Any time I have changed the network configuration of an Airport device I started with a full reset.
There are
three ways to reset an AirPort base station; you've described (albeit not quite correctly) a Hard reset, and beyond that there's a Factory Default reset. (There's also a n/a Soft reset.)
So I followed Apple's instructions in an attempt to get back to square one, but both Hard and Factory Default resets failed: after having undergone both procedures, my AirPort Express was still configured as it had been when I began.
The lessons to be learned are that my "refurbished" base station apparently isn't as refurbished as it was made out to be, and, sadly, that the reliability of everything I've reported thus-far is questionable.
As to the reset process itself,
- If you selected Join you will be presented with a list of the available networks NOTE: You will be presented with a list of networks on both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands if and ONLY if this the Airport device has been reset and you have connected to it in Airport Utility via the Apple Network NNNNNNN
My AE's being faulty may make this moot, but doesn't that fly in the face of my having seen both 2.4 and 5 GHz networks (albeit not
all the available 5 GHz ones) in a "Join" pane without having done any sort of reset?
Note: Apple sells refurbished AirPort Express base stations for $50, but now that I've determined that my first refurb has apparently been faulty since day one, I'm not at all thrilled by the thought of buying a second one...even at a $50 saving.
