Date: 2008-11-02 11:52:02 Created: null
My early experiences with AirPort Extreme have been both above and below expectations. I was a good boy and had a look at the instructions before doing anything else, and they seemed straightforward enough (that was just along expectations anyway). However, if one was in the situation of already having a network with a DHCP server inside things got a bit more complicated. In that case the recommendation was to configure things before actually connecting the AirPort base station to the network (in order to turn off its own DHCP serving). The recommendation was also to get any available updates and test your Internet connection before proceeding with AirPort setup.
Well, from there on I didn't follow the instructions. I knew my conneciton worked just fine, and also that my mom's iBook had found it straight away without any problems. With this in mind, I just went ahead, connected the AirPort and fired up the AirPort Assistant.
Tough luck punk, no connections for you! The Assistant wouldn't find the base station, and didn't really think one was available for configuration either. I repeated the process and chose to just connect to an existing base instead. That went straight to a confirmation screen saying I'd been connected, but never allowing me to do any configuration whatsoever. However, in typical Apple fashion, the Internet connection turned out to work right away, double DHCP serving on and all. I merrily downloaded updates while repeatedly failing to get logged into the base station or doing any configuration whatsoever.
What finally got the configuration going was actually following the instructions a little bit more. I connected the PowerBook to the network cable, left the base station without connection and ran the Assistant again. Victory! Everything's nice and secure.
Even if it's pretty bad from a security point (the network's open to anyone walking by after all) as a user I can't help but love the fact that I could totally fail to configure anything at all and still get a perfectly working wireless connection ...