Airport Express or Airport Extreme?

Hey,
I'm in need of a wireless router for my new place. Now that the Express uses 'n', it's become a viable option for me. My only question is, which one has better range? I looked through specs and saw that Radio Output Power is 20 dBm (nominal) for both. Is this indicative of their range? Can anyone provide numbers on broadcast range for the two?
Really I only need the wireless aspect of the router. AirTunes on the express is of little use to me; my A/V receiver is already networked. I also have no use for a printer, even if it is shared. The ethernet ports on the Extreme won't be used and I don't want to put a centralized hard drive on the network when I can buy an external firewire drive and plug it directly in to my iMac (therefore not depending on network bandwidth on top of device speed).
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.

They have the same range.
It sounds like an AirPort Express (AX) meets all of your requirements.

Similar Messages

I am unable to see my Airport Extreme/Express on my MacBook via Airport Utility

I have two issues:
1. I am unable to see my Airport Extreme and my Airport Express via my MacBook Air's Airport Utility when I scan for Base Stations. However, the computer is happily connected to the wireless network of my Extreme (the Express is used to extend range)
2. I am unable to see a HDD that is connected via USB cable to the Airport Extreme.
Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks

Further info:
Setup
MacBook Air running OS X 10.5.8
AirPort Extreme Base Station
AirPort Express used to extend range
AirPort Utility v5.5.3
The MacBook Air is actually connected to the wireless network provided by the two AirPorts!
Oddly, I see both AirPorts just fine when using my older PowerBook G4 with an older version of the AirPort Utility.
In addition, I cannot see the external HDD connected to the AirPort Extreme Base Station, and my wireless printer (HP D410a) suddenly stopped working via the MacBook Air. However, it works just fine from my iPhone, which is connected to the same AirPort Extreme/Express wireless network.
Recently, at the request of Sky Broadband, I switched to fixed IP addresses instead of DHCP, as I was having issues with the DHCP set-up.

How to connect old aiport express to my new Airport Extreme? My Ipad says "base station e5713b cannot be configured" and my AirPort tool on my PC will not permit me to add my new Airport Extreme network (no network names to choose from)

How to connect old aiport express to my new Airport Extreme?
I have a PC running with Win7 and just replaced my Jensen With a brand New Airport Extreme.
I have set up the Airport Extreme to the internet, Iphones and Ipads and it work as it should.
I have downloaded latest Version of Airport tool on my PC. In addition i have downloaded the airport tool for Ipad.
I have reset one of my airport Express and it now shows up both on the Ipad and on the PC airport tool.
My Ipad says "base station e5713b cannot be configured."
I have wired the airport Express to my Ethernet to be able to "see it" on my Airport tool.
My AirPort tool on the PC will not permit me to add the airport Express to my new Airport Extreme network (no network names on the drop-down list to choose from). I wished for an easy set-up, but nothing seems to be plug and play as the Commercial says.. can you please help me?
Sigve

Hi
Thanks for Swift reply.
Yep - I in fact have two A1088 and one A1264
I actually bought the new router because the Jensen
router always lost connection to the Airport Express after some hours or days. I
always needed to restart my Jensen to play music and that was driving my wife
mad. The hope was that the Extreme should fix this. Both A1088 have been set up
to only stream music to two of my stereo amplifiers from my PC’s Itunes library.
Are the A1088 now useless?
The A1264 has been set up to feed internet into a Denon Reciever that needed Ethernet cable.
Please advise
Regards
Sigve

How to set-up new Airport Express to extend range of Airport Extreme

Purchased a new Airport Express to use it as a range extender on existing home network with an operating Airport Extreme base station. While I've read instructions, I'm unclear whether the Express needs to be connected by ethernet cable for its initial setup, or can I simply plug it and initialize it wirelessly onto the same household network? (I've tried the latter but without success).

to edex67 and Bob Timmons:
My objective is to extend the wireless range of the Airport Extreme base station wirelessly - so I do appreciate that the Airport Express would needsto be located haflway between the base station and the "dead zone" area.
The suggestion of using a Powerline ethernet connection to the Airport Express has merit (especially as I have one available).
I continue to use OSX 10.6.8 - does this affect my set-up in any way?
My problem had been - and remains - how to configure the Airport Express in range extend mode - I did click these boxes on both the Extreme base station and the Express, however the Express still has flashing amber lights and error codes - one indicating no internet availability on the Airport Express.

How do I include my Airport Express with my base Airport Extreme to extend my in house wireless network??

How do I set up wireless network extension/expansion adding Airport Express to existing Airport Extreme Network??

OK, thanks for the clear information, this really helps.
Locate the AirPort Express about half way between the AirPort Extreme and the general area that needs more wireless signal coverage. The more that you have line-of-sight between the AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express, the better the performance will be.
Power off the AirPort Express for a few minutes
Hold in the reset button firmly...and keep holding for an additional 10 seconds while you simultaneously plug the power cord back into the back of the AirPort Express
Release the reset button after the hold period and allow a full minute for the Express to restart to a slow, blinking amber light
This process is tricky.....you almost have to have 3 hands to do this.
If you have an iPad or iPhone, the setup is almost too easy to be true. In that case.....
Tap on Settings (gear icon) on the home screen
Tap on WiFi
Under the heading of Setup a New AirPort Base Station....
Tap on AirPort Express
The utility will analyze things for a minute, then suggest that the Express be configured to extend the AirPort Extreme network
Type in a device name that you want to use, then tap Next
The utility will set up everything for you automatically. When you see the message of Setup Complete, tap Done and you are good to go.
If you want to use the Mac running (10.6.8) for the setup.......
Make sure that the wireless is turned on at the Mac
Open Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility
Select the AirPort Express and click Manual Setup
Click the Base Station tab under the row of icons
Enter a device name for the AirPort Express
Enter a device password for the AirPort Express
Verify the device password
Adjust the Time Zone setting
No other adjustments are needed here
Click the Wireless tab below the icons
Set the Wireless Mode to Extend a Wireless Network
Click on the Wireless Network Name box and your AirPort Extreme network name should appear as a choice. Click to select that....or manually enter the exact name of the AirPort Extreme wireless network
Make sure that Wireless Security is set to use WPA2 Personal
Enter the wireless network password for the AirPort Extreme
Verify the wireless network password for the AirPort Extreme
Click Update at the lower right of the window and wait a full minute for the Express to restart. A green light on the Express at this point will be a very good sign that things are up and running correctly.
Your Mac will automatically select the AirPort with the best signal quality. If you have an iPhone or iPad, you may need to manually turn off the WiFi when you move the device near another AirPort, and then turn WiFi back on to get the iOS device to connect to the best signal.
Good luck, please post on your results with the method that you choose.

How do I use my airport express to enhance my airport extreme?

how do I use my airport express to enhance my airport extreme?

Check my post in the thread I've linked to below.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3703370

How do i connect my airport extreme with my airport express

how do i link my Airport Express with my Airport Extreme?

Hello Bob -
I have an Apple Extreme (5th Gen) and I have tried to extend my network with an Apple Express Model No. A1264 with the ethernet connection. It does not seem to work, and has crashed my network twice. When I did get it to work, the wireless crawled. When I took the AirPort Express off of the network the speed went back up.
Can this be done to extend the network, as I have the Extreme in the basement where the cable comes into the house, and I have two other floors that need wireless access. Any suggestions for this older model AirPort Express?
Thanks.

How do I use an Airport Express as a "range-extender" for Airport Extreme?

I bought an Airport Express with the intent of using it as an "extender" for my Airport Extreme, but I find no paper that describes how this is done. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks and cheers, Veit

Thanks for the info. Try this to see if it will do the job for you:
_On your AirPort Extreme (AEBS):_
Open AirPort Utility and click Manual Setup
Click the *Wireless tab* below the row of icons
Your *Wireless Mode* should already be set to “Create a Wireless Network”
Make sure there is a check mark next to “Allow this network to be extended”
Note the setting for Wireless Security as you will need this for the next setup on the AirPort Express
Update to save changes
_On the AirPort Express (AX):_
Hold the reset button in on the AX until you see the amber light begin to blink more quickly
Temporarily, move the AX near your computer and connect a short ethernet cable from your computer to the AX
Open AirPort Utility and click Manual Setup.
Click the *Wireless tab* below the row of icons
*Wireless Mode*….should be set to “Extend a wireless network”. If you don’t see this choice, hold down the option key when you click on the selection box
Wireless Network Name…the name of your main AirPort Extreme network should appear as a choice. Click to select it.
Place a check mark next to Allow wireless clients
Wireless Security….exact same setting as your AEBS
Wireless Password…exact same password as your AEBS
Confirm Password
Click the Base Station tab to assign a name and device password for the AX, set time zone, etc.
Click the Music icon to enable AirTunes if you wish
Update to save settings. You can disconnect the ethernet cable and move the Express to the desired location.
For further reference, Apple's instructions for the "extend" setup appear on pages 43-44 in the Apple AirPort Networks Guide.
Please post back on your results.
Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

I just replaced my airport extreme and now the amber light on my airport express is flashing and so it is not being recognized. I have been on the computer and gone to airport utility and it is simply not showing up at all. What can I do?

I just replaced my airport extreme and now the amber light on my airport express is blinking. When I go to utilities and try to find the airport express it does not show up.
What should I do?

Anytime you change networking hardware it is always a good idea to perform a complete power recycle of that hardware. Check out the following AirPort User Tip for details. Please post back your results.

Setting up airport express with airport extreme 802.11n with Airport Utilit

Hi,
I'm having trouble setting up my airport express(AX). Having recently bought the new Airport Extreme (AE) basestation, I can't figger out how to set it up to recognize the AX and allow me to stream airtunes. Previously I had the AX setup fine, but once I installed the AE, it no longer was recognized.
After resetting the AX, the airport Utility recognizes the AE and the AX as basestations, but I don't want to have to switch back and forth from wireless networks everytime I want to listen to music in another room. Airport Admin seemed to have been wiped out when I installed the AE, so any documents I've found on the Apple site refer to AA and not Airport Utility.
HAs anyone set up their AX on the new AE basestation?
thanks!
Rene

I am currently experiencing the same issue, except that I cannot for the life of me get the AX to:
1) Stop flashing yellow - numerous resets -soft to default.
2) The airport utility will not recognize it.
The airport utility sees the AE no problem, I got that up and running after a few restarts and am now able to log on to the network with my laptop.
I am new to Mac's and this is the 1st time I have tried to set up a network with one, I was excited about being able to use the AX to play my iTunes through the stereo in the other room and to hopefully use it to connect my X-Box to the internet. But I am starting to think that this is either above my skills or a fruitless endeavor. Any help would be most appreciated!
Thanks
Fairbanks

Loss of download speed using airport extreme and express.

I have Wifi using an Airport extreme base station and an airport express extender. However, the download speed drops from 21 Mbps to 8 Mbps. Any suggestions to boost the express other than an ethernet connection which would be difficult.

Temporarily, power down the AirPort Express and take speed measurement at that exact location.
Whatever that is.....likely in the 8-10 Mpbs range......is what the Express will try to "extend".
In other words, the Express can only extend the bandwidth or speed that it receives. It cannot make the connection that it receives go any faster. In that regard, the term "repeater" is probably a more accurate description of what the Express is trying to accomplish.
If you want the Express to extend faster speeds, then it must be located closer to the AirPort Extreme. In addition, anything that you can do to reduce any obstructions in the signal path between the AirPorts will help.
Ideally, you want a line-of-sight relationship between the AirPorts to help reduce the amount of speed loss that occurs with any wireless connection.

Please Help: old Airport Extreme, new Aiport Express, want to WDS

Hi,
I'm sorry if this topic has been covered before, but I can't seem to find a post with my exact situation. I have a G4 desktop (no Airport card) connected to an Airport Extreme Base Station (about 2 years old) which is connected to a 2wire DSL model. My wife and I have been able to use the wireless network in our house for a year or two now with our laptops (PowerBook and few month old MacBook Pro). We've been able to connect to the internet and can print to our laser printer with no problem. However our living room is just out of range (one bar and usually drops out) so I thought extending the range of the Base Station with an Airport Express would allow us better access from the place we hang out in the most.
After reading the very sketchy start up manual as well as trying various combinations of steps posted here, I am still having trouble setting this thing up. Simply plugging in the AX and using Airport Set Up Assistant, I was able to create a WDS and add the AX as a remote station by entering its MAC address (it was not recognized automatically). However, when pushing "update" a message came up saying the AX needed to be set up manually.
So, I realized maybe I needed to plug the ethernet cable directly into the AX and use the Aiport Assistant. I tried that once and nothing happened. Yellow light flashing. I tried it again adjusting a setting for "Join an existing network" and named the network the same as our already established network. The light turned green! So, not knowing what to do next (Hello, Apple! Please write better instructions) I crossed my fingers and unplugged the Ethernet cable and put it back in the existing Base Station. Did that. Still green! Then I had to move the AX from the office out into the hallway toward the living room. Cross fingers, unplugged AX and ran it down hallway. Plugged it in, wait for Yellow light, hey it turned green! I took the MacBook to the living room, turned it on, 4 bars, cool! Started Safari and.... nothing. No web page loaded. No email. Nada. Great looking bars, though.
So, frustrated, I unplugged the AX and just left it a day. Last night, I moved it back to the office and tried to see if I had a setting wrong. Create new network? Join existing network? Same or different channel as Base Station? Use password security on AX? on just the Base Station? both? Why doesn't the manual mention these things? I even tried soft reset and hard reset. I could never get the green light to come on again.
Does anytone know where I find simple step-by-step instructions to help me? I thought Apple was supposed to be "easy". Am I missing something? My G4 desktop does not have an Aiport card, so I can't configure both Stations without having the Ethernet cable plugged directly into either gadget.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8) Airport Extreme, Airport Express, PowerBook, G4 Desktop

Yeah, Duane posted the link to the good directions. The directions given in the printed manual for the base station and the online help for the base station is inadequate when it comes to WDS set up.
I have an Airport Extreme and two Airport Express. When I was setting up WDS, it did take a while because certain errors did keep coming up. But eventually it worked. I now get the hang of it.
One difference that kept me really confused but now I understand is the difference between relay and remote base station.
Picture these two diagrams
A) Airport Extreme <--> Express1 <--> Express2
B) Airport Extreme <--> Express2
The <--> signs mean wireless connection.
In picture (A), the Extreme is broadcasting to Express1 which then relays the signal to Express2. In this case, Express1 is a relay base station and Express2 is a remote base station.
In picture (B), the Extreme is broadcasting to Express2. In this case, the Express2 is also a remote base station and not a relay. There is not relay base station in (B).
I don't know why that kept me so confused but once I got it, I got it. Hope this helps for your WDS set up.

Can't set up airport express with new Airport Extreme

I have a new aiport extreme base station and two airport expresses. All was well till I tried to plug in a hard drive then the base station needed to be reset. Now I can't get it to recognize the aiport expresses. I have to do a factory reset on the express to even get it to recognize it in the Airport Utility. I follow the instructions to have it join my existing network, I get to the point where it says I have successfully joined the network and the express will restart, but I never get a green light on the express and then I can't locate it while using the airport utility.
is there something in the configuration of the airport extreme that is blocking this?

I have a new aiport extreme base station and two
airport expresses. All was well till I tried to
plug
in a hard drive then the base station needed to be
reset. Now I can't get it to recognize the aiport
expresses. I have to do a factory reset on the
express to even get it to recognize it in the
Airport
Utility. I follow the instructions to have it
join
my existing network, I get to the point where it
says
I have successfully joined the network and the
express will restart, but I never get a green
light
on the express and then I can't locate it while
using
the airport utility.
is there something in the configuration of the
airport extreme that is blocking this?
Are you trying to use the expresses in WDS or client
mode? If you are trying to use WDS, do you have WDS
enabled on the main extreme base station?
I hae been using client mode as best as I can tell. I have been going through the setup with the express and chosing to join an exisiting network and not extend the range of the current network.

New Airport Extreme & Airport Express Setup Query

Hi,
About three weeks ago, I purchased my first Wi-Fi router so that I could use my iMac anywhere in the house, but also use my iPhone3G. This was because we do not get Edge coverage where I live in the UK, let alone 3G! And it is very handy to use the iphone when in the garden or my cellar/workshop.
So I thought I would simplify things and 'keep it in the family' so to speak, as I figured Apple products should work best with each other.
With this in mind i purchased an +Apple Extreme Base Station 802.11n+. This was very easy to setup and having set the WPA2 Personal Security, it was up and running in about 15 minutes and has worked just great.
I live in a large bungalow and find that the wi-fi coverage is great in moist areas, including the gardens, but rather weak at one side of the house where we have our home cinema setup and music systems.
With my pleasant experience with the Extreme in mind, and reading about Airtunes, I bought an +Airport Express 802.11n+ unit a couple of days ago.
I set it up to join my current Airport Extreme network, and setup my speakers etc as well as iTunes.
On the whole, the Airtunes aspect is brilliant, apart from the odd drop out from time to time, but my real concern is that my network strength has not improved at all in that area where the Airport Express is is plugged in. It is just as weak as it was when only the Extreme unit was installed.
I was under the impression that when it joined my Extreme network, the Express unit would extend the network. and it does not appear to have done so at all. On my iPhone3G it shows up as the _very lowest_ signal strength. On my partners Windows laptop, the signal strength is shown as 'poor'.
Am I doing something wrong, or misunderstanding how the Airport Express works with the Extreme unit?
All help most welcome.

Thanks James, I have now an Extended network, and my signal strength is excellent. Once I knew what I was aiming for, it was easy enough.
Thanks

Need help creating network of 1 Airport Extreme & 2 Airport Expresses!

Please somebody help me! I've literally been trying to get our home network to function for months now. I'm seriously about to cry if i can't make it work.
Here's the situation:
Our apartment is long and narrow and probably has lead paint, so our wifi, powered by a brand new Airport Extreme Base Station 802.11n router (named Igor) connected to a comcast modem doesn't reach the whole house. So we got 2 Airport Expresses to place throughout the apartment (named Sven and Svetlana) to help boost the signal.
First i tried to set up Igor to 'Create a wireless network" with the option 'allow this network to be extended' and the connection sharing set to 'Share a public IP' and i set up Sven and Svetlana to 'extend a wireless network' and the connection sharing was set to 'share a public IP'. Everything else was automatic or default pretty much. I got it to work but the connection was really weak and dropped out a lot.
Then i tried setting up a WDS network. no luck there either. so i went to the apple store and they told me i had to hard wire them all together using ethernet cables (roaming network i guess) to compensate for the ****** network acoustics in our place.
So...i ran 1 ethernet cable from Igor down the hall to Svetlana and another from Igor further down the hall to Sven. I set up all 3 to 'create a wireless network' and gave them all the same network name and password. i left the 'allow this network to be extended' option unchecked on all 3 and put them all in bridge mode and automatic settings for the radio mode and channel selection. After about 50 restarts i finally got it to work. Things seemed great for a minute until i realized that my laptop was the only one in the house that could connect to the internet. When i tried to troubleshoot the problem using network diagnostics and restarts, i eventually got my roommate's laptop to work but then mine stopped working.
i've tried changing Igor's connection setting to share a public IP address and leaving Sven and Svetlana's in bridge mode. I've tried changing the 'configure IPv4' setting from 'using DHCP' to 'manual' and entering in identical info for all 3 in the TCP/IP section.
no matter what i do i still have no idea how to make this work for multiple devices in our apartment. I really don't understand that much about networking but i am great at following directions. Please please please please help me! I'm desperate.
thank you in advance for your help!
ilana

So...i ran 1 ethernet cable from Igor down the hall to Svetlana and another from Igor further down the hall to Sven. I set up all 3 to 'create a wireless network' and gave them all the same network name and password. i left the 'allow this network to be extended' option unchecked on all 3 and put them all in bridge mode and automatic settings for the radio mode and channel selection.
In a "roaming" network, the router connected to the Internet modem should NOT be in bridge mode. In this case that would be your 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn). That is because you want it to provide both NAT & DHCP services to both AirPort Express Base Stations and the network clients.

Airport Express or Airport Extreme Base for home wireless

I've read some of the comparisons between the Airport Express and Airport Extreme Base station to make an informed choice before purchasing. The Airport Express probably will suffice for my needs, plus having AirTunes is a bonus. Mobility is not such a concern (most hotels now offer wireless in any case, making the Express less appealing than when it first came out).
But my only concern with Airport Exress is durability and quality. Some postings on the Apple site note that these can go bad after a year or so. I realize that only those having problems are posting but wondered if there might be some issues with the Express that would make the Extreme Base station a better decision, especially since it's only $30 more now.
Thanks in advance.

Actually it really boils down to your needs.
Either one will work and work well, but if air tunes, and portability is important Express is the way to go. The Extreme is a very good choice as well.
I suggest you look over both of these links and decide the features you need.
http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/
http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/
Good Luck
Don

Airport Express or Airport Extreme?

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