Airport Express + Netgear = low signal??

Hi
i'm using an Airport express card in an Emac downstairs to receive a signal from a well-spec'd (and recommended) Netgear router which is upstairs and directly linked to a Mac G5.
No problem with the G5, but the problem is the signal strength is very low and it takes ages to log on for the downstairs Emac. Obviously distance is an issue but as the crow flies I suppose we talking about 15 m as the crow flies and one floor away with maybe two brick walls and wooden floor but no other (known!) significant barriers. This is a normal domestic house using normal building materials.
The spec indicates this should be no problem, so why the low signal?
Anyone else had problems with Netgear 'quip, or Airport Express? Both come highly recommended so I am somewhat surprised.
Any clues from anyone would be most gratefully received!
cheers

Brick walls do not allow high radio frequencies to pass easily. So, the brick walls may very well be the problem. Is there any way you can position the router so that the signals don't pass through the brick?

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Maybe Windows is trying to get an 802.1x authentication which should be disabled:
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http://www.efelix.co.uk/tech/1010.html
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AirPort Express has weak signal while playing music from Iphone, intermittent play

I'm having the same problem, even more:
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- Listening to iTunes music ofer AirPlay: the same.
- A whole confusion with switching airplay destinations (AppleTV, AirportExpress) over iPhone remote app. Sometimes remote cannot find my library anymore
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At the moment, I'm trying not to invite my friends.

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Unfortunately, most non-AirPort routers are not compatible with Apple's implementation of Wireless Distribution System (WDS)...so it very unlikely that your Linksys router can be extended wirelessly with the AirPort Express Base Station (AX).
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o Belkin F5D7230-4 and F5D7231
o BT Voyager 2091
o Netgear WGR614 v6
o Buffalo WGR-G54
If you have one of the specific Linksys routers listed above, there are a number of links on the Internet from users who have been successful doing so. I suggest performing a search with the criteria: AirPort Linksys WDS

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Hi,
I have a Netgear DG834PN Wireless Router downstairs and am thinking of buying an AirPort Express to boost my wireless. From what I have read the router won't work with the AirPort Express directly because it doesn't have WDS as far as I am aware. So my question is, do I need to buy a powerline/homeplug adapter for downstairs so that the AirPort Express will work?
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http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132754
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Check out this link as well:
[http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1814013&tstart=15]

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Are both your AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express 802.11"n" devices?
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I've just bought an airport express expecting to be able to link it to my existing wireless network with a netgear DG834G2 router , guess I was naive to think it would be easy!
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Do I use an ethernet cable and do I plug it into the router?what's DHCP?
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Where do I find the IP?being new from the box shouldn't the AX have the latest version?
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4. When you enter the 128 bit WEP key, don't use the passphrase, use the key (hex code) generated/shown in the NETGEAR config screen. When you enter this code into the AirPort Admin app, preceed this code with the '$' character, as this tells it that you are entering a hex code, not the string literal thats used to generate the key. Yes, in both password fields add that '$' character -- both times. Where abouts do I find the WEP hex code?
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It'll be worth a beer after all this buggering about!
Thank you for any help you can provide......Cheers Phil
iMac G5 17" 1.8Ghz ,160GB hard drive,airport,superdrive,768MB ram Mac OS X (10.3.9)

I've just bought an airport express expecting to be
able to link it to my existing wireless network with
a netgear DG834G2 router , guess I was naive to think
it would be easy!
You should configure your AX to connect to the Netgear router in client mode.
What is client mode?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108040
You can do this wirelessly from your Mac.
If you have tried to configure before then you may need to reset the AX first.
Resetting AirPort Express
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108044
Do I use an ethernet cable and do I plug it into the
router?
Yes that is what the instructions mean.
what's DHCP?
Simply this a process by which a router assigns IP addresses to clients on the network automatically.
Each client (computer or AX) needs their own individual IP address.
Where do I find the IP?
Using the Airport Admin Utility, therefore you need to be able to connect to it to know the IP address.
Your Netgear router may have a list of connected devices and therefore you can get the IP address that way.
being new from the box
shouldn't the AX have the latest version?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
. When setting up your AirPort Express, enter your
SSID by hand, and don't worry if it doesn't see it.
Is the SSID NETGEAR?
If your Netgear's wireless network name is NETGEAR, which it probably will be if you haven't changed the SSID from the default configuration.
Where abouts do I find the WEP
hex code?
First did you configure the Netgear router to use WEP?
From the configuration page of the Netgear router which will be accessed from a web browser, check the Netgear manual for details on how to do this.

Airport Express & Netgear DG834G 54Mbps Wireless ADSL Modem Router

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G5 Dual 2.3Ghz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

mac-junkie, Welcome to the discussion area!
No it can not be used as a range extender.
But you can still use it for music and printer support. See KB 302153, AirPort Express: How to join an existing wireless network in client mode.

I have a airport extreme as my base station. I am experiencing a large signal loss in a particular room. Will an airport express restore that signal? l

I have an airport extreme base station. Experiencing large signal loss in a particular room. Will an airport express, placed in that room, restore the signal? Thanks, Glenn.

The Express can only "extend" the bandwidth of the wireless signal that it receives.
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Second Airport Express to extend signal

How do I do this? My base station has one name and my new airport express has another name. How do I combine them? I just want my signal to extend further around the house but am at a loss as how to do that.

One thought, however. The use of acronyms usually confuses people mightily unless they are totally dedicated to learning a new technical language, which I certainly am not. Most Apple users simply want the setup to be as simple as possible and to only have to deal with it once.
Good point and I really appreciate the feedback. I will keep it in mind. Interestingly, I have found the opposite to be true as well. Some folks prefer the acronym-to-meaning spelled out early in the dialogue, and then, just see the acronym from that point on.
Now that I have my base station extended, not very far but noticeably better than before, I wonder if I can experiment and move the extenders Airport Express to a slightly more distant location to se if it will extend the range further. I hesitate to unplug it and replug it into another location for fear I will just have to reprogram it all over again, something I would early like not to have to do. Can you answer that last question?
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Without going into a long technical diatribe, network Engineers measure both the signal strength and noise levels to calculate a value, called the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) Sorry, just had to throw in one of those pesky acronyms there. They then use this value to determine if a wireless device will be successful in connecting to another one. Knowing this, they then would be able to determine the maximum distance away from the primary wireless router to place the extending router. However, the method you propose would work as well ... albeit, a bit more of a "trial-and-error" approach. I have provided the details on how to go about doing so on a number of my Discussion posts and will be happy to help you with it as well ... if interested.

ADAT into Logic Express, VERY low signals recorded

I tried Garageband, same problem, so now I am trying Logic Express.
When transferring tracks from an ADAT, through Alesis io/14, into Logic, the resulting sound files captured are VERY low signal. This should be a digitally ACCURATE TRANSFER. The Alesis montoring software on the mac senses the correct signal, the signal meters show correct levels (and sounds great), but Logic hears and records very low signals.
I note the Sound midi pref window only shows 6 channel 32 bit. It won't allow me to change to 8 channel 16 bit. Possible problem or am I chasing ghosts? I exhausted all my ideas.
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T

Ropher wrote:
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Yes. you need to ascend to level 5 before we give that secret incantation.
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Cheers

Airport Express Netgear

I have a Airport Express 802.11n WiFi and a Netgear CG 3000 modem.
The Netgear CG3000 modem connects to my internetprovider and no clients (Mac, iPhone, Ipad etc) have (so far) problems in connecting to the internet by connecting to the Netgear CG3000 modem
I can connect the Airport Express 802.1n to the Netgear modem as "connection to existing wireless network"
BUT
am unable to connect as "New Network" and "Extend existing Network"
Any ideas what is wrong ?

Things are a lot simpler if you use products from the same manufacturer for the same purpose, since there are usually setup "wizards" the make the process quick and easy.
I hear you, but right now my Netgear network works very well, and I haven't been able to set up my new Airport extreme, either as a bridge, a client, or in lieu of the Netgear, so I'm a little reluctant to go out and buy another Airport until I'm sure the one I have can be made to work. Those at home are also very intolerant of network outages, even for short periods of time!
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Will plugging an ethernet cable from a powerline adapter into my Airport Express improve the signal strength that it re-sends as WiFi?

I have a Airport Express (older style that plugs into the power socket) up one end of the house, which gets the signal from an AirPort Extreme at the front of the house. It works ok for general internet and email, but the signal at the Airport Express end is not really strong enough for my Apple TV. So today I bought an Edimax Powerline Adapter. Connected one end to the AirPort Extreme and the other end to the Apple TV and Apple TV now works great! So I was thinking, if I connected my Airport Express to the Powerline Adapter with an ethernet cable, would that improve the strength of the signal that the Airport Express would re-send out for WiFi. But all that happens is that neither the AirPort Extreme or the Airport Express now seem to broadcast any WiFi signal. Is it possible to do this?

Yes, but you need to change the mode of the Express from wireless extend to create a wireless network and the routing part to bridge. Otherwise it will indeed mess up.

Airport Express + Netgear = low signal??

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