Airport Extreme

I really need some help.
I've had an Airport Extreme base station for years. I just plugged it in and it worked perfectly. Occasionally it would ask me to 'set it up', I always ignored that because I just didn't want anything to do with all the WEP LAN -whatever. No problem for 3 or 4 years. About a week ago, someone in my neighborhood evidently got an Airport Wireless router and it has 'taken over' my internet connection ! My Dell desktop connects to thier network just fine, but my iPad and iPod do not, it request a password for them.
I have uninstalled and installed to no avail. I've been considering resetting the Airport Ext to 'factory settings', but that seems like a last resort thing and I'm not sure it would even work.
I would be so grateful for some help.

Try changing the channel in congested air traffic auto does not always work also you might consider using WPA2 as WEP is weak and can be hacked.

Thank you

--------however, I'm really in the dark. How do I 'change the channel' ?

Lost

osxx said:

Try changing the channel in congested air traffic auto does not always work also you might consider using WPA2 as WEP is weak and can be hacked.

Click to expand...

Thank you, but I have no idea how to 'change the channel' ?? Is there a link on the Apple site that might show how to do this ? The book that came with the airport extreme is no help at all.

AirPort Utility > Manual Setup > Airport >Wireless >Radio Channel Selection > Manual > Edit
You might want to download a program like iStumbler (free) that shows you the traffic in your neighborhood so you can find a channel with the least amount of traffic and low noise.

Thank you osxx I appareciate your help. Wish me luck !

Your welcome.

SUCESS !! Thank you. Your help is extremely good. You give the 'pared down' steps without cluttering it up with confusing, unnecessary info. I taught Phase IV programmed ticketing at American Airlines for years and that is how I taught the new agents.
Most grateful !

Would this also cause my Airport to suddenly not allow me to connect to it unless I'm sitting right next to it? I've had NO issues for months and "suddenly" it can't find the airport, it says it's not connected [even though the light is green], but as soon as I come into the room where the Airport is, it finds it and it works. When I walk out of the room again ... BINGO! it loses the connection. VERY annoying.

DrDebi said:

Would this also cause my Airport to suddenly not allow me to connect to it unless I'm sitting right next to it? I've had NO issues for months and "suddenly" it can't find the airport, it says it's not connected [even though the light is green], but as soon as I come into the room where the Airport is, it finds it and it works. When I walk out of the room again ... BINGO! it loses the connection. VERY annoying.

Click to expand...

Using iStumbler what does it state your signal strength at and have you added anything like a new cordless phone or baby monitor ?

osxx said:

Using iStumbler what does it state your signal strength at and have you added anything like a new cordless phone or baby monitor ?

Click to expand...

I haven't downloaded iStumbler because I see lots of problems with Lion and am not willing to add another "problem" into the mix. However, my signal strength shows as high on my Mac wi-fi icon. And, no, we haven't added any new technology. Fortunately [?] all my babies are grown. lol

Give this a shot. Hidden Wi-Fi Diagnostics Tool In Mac OS X 10.7 Lion - SubRosaSoft.com Inc.