Airport Extreme Remote Access

Question

Level 1

43 points

Airport Extreme Remote Access

My parents, who live in Connecticut, doesn't have wireless in there house. I am planning on setting up an Airport Extreme to provide wireless. My parents are older people and are not tech savvy. They have a very simple and basic setup.

Cable modem--------WIRED-------Windows computer

I know I can put an AE in the mix to create a wireless environment.

Cable modem-------AE--------WIRED-------computer

Since they live out of state, my concern is to make sure that I can connect to the AE and it is working properly. I know I need to configure the AE for WAN access. Since I can't visually see the AE, I am counting on remote access to make sure it is functional and working. Once I have the AE configured, I don't think I will need to change any settings or do anything with it. I just need to monitor the AE and be able to connect to it.

They don't use any wireless devices at all. They will use the computer and that is all.

Does anyone else have an AE located in another state?

Airport-OTHER

Posted on Jun 5, 2015 8:20 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 5, 2015 8:51 AM in response to pfisher112

Sorry, but I cannot tell whether you will be trying to set up the AirPort Extreme remotely, or whether you want to simply monitor the settings on the AirPort Extreme from a remote location after the AirPort Extreme has been set up.

Trying to set up an AirPort Extreme as a new network device from a remote location is going to be next to impossible. Be prepared to "walk" the folks through the setup of the AirPort Extreme on their network over the phone or have an IT guy handle the set up for you.

Once the AirPort Extreme is set up and working on the network, remote access is not difficult, but you will need to have the WAN side IP address for the AirPort Extreme.....which is assigned by the Internet Service Provider....and....the device or base station password that has been assigned to the AirPort Extreme during setup.

That WAN side IP address will change from time to time unless the folks have an optional and significantly more expensive static IP address assigned by the ISP.

But, for example, let's say that they don't have a static IP address for the AirPort Extreme and you cannot access the device because the IP address has changed from the last time that you accessed the device. The folks would need to open up AirPort Utility on their PC, select the AirPort Extreme, click Manual Setup and then read the IP address to you that appears at the bottom of the summary page of settings.

Let's say that the IP address for example is 12.34.567.89 and you already know the device password because you have accessed the AirPort Extreme previously.

So, you would open AirPort Utility on your computer, click the File Menu, and select Configure Other

Enter the 12.34.567.89 in the IP address box and enter the device password for the AirPort Extreme here, and you should be able to access the settings of the AirPort Extreme.

Unfortunately, if the AirPort Extreme is acting up for some reason, and the folks cannot get into the settings to see the IP address, things are going to be basically stuck at that point.

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Answer 2

pfisher112 Author

Level 1

43 points

Jun 5, 2015 10:53 AM in response to Bob Timmons

I am sorry, I should mentioned this previously. The next time I am at there house, I will configure the AE and make sure it is working before I leave. Most of the things you mention are valid points and I don't want to put something there and forget about it. Not to mention, since they are not tech savvy, giving them instructions over phone would be a challenge.

I know AEs are great products IF you know what you are doing and if you have access to the physical box itself OR you can remote into another computer that is wired to the AE to troubleshoot it.

I have to think about this more. I wish Apple made it easier to remotely troubleshoot AEs.

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Answer 3

Jun 5, 2015 2:32 PM in response to pfisher112

Load Teamviewer on their computer.. and load teamviewer on your computer.. Mac or PC is fine.. it will provide a remote desktop environment that is established by the remote client.. it is free for personal use. IMHO it is much easier to use a tool like this.. as it will establish the link.. and frankly if the modem or router is not working then nothing you do remotely will help anyway.

Once setup and working the router should not need a lot of maintenance.. on the other hand computers (windows computers in particular) need lots of work.

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