 802.11n. There are NO CABLES included with it, so perhaps I should just jump in now and buy new ones before connecting everything new. Can I just then plug it all in and follow the instructions or must I put in this CD that came with it? Will it provide a stronger signal then as well?

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Answer 3

Aug 25, 2013 3:34 PM in response to lutra

Cable you have will in most cases be fine.

You do not need to use the CD.. most Macs have no cd/dvd drive now anyway.

Everything is there for the setup in airport utility which is simply part of the OS.

Just plug the newer AE into the modem or router and run the airport utility.. I have no idea what modem or router you have but the setup will depend on what is already there..

eg a cable modem is generally modem only.. if it is single ethernet port it is certainly modem only.. the AE is then going to function as the router.

If the modem is adsl and has 4 ports plus maybe wireless then it is a modem router and the AE is put into bridge mode.. ie.

You might need to play with the utility a bit to get used to the way it works.

Please post back if you run into troubles.. give the exactly make and model and the modem and tell us the ISP you are with.. that gives a good hint towards the setup.

N wireless will be faster but the range will not be very different. The older extreme had a very good antenna assembly.. only really improved on by the latest AC model.

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Answer 4

lutra Author

Level 1

6 points

Oct 27, 2013 4:00 PM in response to LaPastenague

Hello again....La Pastenague,

It has been a while since I posted this query and you gave me good advice. I managed at the time to survive a bit longer with my OLD airport base station. But alas, it was conking out more and more frequently and so today I decided to get this "newer" one set up.

I connected all the cables (newer Cat5) ones. And then plugged in the AE router. All has come up and i have a nice amber light flashing slowly on the front. Now the airport utility has opened on my iMac and is saying:

THIS VERSION OF AIRPORT UTILITY REQUIRES AE USE FIRMWARE VERSION 7.3.1 OR LATER. USE AE UTILITY 5.6 TO UPDATE THIS BASE STATION. AIRPORT UTILITY 5.6 IS AVAILABLE AT AIRPORT SERVICE AND SUPPORT.

Obviously, the older "NEW" AEBS is needing upgrading. SO I guess I just click on the service and support to proceed?? I ask these silly questions because I never used the Airport Utility with our other router.

TYVM!

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