Airport express/extreme weirdness

Hey, all.
I have an AirPort Extreme as my main router. I have an airport express in a building next door that I am using to extend my wireless network. Has worked pretty well for a while now.
Just switched internet providers, and my AirPort Extreme started blinking amber, but, weirdly, everything seemed to work fine. But it bugged me that it's not green. At one point in my search to fix this, I was given an onscreen prompt to switch from "DCHP AND NAT" to "Off (bridge mode" which I did and voila! Green light on the AirPort Extreme.
Happiness until it started noticing that my airport express started behaving badly! First it linked to another airport express in the airport utility graph instead of linking directly to the AirPort Extreme like it had before. Then it just started only staying connected for about 10 minutes at a time, then blinking amber and dropping off the network.
So I switched BACK to the original "DCHP AND NAT" setting and now everything is working fine again...except that my AirPort Extreme is blinking amber again!
Any thoughts? I guess I'm just worried that an amber blinking AirPort Extreme doesn't seem reliable, but at the same time, everything with my networks and internet seems to be working that way. Would love to hear any theories. Thanks!

The range is about 50 meters or 150 feet.....but this assumes that the AirPort is being used in a very large open space like a aircraft hangar.....with no obstructions in the signal path.
Chances are, your home is laid out a bit differently, so without knowing a number of variable factors like.....
1) How many walls there will be in the signal path between wireless devices
2) The actual construction type of the walls, ceilings, etc
3) Heavy furniture, large mirrors, etc. in the signal path
4 ) Other wireless networks around your home
5) Other wireless devices like cordless phones, BlueTooth devices, etc.
It would be impossible to tell you what the actual range might be in your home.
In general, assuming normal modern home construction, you would not want the wireless signal to pass through more than 2 or 3 walls....since each wall will absorb on average about 15-25% of the wireless signal. A ceiling will absorb even more because of its thickness.

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What is the transfer rate of an airport express extreme router?

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Yes it is interesting to look at the speed of technological advance. I first started using an Apple about 30 years ago when they had floppy discs rather than hard drives. Mine had two floppy disc drives so I could work all day without swopping discs (single disc drives needed you to swop the data disc and the programme disc every so often as the Ram on the machine was limited. Since then I have up-graded every 4 to 5 years (approximately every other operating system upgrade)
Before that, in the 1970's we were changing from slide rules to electronic calculators which got steadily better and cheaper. The early Anita Calculator (with valves) cost as much as a small car - now they give simple calculators away with Christmas Cards.
I wonder how much further the technology behind the home computer will go before further advances, like those in calculators, become pointless from the user's point of view. Maybe it will take another 10 years or so but once everything we want to do is incorporated into a voice driven computing device possibly storing data in the cloud, then it will be the reliability of the components that will be the benchmark of a good system and having the latest "fastest" model will be far less important.

Airport express / extreme / Time Capsule Range

Airport express / extreme / Time Capsule Range
Can anyone please tell me what is the approximate range of Apple Airport Products.
While doing sell in Apple store customer always ask us this question and we don't had any answer for it.
So please if anyone has the answer do reply on this.
- - - Akshay k. (ACMT)

The range is about 50 meters or 150 feet.....but this assumes that the AirPort is being used in a very large open space like a aircraft hangar.....with no obstructions in the signal path.
Chances are, your home is laid out a bit differently, so without knowing a number of variable factors like.....
1) How many walls there will be in the signal path between wireless devices
2) The actual construction type of the walls, ceilings, etc
3) Heavy furniture, large mirrors, etc. in the signal path
4 ) Other wireless networks around your home
5) Other wireless devices like cordless phones, BlueTooth devices, etc.
It would be impossible to tell you what the actual range might be in your home.
In general, assuming normal modern home construction, you would not want the wireless signal to pass through more than 2 or 3 walls....since each wall will absorb on average about 15-25% of the wireless signal. A ceiling will absorb even more because of its thickness.

Should I buy airport express, extreme or time capsule? I have my new Mac Pro. 2 iPhones, 2 iPads , and grandchildren who come with their devices. I live in a two-level house.

Should I buy airport express, extreme or time capsule? I have my new Mac Pro. 2 iPhones, 2 iPads , and grandchildren who come with their devices. I live in a two-level house.

A Time Capsule is an AirPort Extreme with a built in hard drive to allow your Mac(s) to back up automatically, so it's a logical choice if you need a wireless router and back up capabilities for your Macs
The AIrPort Extreme has a bit better antenna arrangement than an AirPort Express, so it would be a good choice for a two level house.
Depending on the location of the "main" wireless router, you may find that you still need to add an extender or two in other parts of the house for full, fast wireless coverage. The AirPort Express is a good choice for this duty.
To compare the 3 Apple devices, see this Apple support document:
Compare Apple Wi-Fi base stations AirPort Express AirPort Extreme Time Capsule

HT4307 Works out-of-box with Airport Express Extreme, or not?

"With most Wi-Fi networks, Game Center will just work."
Does this mean that a Airport Express Extreme will work out of the box with Game Center? Or do I need to configure the firewall?

The HT4307 article you attached has a sentence that starts: "To use Game Center on a restricted Wi-Fi network, ..."
So it would make sense that whether you can use Airport Express Extreme (I believe it's either AirPort Express or AirPort Extreme, not both) out of the box would depend on your Wi-Fi environment.

Time Capsule not recognizing Airport Express/Extreme

Time Capsule is set up and operating as desired, so the next step is to extend the range of the network by adding an Airport Extreme (that the Time Capsule is replacing as the main base station) and two Airport Expresses, one for wireless printing and one to extend the range of the network. In the previous network, the Airport Extreme was a main WDS and the two expresses were remotes/relays (I forget which). I'd like to recreate this using the Time Capsule as the main and the Extreme and the Expresses as the remotes/relays
Trouble is, Airport utility does not recognize any of these devices except the Time Capsule. All of the three older devices have be factory-reset, but they don't show up. However, if I turn off Time Capsule, they show up. Turn Time Capsule back on, however, and the other devices disappear.
Anyone have any ideas what is going on?

I had a similar problem. I wanted to set up three devices: Time Capsule as the main "n-only" network, an Airport Extreme wired by Ethernet to the TC to create a second, "n/b/g" network," and an Airport Express for Airtunes.
WOW WAS THIS A HEADACHE. It took hours -- but I did solve it. See below.
First a brief list of the problems, some of of which were weird. First of all, Airport Utility was constantly not seeing my three devices. Worse than that, it repeatedly confused the three devices in ways that suggest the Airport Utility has bugs in it when it's looking at multiple devices at once. (For instance, while configuring Airport Express, Airport Utility mistakenly applied my AE settings to the TC (yikes!). It tried to rename my TC as an Express, and locked me in a weird loop where it repeatedly told me that AirTunes settings aren't applicable to a TC, but didn't offer a way to fix the wrong setting. I had similar "stuck in an exitless room" problems with all three devices, again and again and again. For hours and hours.)
In my case the solution was:
(1) Do a hard reset of all three devices and disconnect them from power.
(2) Set up each one separately, one at a time. I started with TC since it's the one getting connected to the cable modem.
(3) After TC set up and running properly, I quit all the way out of Airport Utility. NOTE: This proved to be surprisingly important.
(4) Then I plugged in the Airport Extreme, relaunched Airport Utility and proceed to set up the Airport Extreme.
(5) Once the Extreme was running like I wanted, I again quit all the way out of Airport Utility.
(6) Lastly, I plugged in the Airport Express, restarted Airport Utility, and set up Airtunes.
Success!
Lessons: Quitting out of Airport Utility between each discrete setup was very, very important in my case.
It took me hours to figure it out. Hope it helps you.

DHCP issues connecting a Macbook to an Airport Express/Extreme network

My fiancée's macbook sometimes won't connect to our network, while my MBP has no such problem. A wireless connection is successfully established, but it doesn't get an IP address assigned. I've tried turning on/off Aiport, renewing the DHCP release, but to no avail. It continues to have a self-assigned IP address.
Currently, a reboot (much to her annoyance) is the only known solution.
My network consists of an Airport Extreme base station (v5.7) and an Airport Express enabled as a WDS remote base station.
Any tips into how to better diagnose this problem will be much appreciated.
At the very least, is there a way to restart (SIGHUP?) the Airport daemon as if it were going through a reboot?
Thanks
2.16Ghz 17" Macbook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8) 1.8GHz Power Mac G5

I had to reset the password at the Airport Express unit and essentially start over with it.

Where is the AirPort Express/Extreme Config file import and export after the latest update (version 6.0 / 7.6.1)?

Before the recent update I was able to export the configs of my AirPort Express and Extreme for later import if needed. It is not so important for the Extreme as it stays at home, but my Express has several configs saved as it is used in various locations and at times I need to change the config from home use to travel use. I am unable to see how this is now accomplished within the new update (version 6.0). Both of the AirPort devices are on verison 7.6.1. Thanks

I found it, you have to have the edit selection made then the import/export option becomes available.

Using airport express/extreme with network printer

I'm kinda unsure on what exactly the airport express does. I have a network printer however it is too far from my router to connect it. Also having the router in the basement makes getting a connection three floors up a little difficult. Would I be able to use the airport express or extreme as a secondary router that can connect to my primary router and also plug my printer either via ethernet or USB? To connect is to speakers too would also be neat.

Of the two, only the 802.11n AirPort Express Base Station (AXn) would provide for a connection to speakers.
Both the 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn) and the AXn are Internet wireless routers. Both support connecting a printer via either Ethernet or USB. Note; however, that the AirPorts can only share printers attached to their USB ports. Printers attached to their Ethernet ports would have to be Network-Ready. Meaning that they would need to provide their own means to provide sharing on the network.
If your existing router is NOT another AirPort, then extending its range with either AirPort would, most likely, not work ... at least, not via a wireless connection. It may be possible to extend the wireless range if either AirPort could be connected back to this router by Ethernet.

Determining what/who is connected to my airport express/extreme?

In my old Linksys, there was a config page that let me see the IP addresses and MACs of all current attached devices (both wireless and wired) on my network How do I do t his with an Airport Express (and also an Extreme, if the procedure is different.)
thanks,
dan

K3vin, Welcome to the discussion area!
See the thread "Who's on my network".

Airport express/extreme and iTunes configuration

I recently purchased a Macbook Air 10.9.3, to replace my 7 year old white Macbook 10.6.8. I connected the air to my home wireless network which was running through an Airport express (A1088).
Recently I started having issues with the network (having to restart the airport frequently). In an attempt to troubleshoot this, I reset the airport extreme.
Bad idea. After the reset, the Air would no longer find the airport Express "this version of airport utility doesn't support this base station". I tried to use my old macbook (which has Airport utility 5.6.1) to configure it, but just couldn't get it right. The more I messed around, the worse I think I made it. I could get the airport and a network on the old macbook, but it wouldn't connect to the internet.
So after I ran out of ideas, I bought a new Airport Express. That solved the internet problem on my new MB Air, but I still can't get the internet on the old Macbook - even with the new Airport express - I've obviously stuffed up a setting somewhere.
So, now that I had a redundant Airport express, I thought that I could use it to connect a speaker to for Airplay.
I've done another factory reset on the old Airport express and attempted (using the old macbook) to configure it using the instructions here... how to use my airport express just to stream music, no interent
Current situation is:
- I have internet on the Macbook Air via a new Airport Express
- I have no internet on the old Macbook 10.6.8 but it can see the old Airport express (and also the network running from the new Airport that's working on the new MB Air)
- I have a speaker connected to the Airport Extreme, but neither Mac can see the speaker (I'm assuming that I'll see the name of Airport in the airplay drop down?
What I want is
- To be able to use the Airport Extreme for Airplay
- to get internet back on the old Macbook (any suggestions for something that I might have missed?)
Please be gentle, I am now confused and have found similar posts a bit too technical for me to understand or replicate.
For Airplay - Do I need to connect the Airports to each other? Or do I need to just find a way to configure the old Airport Extreme using my old Macbook, so that I will be able to see it from the new Air and then I will be able to see the speaker in iTunes?
For the old Macbook that won't connect to the internet - I've tried the following:
- matching the network settings that are working on the MB Air
Nice basic instructions please!

Additional information...
When I try to match the network settings from the MB Air on the old MB it tells me that another computer is already using this IP address. These are the settings currently on the MB Air that are working.
These are the settings on the Airport Express..

Airport Express Just Weird

I have a new Airport Express. I have managed to connect to the internet with it - I'm sending this post by it in fact - and yet the light on top is still flashing amber.
I have to say that having switched 6 years ago, this is the first time I have been disappointed at the ease with which an Apple product can be used.
I think I have managed to enable a bridge connection after a fashion - but to be honest I haven't got a clue because setting up this wireless is like reading Greek upside down.
I have the bold wireless indicator in my menu bar, there's a connection <-> indicator too. Their roles seem to overlap.
I had a setup previously which seemed to be a mix of Ethernet and Wireless - again using a wireless base station as a bridge.
Then there's the network settings in System Preferences. Again these are related but different.
What does it all mean? I want a wireless bridge to replace a cable?
Currently I have a choice.
1) Plug in cable - 1 second.
2) Configure wireless bridge - a few hours of bemused frustration.
Do the math.

Yes, it is the first time I've had what I can only call a windows-experience on a Mac. I have been extremely satisfied with Apple's products so far and am and avid Mac-fan.
As mentioned I am using an 1.2GHz iBook G4 with 768MB SDRAM and OS 10.4.
My internet connection is a modem (6Mbps DSL I guess) provided by my ISP in Hong Kong -
www.netvigator.com
I must provide my email address and password for login ID to their server. This is a PPoE protocol as far as I am aware.
Yes, my beef is that the light is flashing amber - I like my LEDs green when they should be green and amber when they should be amber, which is why I switched to Macs because they are invariably blue on a PC.
Also, I cannot print wirelessly. I have a HP Officejet 4255 all-in-one plugged into the Airport Express USB socket. The driver is installed on the iBook and works normally with a direct USB cable connection. The manual refers to a printer setup application in Utilities that doesn't exist, there is a HP application but that can't find the printer.
The other wireless bridge device is no more. It was a Belkin thingy that you could just plug into a LAN socket - very small, good for travelling, hotel in-room connections etc. Anyway it has gone now and I deleted any reference to it in the network settings.
My frustration stems mainly from the wireless set-up process not being particularly friendly. My normal Mac experience is "plug-in-and-use". I guess I have been spoilt. Configuring the iBook for wireless, however, brought back horrible memories of setting up a network connection on windows 95......shudder....Obviously I am exaggerating, as nothing could be quite that bad.
Nevertheless, I am still not entirely certain why I can connect.
I connected the AP-Ex as instructed, then powered up. I installed the software, and ran the Set-up application.
Prior to set-up the AP-Ex started green, changed to solid amber then went to flashing amber after a minute or so.
I have a feeling that during the set-up, I didn't select that the AP-Ex must use my login details even though I recall that I did enter them.
Anyway, I couldn't connect, so I tried to use the Admin Utility which doesn't show an indentified Base Station - even with rescan.
At some point, I don't recall whether before or after using the Admin Utility, I used the Network Settings in System Preferences. I enter details for the Airport PPoE settings etc and I managed to get hooked up.
This is similar to what I did with the Belkin device - however, that device kept dropping the connection and my wife complained that she could never get it to connect properly. I generally could but it often took a few attempts.
This bridge connection seems to employ Airport settings to allow us to use wireless, but Ethernet settings to actually make the handshake with the ISP.
This relies on the Network Settings being set for the base station.
I figured that the Belkin kept dropping the signal because it is not particularly strong, and perhaps it wouldn't connect well automatically because it was not an airport. So I ditched the Belkin and paid that little extra to get an Airport Express which I expected to make friends with my iBook without me doing anything.
The sales assistant did offer to set-up the AP-Ex for me, which should have rung alarm bells, but I declined.
On the positive side, this is not just an Apple issue. I have set-up a number of different wireless devices on different systems in the past and they have all been a headache. Too many SSIDs, BSIDs, MACs, WAP password this,128 Hex that, parity, stop crackle and pop - who needs that. If I wanted stable but confusing I'd use Linux.
I got my first iMac in 2000 after being driven mad by you know who. I was delighted that the internet connection hooked immediately up to my ISP when I entered my username and password as requested.
Wireless ought to be like this - especially if, as in my case, all it is replacing is a cable - the login settings etc being the same as before.
As I say, its not only an Apple issue, it is the main failing behind wireless as far as I can see. Its great when its up and running but getting there is a pain in the ***.
Stephen

HT1998 When will Apple release an new firmware update (7.6.5 or higher) for the Airport Express/Extreme?

I am sure most of you know how terrible the 7.6.3 firmware for the airpot express/extreme is. I was on the phone with Apple technical support and they had admitted there are issues with this lastest firmware and confirmed they are working on it. I know how well Apple fixes their issues however it has been over 6 months and nothing. Because of all these issues, I have had to roll back all my airport equipment to 7.6.1 mainly to use the Airplay feature. Is there any projection for a new update or is Apple just ignoring this issue!?

What problem are you having exactly? I have updated to 7.6.3 and AirPlay works just fine in fact better especially with iTunes. All my wireless devices show up as soon as they are turned on or in range.
Not trying to predict anything here, but if the firmware update IS defective software, Apple probably would've fixed it by now.

Airport express/extreme performance

I am going to buy either an airport extreme or airport express. It will be used only for Internet access for my ipad.
I did a google search and found a lot of information on the airport extreme, and it should meet my needs fine. Because of cost and portability, I would prefer the airport express, but I have not been been able to find anything on it, especially as to performance (e.g. how well it penetrates walls in a house).
Does anyone know of any reviews or other performance information on the airport express?
BTW, the airport will be connected to my Verizon Fios Actiontec router. I will disable the wifi radio in the Actiontec. Also, I will probably buy direct from Apple refurbished.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/mac_accessories

I happened to notice that the technical specifications for the airpot extreme on the apple site indicate that the "wireless protocols" are "IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n". In contrast, the corresponding technical specifications for the airport express are shown as "Draft 802.11n" and "802.11a/b/g". A footnote to the airport express but not the airport extreme technical specifications indicates that:
The AirPort Express Base Station is based on an IEEE 802.11n draft specification and is compatible with IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, and IEEE 802.11g.
I looked at the pertinenet wikipedia page, and it contained the following:
802.11n is a recent amendment which improves upon the previous 802.11 standards by adding multiple-input multiple-output antennas (MIMO) and many other newer features. The IEEE has approved the amendment and it was published in October 2009.[9][10] Prior to the final ratification, enterprises were already migrating to 802.11n networks based on the Wi-Fi Alliance's certification of products conforming to a 2007 draft of the 802.11n proposal.
So, it appears that the airport express has not been updated. Does this make a difference in performance or compatbility with my iPad? I really don't want to overthink this issue, but the reason I am buying an airport device is to solve problems I am having with my verizon fios actiontec wireless router, and I do want to solve the problem.
Thanks!

Airport express\extreme problems

i hooked up my new airport extreme and it is working... but now im trying to set up my airport express and it wont work... can i join the two together?

I believe I have it figured out ...
Just havent moved my xbox upstairs yet to see if the eth connection works or not ..
But that doc that everyone references us to is old. The whole auto configure stuff is not there.
For both the Base and AX i used manual mode to configure
So i configured it as a WDS.
Some quick notes thrown together from memory-
Make a note of your MAC address of your AX and Base stations (known as the Airport ID)
Make a note of your network name from your base
Pick a channel for your wireless from your base - ie 11 make a note of it
Go into you base - change your type to participate in WDS network.
Click on your WDS tab, make it a main type
Click on allow wireless clients
That next box where it asks for a client or something - click that + sign.
Plug in the MAC address of your AX - give it name - hit ok and update -
When it comes up you will notice the status of the base is yellow - it should be because there are no WDS relays connected ..
Now with your AX plugged into the wall .. click your network icon and join the other network that is the name of your AX Apple something -
Once you are connected to that network and you see it in airport utility - highlight the AX and click manual configure -
Type change it to participate in WDS network
Channel - use the same channel that your base uses
Network name - type in the same name as the network name as the bases network name
WEP - 128 - (if you used wep) - type in the password - the password that u used when you set up your bases wep
go to the WDS tab - type - network relay
Base station - click the + sign and enter in the the MAC address of your base
and use the ol bridge only mode - so ip addresses are dished out from the base ..
click update ..
Then once it restarts both the base and the AX should have green lights ..
Think thats about it - if anyone has any input if i did anything wrong please let me know -

Airport express/extreme weirdness

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