setting up Airport Extreme

You can download a copy of the 5.6 version of this utility directly from Apple Support Downloads at the following link: AirPort Utility 5.6 for Mac OS X Lion.

Please tell me when I download this version, does it then overwrite the current Airport Utility 6.3.1 ? Or do I have to uninstall it or something first?

The installation of 5.6 won't affect the existing 6.3.1 installation. Both will work just fine as standalone applications with no coexistance issues.

Hmmm. I haven't seen that one before. Would you please double-check that you are running OS X Lion 10.7.5.

If it is, is your user account on the iMac the only one? That is, does it have Administrator privileges?

Perhaps I need to take the AE to another mac using an older OS and try upgrading the firmware from there. I have an older iMac at work which still runs LEOPARD. I could try that, right?

The 5.6 version of the AirPort Utility I provided the link for is designed for OS X Lion running 10.7.2 or later. Since you verified that you are running 10.7.5 this should have installed without any issues.

Since you have a Mac running Leopard that is certainly worth a try using the AirPort Utility already installed on it.

How would it then perform when I bring it back home and hook it up. Will the Airport Utility 6.3.1 which is currently running on my home Mac function okay in conjuntion with the upgraded Airport Extreme Base Station.....

THIS IS ALL REALLY CONFUSING !

Yes. 6.3.1 is compatible with all 802.11n or 802.11ac AirPorts. It will NOT work with older 802.11b or 802.11g AirPorts ... and yes this has been confusing for most of us as well.

The 6.x version of the utility mirrors the design used on the iOS devices. Unfortunately, it is a bit less functional than the version it replaced. Furthermore, OS X Mavericks abandoned support for version 5.x all together so a number of 802.11b/g base station users were left without a means to administer their devices.

By default if you only have one user account on your Mac it has Administer privileges. These provide the user with greater control of their computer to make changes.

Sometimes we see issues with software installation when a user does not have these privileges.

Was there something you needed me to try in the "administrator" direction?

I was just making sure that you had these with your user account. If not, I was going to ask you to log-off, and then, log back on with an Administrator account ... and then, try installing the AirPort Utility again.

Since you are already using an Administrator account this won't be necessary.

There is a workaround for installing 5.6, but it was intended for folks running OS X Mountain Lion. However, it seems to work for Lion as well. I will post the instructions for you here, but you may want to try using the Leopard Mac first ... but I'll leave that up to you if you are feeling adventureous.

Here are the basic steps to install version 5.6 under OS X Lion (versions 10.7.3 +) or OS X Mountain Lion using CharlesSoft's Pacifist. Note: You can try Pacifist for free to perform these steps, but I would recommend buying it as it's a very useful program.

1. If you haven't already download the AirPort Utility disk image file directly from Apple Support Download
2. Place the resultant AirPortUtility56.dmg file onto your Mac's Desktop.
3. Run Pacifist.
4. Click on the Open Package option. Find the disk image file that you just placed on your desktop, and then, click on Open.
5. The utility is located as follows: Contents of AirPortUtility56.dmg > Contents of AirPortUtility56.pkg > Contents of AirPortUtility56Lion.pkg > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility 5.6.app
6. Drag AirPort Utility 5.6.app to your Mac's /Applications/Utilities folder.

You can now run the AirPort Utility from the Utilities folder.