Apple Extreme not showing up

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Level 1

8 points

Apple Extreme not showing up

Hi -- I have an airport extreme base station. Everything working fine until I upgraded to El Capitan... Now, my base station blinks amber and does not show up in airport utility (version 6.3.6). I've tried a hard rest a million times, and nothing changes. I've read that there may be problems with Airport Utility version 6.3, but how can I upgrade to a new version if it doesn't show up in my airport utility??? HELP ME PLEASE :/

Airport Extreme 802.11ac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Sep 5, 2016 7:43 AM

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Answer 1

Bob Timmons

Level 10

187,970 points

Sep 5, 2016 7:57 AM in response to brieexpat

The AirPort Extreme will not "show up" in AirPort Utility after it has been Hard Reset, so that might help explain some of the difficulty that you have having.

After a Hard Reset, the AirPort Extreme is now back to its factory default settings, so you will need to set it up again using the instructions provided in the Setup Guide that came with the AirPort Extreme.

Assuming that the Hard Reset has been performed correctly......meaning that the Extreme has been powered on for few minutes and you have held in the reset button for 7 to 8 seconds, then released and waited a full minute for the Extreme to restart....

The next step would be to click on the WiFi icon at the top of your Mac's screen and look for a listing of New AirPort Base Station. Just below that heading, click directly on AirPort Extreme.

When you click on AirPort Extreme, that will get the setup "wizard" up and running. It will take a few seconds to analyze the network then display a screen that looks similar to this:

Follow the prompts to set up the AirPort Extreme again.

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Answer 2

brieexpat Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 5, 2016 11:10 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thank you for your help. The problem is that when I do a hard reset, it still flashes amber and is NOT showing up in wifi at all....

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Answer 3

Bob Timmons

Level 10

187,970 points

Sep 5, 2016 11:34 AM in response to brieexpat

Flashing amber is correct after a Hard Reset.

The only option left at this point is to try a Factory Default Reset.

This is tricky for most users, and you almost need 3 hands to do it correctly.

Power off the AirPort Extreme for a minute or two

Then, hold in the reset button first....and keep holding it for an additional 7-8 seconds while you simultaneously plug the power back into the AirPort Extreme

Release the reset button after the hold period, and then allow a full minute for the AirPort Extreme to restart. The amber light will be slowly flashing at this time.

If you still don't see AirPort Extreme when you click the WiFi menu on your Mac.....the wireless radio inside the Extreme has failed, and the device will need to be replaced.

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