AirPort Extreme + AirPort Express ≠ bridge to server

Question

Here's the dilemma: my office recently purchased a multifunction Toshiba printer, which must be accessed wirelessly to print, scan, etc. This is accomplished via a server (aka the "Fiery").
Our LAN centers on an AirPort Extreme (802.11a/n - 802.11b/g/n), which provides our internet access via its ethernet connection to a cable modem. Originally we extended the network via a Cisco Linksys bridge, which recently was rendered useless by a power outage.
Thinking that keeping everything within the Apple family would obviate some of the troubles we had to deal with when using the Cisco bridge, I added an AirPort Express, plugging it directly into the surge suppressor that protects the Fiery and the printer. The Express connects to the Fiery via ethernet.
While both Extreme and Express were showing solid greens in AirPort Utility, and I had set up the Extreme to "create" the network and the Express to "extend" it, I still cannot connect to the printer from my Mac—the whole point of this exercise. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Answer 1

Hello Vernassoc. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
If your goal is to provide Ethernet connectivity to the printer using the 802.11n AirPort Express Base Station (AXn), you don't necessarily need to configure both base stations for an extended wireless network.
Instead, you can configure the AXn as a ProxySTA. (Apple's term of a wireless Ethernet bridge.) As a ProxySTA, the AXn would "join" the wireless network created by the 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn) and have its Ethernet port enabled for wired clients.
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.)