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Airport Extreme weirdness

K

knewsom

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 9, 2005
949
0
I folks, I have an Airport Extreme Base-Station, it's less than 5 years old, and has N support, dual-band, etc. I don't know exactly which model it is, but it'll do 5 ghz, 2.4 ghz, and supports simultaneous N, G, and A. Software version is 7.6.1. I have a Sci-Fi naming convention in my home to help me keep things organized using the analogy. My base-station is named "Starfleet Communications" (for future reference). I have a Drobo named "Sisko" plugged into the USB port.

When I set it up, I also enabled Windows file sharing. I can't recall the details of this, as Apple as since removed the controls from their Airport software (grumble), and I can't go back and check. Intermittently, I'll see an icon in my sidebar on my Mac called "Uhura", which is what I recall naming my Windows file server on the Airport (get it? She translates). When it's up and running and I can see "Uhura", I can click on it, and get an option to mount "Sisko". I get the same options by clicking "Starfleet Communications" in the sidebar. This is good. This means things work.

From a Windows machine, I can access "Uhura" via the Network sidebar, provided it's up and running. The trouble is, I can't seem to divine why or when "Uhura" will be functioning, and I can't access "Starfleet Communications" directly, ever. Sometimes "Uhura" will pop up if my Windows laptop has been on the network for 5 or 10 minutes.

Can anyone explain why "Uhura" isn't always on and working? Or how it suddenly decides to randomly start working? Or how I can make it work more reliably? I'd like to keep my Airport Extreme, it's a great router... but this is a bit inconvenient and I'd really like to make it work more consistently.

Thanks in advance folks, I'd appreciate any input on this!
 
jamesvdm said:
Cool naming ideas :) I'm inspired to do similar.
Click to expand...

Thanks - it's fun and also extremely useful. It extends to computers and hard drives too, for which I use ship-names and captains. My iMac is NCC-1701, the main HD is Picard. The wife's Macbook is Copernicus, HD Kirk. The best part is how you can branch to other OSes in the analogy using other sci-fi universes, like Star Wars. My Windows laptop is Executor, HD Vader. For Linux, I use Rebel Alliance naming.
 
Just for interest - I use the names of cats for devices that I can assign an IP address to. It helps me to remember the password for accessing their admin screens. Currently I have 20 or so in the network.
 
drsox said:
Just for interest - I use the names of cats for devices that I can assign an IP address to. It helps me to remember the password for accessing their admin screens. Currently I have 20 or so in the network.
Click to expand...

Nice. FWIW, I use an entirely unrelated password scheme. Using PWs based on visible naming schemes makes me.... nervous. :eek:
 
I didn't tell you the whole story.
On each device I have stuck a small pic of the cat (each one is distinctive).
The password is in two parts : <Address of the place where I had the cat><Common pass phrase>
Since only I know the name of the cat, the address is impossible to guess. It's also of variable length.
 
drsox said:
I didn't tell you the whole story.
On each device I have stuck a small pic of the cat (each one is distinctive).
The password is in two parts : <Address of the place where I had the cat><Common pass phrase>
Since only I know the name of the cat, the address is impossible to guess. It's also of variable length.
Click to expand...

Ooooh! Very clever, sir. Very clever indeed!
 
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