Airport Utility 5.6 on Mavericks?

I'll try it out, but apple is really (getting) pathetic if it has to rely on free labour like this ... (i was going to buy an apple product tonight but will hold off for a while and look for alternatives).

This works perfectly - don't use the beta builds of Wine.

Some strange irony that you have to use a Windows machine to configure Apple hardware.

That's not even a little bit funny. "Forward", you are some sort of "über-answerer", tons of points and obviously expertise, but if you can't fathom that people have better things to do with money than spending them on routers that they don't really need, then you should probably stop commenting. I have 3 old airports, now I have to go dig up some old half-bricked mac just to change settings on them. How hard would it have been to let people use the old Airport-admin? Not hard at all of course. I have used macs since -87, I have been disappointed just a few times. When apple "dumbed-down" an iMac or it would be too similar to a model that cost a couple of hundred more. But this move, Mavericks killing tens of thousands of fully functional routers in one go is just bad form. Oh, coincidentally, so was your reply.

Hi creability,

John Galt and other high level community members spend a considerable amount of their own time here to help us with issues that we experience. The tech knowledge they provide to us at no charge is invaluable. This forum is one of Apple's best technical resources IMHO. I am convinced that I would still be using a wired connection without them.

My old flying saucer AE is still administered by my Mac because of into they provided. I can use Windows for this but it' nice to be able to use my Mac to administer Apple hardware.

Apple provides an area for our feedback when he have suggestions or concerns about products. Here we are getting free expert support for our stuff. I understand that dealing with software that breaks hardware is frustrating. Please let Apple know. It may or may not do any good. People here are fellow users and have no control over decision made by Apple.

Thanks much

Susan, I appreciate where you come from, your very calm and reasonable response, but when people are in need of help, the type of remark i referred to is frustrating and childish. Most agree in this thread that Apple's choice to discontinue support was a really idiotic move. I use my routers at my summer house, I don't need fancy-schmancy stuff here. Corey helped, made it possible to use Airport Admin 5.6.1 in Mavericks (which just proves that it wasn't that hard and that Apple could have made it available). To say that Apple just wishes to move "forward" isn't helping, it is adding to people's frustration. That's how I see it, feel free to feel differently. I appreciate your comment.

To understand Apple's likely reasons for abandoning support for the original, decade-old Express requires appreciating some contextual knowledge.

When Apple introduced an update to iTunes (iTunes 8), it resulted in many complaints regarding momentary audio dropouts. You can search this site for those reports, which go on for many pages and with many tens of thousands of "views". It is not a coincidence that the original Express had already been discontinued - six months prior to that update - replacing it with the new 802.11n Express (which remains supported to this day).

A number of users correctly surmised that the iTunes 8 update increased the amount of information carried by the AirTunes stream, burdening the limited bandwidth the original Express was capable of to the point that random music streaming interruptions would result. This eventually led a number of experienced users ("über-answerers" to use your terminology) to suggest using the recently introduced 802.11n networking protocol instead of the bandwidth - constrained 802.11b/g. The original Express is incapable of 802.11n. As users migrated to the newer Express with its ability to transmit the greater amount of information carried by the iTunes Music audio stream, the complaints regarding random pauses and dropouts gradually began to subside.

Apple never officially acknowledged the reason for abandoning support for the original Express, and they never officially acknowledged the AirTunes dropout problem, but this much is certain: Apple is never going to bring back support for it, not with Yosemite, not ever.

Perhaps to a greater degree than any other company, Apple understands the requirement to continuously innovate and improve its products is essential to their survival. They will no longer support your Express any more than they will support PowerPC code, or the 68k code that preceded it. To do so will limit their ability to innovate and respond to the market's incessant demand for innovative products.

Technologically, Apple doesn't regress and they don't stagnate. Apple creates, then they destroy what they create. It has always been that way.

How hard would it have been to let people use the old Airport-admin? Not hard at all of course.

Apple has done nothing to prevent you or anyone else from using decade-old technology. You're already doing that with your "half-bricked" Mac (whatever that means) and you can continue to do so, for as long as you wish. Not hard at all. Mavericks "killed" exactly nothing. Your Express still works, and will likely continue to work, within the limitations of its original, decade-old engineering, in the exact same manner as any other Apple product there has ever been. To expect Apple to carve out special code for the sole purpose of supporting an outdated product is unreasonable, just as unreasonable as it would be for them to support the LaserWriter Plus, even though it cost $7,000 (1985 dollars) and may remain perfectly functional to this day.

As for my reply: You seem to assume I was merely being flippant but I was not. It is a completely appropriate answer to the question "Where are you heading Apple?". The answer was as obvious as it is simple - "forward" -and I stand by it. If you still think it was childish, funny, or in bad form, that's your prerogative.

The alternatives to progress are not realistic for any company, much less a technology company such as Apple. Stagnation equals death. If Apple were to abandon their decades-old tradition of constant, unrelenting innovation; to stagnate, or to cling to the past, I'd be the first to leave them and never look back.

Hi John, thanks for addressing that. I appreciate your lengthy response, your thoughts around it and your expertise. Sure, I thought your reply was flippant, it didn't add to the discussion and didn't solve anything but your motive for that is your own and you have made clear what you think. I still have a hard time understanding the thought, or lack of it, when it comes to all of a sudden saying "these products are no longer supported" (I know it is the software, but same-same) when droves of people think the are still serviceable? Why do you think this thread is here? I stream movies through my old, un-supported Apple Extreme, from one computer to another, no lag, no problem. I use it to perform day-to-day stuff, surfing, down and uploading, sure it is old, but keeps on ticking. Corey (above) made it possible for me to open the old Airport Admin application again, it enabled me to reconfigure an old Airport Express, I did, and that too keeps on ticking, it works for what I need it to do. I couldn't care less about audio "dropouts" and if I did, I would buy a new airport, or would I? Sadly, what happens now is that people get irritated and buy another brand's router instead of an Airport, for the above reasons, one that can be configured - until it dies of old age - through a web-interface. You have to understand, I am a huge Apple fan, I have been using Apple computers for over 25 years, I am a shareholder, I just can't see a reason for what seems to me like a purely revenue based decision? If Corey could, with relative ease, keep me and thousands of others happy - then why would Apple shut that option down? Your reasoning might make sense for a few, but why stop people like me from using our old gear if we are perfectly happy with it?

-Oh, and by the way, yes, Apple has prevented me from using old products, I can't - after upgrading to Mavericks - configure my old Aiports, but I think the above explains that.

Corey (above) made it possible for me to open the old Airport Admin application again, it enabled me to reconfigure an old Airport Express, ...

I find it mildly entertaining that "Corey" alleges he is an attorney, yet is advocating and distributing a method of modifying OS X in direct violation of the license agreement that accompanies every Mac and OS X version - an agreement that every user must acknowledge, and one you just admitted to violating yourself.

Furthermore, modifying it in the manner he describes is likely to create problems with future updates or upgrades. Modify OS X and violate your license at your own peril. This site has never tolerated discussion of that subject.

what happens now is that people get irritated and buy another brand's router instead of an Airport, for the above reasons, one that can be configured - until it dies of old age - through a web-interface.

You can do that if you like, and expose yourself to malicious hacking as thousands of people have been experiencing in recent months. Search this site for many reports.

but why stop people like me from using our old gear if we are perfectly happy with it?

Nothing is preventing you from doing so. I already explained that.

In any event, further discussion on this site is a waste of Internet bits. Apple owns the technology and has made their decision to abandon the original Express abundantly clear for the past three OS X versions. They've been building its coffin for at least that long, and Mavericks hammered the final nail in it. If you disagree with their decision, tell them, but you'll be wasting as much time with them as you are with your fellow users of this site.

I am on Yosemite ... I don't know how many have tried this, but I'll see if it works:

1. Install an older version of the OS on memory stick or external drive

2. Boot from it (use system preferences to select the startup disk)

3. Use the utility in the old OS to do your config before you start again on your new OS

I know it seems stupid to have to do all this, but it is an alternative not mentioned on the previous posts. I hope it helps people like myself, who just bought a new machine with Yosemite preinstalled.

For keyboarding sakle: Airport Utility 5.6 on Yosemite?