Access AirPort Extreme over Ethernet without Wi-Fi Password

[FilthyMuppetInnuendo]

I recently upgraded my home Internet and had to retire my faithful 2011 AirPort Extreme due to it finally not being able to push the full bandwidth of my incoming speed. I wanted as seamless a transition as I could manage, so I intended to simply rename my existing network, name the new network my old name, and have all my devices pick up the new modem/router on the fly when it turned on.

So I renamed my old network. I changed nothing else. Now I can’t get onto my old network. I did not change the password. My known password no longer works. Why.

I need to access my list of timed access control devices so I can copy all the MAC addresses to the new network’s software. Is there any way to do this by plugging the AirPort Extreme directly into a Mac via Ethernet? I really do not want to run around and write down over fifty MAC addresses by hand again. I already have to manually add a few hundred IP addresses/blocks because there’s no standard import/export filetype for network configurations. Thanks, folks!

 

[Bigwaff]

I wanted as seamless a transition as I could manage, so I intended to simply rename my existing network, name the new network my old name, and have all my devices pick up the new modem/router on the fly when it turned on.

So I renamed my old network. I changed nothing else. Now I can’t get onto my old network. I did not change the password.

So you currently have two wireless networks, the old AE w/ different SSID from before and the new (WiFI router?) using the prior SSID name. Your client is attempting to connect to the old AE w/ different SSID and you are unable to authenticate to the WiFi network. Sum it up?

You should be able to use Airport Utility with ethernet connection. Turn off WiFi first.

You can try to still use WiFI but you will probably need to forget the WiFi networks.

1. Turn off the new (WiFi router?) network so you only have one wireless network broadcasting.
2. On your Mac (I am assuming this is the client), go into WiFi settings and forget both the new SSID and old SSID network names.
3. Turn off WiFi.
4. Shutdown and restart.
5. Turn WiFi back on.
6. Go into WiFi settings and join the new SSID named AE network.