Airport Express Base station turns itself off

I recently had an airport express base station that died completely. Apple replaced it on warranty. Now my new base station behaves very erratically. After a while without activity, the airport turns itself off. The only way of getting it back is to unplug the power and plug it in again. This works most of the time, but sometimes I need to repeat several times or reset it as it locks itself with a steady yellow light and my computer cannot see it. I guess one could live with this if it wasn't for the fact that my DSL modem (Motorola) and base station are kind of hidden and difficult to access...
I have had airport express wireless networks for several years and this kind of behavior was never a problem before. The new base station has the latest firm ware, it was updated just a few days ago.

To Apple Discussions!
Suggest that you post over in the AirPort Express Forums. It's where the AP users hang out.
"Now my new base station behaves very erratically."
I would give Apple a call first.

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AirPort Express Base Station signal drops on and off

My Airport Express Base Station signal drops on and off about every 2 minutes. It’s quite frustrating. I currently have a Windows XP PC, with a Linksys Wireless Router. I’ve taken several steps as prescribed in the support chats to no avail. I’ve switched channels, updated software/firmware (iTunes, Base Station and my Router), reconfigured my security settings to no security back to my regular security settings, I’ve placed the base station right next to my router in case it was due to interference, I’ve used headphones in the event it was my stereo, I’ve changed different utility settings (interference robustness, stream size, etc). I’ve opted to use the option “Create a Wireless Network” versus “Existing Wireless Network” and back to “Existing Wireless Network”. Again, all to no avail. Can someone offer some insight to help solve this problem? The problem is so annoying that I no longer use the base station.
Thanks in advance,
Rene
AirPort Express Base Station Windows XP

Maybe Windows is trying to get an 802.1x authentication which should be disabled:
Ensure that the Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network check box is not checked.
http://www.efelix.co.uk/tech/1010.html
It seems updating Windows XP to Service Pack 2 fixes that.

Airport Express Base Station and HP Laserjet 1020 printer connected

Dear all,
I have a Laptop (PC) Sony Vaio PCG-Z1XSP and an Airport Express Base Station which work perfectly together (internet access and I-tunes). I recently bought a printer HP Laserjet 1020 and connected it to the Airport Express USB soket. I managed to make it work and print a couple of times, but as soon as I turn off the printer or the computer or Airport Express, the next time I want to print, it doesn't work anymore.
The Airport Admin Utility recognises the printer (I can see it listed). I have updated the Airport Express software to the Firmware version 6.3 as well as downloaded the latest driver available on HP's website for my printer. I've also substituted the USB cable. Can anybody help me here? Thank you very much and best regards.

Hallo everybody,
Thanks for all the answers. I have contacted HP's chat online and gone through the problem with 3 different technicians. I've tried a lot myself too. The issue was partially solved by restarting the printer spooler, i.e. stop, then start and then restart it.
However after I was so happy that the printer worked, I turn off everything. When I turn on again, it was not working anymore. Then I tried to see by exclusion what the problem is, I had to restart the Hardwar I don't know how many times.
Conclusion:
1. The USB cable must be plugged into the airport express before turning on anything.
2. Turn on the printer first.
3. Turn on the airport express and the computer.
4. If you try to print it doesn't work, even if you reset the airport express through the airport express utility software. The printer is recognized and appears in it though.
5. Disconnect the USB cable from the airport express and connect it to the PC directly.
6. Print a document.
7. Disconnect the cable and reconnect it to the airport express.
8. Now you should be able to print wireless. You may need to reset the airport expresst with the utility softwar, but I managed to print without having to do it.
9. The pörinter works even if you turn off and on again the computer, or you suspend the windows session and restart it, or if you put it in standby and restart it.
10. The printer works even if you turn off the airport express and the computer, or the airport express alone and restart them/it.
11. The printer doens't work anymore if you turn it off and onn again. In such a case you have to plug in/out as discribeb above.
Solution: Leave the printer always on, or make the plug in/out every morning when you start the computer and print one page direclty before being able to print wireless.
Does anybody have a solution to this problem? I mean it prints, but it is annoying to plug in/out every day, no?
HP's technician says that it is not a recommanded solution the HP Laserjet 1020 with the airport express, since the printer works on a host based server basis... I mean it is easy to say that, but one expects to buy a printer that works always and not to have to plug in/out everyday, restart spooler and so on.
Can anybody comment or suggest anything I can do to avoid this? Thank you and I hope this helps others too.

Airport express base station too old?

I keep intermittently losing my wifi connection with my Macbook Pro. However, my iPhone and my iPad have no problems jumping on the wifi connection.
I have an XBridgeDSL ethernet router modem which is paired with an Airport Express base station and both of them are about 13 or 14 years old. I installed Mavericks when it came out, everything seemed fine, but am wondering if it was a step too far for my poor old kit.
I can get wired connection with the computer no problem, and right now I've managed to get Wi-fi - but it randomly disappears, and the network doesn't show up in the list of available networks.
I've just run Airport Utility and it finally showing my base station, but says it doesn't support it.
Am I having these problems because my base station is too old now?
I don't really want to incurr any unnecessary expense of buying new kit if I don't need to...
At the moment I have to switch between wired and wifi depending on which device I want to use which isn't great.
Any further advice or tips would be great.
Best
Heather

Hi,
Yes, that's exactly the same message I got with my base station (but in English). This has worked for me:
-Disconnect from wifi
-Moved computer very close to the router
-Place ethernet cable from router modem to computer, connect to internet wired.
-Left it for a few hours, then put the ethernet cable back into the airport express
-After about 20 mins I went back to the computer and noticed it was connected to wifi again
-Haven't turned it off since so OK so far
-Found a new internet supplier who will supplier a wireless router modem free of charge and signed up. I just have to hang on till 11th Jan!
Slightly unorthodox perhaps, but it's worked
Good luck with yours, my feeling is that my Apple base station is now too old and no longer supported. Also I suspect I'll get better internet download speeds with the new router modem, currently only getting 4000mbs compared to a possible 120,000mbs in our area, and my upload speed is about 0.4mbs.
H

MBP doesn't find my Airport express base station (sometimes)

Just lately my MBP has been intermittently failing to find my Airport express base station, either on startup or after waking up. When this happens my base station doesn't appear in the list of available networks so I can't even connect manually. Sometimes it is solved by turning airport on and off, and after a few times the base station reappears in the list and I can connect manually. Other times it requires a computer restart. Either way it wastes about 5 minutes and is driving me crazy.
All software and firmware is up to date, and all permissions have been checked and repaired. Has anyone else had this problem?
Tom

Try changing the channel of the base station.

Airport express base station as Wireless Access Point?

I purchased the Airport Express base station with the intent of providing wi-fi for my office. There is already a router with the radio turned off serving as a network switch. Can I add the Airport express as a wireless access point?

Sorry, I do not have an iOS device handy to try to figure out what is going wrong. Having tried this in the past though, I have noticed that AirPort Utility for iOS tries to analyze the connection and then configure things automatically.
Unfortunately, it does not always choose the correct settings and then it is necessary to look for a way to manually configure things.
I may be able to use my wife's iPad later today. Please confirm that you are connecting an Ethernet cable from one of the LAN <-> ports on the router or switch to the WAN "O" port on the AirPort Express so that I can set things up exactly the same way here and work on a manual procedure for the configuration.

AirPort Express base station needs frequent power-cycling

Hi, I've got an AirPort Express base station, roughly three years old at this point. Every so often I can't connect to the internet --- not wirelessly from my laptop, nor from the desktop that is cabled to the base station. The solution is to power-cycle the base station. Other, less drastic attempts to restore my internet connection never work.
This used to happen just every once in a while, but it's been increasing in frequency --- to the point where it happens almost every day now.
Anyone know what's going on? Time to take it in for service, or maybe time to buy a new one?

Thanks for the clarification. This will make troubleshooting somewhat easier.
Suggest that you pick a time when you can turn the wireless off on the AirPort Extreme for a few days. Keep as many things as possible connected using ethernet cables. If you find that you do not have to restart the AirPort Extreme daily as you do now, that's a pretty strong indication that the problems are being caused by wireless interference of some sort.
Remember that devices connected using ethernet and devices that are connected using wireless are all still on the same network. So, if the wireless is picking up stray interference, it can certainly affect other devices on the network, including loss of your Internet connection.
If you find that you still need to restart the AirPort Extreme with wireless turned off during your "test", then that narrows the possible issues down to several things:
o The modem is experiencing intermittent problems
o The AirPort Extreme is experiencing intermittent problems
Assuming that you know you have good ethernet cables, you can plug a computer directly into the modem for a day or two and keep tabs on things. If you continue to experience a connection loss, the modem is likely acting up.
If you have no problems connecting directly to the modem, then it's time to take the Airport Extreme to an Apple store to let them have a look and perform some diagnostics. If it's an intermittent problem, it will be hard to find, as the product will likely perform perfectly during the tests.

I have two airport express base stations that I want to configure on two separate sets of speakers in two separate rooms. How do I do this? Airport Utility only seems to scan one express at a time.

I am currently running a PowerPC G5 imac and have a wired broadband modem via ethernet with airport wireless network turned on, on the G5. I have the computer in the bedroom and have an airport express wired into a mixer that connects to my stereo. I have recently bought another airport express base station to connect to a pair of active monitors in the kitchen. When I try to scan these on Airport Utility version 5.42 I am only managing to scan one base unit at a time. I have plugged them in separately and reset them, they both have firmware updates, however the utility will only read one at once. I have read that you can link base stations to the same WDS. I would like to know how to go about doing this if it will only scan one airport express at a time. I have looked it up on the net and not found anything that is a simple fix. Can anyone help? In Apple Support it says that multiple Base Stations can be used. I would like to get both Apple Airport Express units to be able play airtunes separately or at the same time depending where I am in my flat. I do not need different music in each room. I would like to stream music from the computer to multiple rooms in the flat without having to continually unplug and configure the Base Stations. Has anyone come across such a challenge? Any help would be welcome.

How do I configure the AX to connect to the hub's wireless network? It will only scan one base station Airport Express at a time in the Airport Utility. I think what I am trying to do is use the hub as a router to the two AX's. Is there a specific way to set this up?
To set up the AX to join a wireless network as a "Wireless Client," using the AirPort Utility, either connect to the AX's wireless network or temporarily connect your computer directly (using an Ethernet cable) to the Ethernet port of the AX, and then, try these settings:
Launch the AirPort Utility.
Select the AX.
If not already connected to the AX's wireless network, go ahead and switch to it when prompted.
AirPort Utility > Select the AX > Manual Setup > AirPort > Wireless
Wireless Mode: Join a wireless network
Network Name: <type in the network name/SSID of the wireless network that you want to join or select it from the pop-up menu>
Wireless Security: None OR, if you are using security on your wireless network:
Wireless Security: <Select the appropriate level of security for the existing wireless network: WPA/WPA2 Personal | WPA2 Personal>
Password: <enter your wireless network security password>
Verify Password: <re-enter the same security password>
Click Update to write the new settings to the AX.

Airport Express Base Station no longer detectable by my computer

Ever since I went wireless last year, I have had a love-hate relationship with my Airport Express Base Station. It seems to take forever and a day to configure the sucker, then, somehow I do and it works well for several months - until something happens to muck up the works. That thing seems to have happened this morning when Earthlink's DSL connection got wonky (it was a glitch that apparently covered a large part of the country). That glitch apparently worked itself out, but after I put my MacBook to sleep in order to get lunch, suddenly my PPPoE host went missing when I woke the machine up. Further examination indicated that, although my wireless network was still there, the MacBook could no longer find my Base Station, even though the light was still working. Resetting the Base Station does not help. I am at my wit's end here. I can work via Ethernet DSL line, but I have become used to wireless, and without a viable network, my Mac mini can't connect to the Internet. Help!

Could you post what you did in order to resolve the issue. I'm having a problem with the base station in that I cannot connect to the internet with my laptops (a mac and pc) while I can connect wirelessly to my network with my desktop (G4). The base station is not detected in the base statin admin utility or the aiport setup utility. If anyone else has a solution I would be much obliged to read it.
Thanks!

Can't read airport express base station configuration wirelessly

The setup:
2TB time capsule that takes the ethernet feed from the cable modem for internet access.
Airport express 802.11g plugged into speakers for Airtunes. No ethernet connection, just a wireless network.
The problem:
I can only read the airport express base station configuration when the mac is plugged into the time capsule by ethernet cable. This does not happen with the other mac I have on the network. It can connect to both the time capsule and the airport express without any problems. So unless I'm plugged in, iTunes and airtunes doesn't connect to the base station, and neither can Airfoil 3.5 or Airport Utility. Airport Utility does see the airport express. It just doesn't read the configuration wirelessly.
I think this had something to do with elgato eyetv not liking airfoil, but I can't say for sure.
Any thoughts?

When I switch it on all three lights flash, but then after a while the middle one stays on and nothing happens.
You posted in the AirPort Express area, but it sounds like you have an AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS)--correct?
If so, let's start by performing a complete power recycling of your network components to make sure that the BT Voyager router "recognizes" the AEBS.
Modem/Router Power Recycling - Quick
- Power-off the BT Voyager modem, AEBS, & computer(s); Wait at least 5 minutes.
- Power-on the BT Voyager modem; Wait at least 5 minutes.
- Power-on the AEBS; Wait at least 5 minutes.
- Power-on the computer(s)
If this fails to get the modem to "recognize" the Internet router, then try the "Full" version.
Modem/Router Power ReCycling - Full
- Power-off the BT Voyager modem, AEBS, & computer(s). (Wait at least 30 minutes. If possible, leave the modem off overnight.)
- Power-on the BT Voyager modem; Wait at least 30 minutes.
- Power-on the AEBS; Wait at least 5 minutes.
- Power-on the computer(s)

Airport express base station A1034

hi all
I bought a used airport express base station, the old one, because I love it's style, but I have a problem. I don't know how to setup my internet connection, how to even configure my router.
I tried to install the software, but it gives me a message saying that "the software on your mac is a newer version". well I started the 'AirPort Utility' and found the router, but after one hour waiting to 'retrieve the configuration from the router' I've got an error message that 'cannot retrieve the configuration'!!! Now I don't know what should I do. I started thinking about the 'enabler' software, but I'm not sure it will help.
by the way, I have a DSL connection via the PHONE!! my router is speedtouch. there is a port which I connect a phone like cable to it. and then it connects to the internet. how to do the same thing in the airport express?!?!?! there is a WAN port which says connect to DSL or ... , but my DSL is over the phone not WAN.
any help would be great.
thanks in advance

If you have a speedtouch router then you only need to use the airport base station as a wireless access point and switch.
First off I would reset your base station to factory defaults. see Resetting the AirPort Base Station (Dual Ethernet) or Resetting the AirPort Base Station (Graphite)
Then connect the base station to one of the network ports on your speedtouch router using a cat5 network cable.
Then connect your mac to one of the network ports on the base station. Then run the Airport Utiltiy in your Utilities folder.
Then you can use the assistant.

Airport Express base station for internet

I have an airport express base station. How do I configure it to transmit internet wireless to the computers.

Since you will have, effectively, two routers in series, the AXn will need to be reconfigured as a bridge.
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To set up the AXn as a "bridge," using the AirPort Utility, either connect to the AXn's wireless network or temporarily connect your computer directly (using an Ethernet cable) to the Ethernet port of the AXn, and then, check these settings:
AirPort > Wireless tab
o Wireless Mode: Create a wireless network
o Network Name: <leave the default>
o Radio Mode: <choose the desired radio mode>
o Channel: Automatic
Internet > Internet Connection
o Connect Using: Ethernet
o Configure IPv4: Using DHCP
o Ethernet WAN Port: Automatic (Default)
o Connection Sharing: Off (Bridge Mode)

AirPort Express Base Station and USB Webcam

I see that the AirPort Express Base Station has a USB port. Is it possible to connect an off the shelf USB webcam, maybe from Microsoft or Logitech, to the AirPort Express Base Station USB port and use it as a wireless surveillance system? Of course you would need proper monitoring software. You could have an AirPort Extreme Base Station connected to your network and several AirPort Express Base Stations with USB webcams attached keeping track of say your home, your business, etc... If you had the correct monitoring software, you could view any motion triggers from let's say your iPhone. The monitoring software would work with both Mac and Windows. Great idea right? Is this idea even feasible? If so, how? If not, why not? I'm just trying to figure out a way using standard off the shelf USB webcams. Any suggestions would be helpful and I thank you in advance.

Well your best bet would be to get a wireless webcam! Cisco makes a great one as well as D-Link! Here are a few models:
D-Link DCS-1000W 802.11b Wireless Webcam
D-Link DCS-930L Wireless N Network Camera
Cisco-Linksys Wireless-N Internet Home Monitoring Camera
Good Luck! -Josh Jones

Hey, I have a AirPort Express Base Station ( 2nd Generation ), and I wanted to ask that if I join my network at home with the Express Station, will it still run the 2.5 GHz and the 5.0 GHz?

Okay, well I have just bought a AirPort Express Base Station ( 2nd Generation ) and I'm new to it, but I wanted to ask that if it join's a network you have setup at home, will it still run with the 2.4 GHz and the 5.0 GHz.

The AirPort Express will "extend" both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks and provide more wireless signal coverage when it is connected to another Apple AirPort router and configured correctly.
The AirPort Express cannot provide more wireless coverage though, if you are trying to connect it to another 3rd party wireless router using wireless only.
It should be possible to set up the Express to provide more signal coverage if you connect it back to the main router using a wired Ethernet connection or using Ethernet powerline adapters.

Can you add new AirPort Express Base Station Simultaneous dual-band 802.11n with a 1st Gen time capsule network

Hi
Has anyone tried using the AirPort Express Base Station with a first generation Time Capsule and used it to extend their network, while still being able to use the Simultaneous dual-band 802.11n on their network?
Thanks in advance

The first generation Time Capsule was not a simultaneous dual band device.
If you add the "new" AirPort Express to the network and configure it to "Extend a wireless network", it will extend the one single band signal that it is receiving from the Time Capsule.
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Airport Express Base station turns itself off

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