Airport Extreme Is Extremely Unconnectable Right Now Using OSX

I installed a new Airport Extreme today. Unfortunately, once setup, the Extreme cannot connect to any other Extremes or Expresses using OSX.

Apple care was helpful and directed me to use an iphone or ipad to set up the other devices on the new network. Once I had this tip, I was able to use iOS to configure the other devices just fine.

One note, it looks like Apple now wants every device to "extend" and not just add to the network. If if you ignore this as the default option, Airport Utility on iOS configures the device to extend anyway. So you can set up to extend...or extend. Would you like that in black or in black?

So, be advised - if you are setting up a new Airport Extreme, the Airport Utility on OSX will not work and it will not be able to bring other devices into the network. You will receive this message.

"An unexpected problem occurred. Please try again later."

If you see this message, please don't blame yourself. You are not the one that messed up.

This is a bug.

I suggested to Apple Care rep that they should put a message on the support website letting people know, since he admitted it's a known issue. After all, I didn't appreciate spending an hour on this issue with no chance of resolving it myself. The rep said, "We've only discovered this problem about a week ago."

That seems like plenty of time for a sophisticated, customer-driven company like Apple to put a message on their website.

But what do I know. I'm only the owner of an iMac, Macbook Air, iphone 5, ipad mini, ipad retina, ipod touch, 2 other ipads and 2 other iphones for my family members, 3 Airport Extremes, 5 Airport expresses and 3 Apple TVs.

Let me know if anyone comes up with any alternatives or has any additional information to share on this unnecessary frustration.

Dave