Airport express - what does it do?

Question

I just want to check that this will fix the problem I have. I'm in the UK and have a BT wireless router downstairs, the one that on the adverts lets 3 people use it all at the same time all round the house for everything from surfing the net to watching movies. Mine (and I've changed it three times) has a strong signal by the router, cuts out if two of us are on the internet, and drops signal if you're more than about five metres from the router. However the download rate is good - 9-10 mbps, so when I do have a signal, it's a really good one.
My house is not huge, and the downstairs is shaped like an O - I have one wall in the middle of the house and that's it - no doors or anything that could block a signal, but for some reason, I get a rubbish signal at the opposite end of the house, virtually no signal upstairs (have to rely on 3G), but a strong signal by the router. I've had BT round and they've even moved my phone line from one end of the house to the other - whereever I place it I have a good signal, but at the opposite end it drops to 1 mbps. At the moment we've got it near the dining table for when we're working/playing games, but my wife would like to use her iPad upstairs in bed on the weekends, and at the moment she's having to use my iPhone's 3G.
Can I plug in an Airport express somewhere in the house to 'boost' or amplify the signal so that I have a good signal all around the house? I think this is what the airport express does, but the literature on the info page says to plug it into your router to set it up. I would want this plugged into a socket at one end of the house, with the router at the other end, so that I have a better all round signal. Can this be done with an airport express? And can I do that without wires? And without having to plug in another phone cable?
Thanks

Answer 1

Demonlawyer.
Sorry to revive an old post - And I hope you have it set up - but if not, here is some further information for you.
BT doesn’t supply "Repeaters" (That’s what they’re called). You can buy them from big name manufacturers (Netgear, Buffalo, Linksys etc) and they will work with the BT Home Hub with a little coaxing (read configuration).
The product here is used to provide a wireless signal (and a USB access point and an audio jack) to a WIRED modem/router. I.E Say you had an old BT Modem that did not have wireless. You would plug that into this gizmo, and boom, wireless.
This product can also be used as an extender (repeater), but only with compatible Apple products.
Now - To the reason I replied...
The jack (or socket) on the Airport Extreme is what’s called an Ethernet Port. This is used to connect a modem to the Airport Express. The HomeHub is both a Router AND a modem. This is why the Home Hub can be connected to a UK telephone line.
If you have a friend who uses cable (Virgin), you'll notice that generally they have a small blue box, plugged into a wireless router.
Now - To the reason I replied... (Part 2)…
That’s the reason your little black cable with the gray end won’t connect to the Apple Airport Extreme. The socket on the Airport is for a modem, which is connected to your telephone line.
If you haven’t already gathered, this product won’t really work wonders with your problem. Further investigation may be required. From your comments, I would suggest the following:
Change the channel your Wireless network is on. Generally, your Home Hub is set to Auto. A lot of things can interfere with a WiFi signal, including (but not limited to) Microwaves, Cordless Phones, Set Top Boxes etc.
There are a lot of good articles on the internet regarding the above. I would do a Google search for "HomeHub change wireless channel" and see what comes up.
Hope this provides some help!
Thanks,
Nick