I cannot access or update my Airport Base Station

The base station is working, I am able to connect to the internet and all my wireless computers are able to connect but I am not able to access the base station it's self to update the firmware or change the settings. Every time I try to access the base station with "Airport Utility" I get an error message. When I try to update the firmware I also get an error message. I was able to download the newest firmware by holding down the option key but the base station won't load it. I was able to reset the station but now I am not able to access the settings to reset the password. What is going on?