Airport Admin Utility Woes

lkwoodtrumpet

Registered
Anyone had this problem, or anything like it?

I am on a college network that uses DHCP and NAT, and everytime I config my APEx base to be a bridge(i.e. disabling IP assigning) I cannot connect to it through the Admin Utility. I can access the internet, and do everything God allows me to online EXCEPT reconfigure the base station wirelessly(is that a word?) through the AA Utility. BUT Here's the kicker: when I unplug the network cable(yes its plugged into the WAN port, not the LAN port) from the base station, it magically reappears in the Admin Utility. Yes, I've restarted my powerbook, I've did a soft-reboot on the APEx, and god knows how many hard reboots. I can however see the Base Station on Admin Utility when it is configured to assign IP addresses, but my network doesn't support it, so it's useless to set the base station up to assign IPs.

So, why can't I just unplug the network cable and access it through the wired-based configuration method? It's simple...I paid $200 for this thing, and I should be able to do everything its supposed to do. Oh, by the way, since the Base Station is not seen in the Admin Utility, I can't print wirelessly(theres that word again...) with my HP printer. So, can anyone give me some pointers? Am I forgetting something? I am CCNA Certified, so I'm not incompetant when it comes to networking to say the least. Thanks to anyone who can help...its driving me insane.

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15" Powerbook G4 1.5mhz, 512mb, 128mb vid, 80gb hd, Panther, Airport Extreme, HP 5150.
 
What IP address is the APEx set to use? It could be that that particular IP address is being used somewhere else on campus, since it's running in bridged mode.
 
Well, that's the problem...the network here runs on NAT, so half the campus basically has the same external IP. Internally, its set by the school's DHCP..changing everytime I login to the network(the authentication they use is HTTP based...something called Perfigo - not really familiar with it). So, for the IP assigned to the base station, it should be unique internally, but it will have the same external IP as the guy nextdoor. Do you think the NAT is what is causing this mess?
 
Hmmm... it may be. I'm not experienced enough with wireless yet to say surely.

I did read a report somewhere that running a local machine Firewall (via OS X's firewall or using Brickhouse) kept the Admin Utility from connecting to the station -- are you running any kind of software firewall?
 
Nah...no firewall. I just downloaded the ApEX firmware upgrade, and was hoping that would solve it, but it didn't...same problems.
 
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