Airport express very slow when extending Time Capsule

I'm trying to help my father solve a networking problem.
For the past several years, I had him using an airport base station and (2) Airport Express units as extenders.
He was using a circa 2004 Powerbook G4 17" and a MacPro Dual Core tower unit.
I finally got him to upgrade the Powerbook to a the new Macbook Pro i7. With the older computer out of the loop, I also upgraded him to Time Capsule.
Everything is installed and running now. However, the network speed in portions of the house where the Express is supplying the signal is very slow. A test on the laptop with DSL Reports gave an average upload speed of about 200.
When I move the laptop right next to the Time Capsule, I got a DSL Report speed of 22,000!
This issue is not laptop specific (it shows up more on the MacPro because it's in a back room), but seems directly related to the speed passing through the Airport Express.
What did I do wrong or do the Express units need to be upgraded (they are on firmware 6.3)?
Thanks!

Bob -
Was wondering if you can elaborate on your response and perhaps help me? I apologize if I have missed this topic covered elsewhere.
I am using a N-capable Time Capsule and an older model G-speed airport express. My biggest issue is that my wireless speeds are 1.5 download and 1.9 upload when in fact my cable modem pumps out 15! In reading your posts I see that my network is likely dropped down to G due to my old express, and in fact my computer may be running of a spliced version of that if using WDS settings?
I think i'll end up calling apple support at some point but was curious if you can go over the facts of using N and G together, and if i can have my macbook pro speak to my N network only and my iphone 3G speak to G airport express only?
Last piece of info is I use the airport express for my music.... not sure if this means they must be WDS or not? I'm just looking to get my N devices as fast as possible while continuing to use my G express. If you tell me i need to upgrade to a N express I can live with it.... but if i can avoid the $100 and work with what i have...all the better!
Thanks in advance,
Joe

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Airport Express EXTREMELY Slow when extending Aiport Extreme

So I have an airport Express hooked up to my airport extreme to extend my wireless network. Those devices that connect to my Extreme download 25+mbps. Those devices hooked up to my airport express (those that are farther away and naturally pick the closer router, which is the express) won't break 1mbps. I live in a remote area, there is no inteference I can find (I downloaded iStumbler), I've changed the channels from auto through the range, I've done everything I could think of to try to figure this out. As far as I can tell there is just some sort of incompatability between these two devices that should go together like peanut butter and jelly. Instead I've got peanut butter and anchovies. I've googled around, I'm not alone, and I have yet to see even a decent attempt at a solution. IF you have one, I'll offer you kudos galore! Thanks!

Start your investigation by taking the AirPorts to an Apple store to have them checked out for proper operation.
Assuming that they work correctly at the store....and you continue to have difficulites at home.....it's pretty clear that something in or around your home is causing the problem.
iStumber will not display the signals from an offending cordless phone at your house or a close neighbors. Nor will it display any "closed" networks (you can't see the name of the wireless network) in the vicinity. Nor will it display a wireless security/camera system, microwave tower signals, satellite receivers, TVs, and the long list goes on and on.
I've had wireless difficulties in the past and could not figure out where the problems were coming from. I hired an RF signal pro, who came out with equipment and performed a survey of signals in the area.
iStumbler revealed a total of 4 or 5 networks. The professional equipment revealed 31 sources of potential interference problems, just to give you an idea of how difficult it can sometimes be to identify the real source of interference issues.
Post back when you have had the Apple folks check the devices out and we'll then try to narrow some of the possibilities down.

HT4145 I want to add airport express. I now have time capsule and I am confuse. Do I setup the express and then time capsule to the express?

I want to add airport express. I now have time capsule and I am confuse. Do I setup the express and then time capsule to the express?

Setup the Express to wirelessly extend the Time Capsule, or vice versa depending on which one is already set up. Or you could use bridge mode which involves using an Ethernet cable or Powerline plugs.

Airport express keeps loosing connection to Time Capsule

For several years I have had no issue with mt Airport Express staying connected to my Time Capsule/router. Now 2 of my Airport Expresses keep loosing the connection and flashing yellow. I have done the resets where I press in the little button on the bottom while plugging the AE back into the power source and reconnecting through Airport Utility and that will do the trick but after a short time the flashing yellow lights will go back on.
Would it help to turn off the router, rest all the AEs? It is so frustrating to keep loosing the connection and nothing else has changed; e.g. the AEs are all in the same place.

Same thing here! I didnt have the problem with airport express until I update the os from 10.6.2 to 10.6.6. I have been calling the apple support and they couldnt help (or thou sounded like they knew for that particular problem). I got from my work MacBookPro and same thing happen. I hope that apple will read this and just want to tell them that this is my 10 computer made by apple and God knows the last one! First of all they made the the fireware with the bad chipsets so I have to but extra cards and then airport. I cant connect at all to any wifi and have to put the cables on the floor from the wifi router to the ethernet input which is more than 10 metres. Apple sort this asap!!!!!!!!!!

Macbook very slow when estimate time for indexing

Hello,
Spotlight is often trying to index my macbook. I always see the message "estimate indexing time".
I never see Spotlight actual indexing.
When Spotlight is doing this, my macbook runs extremely slow.
Spotlight is doing this once a day for at least a half hour.
It's very annoying.
Can somebody help me? I can't imagine this is normal.
Roy

Bob -
Was wondering if you can elaborate on your response and perhaps help me? I apologize if I have missed this topic covered elsewhere.
I am using a N-capable Time Capsule and an older model G-speed airport express. My biggest issue is that my wireless speeds are 1.5 download and 1.9 upload when in fact my cable modem pumps out 15! In reading your posts I see that my network is likely dropped down to G due to my old express, and in fact my computer may be running of a spliced version of that if using WDS settings?
I think i'll end up calling apple support at some point but was curious if you can go over the facts of using N and G together, and if i can have my macbook pro speak to my N network only and my iphone 3G speak to G airport express only?
Last piece of info is I use the airport express for my music.... not sure if this means they must be WDS or not? I'm just looking to get my N devices as fast as possible while continuing to use my G express. If you tell me i need to upgrade to a N express I can live with it.... but if i can avoid the $100 and work with what i have...all the better!
Thanks in advance,
Joe

Use Airport Express as Internet hub, bridge Time Capsule for N-only?

OK I checked on the forums, but I could not find anything quite specific it what I was trying to accomplish.
I recently got a 500GB Time Capsule. I changed my network around, which was based off of two Airport Express stations – on in the office hooked up to internet & printer, one in living room hooked up to sound system – and made the TC the main hub, connecting modem to it's WAN port and bridging the office AX via LAN port in bridged mode, sharing the living room AX as WDS. This way, I had the TC in N-only mode in 5ghz spectrum using wide channels for fastest performance. All this worked well.
Except that I noticed that with the TC in the office – where the laptops rarely are – my data transfer speeds were no better than .11g speeds. So I mucked around a little, and noticed that it really was just the case that the separation of distance & obstruction was slowing the transfer speeds over .11n-only that much!
Well, it occurred to me that there may be another way. What I had intended to do was to hook up the modem back to the office AX, move the TC to the living room where it'd be "line of sight" to the laptops most of the time, and bridge the TC and living room AX over LAN. So the idea was to keep the networks separate wirelessly still, and have the internet "bridged" wirelessly from the office AX to the living room AX and then over LAN to the TC. The thinking was that the hit on the internet connection would not be noticeable as the threshold for that is well below the streaming capabilities of the AX network still, so I'd not lose anything there, but gain MUCH faster speeds with the TC in line-of-sight of the Laptops (3x as much in testing; with TC in office and laptops in living room, 1.3gb folder took 9 minutes, same folder line-of-sight testing took only 3 minutes).
However, I CANNOT get this to work properly. I thought I really just needed to move the TC to the living room and bridge it there, as the services should be shared over the LAN port since the 2.4ghz AX are in "bridged" mode, but that didn't work. I kinda-sorta got it to work by forcing both the AX network AND the TC network into "bridged mode," but that didn't seem right or wise, so I tried some other settings, putting the TC to bridged and having the office AX distribute IP addresses, but then it wouldn't show up under restart, and I'm just confused now on how to set that up!
What i need is: To have the "Office AX" hooked up to the modem & printer, on 2.4ghz since it's the older .11g model, with the "Living Room AX" on that same network. Then the TC in 5ghz N-only bridged to the Living Room AX via LAN, so it can share the services (internet & airtunes) and still get high data transfer speeds to the laptops via the advantage of Line-of-sight, non-obstructed networking.
How do I need to set this up? It's possible, right?
Message was edited by: Anthony Caltabiano

OK while I was working out this morning, I was trying to think of WHY my setup wasn't working. I had an epiphany, and decided to try once more. This time, it worked.
The problem was that originally I had the Living Room AX set up as a Remote, so it was hooking INTO the network, not extending it. I know that with that setup you can't hook up to THAT station and get internet or anything, you hook into the MAIN station and you can SEE the remote's services that are "plugged in" to it.
I didn't think this would be an issue with the TC physically attached to the ethernet port, but apparently this behavior extends to the ethernet port on remote stations for internet access... I had a feeling that MIGHT be it, so I started from scratch, and this time set up the Living Room AX to extend the network instead of just joining it. Then hooking up the TC to the Living Room AX's ethernet port and selecting "Bridge Mode" on the TC got me the good ol' green light!
So, if anyone out there is trying to build a dual-band network, with their TC on .11n-only and bridge to services supplied by a 2.4ghz network, AND route their internet access through the 2.4ghz network instead of the TC so that they can keep their TC more centrally located for better performance... make sure you do it like this: Set up the alternate (2.4ghz) network as relays, "extending" the network, so that when you plug into it, the TC essentially thinks it's plugged directly into the main router, no matter where it is. The throughput hit for internet access over WDS shouldn't be a problem for US-based peeps, as our speeds are typically well below the .11g threshold anyway.
I also found that it helped to NOT hide the SSID of the 2.4ghz network; doing that kept rendering failed attempts to force the secondary AX to join as WDS. Once I redid it without hiding the SSID, all went well.

Very Slow Wireless Over Time Capsule

The background: I set up a Time Capsule for my wife's Mac Pro. It is set on full-time 'N'. And on the Mac Pro, it blazes (She gets wireless downloads of 8,000 to 10,000 kbps).
I have an old Powerbook G4. In order to keep that machine on the internet, I plugged our old Linksys 'G' Router into the back of the Time Machine via ethernet. Worked perfectly. We have two networks in the house one 'N' one 'G'. Both work beautifully.
The Issue: My new iMac arrived today. I immediately connected it to the Time Capsule via wireless and the internet connection was very slow. I then changed the iMac's network to the Linksys 'G' router and suddenly the internet connection was fast.
I did some tests using speakeasy.net (a free on-line speed test). They confirmed my subjective experience. My wireless 'N' Time Machine downloads were around 490kbps. When I connected to the Linksys 'G' router, my download speeds jumped to 11,000+ kbps.
I am perplexed. Since this problem is only on the iMac, not on the Mac Pro, it seems like it must be some setting deep in the bowels of OS X.
One last detail: the only reason I care is that our living room stereo is connected to the Time Machine 'N' network via an airport express. I need to be on that network if I want listen loud.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I have a similar problem with the wireless function of my new Time Capsule. I have replaced an older Airport Base Station (802.11b) with a new Time Capsule, moved an Airport Express (802.11g) from Air Tunes use to remote printer use, and added a new Apple TV, all in the same network. I have high speed cable internet service (suitably fast through the old Airport Base Station) to the WAN port of the Time Capsule. My problem is that I am repeatedly having to perform a software "reset" on the Time Capsule in order to keep the wireless internet throughput above dial-up performance speeds. At the same time, speed is not a problem on my iMac, which is attached to the Time Capsule by an ethernet cable. Internet speed is also not a problem on the Apple TV. Performance on the Epson Stylus CX7400 attached to the Airport Express is also very slow, taking 2-10 minutes to print a simple page of text.
I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions.

Cannot connect Airport Express N to Dual Band Time Capsule at N speed

Long time reader, first time poster. I am usually pretty good at solving my problems without posting, but I have been attempting to solve this problem for a while without success, so here it goes.
I have a dual band Time Capsule that I want to run at 5Ghz N and 2.4GHz b/g/n (using the OPTION key when selecting "Radio Mode" to select this option). This runs fine on its own. However, I also want to set-up a new Airport Extreme N to run as an extender for the 5Ghz network, and here is where I have problems.
I have already set-up the 5Ghz network to be under a separate SSID. I have also selected to use Wide Channels, Multicast Rate=High, and Transmit Rate=100%. I have also been sure to make sure that I have selected "Allow this network to be extended" in the TC. As of yet, I have not even attempted any WEP/WAP key security, and the SSID is visible.
When I attempt to connect the AEx as a repeater (using the "Extend a wireless network" option on the AEx) the AEx will not see the 5Ghz network name. It will only allow me to select the 2.4Ghz SSID, even though I have a distinct SSID for the 5Ghz.
Note: both my iMac and my AppleTV can see and connect to the 5Ghz network. I am attempting to set-up the AEx right next to the TC before attempting to see how faraway I can move it.
I have additionally tried to set-up the AEx to repeat the 2.4Ghz network. In b/g/n mode it will repeat, however it only ever seems to get the g speeds. If I set-up the TC to only do N networks (ie one SSID as the 5Ghz N Network and one SSID 2.4Ghz networks) the other clients (the iMac and the AppleTV) can see and connect to each, however the AEx won't connect at all.
What am I doing wrong? I feel that I have been very thorough with my approach. Any help would be very welcome.

Welcome to the discussions!
I don't have a solid answer yet to your issue, but would offer a few comments that might help sort things out.
I'm confused by your statement that you are able to extend the 2.4 GHz network, because the dual band TC does not allow the guest network to be extended. Check AirPort Utility - Manual Setup. Click the Wireless tab. I don't have a dual band TC, but I believe if you click the Options button, you will see more info about extending.
While there is a check box next to "Allow this network to be extended" for the main network, there is not a check box for the "Guest" network. It's not there, or least it's not there in the guide that I'm looking at.
I suspect that your computer was picking up the 2.4 GHz network from the TC, not from your Extreme. To verify this, open AirPort Utility again and click on Manual Setup for the TC. On the summary page, note the MAC address for wireless on the TC. Now, do the same thing for the Extreme.
Use your computer now to check things. Hold down the option key and click on the Airport icon at the top of the screen. The MAC address of the device that you are connected to will be displayed.
Have you tried to move the Extreme to a more remote location? You note that you have the two devices, TC and Extreme very close together. As a test, position the Extreme approximately half way between the TC and the area that you want to extend to and see if you can connect with your computer. Check to see if your computer is connecting to the Extreme or the TC by holding down the option key as above.
You have probably already done this, but check on the setup for the Extreme using AirPort Utility - Manual Setup - Wireless tab. There is a check box either on the Wireless page or the Options page to "Allow wireless clients". This must be checked for wireless clients to be able to connect to the the Extreme.
Post back with your findings and we'll try to figure this out.

Two airport express no longer show w time capsule in utility

did the latest update interfere with our two airport express. i did the Mac update install and neither of the airport express show in the configuration. we also had a power outage yesterday for about 5 hours. not sure which is the culprit but after doing the install and rebooting the entire system we still have no airport express devices showing anymore under the time capsule and their lights are solid yellow.

Factory reset them.. they have stopped boot.. (solid yellow) .. it must flash yellow or when setup correctly go to green.
And yes, Yosemite has the worst airport utility and network on any new OS ever released.. ever.. I mean Vista badness.

Airport download speeds slow when extending display to LCD

When I connect my Macbook using the mini display to DVI, DVI to HDMI adapter to my LCD TV, my download speeds pretty much fall off to nothing. When I disconnect the display adapter, the connection resumes. Any ideas?

Bob -
Was wondering if you can elaborate on your response and perhaps help me? I apologize if I have missed this topic covered elsewhere.
I am using a N-capable Time Capsule and an older model G-speed airport express. My biggest issue is that my wireless speeds are 1.5 download and 1.9 upload when in fact my cable modem pumps out 15! In reading your posts I see that my network is likely dropped down to G due to my old express, and in fact my computer may be running of a spliced version of that if using WDS settings?
I think i'll end up calling apple support at some point but was curious if you can go over the facts of using N and G together, and if i can have my macbook pro speak to my N network only and my iphone 3G speak to G airport express only?
Last piece of info is I use the airport express for my music.... not sure if this means they must be WDS or not? I'm just looking to get my N devices as fast as possible while continuing to use my G express. If you tell me i need to upgrade to a N express I can live with it.... but if i can avoid the $100 and work with what i have...all the better!
Thanks in advance,
Joe

Setup Airport Express as a repeater for Time capsule network?

Can any one provide detailed instructions, or provide a link where I can find these instructions?
Current Setup: TimeWarner Cable Modem/Router (Arris TG852) > Time Capsule router (A1254)
This has created two networks. One from the TW Router and the other from the TC. Even with both networks, I do not have great signal in the last two bedrooms, or bathroom.
I have a Airport Express (A1264)
Can someone explain how to set up the AE as a repeater, and offer any advice on how my network "should be" setup? Thanks
In my reading, I believe this would be Dynamic WDS; correct?

Thanks for the link. It says the below is by far the best way to extend for N networks.
"For 802.11n Wi-Fi base stations, creating a roaming network is by far the best choice. This will provide the best throughput between the base stations and your Wi-Fi devices.
This set up requires that your Wi-Fi base stations are connected via Ethernet.
The primary base station provides DHCP Services, while the extended base station will be configured to use bridge mode.
All Wi-Fi base stations within the roaming network should use the same passwords, security type (Open/WEP/WPA), and network name (SSID)."
But, if my TC and Express are next to each other, how does that fix my wifi problems on the other side of my house?

Very slow transfer to Time Capsule (Ethernet)

I am trying to transfer 80 gb to my Time Capsule (Ethernet) but transfer is very slow (100 kb/s). How can I fix it?

Plug the TC into the Computer by ethernet and make sure the computer shows the link is running at gigabit.. if not replace the cable.
Turn off wireless.. there should be only one data path.. ethernet.
Turn IPv6 to link local only in the computer network setup for ethernet.

How do I set up my Airport Express and not interrupt my TIme Capsule

I have ATT UVerse recently installed and have my Time Capsule Router Behind their installed router. I recently purchased Airport Extreme and want to install it as well so I can connect an older Version of a Sony PS3 which doesn't have bluetooth capability via rj45 since the time capsule is no where close to my PS3. Is there a way to install this Airport Express and not mess up the settings of the Time Capsule?

Hello hbwilli. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
I recently purchased Airport Extreme and want to install it as well so I can connect an older Version of a Sony PS3 which doesn't have bluetooth capability via rj45 since the time capsule is no where close to my PS3. Is there a way to install this Airport Express and not mess up the settings of the Time Capsule?
Yes. You will want to configure the new 802.11n AirPort Express Base Station (AXn) as a ProxySTA. In this configuration, the AXn will join the wireless network created by the Time Capsule and share Internet access through its Ethernet port to the PS3.
To activate ProxySTA, you must set up the Express to join a wireless network and then enable the Allow Ethernet Clients setting; both settings are located in the Wireless tab of AirPort Utility. The feature should work with any wireless network: a, b, g, or n; and 5GHz or 2.4GHz. (Note that the Express, which ships with firmware 7.3, must also be updated to firmware 7.3.1 for this feature to appear.)

How to make UK Airport Express work with older US Time Capsule 5GHz?

I just replaced two dead Airport Express units and the new one's fail to recognise the 5Gz network of my TC when try to set them up in AirPort Utility. The other networks I have show up but since I reserve the TC 5Ghz exclusively for music streaming around house to AEX-attached speakers, not having the new models playing along is deeply frustrating. The TC was bought in US three years ago. The AEX are UK and brand new. No problems at all with the other AEX units I have which all function perfectly. These were also US models. I'm fearing a change that prevents UK AEX from working with US TC 5GHz wifi.
Any ideas?

The US and UK will doubtless have different allowable 5ghz channels.
Firstly set the country code in the TC if possible to UK although it might not appear on the list.
Note to find the right page to enter country is simple.. start the manual setup.. in the find a setting box, type country.. the correct page will pop up. Change that to UK.. I suspect it cannot happen but try regardless.
Someone else might like to comment if you can force the firmware upgrade to use the correct version from UK.. but maybe hard written into the firmware.. and only countries listed will be those in the region the airport is sold in. Time manufacturers got rid of regional distribution.. and just select anywhere in the world.
If as I suspect no go on that one, just setup the TC to a wireless channel manually shared with UK. The problem now is the TC set to auto can choose a channel not allowed in the UK and therefore invisible to the UK Airport Express.. so lock the channel of the TC to one that is common.

Time Capsule + Airport Extreme very slow internet connection

first time post here, looking for some help.
I have a small wireless network at home which runs as follows.
Modem - time capsule (acting as wireless router to macbook pro) - ethernet connection to iMac
I would like to extend the range of the wireless network as we dont get signal upstairs. To do this I have added an airport extreme to extend the signal (as someone gave me one for christmas!).
The network works fine, signal is great all over the house however internet traffic is very very slow when devices are connected to just the extreme station (ie when out of range from the time capsule).
Does anyone have any suggestions as to why my internet connection upstairs is very very slow?

Thanks for the reply. It seems to have helped a little - should I expect slower speeds from the extended network?

Airport express very slow when extending Time Capsule

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