Airport Extreme only connects to Mac, not other devices.

Question

Level 1

4 points

Airport Extreme only connects to Mac, not other devices.

My Airport Extreme is only wirelessly routing the internet to our iMac and not other devices. The iPad and two iPhones connect to the AE, and Airport Utility indicates that both the AE and internet are connected. However, when trying to log onto the internet, the iPad indicates that the device does not have an internet connection, and when changing the settings on the iPhones to use the wifi network, they do not connect either (the wheel icon just spins endlessly). I brought my work Lenovo laptop home one day and although it could find the network, it could not connect either. But again, my iMac desktop connects to the internet wirelessly over the same AE network.

The Airport Extreme is version 802.11n (5th Generation) and the iPhones are 5 and a 5C, both awaiting the latest software upgrade (which requires a wifi connection).

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jul 21, 2014 9:49 PM

Reply

Answer 1

sterling r

Community Specialist

Jul 24, 2014 11:16 AM in response to ryanoconn

Hey there ryanoconn,

It sounds like your Airport Extreme is accepting Wi-Fi connections, but only 1 device can actually get to the internet. There could be a number of settings preventing access so I would recommend performing a hard reset on the device, to take it back to an unconfigured state, and then set it up again.

Resetting an AirPort base station FAQ

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3728

Hard reset: Perform this reset for troubleshooting and resolving problems with an unresponsive device, or to troubleshoot network accessibility issues.

Hard reset

Press and hold the reset button with a pen, pencil, or straightened paperclip until you see the status light (LED) start to flash amber rapidly, which should occur after about five seconds.

Release the button and the device will reset.

Wait about a minute for the base station to finish restarting, then open AirPort Utility from Applications > Utilities.

Select the base station from Other Wi-Fi Devices, then click Edit.

Select the Other Options button.

Select "Restore previous settings" and click Next until you get to the final window.

AirPort Utility will indicate that Setup is complete. Click Done.

Quit AirPort Utility.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

Regards,

Sterling

Reply