Airport Express Won't Extend Network

I have an AirPort Extreme and I am trying to use my AirPort Express to extend its network. For quite a while, it was working fine. Then, due to some interference issues, I had to change the channels on my AirPort Extreme. Since then, the AirPort Express flashes Amber. I have tried restoring it to its default settings from AirPort Utility, as well as the reset button while plugging it in. My computer detects it, renames it, and automatically chooses to extend the network from the Extreme, but when setup is finished, it just flashes Amber. What can I do?

Ii suggest that you run a few quick tests to try to begin to troubleshoot the issue.
Move the AirPort Express to the same room as the AirPort Extreme to reset and reconfigure the device again.
Do you get a green light that way?
If yes, then unplug and move the Express to a location that is no more than half the distance between the AirPort Extreme and the general are that needs more wireless coverage and test to see if the Express will work reliably at that location.
However, if you cannot get the AirPort Express to work when you configure it in the same room as the Airport Extreme.....and you have reset the AirPort Express several times, then it is time to start thinking about the possibilty that the Express is defective.
Please post back on your results, as it still may be necessary to use a good utility like WiFi Explorer to help analzye your wireless network connection quality and take a look at other sources that may be introducing wireless interference that is affecting your network.

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AirPort Express won't extend network range

I spent 5 hours on the phone with three different apple reps changing every possible setting on the airport express that i wanted to use to extend the range of my existing network and even though AirPort utility said everything was set up right, the AX was only connected as a client. It was on the network, but not broadcasting ANY signal. This was at an office building with an AirPort Extreme as the base station. Both devices are brand new. 802.11n. I then took it home to see if it would extend the range of my home network which is set up using an AirPort Express as the base station. After trying every possible set up option there i was left with the same result. No broadcasting from the remote Express. It broadcasts when it's a base station, but not as a remote extender. What's the problem?!

I am going nuts too trying to configure my Airport Express to extend the range of my Airport Extreme. Nothing seems to work and I've been at this off and on for months. The Extreme works fine (it's an "n") but the Express (I think a "g") won't cooperate. And Apple has no current definitive step-by-step instructions that help at all. Does anyone out there have a solution? Shouldn't this just be plug-and-play with a few tweaks to the settings?

Airport express won't extend network via ethernet but shows GREEN (HELP!!)

I have the following routers setup up the same network and are working.
10.0.1.1 Airport Extreme (connected to hardline from IP)
10.0.1.2 Time Capsule 1 (extending network and providing internet connection to computer via ethernet)
10.0.1.3 Time Capsule 2 (extending network and providing internet connection to Xbox1)
10.0.1.4 Airport Express 1 (extending network and providing internet connection to Xbox2)
Not working correctly
10.0.1.43 Airport Express 2 (wanting to set this router up to extend network to plug into desktop)
The router seems to join the network fine and will show GREEN but doesn't show a similar IP address as the rest of the routers. It also doesn't provide any internet connection via ethernet to any computer, the network pref page says that it shows RED and that nothing is connected to the computer for internet but airport shows GREEN.
Reset the router multiple times, tried every which way of setting it up and no go. I also tried assigning it a IP and not using DHCP and gave it a 10.0.1.5 and still the same outcome.
Right now just at complete loss as to what to try next.

Sorry, the older version of the Express does not have the option to "extend a wireless network", which is the setting on the new Express that provides more wireless coverage and also enables the Ethernet port.
What you want to do can be done with a different setting..."participate in a WDS network" on both the Time Capsule and Express, but I am not recommending that you do this because WDS operates only in "g" wireless mode. Your Time Capsule would lose most of its performance in this setting and the network would slow down tremendously...defintely not what you want for gaming.
You'll have the best performance if you connect the PS3 directly to one of the Ethernet ports on the Time Capsule using an Ethernet cable. If it is not possible to run the cable, the next best performance option would be to use a pair of Ethernet powerline adapters to send the Ethernet signal over the existing AC wiring in your home.

Airport Express won't extend network over LAN when plugged into a switch

I have several airport expresses (newest model) and an airport extreme.
Every room in my house is wired for ethernet. Those terminate in a closet and plug into a single switch. That switch then has a single cable that plugs into the airport extreme.
In different areas of the house, I've placed a few expresses to extended the wireless network. After several attempts, the express "hotspots" would only extend the extreme via wifi (offering no real advantage) even though they were plugged into the wall via ethernet.
For grins and giggles, I tried connecting the port directly into the airport extreme (bypassing the switch) and it started to send the traffic over the wired LAN.
Question is - why? I'd much rather everything go through the switch as the extreme has a limited amount of ports and I'd rather use for other things. Anyone had this experience before?
Thanks!

Sorry, the older version of the Express does not have the option to "extend a wireless network", which is the setting on the new Express that provides more wireless coverage and also enables the Ethernet port.
What you want to do can be done with a different setting..."participate in a WDS network" on both the Time Capsule and Express, but I am not recommending that you do this because WDS operates only in "g" wireless mode. Your Time Capsule would lose most of its performance in this setting and the network would slow down tremendously...defintely not what you want for gaming.
You'll have the best performance if you connect the PS3 directly to one of the Ethernet ports on the Time Capsule using an Ethernet cable. If it is not possible to run the cable, the next best performance option would be to use a pair of Ethernet powerline adapters to send the Ethernet signal over the existing AC wiring in your home.

My Airport Express won't extend range. How to set up?

My Airport Express won't extend the range of my Airport Extreme. How should I set it up to get it to work? Stuart

When the Express is configured to "extend" it is a wireless repeater.
"Adding Wi-Fi base stations when it is unnecessary
Speaks for itself
can reduce Wi-Fi throughput because the Wi-Fi network will require more data management overhead."
As will adding another computer, iPhone or any wireless device to the network, for that matter.
FWIW, I have run 4 AirPort Expresses all setup to "extend" and noticed nothing except faster Internet browsing and download speeds throughout the house.
IF...you can connect the AirPort Express to the AirPort Extreme using an Ethernet connection, that will provide better overall performance. That is the way any commercial network is designed, except on a much larger scale.

Airport Express won't extend Airport Extreme Network

I use an Airport Extreme (AE) to connect to the internet. I use an Airport Express (AX) to extend the network via a WDS network. Until recently all was fine.
Last week I updated the firmware for my AE. Since then my AX has not been acting as a WDS extension. I have tried several times tonight to make the AE and AX talk to each other in this fashion. I have reset the AX to factory defaults and reset the AE as well. So far, nothing works.
Thought the AX might have failed. However, the AX will connect to the AE network just fine. It just won't extend the network.
Any ideas will be most appreciated.
Thanks.

I have an Airport Extreme Base Station. I just bought an Airport Express to extend my network and connect a wired device in my living room to my network via the Ethernet port. The Airport Express obtains an IP address from the Airport Extreme but I can't seem to get out to the Internet ...at least via the Ethernet port. When I installed the Airport Express, I updated it to 7.3.1.
This sounds like a similar problem to the original post.

Airport Express can only extend network, not create new one. Why?

I am sharing a flat with some friends. The shared broadband router is placed in the living room. To strengthen the signal and make it easier for me to manage, I bought an Airport Express, connected it to the shared router with an ethernet cable and set up a wireless network of my own in my room. It was working fine, until recently we renewed our broadband contract. The router had been replaced by a new one (I don't know why) and the network configration had been changed. Since then I was not able to use my own network. In the Airport Utility display, the light of Airport Express is green, but the light of Internet is yellow, and the status is disconnected. I tried to change various other configuration on the Airport Express, and all in vain. Until I switched the network mode from 'Create a new wireless network' to 'Extend a wireless network', the Internet connection was finally back online. But this merely extends the existing network and not what I want. Why this happens? Why my Airport Express can only extend a network, not create one?

Here is the situation on my Airport Express.
If I choose to extend the existing wireless network, the Airport Utility shows like this:
If I set up a wireless network of my own, what I get in the Airport Utility is this:
See my problems here? The Airport Express does not show anything in amble, but the Internet complains that there is no connection.
This problem did not occur before the broadband was renewed and the rounter was replaced.

Airport Express won't extend wireless network

I think due to a fault my airport express wont extend my wireless network around my house , but it will allow for airplay ... is it possiple to extend my network using the express but with an eithernet cable rather than the wireless that is transmitted out of the express unit ??

Is the other wireless router, that you are trying to extend, another AirPort or Time Capsule base station? If so, are both units 802.11n models? Finally, what is the rough distance between the units and are they located in the same room, different room, or different floor?

Airport Express Won't Extend my Network

I've had my AirPort Express for around 3 months now and it was working fine and extending my network with my base station as the Apple Extreme just fine, until 2 weeks ago. Suddenly, it started flashing amber instead of green, and even though I reset it, disconnected it and re plugged it in, and placed it in another room, it didn't work, so I called Apple. Keep in mind that the whole time this is happening, the light for the Apple Extreme was working, and so was the wi-fi, just the Express which I use as an extender wasn't. I was on the phone for 2 hours with them and eventually they got it to work by resetting the Apple Extreme and setting it up as a completely new network, which was tedious and annoying, but it worked. Now, I have the same problem again, and I have tried the same steps I used before, and it still isn't working. Is there any way I can get it to work without having to reset the Apple Extreme?

yes, you can first do it with a short eth cable so you're still next to your extreme and then run the longer cable when you're ready to put it where you want it
before you connect the eth cord to the express, fully reset it
unplug express
hold in reset and keep holding it down while plugging power back in - only release reset when amber light flashes after 10-20s
now plug in the eth cable
your airport utility should auto see that you're trying to extend your extreme via your express on a wired connection

Airplay not working on Airport Express N in Extended Network

Hi
I have a setup as in the diagram below. Internet Router connected to my Airport Express N which creates a N-class network. Then I have an Time Capsule in another room that extends this network. My iMac is connected to this Time Capsule using Ethernet (WiFi is turned off completely).
iTunes is 10.6.1 (7)
Airport Express and Time Capsule have the latest firmware (v7.6.1)
Internet, sharing and other functions are working fine, just Airplay from the iMac doesn't work anymore to the Airport Express. I've tried lots of solutions, and this just seems to be broken. I've submitted to Apple feedback as well explaining the situation and that this doesn't work.
If I add/remove a password or enable/disable airplay on the Express, it does reflect in iTunes. It also shows that the Airplay is locked/unlocked (see image) and also shows it as a visible audio destination. But when you activate it from iTunes, it doesn't ask for any password (if enabled), but it just displays the "connecting" dialog for about 1 minute and then closes the window without any error and just does nothing. It's like iTunes cannot communicate to the Airport Express, although at the same time I can connect to it's internal configuration (edit) and also connect to the internet, my router's config using a browser, etc. without any problems. Also, if I'm using my iPad and iPhone, I can easily use the Airport Express from those devices, but NOT from the iMac.
I'm thinking Apple broke Airplay in this type of scenario.
Anyone with any ideas. I have a big hot paperweight called an Airport Express plugged into the wall in my bedroom now.

My problem is similar but not always the same. I have a Time Capsule extended by an Airport Express which in turn is connected to my hifi. My Imac is connected to the TC by Ethernet alone - no wifi. The connection from the TC to my AE is done by a mains wiring ethernet connection which works superbly for TV streaming etc. However, sometimes when I try to connect to the AE for music, I get an error message whicg says that is not possible to connect to the Airplay device. If I restart the Imac, it connects immediately and without problem and will run for as long as I want. Once stopped, I then get the error messge again until I restart.

Would like my macbook pro to only connect to time capsule and not to airport express that is extending network. Is there a way to do this?

I have a network set up with a main time capsule and airport express. The airport express is configured to extend network. While its fine for our iphones and ipad to connect to the express, I would like the Macbook pro to only connect to the time capsule as it seems to run faster. Any way to do this?

You are extending the 2.4ghz.. as that is the only way you can connect iphones.
But if you have Gen2 or later TC you can setup 5ghz to use a different wireless name to 2.4ghz.. and it is much faster.. you need to be close to the TC though.. like in the same room.
Make sure you download 5.6 airport utility if you haven't already.. go to the wireless options and the extra wireless area.. set a different wireless name (SSID in everybody but apple's book). Then you can deliberately select it.

Airport Express access over 'Extended' network (Time Capsule)

Hello everyone,
I've seen several posts similar to this, and I've come pretty far in figuring this out but the final roadblock is scratching my head.
I purchased an Airport Express a few days ago to get my xbox 360 onto the internet without running a wire and without giving Microsoft my 100 dollars. I had it working under WDS but WDS trashed my network speed. I found out about the 802.11n version of 'extending' the network tonight. Got it all setup, so much easier than WDS!
So I slap my xbox 360 ethernet cable into the Airport Express and go to watch some Netflix. Turns out I can't get to the internet...I've got the thing on the network. It's got an IP, subnet looks good, gateway looks good.
I tried to ping it from my iMac and I can't get to it.
My network looks like this...
FIOS -----> Actiontek Router --(Bridge)--> Time Capsule --(extended network)--> Airport Express ---(ethernet) --> Xbox360
Thanks for any help,
Cheers.

Hi
When you try and ping the Xbox where are you doing it from, i.e. do you have a laptop that is a wireless client of the TC? What IP address is your XBox getting? What IP address is on the station that you are pinging from? What is the IP address of the Express itself? Can you ping the Express?
You mention that the Express has a solid green led right? What if you move the laptop to be ethernet client of the Express, can the laptop now access the internet?
cheers

Airport Express won't Bridge Network

I am trying to use the airport express as a remote bridge, 1) connecting to my verizon Fios wireless router wirelessly then 2) through the ethernet port on the express. To distribute internet access.
I have entered the Mac Address of the wireless component on the router into the Express Airport Admin Utility under "WDS Main:" The wireless Mode is setup to "Participate in a WDS network". I have disabled any wireless security features to rule that out.
I continue to get a blinking yellow light and no internet connection on the Express Ethernet port.

Unfortunately, most non-AirPort routers are not compatible with Apple's implementation of Wireless Distribution System (WDS)...so it very unlikely that your Verizon wireless router can be extended wirelessly with the AirPort Express Base Station (AX).

Airport Express Won't Join Network Anymore

I had my Airport Express set up in my house as a range extender for my Airport Extreme. It was working fine until I recently updated the Airport software (or firmware, I don't remember). Now the AP Express is blinking amber. I went through all the trouble shooting steps, including hard and factory reset. My Airport utulity (6.0) sees the AP Express, and it takes me through all the steps setting it up as a range extender for my basestation on my wireless network, but at the very last step it says there's an error connecting. When I connect via ethernet only it's yellow on the utility, with status saying there no valid IP address. Tried the same IP settings as my basestation, but no luck. It also says the wireless network can't be found.
Is this a software problem, or a hardware issue? I feel like I'm missing something simple. I would appreciate any help anyone can offer. Thanks!

Download and use Airport Utility 5.6
This was release the same day as 6.0 but 6.0 is quirky and exhibits strange behavior at times.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
Do a Factory reset again and set it up using 5.6

Airport express won't join network

I use an airport express to extend my network. It is the last model in the old style - if that makes sense - (It supports 5Ghz networks) - bought about a year ago. It's been working fine but suddenly stopped connecting to my network. I suspect a hardware problem - but how can I know for sure? It's in range of my Time Capsule - I've tried resetting it - occasionally it works but then drops the connection. Any thoughts would be welcomed.

Hi Nicholas Pritchard,
Welcome to the Support Communities!
The articles below may be able to help you with this.
Click on the links to see more details and screenshots.
Wi-Fi base stations: Setting up and configuring an extended wireless network (802.11n)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4259
Resetting an AirPort Base Station or AirPort Time Capsule FAQ
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3728
Cheers,
- Judy

Airport Express Won't Extend Network

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