Airport base station issue..
Here is the situation:
I purchased an open-box Airport base station (yeah yeah, I know now what a bonehead move that was!) from an auction site on Amazon (yeah yeah..again..another bonehead move).
I received it yesterday..a nice white one that is only a month old (manufactured 11/02) and it had all of the stuff needed..and no visible damage.
So I open up the instruction booklet and follow along. Oops..problem #1. I use Airport Setup Assistant in Utilities like it says and it can't find the Network. Bummer...yes, the card was turned on and the cable was connected in the WAN port on the base station.
So, after talking to a friend who is local, he said I had to call my ISP (it's cable) and let them know about my new MAC address. So I called Insightbb and sure enough, they had to do some changes. Eventually, after convincing the guy that he could help me, they had it set up on their end..they could ping my base station. But still no go on connections.
So then I call Apple...wait wasn't that long, but boy, I'm sure glad I didn't purchase through the education cause that was one of the 1st questions..that and if I had the AppleCare warranty. So anyways, finally talked to someone and this guy was totally clueless! I had to tell him how to do some stuff!
So eventually it was decided that I needed to hit the reset button on the back of the base station...and upon completion of that, I was connected! Great! I was happy and we hung up......
Only to be disconnected 10 minutes later!! So I tried everything again..same thing..then I hit the reset switch and lo and behold! I was connected! woohoo!
Then..disconnected yet again..bummer. So I hit the reset again..and went into the Airport Admin Utility in Utilities and it said that the base station had been reset and I needed to enter a new password and verify it. So I did..and it updated and promptly disconnected me! So I tried again..tried everything..nothing..so hit the reset switch yet again...and got connected....
And then I called Apple..while on hold forever this time after it was determined by them that I didn't have the AppleCare, I was disconnected again!! So while talking to the guy at Apple..told him all what was going on..and he couldn't help me. Said that it was more than likely that it was my base station as a new one shouldn't have to be reset all that time..even once was more than normal!
So now here we go with customer support with the business I bought it from..which is in TN..not that far for me to drive if necessary and toss it through their window! LOL
I sent in an email and described all the above...and got a reply:
Dear Valued Customer,
To better assist you, please provide an auction (eBay customers) or a
listing ID number (for Amazon customers). We will be happy to assist you
once we get the information requested. If you have any other questions
feel free to ask. Thanks and we look forward to serving you soon.
So I did..and got this reply:
The ups tracking number you requested is XXXXX. You can
review the status at <a href="http://www.ups.com."; target="_blank">www.ups.com.</a> If you have any other questions feel
free to ask.
Thank You,
Customer Service
So, I sent them an email which contained the copied part of my first one..which got this:
Dear Valued Customer,
To better assist you, please provide an auction (eBay customers) or a
listing ID number (for Amazon customers). We will be happy to assist you
once we get the information requested. If you have any other questions
feel free to ask. Thanks and we look forward to serving you soon.
OH boy...can you see the steam rising off of my head??
BTW, I forgot, yeah, all my settings in Network in Sys. prefs were set to Airport and all that..and no..no 2.4ghz phone near here.
So guys, any ideas?
I purchased an open-box Airport base station (yeah yeah, I know now what a bonehead move that was!) from an auction site on Amazon (yeah yeah..again..another bonehead move).
I received it yesterday..a nice white one that is only a month old (manufactured 11/02) and it had all of the stuff needed..and no visible damage.
So I open up the instruction booklet and follow along. Oops..problem #1. I use Airport Setup Assistant in Utilities like it says and it can't find the Network. Bummer...yes, the card was turned on and the cable was connected in the WAN port on the base station.
So, after talking to a friend who is local, he said I had to call my ISP (it's cable) and let them know about my new MAC address. So I called Insightbb and sure enough, they had to do some changes. Eventually, after convincing the guy that he could help me, they had it set up on their end..they could ping my base station. But still no go on connections.
So then I call Apple...wait wasn't that long, but boy, I'm sure glad I didn't purchase through the education cause that was one of the 1st questions..that and if I had the AppleCare warranty. So anyways, finally talked to someone and this guy was totally clueless! I had to tell him how to do some stuff!
So eventually it was decided that I needed to hit the reset button on the back of the base station...and upon completion of that, I was connected! Great! I was happy and we hung up......
Only to be disconnected 10 minutes later!! So I tried everything again..same thing..then I hit the reset switch and lo and behold! I was connected! woohoo!
Then..disconnected yet again..bummer. So I hit the reset again..and went into the Airport Admin Utility in Utilities and it said that the base station had been reset and I needed to enter a new password and verify it. So I did..and it updated and promptly disconnected me! So I tried again..tried everything..nothing..so hit the reset switch yet again...and got connected....
And then I called Apple..while on hold forever this time after it was determined by them that I didn't have the AppleCare, I was disconnected again!! So while talking to the guy at Apple..told him all what was going on..and he couldn't help me. Said that it was more than likely that it was my base station as a new one shouldn't have to be reset all that time..even once was more than normal!
So now here we go with customer support with the business I bought it from..which is in TN..not that far for me to drive if necessary and toss it through their window! LOL
I sent in an email and described all the above...and got a reply:
Dear Valued Customer,
To better assist you, please provide an auction (eBay customers) or a
listing ID number (for Amazon customers). We will be happy to assist you
once we get the information requested. If you have any other questions
feel free to ask. Thanks and we look forward to serving you soon.
So I did..and got this reply:
The ups tracking number you requested is XXXXX. You can
review the status at <a href="http://www.ups.com."; target="_blank">www.ups.com.</a> If you have any other questions feel
free to ask.
Thank You,
Customer Service
So, I sent them an email which contained the copied part of my first one..which got this:
Dear Valued Customer,
To better assist you, please provide an auction (eBay customers) or a
listing ID number (for Amazon customers). We will be happy to assist you
once we get the information requested. If you have any other questions
feel free to ask. Thanks and we look forward to serving you soon.
OH boy...can you see the steam rising off of my head??
BTW, I forgot, yeah, all my settings in Network in Sys. prefs were set to Airport and all that..and no..no 2.4ghz phone near here.
So guys, any ideas?
Comments
It COULD be a faulty AirPort, but I doubt it... really a simple piece of hardware as computer stuff goes... very old-tech, reliable stuff inside.
More likely the trouble lies in your cable connection. And yes, when you call them, the "tech support" is someone who has a "checklist" or something to help him with your problems ... he probably doesn't have a clue what to do.
Could the problem be that your cable company periodically changes your IP address? A cable modem connection really just makes you a node on their router (in simple terms) and they COULD have a way of doing this through DHCP addresses. This allows them (if they wish) to charge more for people who wish to install a hub/router on their cable modem.
I could be way off base, but I think your AirPort is probably fine.
You may have it set wrong or at a low time limit, so it drops you like a rock. Just a thought....it may not help, but it's worth checking