As my family's resident semiknowledgeable Mac person, I had the "joy" of figuring out a WiFi Problem. Their local ISP, JoeBlow, had done some kind of upgrading and I had to relogin my mom's computer and register a few devices. Never heard of that before. Called the ISP and they walked me through checking their equipment (fine)-still couldn't figure out why the WiFi wouldn't work, and then I saw it. An airport base station, I think it's the Extreme one (looks like a large white trivet with a silver Apple logo on top, power socket, Firewire socket, socket marked with a circle over it, and 3 Ethernet sockets. I tried hitting the reset button and holding it in for about 50 seconds. No luck, then I tried unplugging it for about a minute and plugging it in again. No luck. I tried plugging into 3 different electrical outlets. I tried the reset trick. No luck. I checked Airport utility and it told me it couldn't find any base station within range. Zip, Zero, Nada. the computer was about 2 feet away from the Base station. There was no green light on the front of the B.S at all. Nothing.....
so, am I to assume,then, that the Base Station is indeed dead?
Do Base Stations Die? and could I conclude that this was the cause of the WiFi problems around the house (no wifi on Laptop, iPad, 2nd Mac and Printer, also wireless)
The only reason I'm asking is that I have never heard of that happening before. My mom, of course, blames JoeBlow ISP for everything, and It's up to me to try to solve the nearly impossible
well, there's 4 hours of my life I'm not gettin' back
John B
Last edited by johnb1; Aug 20th, 2012 at 07:38 PM.
Reason: hit wrong key by mistake
It is possible for the base station to die, as it is for any electrical device subject to high heat.
1) You say there is no green light; from the way you phrased this, I assume there is no yellow light either? If the Airport Extreme is working but not connecting, the light should be flashing yellow.
2) The Airport plugs not only into the wall for power but also into the transformer [rectangular white box in the middle of the wire]. Have you checked that both ends of the transformer are plugged in?
3) Have you checked that the small white plug that joins the transformer to the Airport Extreme is plugged in as well?
4) Assuming there is a green or yellow light, did you try connecting the computer directly to the Airport by ethernet?
Thanks Mike457 and CubaMark. Looks like you're right, and I was wrong...it's a Time Capsule. Sometimes I don't know my butt from my elbow and yeah, it's probably toast. Nope, no light, and yes, if I connect the computer directly via Ethernet, it works fine. Yeah, I'm semi-knowledgeable, in that I know enough to solve some problems, certainly not enough to solve all problems, but I can't do a thing about ignorance and stupidity. When I mentioned that this thing might be toast, and that might be why the Wifi and the printing might not be so good, my mom's husband thanked me for noticing that it wasn't working, that he'd forgotten that it might mess up the printer, that he didn't notice that it wasn't working-he just wasn't paying attention at all. Seriously? Gee--ya think having that not working might affect your wireless printing and your Wifi? You don't say ! I can't make this stuff up
thanks
This sounds like grounds for a visit to an Apple Store. I'm a little surprised that there is no light but it does work if you're connected directly; I wouldn't have expected that. The Time Capsule, especially early models, is prone to failure from heat. It's a mixture of poor ventilation and extra heat from the hard drive. Apple even had an "outside of warranty" replacement programme going at one point. A friend of mine had hers die, and Apple replaced it for free, no questions asked. How old is this one?
Yep-went to the Apple store and they couldn't do anything with it either. They did, however, save the hard drive. so...that's it....it's stiff, bereft of life, it has ceased to be, it has rung up and joined the choir
invisibule, this is an ex-Time Capsule. I think it was at least 5 years old. Yes, pm-r, I checked the cables and the electrical outlet but it didn't do any good at all. I unplugged it and plugged it back in again, I did the reset according to how I should do it, hold down the reset while plugging it in. Still nothing.....
that's the end of it for now. Guess it's time for a new one
thanks, folks
From your very adept description it sure sounds like it's an almost equivalent and parallel to the Monthy Python 'Parrot' skit - "it's not dead, it's just sleeping"...
and yeah, it's probably toast. Nope, no light, and yes, if I connect the computer directly via Ethernet, it works fine. Yeah, I'm semi-knowledgeable, in that I know enough to solve some problems, certainly not enough to solve all problems, but I can't do a thing about ignorance and stupidity. When I mentioned that this thing might be toast, and that might be why the Wifi and the printing might not be so good, my mom's husband thanked me for noticing that it wasn't working, that he'd forgotten that it might mess up the printer, that he didn't notice that it wasn't working-he just wasn't paying attention at all. Seriously? Gee--ya think having that not working might affect your wireless printing and your Wifi? 
You don't say !
I can't make this stuff up
At least they saved the hard drive. Hope the new one lasts longer still.
Linear Mode
