Airport Express WDS main weirdness

I have some Qwest provided dsl modem/wireless router hooked up via ethernet to an airport express 802.11n configured to be WDS main. There is another airport express 802.11n as a WDS remote upstairs. If I connect directly to the qwest router I get good performance, if I connect to the WDS remote I get good performance. If I connect to the WDS main, I get terrible performance. I've tried unplugging, turning off ipv6 and lots of other suggestions I've seen, but nothing seems to help. I've seen the same thing with my imac and my macbook air, so I think the problem must be the airport express.

Welcome to the discussions!
If both of your Expresses are 802.11n capable, you can use the "extend a wireless network" option rather than WDS.
WDS cuts the bandwidth of your wireless network in half when you add a remote device. "Extend a wireless network" will not do this.
Can you confirm that both Expresses are "n" devices? Do you need step by step to set up the "extend" feature? It's much easier to setup than WDS and will perform much better.
Of course, it is possible that you have a defective Express there. If you have time, you could switch devices, or test each one individually as a base station to verify proper operation.

Similar Messages

  • Time Capsule-AirPort Express-WDS not working together

    According to everything I've read here, I've configured this properly, but it doesn't seem to be working. If anyone can help me troubleshoot this I would greatly appreciate it.
    I have a new Time Capsule acting as my main wireless base station; it has a manually-configured static IP address, is plugged into my Verizon FIOS router, and is set to distribute IP addresses over wireless using DHCP. I have it set to run a 5 GHz network in addition to the regular 2.4 GHz network. I have an older AirPort Express that I want to use to extend the range of the 2.4 GHz network (the Express can only do 802.11b/g, not 802.11n), in part because we have some older devices in the house that I don't want to slow down the 802.11n network, and in part because the 802.11b/g signal doesn't reach all parts of the house very strongly. So I told the Time Capsule to make its network extendable, told the AirPort Express to participate in a WDS network as a WDS relay, and entered the MAC address of the Time Capsule's 2.4GHz network as the WDS main. Result: flashing amber light on the AirPort Express, which no longer shows up in the AirPort Utility; I had to do a hard reset in order to get the Express back (and then it had to be reconfigured again, of course). At the moment I have it just joining my wireless network, and that works -- green light -- but of course doesn't allow the Express to extend the range of the wireless network.
    What am I doing wrong here?

    Before there was dual band, we always told users that if they used WDS, the entire network would revert to "g", even if the Time Capsule, AirPort Express, etc were capable of "n" performance.
    Your findings seem to confirm that this happens with a dual band as well.
    I think it's well worth it to get the AirPort Express 802.11n. Then you can reconfigure the Time Capsule back to "Create a wireless network" and check the box to "Allow this network to be extended"
    The Express"n" would then be configured to "Extend a wireless network". I use this setup and would highly recommend it. There may be a slight bandwidth loss due to overhead, but the performance is light years ahead of WDS.
    If you are using the same network name for both bands on the Time Capsule, then I believe by default the Express will extend the 2.4 GHz "n", "g" and "b" band. This makes sense for most users since 5 GHz signals do not travel well over distance or penetrate obstructions well.
    IF...you want to extend the 5 GHz band, the only way that I know how to do this is click Wireless Network Options on the wireless setup page for the Time Capsule and enable the option to assign a different name for the 5 GHz network.
    Then you will have to configure the Express to extend this specific 5 GHz network. I never had much luck extending 5 GHz, and I wanted my iPhone to be able to use the network across the house, so I went with the simpler one network name for both bands and extended the 2.4 GHz network.
    If you have a "g" device joining the extended network, it may tend to slow the "n" devices down slightly...when the "g" device is active, but it won't drag everything down to "g" levels. When the "g" device is not active, "n" devices will run at "n" speeds.
    BTW, the ethernet port on the AirPort Express is active when you configure it to "extend a wireless network". This can come in handy for hooking up DVD players, etc that need an internet connection for firmware updates and extra features.
    Follow up....I tried a very quick reconfiguration of my dual band AirPort Extreme (same router that the Time Capsule users) and AirPort Express using the WDS arrangement and everything did indeed drop way down in speed and performance.
    Post back if you have questions. Happy to help.
    Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

  • Macbook won't talk to Airport Express WDS remote

    I have two new Airport Express 802.11n access points, and an Airport Extreme (802.11n but not the latest model). One of the Expresses is connected to my DSL modem (wired ethernet) and is the 'main' WDS access point. The Extreme is acting as a relay, and the other Express is the WDS remote.
    Here's the problem - the WDS network works fine with my Macbook Pro (model ID MacBookPro3,1) and I can use the remote WDS with no problems, but I have an early 2008 Macbook which simply will not connect to the remote express - but it has no problems connecting to either the Extreme or the WDS main Express.
    The Airtport card type in my MBPro is "AirPort Extreme (0x168C, 0x87)", the card type in the Macbook is "Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.91.26)". Both laptops can see the same physical networks, and I don't think channel interference is a problem, because I'm on channel 6 and all the other networks I can see are on either channel 1 or 11.
    I've tried swapping the two expresses, and that makes no difference. I've also checked that the Macbook can connect to both expresses when they are acting as the WDS main AP - so it appears to be when the express is acting as a remote (via the relay) that I get a problem.
    Has anyone seen a similar problem? This configuration sould work, right?

    I found a way to get a wireless configuration that serves my purposes. I'd tried swapping the expresses around to see if that helped, and reached a point where my extreme wouldn't extend any network I set up on an express, so I did a reset to factory defaults on both.
    Once I'd done that, I created an 802.11n (5GHz) network using one express, and extended it using the extreme. Having done that, both my Macbook and Macbook Pro could pick up the extreme's extended network in the room where I had the second express, so that solved one problem (previously the Pro could see the extreme's network, but the Macbook couldn't - odd, since this is a polycarbonate bodied Macbook, and they normally have better wireless reception).
    The only remaining issue was connecting some wired ethernet devices, which is the other reason I wanted the second express functioning as a WDS remote. Turns out that if you just want the express to bridge a wired network to a wireless one, you can do that by having the express join as a client, and enabling wired clients as well - I think that may be new to the 802.11n expresses.
    Everything works perfectly now - both laptops have internet connectivity via the extreme and express; the wired devices are bridged onto the wireless network so they can talk to other machines elsewhere in the house, and the setup is much simpler because I'm not having to mess around with WDS details. I'm also hoping that an extended network like this loses less bandwidth than a main/relay/remote setup.
    I never did get to the bottom of why the Macbook couldn't talk to the WDS remote - possible a factory reset on all three would also have resolved the problem, but I guess I'll never know now.

  • Airport extreme + Airport express WDS Windows only problem

    Hi,
    I bought an airport extrem to replace my Belkin and redesign my network@home.
    The airport extrem give Internet/ethernet linked to a Linux PC, and eyehome. He also gives Internet to a macmini, a powerbook, and a macbookpro.
    I had an airport express which gives me airtunes before, I tried to use it for a WDS.
    It seems to work fine if I go in the studio near my house with the MBP > I see my network, connect and surf fine.
    But, I put it in WDS to extend the network for a (sh#*$€ù£) PC under windows for my son who loves NWN2...
    This Pc had a belkin wifi usb adapter which works slightly well before; Here the Belkin utility say that the signal to my network is really strong but he don't want to connect. He gets a local IP 169.xxx.xxx.xxx
    If I use the airport utility tool on the pc to connect the airport express : it doesn't see anything ; no network, no airport express.
    When I use the MBP with the airport utility tool I can see that the password doesn't have 13 digit likes the one I give but it seems to have 26 characters under the password.
    So I think that it convert it in the wep128 key but I don't know how to get it in clear! (he do it again when I try to put the only password). I looked @ my keychain but it only have the clear password which I Know..of course
    Do you have suggestions to get this key in clear?
    MBP, MM, PWBK & Pc   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

    Well! I've got it
    with the airport utilities > clic to "configure" BUT have look @ the menu and not the visual menu.
    In French (sorry) : Borne d'acces > mot de passe equivalent du réseau : select
    You will see the password (of course you know it before) BUT also : the hexadecimal code.
    I put this hexadecimal number in the pc authentification tool and it works fine : I have my IP, and I could go to the internet with it.

  • Airport Extreme (Fast Ethernet) + Airport Express (WDS) = disconnects

    I have an Airport Express configured as a WDS, bridging a wired device (a small PC running Linux) to an Airport Extreme (Fast Ethernet). Security is enabled (WPA).
    Frequently, the Airport Express disconnects from the wireless network and I have to reboot the thing by unplugging it. I have it set up to log to the PC, but I'm not sure what I should be looking for in the log.
    Any guidance? I'd like to hold on to the Express, but I can't if it's acting flakey like this.

    More than likely you are experiencing RF interference from other devices operating at 2.4 GHz. You can use a tool like iStumbler to see what other networks are visible in your area. Then you can configure your 2 base stations to use a channel which is as far as possible from the channels used by other networks.

  • Airport Express WDS and itunes

    I must be an idiot! I have spent hours trying to configure my Airport express X2 for driving my stereo system as a remote node. The only way I can get it to work is to have two separate base stations and in that case, I can't get web connectivity at the same time. I have reviewed some of the existing discussions on this subject, but I don't understand the WDS vs. client distinction or how to set this right. Please help!

    Unless you need to extend your wireless network or need to use a remote ethernet port there is no need to use WDS.
    Reset both Airport Express (AX) units.
    Configure the first AX as a wireless router connected to your internet connection.
    Using the Airport Assistant, configure the second AX to join your existing wireless network (this is client mode)
    You wouldn't need to extend your existing wireless network (WDS Mode) just to stream iTunes to your stereo.
    Hope that helps.
    iFelix

  • Airport Express WDS to Linksys?

    I just purchased an Airport Express in an effort to boost the signal from my Linksys WRT610N. I went through the process of setting everything up, I selected to have it join an existing network and selected the network. However, after everything was complete I went into Airport Utility to see if it was working but the device no longer comes up. The green light on the device is solid but I don't seem to be getting a boost on my WiFi signal and I cannot figure out where to verify if it's operational. Any help?

    Welcome to the discussions!
    According to top user Duane's research, there are only a very few routers that are compatible with Apple's WDS.
    The Linksys models are WRT54G and WRT54GS (up through version 4).
    Refer to this post for more info:
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2065344&tstart=0
    When the AirPort Express "joins" a wireless network, it can be used to provide a signal for AirTunes or a remote printer, but it does not "boost" or "extend" the wireless signal in this type of configuration. You have to use the WDS setup to do this with other WDS compatible routers. Unfortunately, I don't think there is anyway that this will work for you.
    Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

  • Linksys WAP54G, Airport Express WDS and WPA

    Hello,
    I have previously been able to set up my Linksys gear and Airport Express to work in WDS with AirTunes thanks to the great thread at
    http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=607414&ft=y&#607414
    I am wanting to know if there has been any update in being able to do the above but with WPA and not WEP.
    I would prefer to have WPA obviously and was wondering if anyone has been able to do this and what additional steps are required.
    Regards

    I have been trying to set this up with my WRT54G for a while now and have had no success. I've tried pretty much every 3rd party firmware available.
    After countless Googles and searching many forums, I've found that nobody has been able to establish a WDS connection w/WPA between a Linksys router and AX. There have been a few people that say that apple is doing something incorrect, how I know that WDS with WPA work just fine between the AEBS and AX. Note that you can let the AX join as a client and have WPA work, but it won't work if it joins via WDS.
    I have basically given up my search and am currently looking for an AEBS on eBay.
    20" FP iMac & 12" iBook 1.2 Mhz   Mac OS X (10.4.4)  

  • Airport Express WDS linksys WRT54G2

    How would I set up my linksys WRT54G to my Airport Express using WDS? like my airport express acting as an extender with airtunes.

    If you just need to stream AirTunes to your AirPort Express Base Station (AX), you only need to configure it as a wireless client to the Linksys router, however, if you also want to extend the Linksys's wireless network with the AX, then the WDS would, as you already know, would be appropriate.
    Check out the following articles on how others have done this successfully with the Linksys:
    o How to extend your Linksys WRT54G with AE
    o Linksys WRT54G and WDS
    o Using Airport Express as a range extender/repeater for Linksys Cable/DSL router WRT54G
    o Extend a Linksys WRT54G network via AirPort Express

  • Arris Cable Modem + Airport Express = double NAT = weird resolution

    I have a cable modem (Arris TM402P/110), which (theoretically) is a modem only, to which I have connected Airport Express. I was getting a yellow light and a double NAT signal from Airport. And, my daughter's PC was getting bumped off the connection intermittently.  When switching to "bridge" mode on Airport, the problem is resolved, and we are all accessing the Wi-Fi (iMac, 3 iphones, and 2 androids), and the light is now green on the router. How is this happening, if there's no router in my cable modem?  Does this make sense to anyone?
    Doesn't airport express "bridge" mean that the Airport Express router function is nullified?
    Is there something connected to my system functioning as a router otherwise, and I don't know it?!  Nothing else is plugged into the modem except the Airport!

    If your client devices are all able to connect, it would appear the Arris TM402P/110 is in fact functioning as a router.
    The documentation seems to imply as much, in that it states you can connect two or more computers directly to its LAN port:
    To connect two or more computers to the Ethernet port, you will need a hub or broadband router
    If it were strictly a modem, connecting a hub to it would not work.
    Wittymermaid wrote:
    Doesn't airport express "bridge" mean that the Airport Express router function is nullified?
    Yes. The documentation does not describe how to disable the Arris's router.
    This is an old modem. While searching for your answer I determined that it does not support IPv6, which could be a problem in the future.

  • A-link RR24ap i+ together with Airport Express (WDS)

    I haven´t found here any discuss about a-link. Cause I have spent a lot of time finding solution my problem I´ve started to think whether it´s not possible to join Airport Express to rr24api+?
    First of all I´m interested to hear if anybody have managed to get these working!
    Perhaps I´ll stop trying if somebody tells me that this is impossible work ...
    Message was edited by: nucInt

    I think i was happy too soon finding my a-link working with AE! The combination works only without encryption! When protection ON connection works but breaks down several times in a minute!
    Perhaps I have to give up and look after some better router...
    Do you think would Linksys WAG160N work with AE?
    I would like to update my router and wlan-card to 802.11n...

  • WDS networking issue - Airport Extreme (802.11n) and remote Airport Express

    *Background Info:*
    Airport Extreme 802.11n (Fast Ethernet)
    Version: 7.2.1
    Wireless Mode: Participate in a WDS network (set as main)
    Network Name: @Home
    Wireless Security: WPA/WPA2 Personal
    Channel: 1
    Airport Express
    Version: 6.3
    Wireless Mode: Participate in a WDS network (set as remote)
    Network Name: @Home
    Wireless Security: WPA/WPA2 Personal
    Channel: 1
    Radio Mode: 802.11b/g compatible
    Connect Using: AirPort (WDS)
    Connection Sharing: Off (Bridge Mode)
    Issue
    Please help as I'm having issues with my WDS network. I've setup using both the wizard and manual and also hard reset on both units to setup again but cannot get them both to communicate to one another. Both units are showing green LED under their configuration. For my last attempt, I've tried adding the Airport ID (MAC) of the Airport Express to the Access Control and also DHCP Reservations on the Airport Extreme but still no luck.
    The Airport Express (setup as remote) does not even show up in the Airport Extreme's Summary as Wireless Clients. In the WDS tab, the Airport Extreme is set up as WDS main, Allow wireless clients box checked and WDS Remotes has the Airport Express' AirPort ID in the list. On the Airport Express, WDS is set up as remote, with Allow wireless client box checked and the Airport ID of the Airport Express in the WDS Main.
    I can connect clients to both units. Both units are configured using the same Network Name and have the same WPA/WPA2 security key. The Airport Extreme (main) however is connected to my broadband so any devices or clients connected to it are able to get outside. Connected devices or clients are assigned IP address via DHCP with IP 10.0.x.x. If wifi devices or clients connect to the Airport Express (remote) they are assigned a completely different IP addresses 169.254.x.x, they are not able to browse the internet or talk to other clients connected on the 10.0.1.x network. The Internet Connection configuration on the Airport Express (remote) is Connect Using Airport (WDS) and Using DHCP. I've even tried manually and entered the IP address 10.0.1.199 that I had assigned to the Airport Express from the Airport Extreme and Router Address as IP of Airport Extreme (10.0.1.1).
    I think I've tried everything but I'm still having this problem. The remote Airport Express is not extending my existing Airport Extreme network. Any ideas???

    Christopher,
    This may or may not be helpful, or it may be something you've already tried or are aware of so I apologize if that's the case.
    I have been researching ways to set up the Dual Band Network supported by the AEBS and came across your post. I've got an AEBS and (2) AirPort Express set-up currently (AEBS is main and the Express are participating in the WDS as remotes) and I'm trying to configure one of the Express to utilize a 802.11b/g compatible network while the AEBS runs a 5Ghz 802.11n Only network.
    AAR, since the AirPort Express are 2.4Ghz 802.11b/g ONLY (no support for 802.11n), you have to be sure to set-up your AEBS first and select "802.11n (802.11b/g compatible)" in the Radio Mode drop-down on the AEBS before you attempt to connect an AirPort Express. The AEBS should be set-up as your "WDS main" and the Express should be set-up as a "WDS remote" for the network you established when you set-up the AEBS.
    Bottom line here is the Express won't be seen by the AEBS unless the AEBS is 'looking' in the 802.11b/g 2.4Ghz frequency.
    Hope this was helpful.

  • WPA and WDS and Airport Express Networks: Need a how-to...

    We finally decided we should protect our wirelss network in our house so neighbors don't use it. However, I'm not sure how to do this using WPA and WDS with several Airport Express devices and I cannot find any how-to's on the Web. We have a hub AE connected to the router and several AEs connecting to this hub as extensions throughout the house.
    Last night tried to encrypt the hub using WPA, but then the other AEs were not part of the WDS network even though they were still set to be. Cancelled that and tried to encrypt one of the extension AEs, but then it was no longer talking to the hub AE and we lost the internet connection. Basically, i was able to encrypt individual AEs, but lost the AE WDS network. Even though the AEs appeared to be configured as before for the WDS. So I gave up.
    I'm looking for an easy step-by-step set-up guide for WPA encryption using a Airport Express WDS network. Anyone?
    BTW our AE software is not absolutely up to date, but it was fairly recently updated (6 months?).

    All your devices must use the same wireless encryption.
    If you change to WPA on the main AirPort Express (AX) the connection will break to the other AXs. You will then need to configure each one of them with the WPA password. As you modify one of these AX to use the WPA password it will see the main AX. Your network won't be completely working until you have modified all the AX to use the same WPA password.
    I suggest that you enable WPA AND change the network name. This seems to ensure a better recording of the settings and no confusion over whether the original network name has encryption or not.

  • Airport Express Refuses to participate in WDS

    Hey there,
    I am using a new wireless N Airport Extreme and an airport express extending it's range while sharing a printer and using airtunes. I have set this device up as "remote", I think that is right!
    Now after a couple of months of having this setup working like a charm I have bought another Airport Express, but it simply won't work.
    When setting up in the "Automatic" interface, it gets to the part where it asks which network to extend and what the name of the base station must be, then once I click on update it does nothin for a while then comes up with an error message saying "you cannot setup this base station for WDS because this computer does not have a wireless network card"... this error message comes from both my brand new iMac and my MacBook both running 10.4.10.
    I can set it up in the manual interface but after I click on "save changes" the program sits claiming it is waiting for the router to restarts and says I can exit if I want. After I exit and re-open the airport utility, I can now only see my new airport express (which is sitting about a foot away from my iMac from now), the Airport utility says that it is fine (green status indicator) but the device itself is flashing amber.
    If I try to get back into the settings, it is unable to open the device. To remedy this I have to do a hard reset and start over.
    Going in a circle here, help would be much appreciated!
    Thanks a lot!
    -Nic

    Did you recently install Leopard (before adding the second Airport Express)?
    I purchased a new Airport Extreme Base Station (802.11n w/gigabit) AFTER I had upgraded all of my computers to Leopard. I am having a **** of a time getting the new AEBS to stay connected to my Airport Express (WDS Network with the Express as a remote). In fact, I have given up completely and am returning the new AEBS and have reverting to using my older Airport Extreme Base Station (802.11g), which works PERFECTLY, even with Leopard installed.
    See my message here:
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1206469&tstart=0
    Apple DEFINITELY has some Airport problems pertaining to Leopard and/or the new Airport Extreme Base Stations (gigabit). I will wait for them to work the issues out before attempting to "go N" again.
    Mark

  • AirPort Express losing connection to the internet when part of WDS

    Hi,
    I have an AirPort Extreme Baste Station (802.11n) and an AirPort Express Base Station. I have set the Express to extend the wireless signal via WDS. However, after a while the internet connection seems to drop. My computer still tells me I have full signal, and AirPort utility reports no problems, but there just isn't a connection to the internet! If I turn off the Express and then turn off AirPort on my computer, and turn it back on again, I can access the weak Extreme signal.
    This is very frustrating. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas to what the problem could be?
    Thanks very much.

    I had been experiencing the same problem -- Airport Express extending an Aiport Extreme N base station via WDS constantly dropping the connection, but still showing solid green on the LED. I'm also using the WPA/WPA2 Personal encryption scheme over the whole network, and don't want to use no encryption at all or use WEP (which is pretty much the same as no encryption at all).
    Anyway, I seem to have found a solution that works on my system at least. After I made the change outlined below, my connection has been up and running for 5 days now after losing the connection about once every 3 hours or so before that:
    1. Open the Aiport Utility, click on the AEXN base station, and click Manual Setup.
    2. Click the Advanced icon in the toolbar.
    3. Click the IPv6 tab.
    4. From the IPv6 drop-down menu, select Link-local only.
    5. Click Update.
    The AEXN base station will restart with the new settings. You may also have to unplug the Airport Express WDS remote, and plug it back in after the AEXN base station has restarted.
    You also might want to change the radio channel on both the base station and the Airport Express to use channel 11.

Maybe you are looking for