A1034 Airport extreme base stations now USELESS garbage?

We have the following:

macbook pro mid 2012 El capitan

Ipad 2

iPhone 4s

Iphone 5c

apple tv

We have Comcast xfinity and i obtained a 2003 airport extreme base station A1034. I worked ALL day trying to connect the bas station. Everything prior to 2017 says it's possible but from what I understand, if you have updated the OS to El Capitan, it's impossible to use/configure the airport extreme base station A1034. I tried using the old airport admin utility version 4.2.5 (something like that), it says it cannot be used with my OS. Yet i heard it's impossible to configure it without it.


I want a definitive answer.. Is it GARBAGE NOW.. straight answer. I can't stand the thought of wasting any more hours on this.

Mac Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), comcast DPC3942

Posted on Feb 26, 2017 3:06 AM

Reply
4 replies

Feb 26, 2017 6:45 AM in response to geni4

You will need....or be able to borrow a Mac that is running an older operating system like Leopard (10.5.x), or Snow Leopard (10.6.x) to be able to administer the A1034 AirPort.


A PC that has AirPort Utility 5.6.1 for Windows installed on the computer would work as well.


If you are running Boot Camp on your Mac, you can likely download and install AirPort Utility 5.6.1 for Windows on the PC partition and administer the old AirPort that way.


Alternately......but not recommended.....there are articles on the Internet with instructions on how to download and install an older version of AirPort Utility 5.6.1 on a Mac running a current or recent operating system. Unfortunately, there will be no support in the event of difficulties, and you will need to be willing to reduce the default security settings on your Mac.


We can't post those instructions here because they will removed by the forum moderators.

Feb 26, 2017 8:18 AM in response to geni4

We have Comcast xfinity and i obtained a 2003 airport extreme base station A1034...


...I want a definitive answer.. Is it GARBAGE NOW.. straight answer.

Since most consumer-grade networking hardware typically lasts 3-5 years, getting the A1034 may not have been to your advantage here...especially if you purchased it used. In addition, as Bob has mentioned, administrating it will become more difficult as time goes on.


...so if you are looking for a definitive answer, I think you already know it.

Aug 3, 2017 4:26 PM in response to geni4

I had a same kind of problem, I wasn't able to see/configure my A1034 Airport Express anymore under El Captain.

But I still using my even older iBook G3 for word processing sometimes. I can connect and made the set up with my A1034 without any problem under OS X 10.4 Tiger. The proof is that I sending this through my beloved A1034 just right now. So try to dig out an old mac with Tiger or Leopard and give it a try.

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A1034 Airport extreme base stations now USELESS garbage?

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