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pinky 153
@dsl.bell.ca

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pinky 153

Anon

Airport extreme and WIMAX

I am trying to get my Apple Airport Extreme router to work with this Bell WIMAX (Motorola CPEi 150) modem and I have tried everything with the Airport settings, power cycling to reset the Motorola modem, etc. and nothing is working !

Any suggestions ?

Thanks
James
munky99999
Munky
join:2004-04-10
canada

munky99999

Member

I take it this Motorola CPEI is an actual router? As afaik only wimax stuff for bell is novatel. who make their own asics due to being a proprietary wimax.

assuming for a second you know for sure the wimax part works.
assuming for a second you know for sure the apple draft n router works.

It comes down to basically being... since it's wimax you pretty much shouldnt be able to use the wimax device as a bridge.

There's 2 different ways it'll work.

1. You go into the routing tables and set the default 0.0.0.0 router to the wan port(or the wimax device's ip)
2. You set the default gateway(in dhcp) to be the wimax device's ip; or give a static ip to each computer for that wimax device's ip.
pinky153
join:2010-02-07
Hillsdale, ON

1 edit

pinky153

Member

I appreciate your help; I need you to dumb it down a bit for me !

When I connect the Bell modem directly to my Powerbook G4, it works fine, and my laptop has no problem getting the WiFi signal from my Airport router. The trouble has come in trying to set up my home wireless network to share the internet connection. (Getting the Bell modem and my Airport Extreme to communicate.)

I'm not sure how familiar you are with specifically configuring an Airport Extreme...so i'll tell you where I am confused...

When I open up the settings for my Airport in Airport Utility, and go to the page where I tell it how to connect to the internet, I have 3 choices on the pulldown: Ethernet, PPoP, and Modem.

Since the Bell Portable Modem (a Motorola CPEi 150) only has a single ethernet out, that is what I have been setting this to: Ethernet.

It then asks if I want to configure the iPv4 by DHCP or manually. I have been selecting DHCP. (Almost all the generic suggestions that I have read over the last few days has said to have the wireless router set to DHCP)

If I select manually, I can set an IP address, subnet mask, and router address. It was my understanding that this Bell service uses a dynamic IP address, so manual was not an option, it had to be DHCP.

I save these changes to the Airport, and still when I open my web browser, no internet connection. If I pull the ethernet cable out of the Airport, and plug it directly in to my laptop, I have an internet connection.

I have tried to reconfigure this several times, powering everything down & leaving it all for 30 mins, then powering up the Bell modem first (connected by ethernet to the Airport router) then the Airport, and finally the laptop. The Airport is not "seeing" the internet connection or "communicating" with the Bell modem.

Any detailed help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated. Bell tech support is useless, and I have had this Airport for over a year, so none is forthcoming from Apple either. I have a post in the Discussions forum on their site, but no one has had a solution for me there yet either.
Anzio
join:2008-11-22
Innisfil, ON
·Start.ca

1 edit

Anzio

Member

Have you tried completely resetting the AirPort? It could have data from your old internet connection that was not erased.

Click Base Station -> Restore Default Settings

See if that helps at all.

After doing that, is there a green light on the ethernet port on the AirPort Base Station? If yes, let me know and we'll go from there.

I hope you can see this! We'll be the best of friends if you can.
pinky153
join:2010-02-07
Hillsdale, ON

pinky153

Member

Hi Killiar,

Thanks for replying; sorry I haven't had time until now to reply !

I have restored the Airport to its factory settings before trying to create my network with the settings I mentioned above...this did not seem to help.

There is no light on the ethernet (WAN) port of the Airport when it is connected to the Bell modem, but when I plug the Bell modem directly into the laptop, I have internet right away.

James

shaner
Premium Member
join:2000-10-04
Calgary, AB
·TELUS

shaner

Premium Member

I'm not an Apple user, so bear with me. I do use Bell Unplugged on a WinXP machine with a Belkin wireless router.

The Wimax modem is not a wifi router so it would have to have a physical connection to your machine to get internet. You would then broadcast that signal through your wifi router to other wifi devices. My Bell Unplugged service, through the Belkin wireless router, supports internet on the main PC, and then wirelessly to my Sons' PC, my BB 9700, PS3, iPod Touch and my PSP all at the same time.

I tell you all this because I think you may have a misconception of what the Wimax modem can do.
pinky153
join:2010-02-07
Hillsdale, ON

pinky153

Member

Thanks Shaner,

I know that the Bell modem is not WiFi capable. I am just trying to share its internet connection through my Apple Airport Extreme wireless router to all my devices at home.

James

shaner
Premium Member
join:2000-10-04
Calgary, AB
·TELUS

shaner

Premium Member

Ok, so the problem isn't with the modem or the service per se; it's really an issue with having your wireless access point connect with other wireless devices in your house.

Unfortunately, I'm an Apple neophyte, so I couldn't begin to troublshoot this properly.
freejazz_RdJ
join:2009-03-10
kudos:1

freejazz_RdJ to pinky153

Member

to pinky153
You have another option.... connect your apple router using a LAN port between the Motorola and the airport. But before, turn off the DHCP in the apple device and change it's LAN IP to something outside of the DHCP range of the modem.

For example:
Modem IP is 192.168.1.1
Manually disable DHCP in Airport and set it's LAN IP or gateway address to 192.168.1.2.
In the modem, change the DHCP allocation range to 192.168.1.3 and up.

BTW, when you connect your computer to the modem, what IP does it get? Have you made sure you're connecting the modem to the WAN/internet port on the airport and not a LAN port?
jhendriks
join:2010-02-13
Toronto, ON

jhendriks to pinky153

Member

to pinky153
All last year I had this same setup. Bell's "mobile internet" modem and an Apple Extreme. It was Plug-n-Play.

Make sure you plug a cable from the modem's LAN port to the Extreme's WAN port (it's the one with the circle above it). Then reset both devices (pull the power cords) and after a few minutes take a screenshot (Command-Shift-4) and post what you see on the AirPort Utility's AirPort Summary screen.
jhendriks

jhendriks to pinky153

Member

to pinky153
said by pinky153:

Hi Killiar,
There is no light on the ethernet (WAN) port of the Airport when it is connected to the Bell modem, but when I plug the Bell modem directly into the laptop, I have internet right away.
There is only one light on the entire router, and it's on the front. It's either orange or green, and off, blinking or solid. The way you describe your situation, the light should be blinking orange all the time.
pinky153
join:2010-02-07
Hillsdale, ON

pinky153

Member

My Airport Extreme has 3 lights on the front.
The manual indicates that the right-hand light is
for the WAN port, and it is not illuminated when the Bell
modem is plugged into the WAN port. (and the Bell modem is
powered up and has a good signal)
freejazz_RdJ
join:2009-03-10
kudos:1

freejazz_RdJ

Member

So in the airport utility, it says ethernet disconnected/unplugged in the status?

When you plug the wire into your computer itself, does it work? What IP do you get? If you plug the WAN/internet port of the modem to another ethernet device, does the link come up? Could the cable or port on either the airport or the modem be bad? That is the next logical troubleshooting step.
jhendriks
join:2010-02-13
Toronto, ON

jhendriks to pinky153

Member

to pinky153
said by pinky153:

My Airport Extreme has 3 lights on the front.
The manual indicates that the right-hand light is
for the WAN port, and it is not illuminated when the Bell
modem is plugged into the WAN port. (and the Bell modem is
powered up and has a good signal)
You have the pre-2007 model then? »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fi ··· reme.jpg

If the Extreme's WAN light does not come on when the modem is plugged in to the WAN port, but the Internet works when the modem is directly plugged into the computer with the same cable, I would suspect that the Extreme is bad. Make sure you have the latest firmware and try once more. Then take it to a friend's house and verify.
pinky153
join:2010-02-07
Hillsdale, ON

pinky153

Member

I was using this same Airport up until now to share
a dial-up connection, and it worked fine.

I have checked using Airport Utility for software updates, and
it says my software is up to date (I assume that means that the Airport
Utility software itself is up to date, not neccesarily that the firmware in
the Airport itself is current.)

perhaps there is a firmware update for my Airport that would fix
the problem...(my Airport Extreme is a pre-2007 model with the 3 lights
on the front) Anyone know where I could find such firmware updates ?
jhendriks
join:2010-02-13
Toronto, ON

jhendriks

Member

said by pinky153:

I was using this same Airport up until now to share
a dial-up connection, and it worked fine.
But this is the first time you've used the WAN port and connected via Ethernet, right? Could be your WAN port was damaged over time. Try and post your AirPort Utility -> Internet -> Internet Connection screenshot here so we can see.

You should have:
• Connect Using: Ethernet
• Configure IPv4: Using DHCP
• IP Address: (this is assigned automatically)... something OTHER than 169.x.x.x
• Subnet Mask: (this is assigned automatically)
• Router Address: (this is assigned automatically)
• DNS Server(s): (this is assigned automatically)
• Ethernet WAN Port: Automatic
• Connection Sharing: Share a public IP address

.. but the big worry is that there is no light on at the front of the router when you plug in the cable. No light = No signal. That's trouble.
perhaps there is a firmware update for my Airport that would fix
the problem...(my Airport Extreme is a pre-2007 model with the 3 lights
on the front) Anyone know where I could find such firmware updates ?
»www.apple.com/downloads/ ··· osx.html
pinky153
join:2010-02-07
Hillsdale, ON

1 edit

pinky153

Member

Click for full size
Airport Utility
Click for full size
Summary page
Click for full size
Internet page
Click for full size
DHCP tab
OK, here are some screenshots of my Airport settings with the Bell modem ethernet connected to it.

I have checked and made sure that my Airport Utility software is up to date, and it should be making sure my Airport's firmware is up to date (as far as I know)

The WAN light on the Airport does work, but is not on when the Bell modem is ethernetted to it. (It flickers when the Airport is turned on, and when the ethernet cable from the Bell modem is plugged into it.)

I'm going to take the Airport to someone and get them to see if the WAN port works.
pinky153

pinky153

Member

Sorry guys...thanks for all your help...just got back from the Apple store...it's a bad WAN port...gonna have to get a new Airport !

Thane_Bitter
Inquire within
Premium Member
join:2005-01-20
·Start.ca
·Bell Fibe Internet

Thane_Bitter

Premium Member

said by pinky153:

Sorry guys...thanks for all your help...just got back from the Apple store...it's a bad WAN port...gonna have to get a new Airport !
That’s too bad; did you have warranty on the router?

BTW I noticed on some of your screenshots that you where/are using WEP encryption. If you devices support WPA (TKIP) or even better AES, you really should switch over to it. WEP encryption is very much broken and requires minimal effort and time to break (i.e. child with laptop + 10 minutes of instruction).

Presently WPA-TKIP has some flaws, however at this point none of them can be exploited to provide full access to your system or private data and require some sizable computation power to break. Also whatever encryption you do use, select a very long (for WPA/WPA2 this can be as long as 63 digits) random key.

MAC filtering and hiding the SSID do not provide additional security because MAC addresses can be spoofed, and even if the SSID is off, the wireless device is still broadcasting data.
jhendriks
join:2010-02-13
Toronto, ON

jhendriks to pinky153

Member

to pinky153
said by pinky153:

Sorry guys...thanks for all your help...just got back from the Apple store...it's a bad WAN port...gonna have to get a new Airport !
Yup, the yellow "Ethernet Unplugged" status in your screenshot = WAN port fail!

You are going to LOVE the new AirPort Extreme, two radios (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), wireless n (I get 29 Mb/s between my Mac Pro and my Apple TV), and a sweet "guest network" for visitors.

Thane is right.. WEP has been beatable for years. Use WPA instead.

jsb
join:2009-12-25
Canada

jsb to pinky 153

Member

to pinky 153
Here's the catch with Wimax modems - their ports are 10Mbps only - not sure the AirPort Extreme will play ball... try putting a 10/100 autosensing switch between the two.