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AirPort Utility 6.3.5 on iMac not seeing AirPort Extreme 802.11ac

Sometimes AirPort Utility 6.3.5 on my mid-2011 iMac running Yosemite 10.10.4 does not see my AirPort Extreme 802.11ac (with 7.7.3 firmware) at all.


At other times, AirPort Utility will see the AirPort Extreme but will not show me its settings. It will ask for the router's password, but after I supply it, still I see no settings.


AirPort Utility is correctly showing my Ethernet-connected connection to the Internet, with the correct router address for the AirPort Extreme.


I have made the System Preferences > Network > Advanced > TCP/IP setting for Configure iPv6 to be "Link-local only", as suggested in various places.


How fix?

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4), 3.4GHz Corei7, 16GB, SSD + 2T HD

Posted on Aug 10, 2015 2:02 PM

Reply
4 replies

Sep 24, 2015 2:57 PM in response to Eric Root

Eric Root wrote:


AirPort Base Station or AirPort Time Capsule FAQ – Resetting FAQ

The problem does not lie in the AirPort Extreme, since one of my two iMac's connects just fine to Apple TV but the other does not. The problem has to be something about the configuration of that 2nd iMac.


In any case, as to reset of the AirPort Extreme: been there, done that, no change!

Sep 24, 2015 5:36 PM in response to murrayE

Is the Airport Extreme 802.11ac base station the ONLY router and WiFi base station in the house? I'm wondering if there is maybe multiple subnets in play.


Does your problem iMac network normally with the other iMac and with the internet? that is to say, do you have issues with just administrating the Airport Extreme 802.11ac from this iMac, or are there other networking issues happening?


Can you administer the Airport Extreme 802.11ac via an Ethernet cable to one of the 3 switched ports? Just an experiment to isolate WiFi connection vs Ethernet connection.


What happens if you give the iMac a DHCP Client ID (wild suggestion, and I do not really expect it to change anything). System Preferences -> Network -> Advanced -> TCP/IP -> DHCP Client ID (make it a simple upper/lowercase/number name). Again, I do not expect anything.


What happens if you clean up your System Preferences -> Network -> Advanced -> WiFi -> Preferred Networks list. Delete any entries that are not normally used. If there is more than 1 valid entry left, drag your Airport Extreme 802.11ac network name to the top of the list.


Does your iMac get a strong signal from the Airport Extreme 802.11ac. Spotlight -> Wireless Diagnostics. Via the menus find Utilities WiFi Scan and Performance.


For the WiFi Scan you want to make sure you are not getting interference from other WiFi base stations and 2.4GHz/5GHz signal sources. Also make sure there is not another WiFi base station using the same name as your Airport Extreme 802.11ac. RSSI in the -40's is great. -50's OK, -60's and that is acceptable if there is no interference. After that, it is just plain lousy. Noise should be -90's and maybe high -80's, but I would prefer not to see any -80's for Noise.


You want your 2.4GHz channel to be at least 5 channels away from any neighbor's WiFi base station as each 2.4GHz channel uses 5 channels of bandwidth. 1, 6, and 11 do not overlap and if possible choose one of these if 5 away from any neighbors. Of course if the neighbor is showing an RSSI of -80's or -90's on that channel, they are not really very strong signal, so if in a condo/apartment it is good enough.


Just in case this iMac also has normal connection issues, then I'm going to list other sources of interference (which may show up as Noise above). Other WiFi base stations, 2.4GHz cordless phones, 2.4GHz baby monitors (the worse as they never turn off), Microwave ovens, metal kitchen appliances, floors and walls (especially with metal studs or concrete with rebar), USB-3 devices with poor shielding or poorly shielded USB-3 cables (you could try disconnecting all USB devices for a test).


Toggling Bluetooth (as it uses 2.4GHz) or even delete the Bluetooth preferences. Usually not an issue, but often times they share an antenna.


Blowing away the WiFi preferences

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences.plist

but this will mean setting up the System Preferences -> Network all from scratch (so maybe same a copy to be put back if you try this).

AirPort Utility 6.3.5 on iMac not seeing AirPort Extreme 802.11ac

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