10-15-2011, 06:37 PM

I'm a little ashamed I can't figure this out. I have exhausted google, apple help docs, apple help, and a few other resources and still can't seem to get a solid answer.

In Airport Utility, when connected specifically to something like an Express or a Time Capsule, or Extreme, they are listed on the left with little icon bubbles that show a status indicator.

I have seen green all the time.

At the in-laws, I see yellow. I have no idea what all the possible colors are, or what yellow means. I didn't try to troubleshoot it, as everything is working fine. They are online, backing up to a Time Capsule, and performance appears normal, but I wold like to eventually get back to green and learn where I go for these docs.

The area in question looks like this: http://i.imgur.com/OOJLf.png
( This is not a screenshot of our particular Airport Utility screens )



Thanks for any help you can provide.

10-16-2011, 08:49 AM

Yellow means that the Extreme, Time Capsule or Express is not making a communicating with your ISP's modem.

If it was working before, sometimes rebooting the ISP's Modem and then the Apple product can restablish that connection.

DavidH

10-16-2011, 08:10 PM

Originally Posted by DavidHH

Yellow means that the Extreme, Time Capsule or Express is not making a communicating with your ISP's modem.

If it was working before, sometimes rebooting the ISP's Modem and then the Apple product can restablish that connection.

DavidH

Where did you get the information that the yellow status indicator means that? Is there a manual or tech info library note I can read? Are there other colors as well?

What is odd, is the connection was fine. I had run a few speed tests, we were visiting websites, and uploading photos to be printed and picked up by Costco. Nothing about the connection was not working, and as far as I could tell, the laptop was connected to the correct network, as I was running a Time Machine backup to the Time Capsule while all this was going on, not to mention printing out files to a local printer.

Any ideas? Maybe it the yellow can mean more than one thing?

10-18-2011, 11:35 AM

Mine will do this on occasion. It usually means that my old AP Extreme downstairs has stopped working and needs to be reset. Sometimes if I ignore it, it will just go away...

10-18-2011, 11:46 AM

Typically, the yellow indicator just means that some setting on the base station isn't optimal for security. It doesn't mean something is necessarily broken, just not the recommended configuration. If you log into the base station, it should prompt you with the discrepancies, and then prompt you to fix them or ignore them - either one will make the indicator go green again.

10-21-2011, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by plumpety

Where did you get the information that the yellow status indicator means that? Is there a manual or tech info library note I can read? Are there other colors as well?

What is odd, is the connection was fine. I had run a few speed tests, we were visiting websites, and uploading photos to be printed and picked up by Costco. Nothing about the connection was not working, and as far as I could tell, the laptop was connected to the correct network, as I was running a Time Machine backup to the Time Capsule while all this was going on, not to mention printing out files to a local printer.

Any ideas? Maybe it the yellow can mean more than one thing?

Sorry if my comment was not correct for your situation, perhaps it was only in my situation that it reflected not having a connection to my ISP.

Anyway here is the official Apple Knowlege Base Article describing the meaning of the Status Lights.
Wi-Fi base stations: All about Wi-Fi Base Station Status Lights (LED)

DavidH