[cpac]

[I posted this in the network area, but it gets so little traffic I thought I'd post it here too...]

Ok - moved to NYC for my summer associate job this summer. The apartment I rented comes complete with cable modem.

Connecting the modem's ethernet cable directly to my PB works fine - that's how I'm posting right now.

As soon as I try to set up my AirPort base station though, things go sour: The Base Station fails to see the internet and/or fails to broadcast it properly.

I've tried resetting the modem, the base station, and the PB's connection in every possible connection of order.

Can anybody provide a guess as to what's going wrong and/or how to fix it?

Thanks

[Some Guy []]

what provide do you have? do they lock onto your machine's MAC address?

Have you used this airport basestation before without problems?

Have you tried resetting the basestation?

Does the link light turn on the cable modem when you hook it up to the basestation?

[cpac]

Originally posted by Some Guy []:
what provide do you have?

Not sure exactly - whoever does cable modems for NYC.

do they lock onto your machine's MAC address?

I don't think so - how would they? I didn't have to enter anything or change any settings to connect when my PB is directly connected to the cable modem, it just all goes to hell once I try to go through the base station.

Have you used this airport basestation before without problems?

Yes. A mere 3 days ago, and with the same model cable modem (though a different specific modem and service provider).

Have you tried resetting the basestation?

Yep. Several times, and in different combinations of which parts I reset in which order (modem, computer, base station)

Does the link light turn on the cable modem when you hook it up to the basestation?

Yes it does. But nothing gets through. Using Airport Admin Utility I see the Base Station keeps its own self-assigned IP address, and doesn't seem to see the internet, but it works fine when I connect my PB directly to the cable modem.

hmmm...

[MrNo]

When you got the new cable modem did you plug the base station first or the powerbook?

[cpac]

Originally posted by MrNo:
When you got the new cable modem did you plug the base station first or the powerbook?

Not sure exactly what you mean, but initially it was plugged into my wife's iBook.

I have since tried unplugging/replugging etc. everything in every possible order, but no dice.

[SupahCoolX]

Originally posted by cpac:
Not sure exactly - whoever does cable modems for NYC.

If you're in Manhattan, it'll be Time Warner/Road Runner. In other boroughs, you'll likely have CableVision/Optimum Online.

Maybe it's something simple: When you plug in the Base Station, are you setting your computer to connect via Airport? Does the Base Station show up in the Airport Admin Utility?

[Jeffois]

I had Base Station weirdness a way back...similar. I'd try shutting everything off for a few minutes, and then restart everything.

If it doesn't work, give this a shot; there's an Apple Store in SoHo, if you're in Manhattan, no more than a subway ride away. Bring down your PB and Base Station. They'll test it for you. When I did so, they were able to prove that it was a bad base station, and since I was under warranty, they simply gave me a new one! If I had done that in the first place, it would have saved me literally HOURS of frustrating fiddling.

If your experience is anything like mine, the folks at the "Genius Bar" will be eager to troubleshoot it for you. I don't know what charge there might be if you're out of warranty. But it's probably worth it unless you have oodles of free time

[Jeffois]

It occurs to me that as you're new to Manhattan, saying "it's in SoHo" might not be very helpful...check out the page:

http://www.apple.com/retail/soho/

[cpac]

well kids - no satisfying answer, but a solution:

Keep fiddling with things, restarting them, unplugging them, and eventually it all will work!

Bleh. What fun.

[suthercd]

Are you in OS X?

When you reset the Base Station, are you following the Apple instructions for doing that? I believe the second part of the reset requires that the reset button in the base be held in for 30 seconds.

After the Base Station is reset, can you see it in Airport Admin Utility from your machine? If so, when you scan for Base Stations in the Admin Utility does the TCP/IP network address for your station appear in the Admin Utility window?

Can you read the configuration of the Base
station via the Admin Utility?

Unless the hardware itself is belly up, there is a way to work through this.

Let us know....

Craig

[aaanorton]

You could also try doing what I reccomended yesterday in your first thread...
http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=160184

[cpac]

Originally posted by suthercd:
Are you in OS X?

When you reset the Base Station, are you following the Apple instructions for doing that? I believe the second part of the reset requires that the reset button in the base be held in for 30 seconds.

After the Base Station is reset, can you see it in Airport Admin Utility from your machine? If so, when you scan for Base Stations in the Admin Utility does the TCP/IP network address for your station appear in the Admin Utility window?

Can you read the configuration of the Base
station via the Admin Utility?

Unless the hardware itself is belly up, there is a way to work through this.

Let us know....

Craig

Like I said above: it all worked out with more fiddling.

For those who care: I could definitely read everything about my base station, network with my wife's ibook using the base station, etc. It seemed to just be weird problems with getting everything turned on in the right order and with the appropriate amount of downtime in order for the base station to recognize it's connection to the internet...