Airport Extreme Base Station A1143 Questions

Question

Airport Extreme Base Station A1143 Questions

Background: I picked up a model A1143 Airport Extreme Base Station from eBay to use in an executive suite where I work. Although I use a VPN for work and all of my file sharing is set to nil, I felt more comfortable setting up a wireless router for an added layer of protection, however minimal it may be. The first time I set up the base station it was clear the seller never cleared his/her settings, so I've done the factory reset. Each time I do, the Base Station shows, under Airport Utility, there is a Time Capsule with this Base Station. Of all the information I have found online from Apple, A1143 does NOT include a Time Capsule.

I don't use a Time Capsule at home. My router at home is simply an Airport Express.

Questions:

Is the Time Capsule that appears both under Airport Utility AND in the Finder related to this Airport Extreme Base Station? If not, why does it show up under Airport Utility AND in my Finder? (To the end that it may just be a shared resource on the network due to another likely Mac/ Apple product user, why does another time machine called "Hot Plate" appear in the finder and NOT in Airport Utility?)
Why under airport utility is there an option to enable file sharing between disks and establish with either accounts, disk or device password?
Why did my Mac turn on Time Machine and attempt back-ups (which now appears under the About This Mac - Storage)? I turned all that off due to the nature of my work, and file sharing was turned off, but this all turned on once I connected my computer to the Airport Extreme Base Station.
If ultimately there is a Time Capsule associated with this router, then I am wholly unable to access the device. Changing the password to make it device specific, or using a disk password makes no difference. On my iPhone, the device is shown as being on a network called "ANetwork" which does not appear in the list of WiFi connections available. Yes - it may be a hidden network, but why would this information appear in my phone, but not on my Mac?

I appreciate any input that may be received. I have pored over dozens and dozens of links/articles/Airport Extreme Base Station manuals, etc., and nothing has worked. No amount of factory resets of the router has yielded access to the mysterious Time Capsule that seems to appear each and every time I reset the device. My next test will be to take this home, plug it in and see if the Time Capsule reappears...

Thank you.

Message was edited by: Robert Bellomy

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11), null

Posted on Nov 3, 2015 9:37 AM

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Answer 1

K Shaffer

Level 8

36,016 points

Nov 3, 2015 10:15 AM in response to Robert Bellomy

When the evidence of a mystery 'time capsule' appears, try to get information from that to see

if there is proof of some modification to the airport extreme model you have bought secondhand.

A later version, that looks like that Airport Extreme (2nd gen or 1st gen) but is a Time Capsule,

would have a hard drive or other storage internal to the design. One way to tell, if yours was

modified after the fact, would be to be sure what you have and then look into an iFixit guide to

see what is supposed to be inside. Then check to see what it would take for someone to have

opened it. You may find (or not) evidence of the unit having been opened, if it were customized.

The basic AirPort Extreme 802.11n or earlier could appear as a Time Machine by simply pushing

a USB flash chip in the USB port on the wi-fi base. I was using unsupported external drives and

printers in the early 2001 era AirPort models with USB port. Even more, if one attached a powered

USB hub or other means to share the single port to external devices.

There were two model AirPort Extreme with A1143, one is considered obsolete, the other isn't.

The second generation is 'vintage' while its earlier counterpart, is 'obsolete' based in part on

when they were produced and the details in the product specification, to support later OS X.

{The companion 'time capsule 802.11n - 1st or 2nd Gen' of identical appearance, would be the

A1254 or A1302, with either 500GB or 1TB or 2TB 7200-RPM sm. HDD, sim. to MB/Air or Mini}

So you have a mystery. You may need to look into the setup software for Time Machine to see if

the airport time capsule storage item can be addressed, changed, modified, or removed. I suspect

that unit may have been modified or mis-labeled somehow. Perhaps a case from one model is on

the other version, that model number or build identifier may be only plastic-deep w/ different insides.

Should you find out, please post back to refresh the topic up to date.

Good luck in this matter! 🙂

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Answer 2

Nov 4, 2015 5:17 AM in response to K Shaffer

Thank you. This device does NOT have a time capsule. Now to figure out why it keeps trying to link to another on the shared network and why my MBP kept trying to back up to that device.

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Answer 3

K Shaffer

Level 8

36,016 points

Nov 4, 2015 2:03 PM in response to Robert Bellomy

Another possibility, may be that your AirPort Extreme base station may be able to

attempt to communicate with some other device not in your possession... Maybe

a neighboring system has a wireless storage device that isn't protected correctly

and has been left open to broadcast its address.

You may be able to selectively reduce the ability of this base station to receive

or recognize outside sources or limit its sensitivity, so if any other wi-fi product

is available that isn't yours, it won't be seen. Usually you can discover if there

are any products and get more information about them. There are a few built-in

utilities in your mac that may help determine what the ghost you see really is.

And the AirPort setup utility has some, too.

Troubleshooting this kind of issue, to help determine its cause and thus help to

discover a possible cure, would likely be trial and error. Hopefully someone with

more experience troubleshooting & security of wireless networks will advise you.

Good luck in this matter! 🙂

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Answer 4

Bob Timmons

Level 10

184,988 points

Nov 4, 2015 2:17 PM in response to Robert Bellomy

You are on a shared network. Would you like to try having your own isolated network so you will only see your own devices?

There may be upsides and downsides to setting things up this way, so you won't know until you try. Worst case, you can go back to your current set up.

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