Rodrigo Izurieta

Q: No airports in AirPort Utility until adapter is disabled and enabled

Hi:

 

I have an AirPort Extreme and an AirPort Express.  The Extreme is connected to the modem and is DHCP server.  The Express is in Bridge mode and connects via Ethernet to Extreme.  The Express and Extreme are configured for roaming (same network ID and password).  The setup works fine except for the following:

 

I use Windows 10 and use AirPort Utility.  Very frequently, it finds no AirPorts on the network even though access and Internet run fine.  If I disable network adapter and re-enable, then the AirPorts show up in the utility.

 

Any clue on where the problem might be?

 

Thanks

Posted on May 18, 2016 7:35 PM

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Q: No airports in AirPort Utility until adapter is disabled and enabled

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  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons May 18, 2016 8:02 PM in response to Rodrigo Izurieta
    Level 10 (104,968 points)
    Wireless
    May 18, 2016 8:02 PM in response to Rodrigo Izurieta

    Some of the problem might be that Apple has not updated AirPort Utility for Windows in about 4 years.  The last version of Windows that Apple officially supported was Windows 7.

     

    If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can use AirPort Utility for iOS to administer both the AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express.....assuming that the Apple AirPorts are all using Firmware 7.6.1 or higher.

  • by Tesserax,

    Tesserax Tesserax May 19, 2016 9:41 AM in response to Rodrigo Izurieta
    Level 9 (53,940 points)
    Wireless
    May 19, 2016 9:41 AM in response to Rodrigo Izurieta

    In addition to Bob's comments, the copy of the AirPort Utility for Windows on your device may not be properly registered/installed with Win10.

     

    • When properly installed the AirPort Utility for Windows will have two applications listed in the Apps & Features window: 1) AirPort & 2) Bonjour
    • Move or delete the following file from the C:\Windows\System32 folder: dnssd.dll (Note: This is the Bonjour Client Library and is required by the AirPort Utility. However, even if is present, it may not be properly registered in the Windows Registry. That is, as far as Windows is concerned, it doesn't exist.)
    • Download the AirPort for Windows installer. (Note: This utility has not been updated since Windows 7. It will run on Win7, Win8, Win8.1, & Win10 but it will not work with the latest 802.11ac AirPort base stations. It should be fine with the 802.11n models.)
    • Run the installer using "Run as administrator" privileges. (Note: If you get the option to Repair or Uninstall, choose the Uninstall option. Allow the uninstall process to complete. The Bonjour application should now be missing in the Apps & features listing.)
    • If you didn't get the Repair/Uninstall dialog window, then let the installer install AirPort for Windows in its default folder.
    • You should now be able to run the AirPort utility to administer your AirPort base stations.
  • by Rodrigo Izurieta,

    Rodrigo Izurieta Rodrigo Izurieta May 19, 2016 1:28 PM in response to Tesserax
    Level 2 (194 points)
    Wireless
    May 19, 2016 1:28 PM in response to Tesserax

    Thank you for your answer.  Unfortunately, it did not work.

     

    Just a few notes on where the process did not go as you stated:

     

    - After uninstalling with AiPort for Windows installer , Bonjour was still there, so I uninstalled that as well.

    - Then I reinstalled with administrator privileges.

     

    Of course, the app works but it still has the same annoying behavior that every now and then the AirPorts do not show up and I need to disable and re-enable the network adapter for the AirPorts to show up in the utility.

  • by Tesserax,

    Tesserax Tesserax May 19, 2016 1:35 PM in response to Rodrigo Izurieta
    Level 9 (53,940 points)
    Wireless
    May 19, 2016 1:35 PM in response to Rodrigo Izurieta

    Sorry, that didn't work for you.

     

    The AirPort Utility relies on two things to be able to "find" and communicate with an AirPort base station: 1) Bonjour, and 2) IPv6. If both of these are enabled on your computer, it should find the base station. Another quick check is to enter the Router IP address of your base station in the AirPort Utility under Configure Other...

     

    This would be a workaround for accessing the base station. Again, remember that this utility has not been updated since Windows 7 ... so it will, most likely, continue to be problematic at best.