Symptom
When you open the AirPort Setup Assistant, this message appears:
Solution
These are the two possible causes. Either the wireless access point you are trying to set up was not manufactured by Apple, or DHCP is turned off on the Apple base station.
If you have a third-party wireless access point, follow the manufacturer's instructions for setting it up. The AirPort Setup Assistant and AirPort Admin Utility are not used for third-party base stations.
If you have an AirPort base station, follow these steps:
You may now reconfigure the base station using AirPort Admin Utility.
Note: One possible way to accidentally turn off DHCP is by using the wrong Ethernet port on the base station. Be sure to connect to the base station to the Internet via the WAN port, depicted in Figure 1. This does not apply to the original AirPort Base Station (Graphite), which has only one Ethernet port.
Figure 1 Ports of the AirPort Base Station (Dual Ethernet)
When you open the AirPort Setup Assistant, this message appears:
- "The AirPort Setup Assistant is unable to configure the selected base station. The AirPort Setup Assistant can only be used to setup an Apple AirPort Base Station. If you are trying to reconfigure a base station that has DHCP turned off, use the AirPort Admin Utility."
Solution
These are the two possible causes. Either the wireless access point you are trying to set up was not manufactured by Apple, or DHCP is turned off on the Apple base station.
If you have a third-party wireless access point, follow the manufacturer's instructions for setting it up. The AirPort Setup Assistant and AirPort Admin Utility are not used for third-party base stations.
If you have an AirPort base station, follow these steps:
- 1. At the client computer, choose Apple menu > System Preferences.
2. Choose View > Network.
3. Choose AirPort from the Show pop-up menu.
4. Be sure that TCP/IP for AirPort is set to configure "Using DHCP".
Note: If you had to make any changes, click Apply Now. If the computer is connected to both AirPort and wired Ethernet, be sure to disconnect the wired Ethernet before continuing.
5. Unplug both the base station's power cord and its Internet connection (Ethernet cable or phone wire).
6. Restart the computer.
7. Open a Web browser on the computer.
Note: The browser's connection attempt is intended to fail. It has the effect of forcing the computer to self-assign an IP address in the correct range.
8. Plug in the base station's power cord, and wait for it to start.
9. If the AirPort network is not already selected, join the network by selecting it from the AirPort menu bar item.
10. Open the AirPort Admin Utility.
You may now reconfigure the base station using AirPort Admin Utility.
Note: One possible way to accidentally turn off DHCP is by using the wrong Ethernet port on the base station. Be sure to connect to the base station to the Internet via the WAN port, depicted in Figure 1. This does not apply to the original AirPort Base Station (Graphite), which has only one Ethernet port.
Figure 1 Ports of the AirPort Base Station (Dual Ethernet)