Airport Express Failure Caused by Ethernet Switch

I was baffled for a while with frequent dropouts of one of my Airport Express units. This one receives wireless from an Airport Extreme, then I connect its ethernet port to a gigabit switch which provides hardwire connections for my television, Blu-Ray, and Dish Network reciever. I also use its audio port for AirPlay music to my stereo.
This configuration worked flawlessly for a long time. Then it suddenly dropped out. Timing coincided with the release of 7.6 AirPort firmware, and iTunes 10.5.1 ... so naturally I blamed Apple, downgraded the software, and still had the problem.
The bigest clue came when I switched this Aiport Express with another one that had been working flawlessly in another room. It had te same symptoms. Conclusion: It wasn't the Apple hardware!
I unplugged the audio jack and ethernet cable. Suddenly the Airport Express was visible to my network. Next step change the CAT5/6 cable. That's when I discovered that my ethernet switch was blinking abnormally. So I removed its power. Upon restart/reset everything has been working normally for the last three days!
So the lesson learned is that the Airport Express is sensitive to the downstream devices connected to its ethernet port. I hope this can help someone with troubleshooting in the future. Dont panic! Check your cables and reset your devices.

I did initially leave it all to do its own thing and the new Airport Utility picture layout appeared to show it all connected up... but that would only last a minute or two before we noticed that the wifi was just gone (the pictures in Utility would change to yellow triangles and say the devices were no longer available.)
Sorry, but I cannot duplicate this error.
When you connect devices using Ethernet, AirPort Utility will display a solid line between the devices. A dotted line is displayed if the devices are connecting using wireless.

Similar Messages

How do I set up multiple Airport Expresses to connect over ethernet for Airtunes only?

I am trying to set up an Airtunes network using an Airport Extreme and three Airport Expresses connected together via ethernet (CAT5 cable). At each Airport Express there will be a speaker setup. I don't need/want internet connectivity on the network, but not sure if it is required for setup or not. I have made this work over wifi, using the Expresses to extend the network, but struggling to get this to work over ethernet.
I would be verry grateful of a step-by-step method to setting this up! I am also looking to set up 6 airport expresses to do the same thing in another location.
Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the info.
I assume that the AirPort Extreme is setup and working at this point.
Work with one AirPort Express at a time to get them all configured, and then you can locate them where they will be needed.
AirPort Setup will configure the Express devices to "extend a wireless network" using Ethernet, so they will be broadcasting the same wireless signal as the AirPort Extreme and provide more wireless signal coverage as well.
I have yet to meet the first person who thought that they had too much wireless coverage, but you would have the option to turn off the wireless on the Express if you wanted. Most users like having extended wireless for their devices.
Temporarily, move an Express close to the AirPort Extreme
Connect a spare Ethernet cable from one of the LAN <-> ports on the Extreme to the WAN "O" port on the Express
Power up the Express for a few minutes
Hold in the reset button on the back of the Express for 10 seconds and release. Allow a full minute for the Express to restart to a slow, blinking amber light.
Click the Airport icon at the top of the Mac's screen and wait a few seconds for AirPort Express to appear just under the listing of New AirPort Base Station
Click directly on the AirPort Express
AirPort Setup will open up automatically and take a minute to analyze the network, then announce that the Express will be configured to extend the AirPort Extreme network.
Enter a device name that you want to use....example.....Express1.....and click Next
AirPort Setup will configure everything for you. Notice that the message will say that the Express is being set up to extend using Ethernet. When you see the message of setup complete, click Done.
Now you can move the Express to the remote location where it is needed, hook it up to the Ethernet connection there, power up the Express and set up AirTunes on the device.
AirTunes is enabled by default, to other than make the speaker connection, you won't have much to do on that.
Set up other Express devices the same way, except assign a different name to each device....example....Express2, Express3, etc.....to keep things organized.

Can multiple Airport Expresses be connected via ethernet to an Airport Extreme to extend a single WiFi Network?

I am a big fan of both the Airport Extreme and Airport Express. In my work environment, I need to create a good quality single wireless network around 2 large aircraft hangars and some offices at the perimeters. We have a good quality wired Cat5e ethernet network extended between the buildings and offices now. Is this possible and does it seem like a good practical solution? I think that 4 or 5 Airport expresses would easily provide good wireless coverage in the needed areas.

Can multiple AirPort Expresses be connected via ethernet to an AirPort Extreme to extend a single WiFi Network?
Yes, this will work just fine as long as any individual Ethernet cable run will not exceed much over 330 feet or about 100 meters.

Airport Express (not n) with ethernet hub and as wireless base

Will Airport Express do this?
I've got a cable modem. It connects by ethernet to a hub. Airport Express (not n) connects to the hub by ethernet. My laptops (MacBook and HP 69xx WinXP Pro) connect to AX and internet just fine.
In that same hub, I want to connect a D-Link DNS323, which I wish to be made accessible to the wireless network provided by AX. Here's a sort-of diagram:
cable ethernet
modem ---> hub <--- Airport Express <--- laptops, AppleTV, etc. by wireless
^
|
|
D-Link
DNS 323
Can AX (old style, not n version) use its ethernet connector to both communicate with my cable modem and with other wired ethernet devices through my hub?
Thanks for helping. I tried searching for similar posts, but I failed to find an answer.

With only the hub, the NAS, and the express, you can't access both the internet and the NAS wirelessly at the same time. Here's why:
The AirPort Express has only one Ethernet port. That port can either act as a WAN port or a LAN port, but not both at the same time.
You need the Express to be connected to the internet. Unless you have another wireless router (Apple or otherwise), it will have to be connected through its Ethernet port. Therefore, the Ethernet port must act as a WAN port.
The NAS, on the other hand, is part of your network. For it to be connected, the port must act as a LAN port.
This means that the NAS can't be connected to the Express via Ethernet because then the port would need to act both as a LAN port and a WAN port, which it can't do.
This means you'll need an additional wireless router if you want to access both the internet and the NAS at the same time.
If you have another wireless router (it doesn't have to be an AirPort), I can help you configure it to work with your current network so that you can access the NAS.
Message was edited by: adsfushi72

Advice? Networking Airport Express, old iMac and ethernet converter/switch

Got an old iMac (266 mHz, OS 10.3.9, 384M RAM) I'm trying to get wireless and network with wife's laptop and (in a few weeks) a new MacBook. Internet is from a wireless provider (Clearwire.net) and its modem hooks into iMac's ethernet port. Works great.
Also have an Airport Express and I see two options here: Get an ethernet converter for the iMac or an ethernet switch that would connect to the Airport Express and the iMac (Clearwire modem, iMac and Airport Express are in same room, so wire connections not a problem).
The latter is cheaper (switch vs. converter), but would tie me down to that room. How much of a hassle would it be to network the iMac through the converter since it doesn't have an Airport card? Can I set up Airport Express through the Airport Assistant software in OS 10.3.9 on the iMac even though it doesn't (and can't) have a card?

All I can tell you is how I have my home network setup and hopefully that will give you some ideas. I have DSL at home which came with a DSL modem / Wireless router made by Westell. I have an eMac running 10.3.9 which I have an Airport Extreme card installed. I have my old "Grape" tray-loading iMac running OS9.2.2 for which I purchased an Ethernet-to-WiFi bridge device. And finally I have an ancient Windows ME running laptop on which I have a USB-to-WiFi device (I got it in a trade). All three of these I was able to setup and configure to access the internet via the DSL wireless router.
So to answer one of your questions, yes the Ethernet-to-WiFi bridges work fine, are OS independent, do not require drivers, and won't tie up your valuable USB port instead using the Ethernet port you likely are not using anyway.
However, the one thing I have not bothered to do is to share the computers with each other. In other words, all of them can connect to the internet but none of them are set up to see the others or share files. For what little sharing or file moving I need to do, I just use an USB Flash drive, which all three computers can see/use fine and transfer stuff that way if I need to.
Hope that at least helps a little with your quest,
Patrick

Printing from imac over airport express connected to an ethernet network

Hi, My home ethernet network shares an ethernet connected printer, and web connection via a switch and worked fine. What doesn't now work is my rearrangement that now includes an emac, and imac connected to this wired net via an airport express, they connect to the web just fine, but the printer isn't detected. I can hookup either mac to the switch directly using cat5 cable and detect the printer but not over the airport express that is wired to the switch. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated as I am trying to avoid more holes drilled in the floor so near where the plastic waterlines run to the second bathroom.
Thank you,

Hello again,
I'm guessing that the problem is maybe that both the switch and the express are duplicating some of the same things, and that the airport express should maybe be setup as strictly a bridge. Would one be able to set it up as a bridge and be able to handle 2 macs, or would it just handle one correctly at a time?
Thanks

AirPort Express connected to an Ethernet network

At home, I have three Macs connected to an existing Ethernet switch, which are networked together and share an Internet connection through a DSL modem (connected to the Ethernet switch too).
Also, I have a Graphite AirPort Base connected to the same Ethernet switch, with a MacBook and an iBook wirelessly networked, and all these 5 computer «see» each other and connect to the Internet without problems.
Now I'm trying to replace the Graphite AirPort Base with an AirPort Express, but looks like I'm having problems to make it act as an Ethernet bridge, since:
1) the MacBook and the iBook «see» each other, but don't «see» the Macs connected to the Ethernet bridge;
2) the MacBook and the iBook connect to the Internet without problems, but the other Macs don't.
I searched the Apple site and this forum extensively, but I didn't find a detailed guide explaining how to set up this kind of «hybrid» network (wireless+ethernet) through the AirPort Express. I'm beginning to think it's not possible. Am I wrong?
Is there a method to replicate the situation I had with the Graphite AirPort Base, using the AirPort Express instead?
Roberto Giannotta
Trieste, Italy
Power Mac G5 2.1GHz 20" 1.5GB RAM , MacBook 2.0GHz 2GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Ensure that the Airport Express is configured to NOT distribute IP addresses under the network Tab.
iFelix

Can I print from my iPhone/iPad via my Airport Express without my Mac being switched on?

When I want to print on my home system I must have my Mac running on the network. I prefer to have that switched off in the evening as I just use the iPhone /iPad from a separate building (within the extended network) but need to print!
Airport Express is set up .... Router -erthernet -> Airport Extreme -wireless -> A.Express (Extended) --> ethernet -> to Brother MFC-9120CN.
Is there a way to set that up without the need for a separate print server???
Thanks

Chances are, you have already tried this and already know the answer.
But, if not....sorry, but no......since your printer is not AirPrint compatible, you must use the extra software workaround in the Mac.
A newer AirPrint printer would allow you to do what you want.

Can I use Airport Express for printing and Ethernet printing at same time?

I've been trying to set up a couple of laser printers that were given to me recently. The printers are Apple LaserWriter 16/600 PS and Samsung CLP-510. The reason I'd like to have both up and running is because the black toner for the Samsung costs twice as much as the toner for the LaserWriter. I have two questions that I am hoping someone will be able to answer.
1) The CLP prints a test page just fine. I was finally able to get the Samsung printing while directly connected to my PowerBook G4 via usb (I had to install a Xerox Phaser 6100 driver to do so!). Today I tried putting the usb into my Airport Express (which I use for my portable internet and airtunes) and now the printer does not respond. When I try to add the CLP as a bonjour printer, I get an error adding the printer and the printer does not respond. Can someone offer some advice as to how and if the CLP may work via the Airport Express?
2) The LaserWriter prints a test page just fine. I purchased a transceiver (albeit not an Apple transceiver - this one says Asante Friendlynet, the guy I bought it from said it would work though). The transceiver is connected to the Ethernet port on the printer - and I have a yellow ethernet cable (?) running from the transceiver to the ethernet port on my computer. I read somewhere on the internet that I need to turn on Appletalk in order to use the printer via ethernet but when I went into my network settings to do that, there was a warning that I could not turn on appletalk for ethernet without forsaking my airport. Can someone offer some advice as to how and if the 16/600 PS may work via ethernet without disrupting my (working) airport express? Also - I did not receive any software or drivers with this printer but I read that I may not need to (they come with Tiger - ?) Is anyone able to confirm this?
Any help would be TOTALLY appreciated!
Leigh-Ann

Hello Kappy! Thank you for taking the time to reply to my question.
I should update you at this point to say that I can add the 16/600 PS printer through a process that I found called 'Direct IP printing over ethernet'. (I think I've done this correctly - but I honestly have no idea about network stuff). Here's what I did:
-went into system prefs and looked at the network settings under built-in ethernet tab. Under TCP-IP I found the IP address of my network host.
-In the Printer Setup Utility I tried to manually add the 16/600 PS printer. In the Printer Browser window, I selected IP Printer.
-Under IP printer, I selected LPD Protocol. I inserted the IP address copied from my network settings (above) in the address bar. In the Queue bar I typed in the name of the printer 'Apple LaserWriter 16/600 PS'.
-Again in the Printer Browser box I gave the printer a name and location. Finally, in the 'print using' box I selected Apple and then chose the model from the drop down list. 'Apple LaserWriter 16/600 PS fax v.2014.016'
-I got a dialogue box that asked about other installable features - clicked ok.
-when I tried to print a Word document, the Apple LaserWriter driver opened up and appeared in my dock and then I got an immediate error saying "network host ---.---.--.--- is busy, down, or unreachable..."
-I tried to repair permissions, but it did not resolve my issue.
-I noticed that even after adding the 16/600, it did not show up as a bonjour printer, but remained visible as a printer in my list (although grayed out).
I did some troubleshooting and the best I could find as a close match for my problem was that perhaps I had entered the name incorrectly in the Queue box...? If anyone knows how to find the appropriate name to insert I would sure appreciate knowing.
Finally - you should probably know that I received this printer from someone else. I guess I'm wondering if I need to be resetting network settings on the printer somehow? The test page lists the following:
Ethernet (Address: 08:00:07:84:78:e9)
EtherTalk: PostScript
NetWare: AutoSelect
TCP/IP: AutoSelect
IP address: 0.0.0.0
And - now finally, to answer your questions (the best I can, that is)
I did connect the yellow network cable directly into my laptop (right side, 4th input, counting away from me). I have a portable internet modem that plugs into my wall (for power) and then has a cable (Ethernet?) that goes into my Airport Express (LAN port?). I have no other router and there are no other inputs or outputs on my modem. My Airport Express has only one input for the modem, one mini input for airtunes, and one usb input (in which I have a cable connecting to my other laser printer (now working wirelessly via Airport Express!!)
Should I have these cables hooked up differently?
What is a Phonenet adaptor? My internet is provided via a cable service (not DSL). It is wireless and portable - I can take it to any major city in Canada and it works as long as it is plugged into a power source and near a window.
I really appreciate any help you can offer. At this point I must have spent the better part of almost two weeks trying to get these older laser printers up and running.
Thank you again.
Leigh-Ann

How do I extend my WiFi with Airport Express? I have Ethernet in the house and an Wifi that do not cover the whole house. I do not get it to work.

I have Ethernet in the house and an Wifi that do not cover the whole house. I do not get it to work. I have tried to get it into my network and it get connected via the WiFi but not the Ethernet. Also when it gives a green light I cannot see that it is giving any signals to my devices (iPhone etc).

You need to pay attention to something, while extending your network with the latest AirPort Express upgrade, your devices will be connected to it except your iPhone, you'll see your iPhone always connected to the capsule instead, even if you're at 1 foot from the AirPort Express.
You need to change the radio settings from automatic to 802.11a - 802.11b/g on your capsule, then I put it back to the default settings...
Now in the AirPort utility you should see your iPhone connected to the AirPort

Using airport Express on a hotel ethernet to create a wireless network

Hi there, yesterday I bought an airport express as I was lead to beleive it was the perfect device and simple to set up with regards to creating a wireless network from a ethernet connection in a hotel room. I seem to get a green light and seem to aquire a valid IP address of 192.168.2.102 and the AE utility doesn't state I have any problems and yet I cannot connect to the internet. I am from the UK and currently in Honk Kong on business for the next few days and desperately need to get a wireless connection sorted. I have read through many of the archives on these forum pages and it is still not certain to me whether I should be using bridged mode or not?
btw, I can connect my pc and get internet access without any problems by ethernet directly into my pc.
can someone advise me of the settings I should use given my scenario (ethernet connection in a hotel room). Given how much tme I have invested trying to get the AE to connect to the internet I would prefer to stick with it and get it workShort rather than taking the Airport Express back to the Apple store tomorrow and moving to a hotel with wireless and not ethernet connection.
Help appreciated
Russellb

Hello, thanks for your suggestions. I have tried setting up the AE using my girlfreinds Win XP computer instead of my vista one and it setup 1st time without any problems. In fact, the options I got presented with were slightly different. Shocked at what a difference installation and setup can be from using a Vista laptop to a XP netbook. Maoin thing it is now working and you were correct about using it in bridged mode so many thanks.
Russyb

Using Older Airport Express as an wireless/ethernet bridge

Hi there,
I noticed that people are using their Airport Express (n) products to create a bridge to wireless networks via the ethernet port on the Express.
Is this possible for older non-N Airport Expresses?
I read online that one could set up a WDS network, but I am having -no- luck doing that. Each time I try, I am prompted to enter other nodes on the WDS network, but there's a chicken and egg problem since the first node I am trying to set up keeps requiring other nodes before applying the changes to the configuration it is very frustrating.
I have an Airport Extreme (b/g) and two airport expresses (b/g) and would very very much like to connect an ethernet-run skype phone to one of the expresses. I currently use one as an AirTunes node, and the other (the one I want to use for the skype ophone) as a wireless printer node. Is it possible to use the latter as an ethernet bridge? Can I do that without setting up a WDS network? If I have to have a WDS network, what are the step by step instructions I should follow to do that for all the hardware listed above?
This seems a lot harder than it should be.

+I noticed that people are using their Airport Express (n) products to create a bridge to wireless networks via the ethernet port on the Express.+
+Is this possible for older non-N Airport Expresses?+
It is only possible with the older Express if you also have an Apple main router and setup all the devices in a WDS arrangement. If you are having difficulty setting up the WDS on your network, reference pages 42-44 in the Designing AirPort Networks Guide for a step by step procedure of this. Or, perhaps you might want to use one of the excellent posts by Tesserax for this as well. See this post.

AirPort Express not working with Ethernet

How is it possible, that my AirPort Express works only when my Mac Book Pro is WiFi connected to the network? As soon as I connect the Mac Book with Ethernet cable, iTunes doesn't find APX anymore. This is no Firewall issue, as I can ping and telnet to 3689 around in all directions. All software versions are updated.
OS: 10.6.5
iTunes: 10.1 (54)
APX: 7.4.2, connected to existing WiFi
Many thanks for your help, Stefan

I have the same issue. Mine fixed itself for a bit and now it's broken again. I'm thinking it's going to be intermittently broken. I've tried turning both devices off and on again but that did not help.

Airport Express Stopped Working when I switched to FIOS wireless router

AirPort Express worked for several years with Linksys router. When I upgraded to FIOS service, it came with a new wireless router. I have two Macs (iMac-G5 and MacBook 2.0 GHz) and work-supplied Lenovo T-61. Network is set up with WPA2 with 23-character-long pass phrase. AE (802.11B/G) will not connect to network. I can reset it to factory defaults and Airport Utility will find it. I then change the wireless interface on iMac to match the default network and I can configure the AE. When I apply the configuration changes, the AE reboots and never comes on-line. It stays in either the blinking orange pattern or in the alternate between orange and green pattern.
I have tried setting the AE up manually as well as "automatically" and have not had any success. I was a network engineer for over 10 years, so I have lots of experience configuring IP routing and switching. The log files on the FIOS router do not show any attempts by the AE to connect to my LAN.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

Suspecting a problem with the security key, I began to experiment with different security settings. My first attempt was to change the security setting on the Verizon router from WPA2 to WPA. I did not change the key. When I did, I was able to configure the AirPort Express and then get the Airport Express to reboot and establish wireless communications with the FIOS router. Again, the only change I made was to switch the encryption type on the FIOS router from WPA2 to WPA. I have no idea why the AirPort Express would not properly join the network when the main wireless access point (the FIOS router) was using WPA2 security.

Airport Express does not allow ethernet connection to internet

I use my Airport Express to stream music to my speakers from iTunes, but I find that I cannot access the Internet via the ethernet modem connection. What is the deal?

Hello Stonegroove. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
In order to use the Ethernet port on the AirPort Express Base Station (AX) to access the Internet, the AX would have to be configured as part of a Wireless Distribution System (WDS).

Airport Express Failure Caused by Ethernet Switch

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