Deciphering the airplay tool for iOS

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Level 1

8 points

Deciphering the airplay tool for iOS

First of all i do not own an airport express/extreme.

The other day when i was casually browsing the internet, the air port tool popped up. It showed the Internet globe at the top. Underneath the globe, two white lines were connected to one airport express and one airport extreme. The express had a green dot beside it and the extreme had a flashing orange dot beside it. Again, i do not own any of these. I'm having a hard time figuring out the the airport tool/app. Does the above mean that the two are connected to my internet connection or does it simply mean that they are nearby? My Wifi is secured with a password so it all seems a little strange to me.

I hope you guys can help..

Posted on Sep 25, 2016 2:08 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

158,502 points

Sep 25, 2016 12:02 PM in response to 10osax

It showed the Internet globe at the top.

That globe represents your Internet connection. The colored circle in front of the word "Internet" would indicate its status, as follows:

Green = good
Amber = something is wrong. There should also be a red circle with a number in it to the right of the device name. Tap on the base station graphic and any issues will show up in the status area of the pop-up window.

Underneath the globe, two white lines were connected to one airport express and one airport extreme.

Solid white lines represent wired (Ethernet) connections; whereas, dotted lines would represent wireless ones.

The express had a green dot beside it and the extreme had a flashing orange dot beside it.

Same meaning as that for the Internet connection.

A flashing amber status light could indicate one or more of the following:

A firmware update is available.
The base station has not yet been configured.
The base station has been reset.
The base station does not have an assigned IP address.
The WAN Ethernet cable is unplugged from the base station.
The base station cannot access the Internet.

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Answer 2

10osax Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 25, 2016 1:44 PM in response to Tesserax

Thanks, that makes sense. But how can an airport express be connected to my internet since I do not own one and my wifi is secured with a password?

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Answer 3

Sep 25, 2016 3:29 PM in response to 10osax

If you connect via building wifi or ethernet that has no protection on it.. very common btw.. then you can see the airports run by other people in your building or area. You should not be able to access them.. so if you click on the icon of the express or the extreme the password request will come up and you do not have it.

This is not a major concern.. it is just a peculiarity or the apple network products and how they work when connected to insecure networks. (although it is itself secure.)

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Answer 4

10osax Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 31, 2016 3:47 AM in response to LaPastenague

Thanks, its true that i cannot acces the airport that i can see. It has a password. But since his airport express has a constant green dot next to it, can he therefore use my internet or in any way gain access to my computer? According to the diagram it seems weird that he could be connected to my internet since i have a password attached to it. Maybe i'm just misreading the diagram, but i'm having a hard time figuring out exactly what it means.

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Answer 5

Oct 31, 2016 4:13 PM in response to 10osax

You are both connected to the same network which interacts.. The building internet should have been setup with vlans or some privacy method that would prevent this problem.. but as most IT support is lazy and well less than able.. they don't bother with anything more complex than plug in the switch.

You can see the router in other residences because Apple uses bonjour to locate network resources. If it was protected by proper WAN setup you could not see it but effectively you are now all in the same LAN.

That is where your password is vital to protect you so use password that is 12-20 characters mixed case and numbers.

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