AirPort Extreme error solved

It took me half a day to figure this out so I thought I'll just post the solution here. Maybe it will help someone. Here's the solution summary

Problem: Win 7 and Win XP  computers cannot connect to AirPort Extreme wireless signal. The light on the front of the AirPort Extreme base station is flashing amber.
Solution:  Upgrade your AirPort utility and install a firmware upgrade to the AirPort Extreme base station.

My story

Here I am staying at a friends house while he is away on a trip and his AirPort Extreme wireless router stops working. What happens first is my  XP computer won't connect to the signal. I try rebooting the modem and the router by unplugging them and they still won't connect. I see though  the and the light on the front of the  AirPort box  flashes amber.  I check all the cables. they're OK. I call my friend and we talk it over. Here's what I finally did that worked

Turns out I could connect to the Internet using a cable. Not only directly to the modem but also with the modem  and my computer both connected to the AirPort box. so I know the modem is working. Whew!

I don't own a Mac. I have two machines one with Win XP and the other that dual boots between Ubuntu and Win 7. So I download the Airport Utility for Windows and the user manual.

Here is what the manual says:

Your AirPort Extreme Status Light Flashes Amber

• The Ethernet cable may not be connected properly, 
• AirPort Extreme may be out of range of an AirPort network, or 
• there may be a problem with your Internet servicemay have lost its connection to the network or the Internet. 

No, it's none of these. Warning: If you press the little button on the back of the box you reset the box to factory settings and the signal is unsecured. Oops

Even if the modem seems to be working properly, try disconnecting the modem from its power supply, waiting a few seconds, and then reconnecting it. Make sure AirPort Extreme is connected directly to the modem via Ethernet before reconnecting power to the modem.

Already tried that but it did not help.

For more information about the reason the light flashes, open AirPort Utility, select your base station, and then choose Manual Setup from the Base Station menu. The information about the flashing light is displayed on the Summary pane. provider. 

Great. I install the AirPort Utility. Tip: The  AirPort Utility may take a long time to install on Win 7.


After getting it installed however it would not display information on the AirPort base station. Even though it seemed to recognize the base station, when I clicked the Manual setup button it gave a could not connect error. But I notice it says there is an upgrade. I just downloaded this software from the Apple site. why do I need to upgrade? But alright, I'll try that.

During the new installation process a Windows firewall box appears. I click it to allow the AirPort utility through the firewall and realize maybe that is why the original installation did not connect properly to the base station. Now the AirPort Utility  connects to the base station and says it needs a firmware upgrade. Great. I click through that. But the light is still flashing.

Now I  reset the connection name and WEP password to what it was before.

The light turns Green. Yeah!