Airport Extreme signal strength problem

My airport extreme's signal is very weak by the time it gets to the other end of my house, and a couple of computers at that end have been using my neighbor's unsecured wifi for their internet connection. How can I extend or strengthen the broadcast? Is there a setting in the airport utility app? The computers affected are windows xp computers. My iMac and Vista pc are connected via the ethernet cable, so they're not using wifi.

Welcome to the discussion area!
Wireless signal strength dissipates quite quickly with distance and any obstructions such as walls or ceilings will make this effect even more noticeable.
If you have a newer dual band AirPort Extreme and you want to extend both bands for greater wireless coverage using wireless only, then you'll need to look at another dual band AirPort Extreme.
The AirPort Express can also be configured to extend your wireless network, but it will only extend one band.
The extending device would normally be located at approximately 1/2 to 2/3 of the distance between your main router and the area that needs more wireless coverage.
Post back if you decide to add an extending device to your network and you need help with configuration details.

Similar Messages

How to increase Airport Extreme signal strength

I post this in the way of advice, which anyone is free to accept or ignore.
I recently switched to Comcast ("triple play") from an in-complex Ethernet internet system. On my Mac Pro (MP), using speedtest.net, I attained download speeds of at least 22 Mbps. Very fast, I must say. However, I noticed that my Mac Book Pro (MBP) speeds were considerably slower, sometimes only a tenth of those on the MP. I am happy to report that after some reconfiguration I'm attaining almost identical speeds between the MP and MBP. What did I do?
I had initially configured the Airport Extreme (AEx) to operate at 802.11n with 5 Ghz only. Using iStumbler, I discovered that my signal strength was a bit under 60% and the "noise" was 13%. Other wireless devices appearing in the iStumbler window (we live in a downtown apartment complex) showed the "noise" levels at 9%--across the board. I fiddled with the location of my cordless phone (5.4 GHz) and even disconnected it. There was no change in the noise level. I moved the MBP up against the AEx and, while the signal strength increased, upwards of 70%, the noise level remained the same--at 13%.
So, I reconfigured the AEx to 802.11n (b/g compatible). Voila. Not only did the noise drop to 9%, just like the other devices, but the download speeds on the MBP zoomed to around 20 Mbps, or just about the same as the MP.
Too boost the MBP speeds even further I set up an Airport Express (AE) right next to where I use my MBP. I configured it to extend my wireless network.
By the way, I have my MP connected directly to the AEx via Ethernet. The AEx is directly connected to the cable modem. I configured my wireless network as "closed," using interference robustness. I left the multicast rate in default mode, which is 2 Mbps. Transmit power is at 100%.
What I seemed to have learned from this experience is NOT to use the 5 GHz only setting on an AEx, if one wants maximum Internet download speeds. (This seems counterintuitive, I know, because the theoretical limit of 5 GHz is 300 Mbps under 802.11n and "only" 54 Mbps using the 2.5 GHz setting.)

Purchase another Apple AirPort Base Station such as the $99 Express to "wirelessly extend" your AirPort wireless network.

Why is my airport extreme signal strength so weak on my macbook pro?

I live in a 4 story brownstone, next to neighbors with lots of wireless routers. My macbook pro (OS X 10.6.8) frequently is dropped from my airport extreme router. The strange thing is, the macbook receives a much stronger connection to my next door neighbor's wireless router (which is behind 2 brick walls, and down 1 floor) than it does to my airport extreme router - located 15 feet to my right with no interfering walls. In fact, I can stay solidly connected to my neighbor's router even when I'm 2 floors above him.
There are 4 other devices in my house connected to my airport extreme router. All have no problems connecting.
An ipad, which moves around from floor to floor, even outside on my front stoop.
A stationary imac located 4 inches away from the router
A stationary brother laser printer, about 10 feet to the right of the router (no interfering walls)
A stationary lexmark inket printer, about 10 feet in front of the router (behind 1 partition wall)
What can I do to troubleshoot this?

Problem solved. My router had some significant interference from a neighbours router that is no longer an issue.

Airport Extreme Signal Weaker than Before

My Airport Extreme signal is weaker than it used to be. Nothing has changed except I can no longer connect to the internet without running diagnostics each time I try to use it. It will connect and then stay connected until my macbook goes to sleep. When it wakes up, I have to re-connect using diagnostics.
I am using it in the same room I always have and never had problems before. But for the past several weeks, it is just not behaving as it always has. I have checked for a firmware update, but airport utility doesn't indicate that one is available. It's running: Version 6.3.2.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. It's run great for the past several years. This is a new issue...

Because I can no longer connect to the internet without running diagnostics each time I try to use it. It will connect and then stay connected until my macbook goes to sleep. When it wakes up, I have to re-connect using diagnostics.
I am using it in the same room I always have and never had problems before. It will connect without problems in other rooms that are closer to the base station. But from the room where I ordinarily connect, it won't automatically connect anymore.
I can get it to connect from that room, and it will stay connected, but I can only do so by running diagnostics, telling it to assist me and then selecting the network and and following the steps to connect.

AirPort Extreme HD causing problems

I've finally got my hard disk (Maxtor OneTouch 250GB) working with my AirPort Extreme.
The problem is that I have folders with upto 80GB of files in them, which just dont open when I click on them. I'd rather not format the disk because I have way too much required data on it.
Is there any way of making the disk work perfectly without having to wait for 10 mintues for a folder to open (which may/may not open and causes the HD to be disconnected)?

Actually although my hard disk is connected via AirPort Extreme, my iMac is connected to the network on Ethernet. So my iMac isn't using the wireless at all to connect to the hard disk.
My hard disk has stopped going offline randomly, but it doesn't make a difference anymore because I can't even open any of the folders on the hard disk.
I was told that if I formatted the hard disk and created smaller folders then the computers on the network would be able to access files faster.
I'm trying not to format my hard disk, so if anyone has an alternative solution that solves this then I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

I am trying to extend my airport extreme signal to another airport extreme can this be done? I have tried several time using the automated set up but it keeps failing... What am I doing wrong?

I am trying to extend my airport extreme signal to another airport extreme can this be done? I have tried several time using the automated set up but it keeps failing... I have selected every possible security/password encryption level... What am I doing wrong? If it os possible where can I find step by step instructions? Please & Thank you!

The challenge with the older round AirPort Extremes are that they are "g" wireless devices.
When you configure them for WDS, the speed on the wireless network is cut in half...and probably will not have the bandwidth required to stream video reliably from either AirPort Extreme since both are affected by the WDS setup.
There is not an "automated" setup for WDS. You have to do this manually on both AirPort Extremes. Unfortunately, it is not an easy configuration and it's easy to make a mistake and hard to recover without starting all over again.
Apple's instructions for WDS are here if you want to give it a try.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4262
It is possible that it might work. Keep us posted on your progress
Adding a single AirPort Express will unfortunately not help. You have to have "n" wireless devices at all router points.

How to test strength of airport extreme signal?

We have a 2nd generation Airport Extreme Model Number A11XX as well as a 1st generation Airport Express. We use the Airport Express to connect our iTunes to speakers exclusively. We recently upgraded to 'blazing' speeds of internet (15Mbp up to 30Mbp). Internet speed keeps fluctuating and internet provider has sent 2 people out in the last month since upgrade as well as reprovisioned our modem 3xs AND finally replacing our modem for the second time...all reporting no problem found, though both experiencing the fluctuating signal while here. We have been using Ookla speedtest to keep track of these fluctuations. Charter says that it has to be our wireless router and that they do not support wireless, which is fine, except our problem is not solved. They suggest we plug in directly to the modem via ethernet cable. I would like to know if there is a way to test the signal of our Airport Extreme to see if this is in fact where our problem is coming from.
A few things to note:
DEVICES:
1 iMac, 1 MacBook Pro, 1 Macbook, 1 iPad, 2 iPhones (obviously not all on at the same time....no more than 2 computers at a time)
Never had airport/wifi icon on computer/phone drop below 3 out of 4 bars....usually full strength.
Airport Extreme 2nd generation
Airport Express 1st generation for speakers only
ISSUES:
Experiencing fluctuating internet via WiFi AND directly plugged into modem. go figure.
Fluctuating Speeds from 3Mbp-35Mbp regularly (often timing out because entire signal drops out). And yes, I know the signal won't be at a constant speed always, but such large swings are just not acceptible.
Architect working from home with the need to upload and download large files as well as video conference.
If we need to get a new wireless router that is fine, but we'd rather not since as far as we can tell it seems to be working just fine.
Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks!

What firmware is the AE running??
Factory reset and downgrade the firmware if you are on 7.6.4.. go back to 7.6.1 or 7.5.2
The latest firmware on such an old model is no good.
Factory reset after the downgrade and redo the setup as simple as possible.. use simple names.. this is now important since mavericks which uses SMB networking by default. Names short, no spaces and pure alphanumeric.
Please plug into the AE by ethernet and see if the issue exists over ethernet.. if it all works fine by wired connection and is failing by wireless then basically you have done what is possible and the unit is failing.. replace it.

Signal strength problem on MacBook Pro

We bought a new AirPort Extreme 802.11n for Christmas. Setup was fairly easy. We have two Macs--an 2005 iMac which is plugged into the AE via Ethernet, and a MacBook Pro from mid-2006 that we use in other rooms.
Our problem is that the signal strength on the MacBook Pro is terrible. Even at just 20 feet away, the signal strength varies between 1 and 3 bars (most often just the one tiny bar). The wireless is basically unusable at that point because pages stop loading.
To eliminate interference as a problem, our daughter brought her 2008 MacBook Pro over and we carried it around the house. It had 4 bar strength with no problems wherever we went and held 4 bars for hours while she used it in the kitchen. So we're pretty sure the problem is not interference in our house, unless her newer AirPort card is far better at blocking it.
What could be causing the signal strength on the older MacBook Pro to be so lousy? The computer is a Intel Core Duo, 2.16 GHz, running 10.4.11. The wireless card is 0x168C, 0x86. The wireless network adapter is 802.11 a/b/g, so it's not running "n", but I can't believe that's the only reason it won't hold a good signal. The AE is set up to run "n" as well as the older ones. (Bear with me...this is my first experience with wireless!)
We've been trying everything we can think of to improve the signal but nothing works. When the bars are in the 2-3 range it runs the internet fine, but the problem is that the signal constantly shifts between 1 and 3. So is the AirPort card in the computer that weak?
Any ideas are most welcome. Thanks.

Sorry, posted in wrong forum by accident. Please ignore.

AirPort Extreme port forwarding, problems occurring. Please help.

Yesterday I discovered the game I have been playing allows for home servers. We are allowed to host our own game server for other people to join and play along. This game uses ports: UDP 19132 and TCP 19132 (which I think is optional, but UDP is defiantly needed) to host a server at home. We are paired with Comcast internet, using an AirPort Extreme (latest firmware) router with airport utility (latest firmware) on an iMac (1 generation behind I think).
Now the problem:
- I want to host this game server on my laptop! Not the iMac!
- The laptop uses Ubuntu and the brand is HP. It is connected wirelessly to my AirPort Extreme router. Now since it is not connected directly to the router, and is not an apple product I am not able to change the router settings from my laptop (I can deal with this, I'll just go downstairs and change the settings on the iMac).
- Yesterday I went into AirPort Utility. I proceeded to click 'Edit' on the router picture in airPort Utility. Then I went to the tab where you can reserve a dchp or port forward. I added a new port aimed at: UDP public: 19132 ; TCP public: 19132 ; Private IP: 1.0.1.201 ; UDP private: 19132 ; TCP private: 19132 (I did not mess with the 'reserve dchp' setting). Then I went to my laptop and used a VPN to test out the connectivity of the port and server. Sadly I couldn't connect to my server it didn't work. I then deleted the port since it didn't work.
- Today I did exactly what I did yesterday, except... I reserved a dchp for my laptop (keep in mind I had no idea what I was doing and i still dont) using its hardware mac adress. I also named the dchp reserve: mylaptop. Then i restarted the router, went to port checking websites and they still said my external ip had port 19132 closed.
- I know for sure it's not my server or it's properties.
FYI: I used multiple port checker websites after completing my port forwarding, each and everyone of those sites said my external IP address has port 19132 closed when obviously I opened them. I also tried to bridge my linksys wrt54gsv4 router to my AirPort Extreme router and tried to port from the router menu of the linksys router. That ultimately failed.
Please help, thank you for reading all of this.

Hi, thanks for the reply. Been pulling my hair out trying to get this to work. Paid so much money just to have it connected to the playstation but its not letting me do that.
I have a 60gb Playstation 3 not a Xbox 360, so it comes with wifi.
I have been trying this non stop and about to give up. I hae been following what the playstation manual says. Its telling me to scan for access points but everytime I do this, it just has SSID: default, Security: none, Signal Strength: 45%.
I dont understand this cos I named my SSID as Garcia Home which shows on my mac and it also has full bars for the airport on my menu bar. The playstation is located in the room next to mine so it can't be 35-40% only for signal strength.
20' intel imac Mac OS X (10.4.6) 60GB video ipod (black)

Airport Extreme, 5Ghz connectivity problems and poor media streaming

Hi,
I purchased an extreme from the apple store a little over a week ago, and before I send the device back I would like to solicit recommendations from this forum.
Some information about the setup:
- Single airport extreme (supplying wifi services for my non-wifi DSL router and a connected USB disk)
- Airport Extreme Firmware: 7.4.2
- iTunes: 9.0
- OS: Snow Leopard (10.6.1), Leopard (10.5.8), Window Vista.
- Harddrive: 2TB lacie, USB2.0 connection only
- 2.4 and 5 Ghz broadcasting mode
- The device is broadcasting on all supported protocols.
- Multiple clients (various: apple, microsoft, fujitsu)
- Small space, no major concrete/brick/stone walls, signal strength is 5 bars of goodness
- Country: Spain (I know there were 5Ghz restrictions here a while ago, but the device broadcasts on 5Ghz and is therefore not crippled).
If anything else could be of use, let me know and I'll update this list.
And now the problems:
1) 5Ghz connections fail
When connecting over the 5Ghz freq my connectivity to the extreme and the services it is offering (internet, disk sharing) is intermittent, at best. Basically, it has not worked reliably since I took it out of the box. This is equal for both of my macbooks and a fujitsu laptop (all with n support).
I've tried switching channels to avoid congestion - I don't live in a wifi-heavy area, and there are no other likely sources of interference (e.g. microwaves, cordless phones).
My connections to mounted disks come and go, I have to re-authenticate, and so on.
A general scan of the environment with KisMac does not show any major interference from other wifi networks (only 2 others in range, one is wimax).
I've tried to do some wifi analysis to see if I can spot any frame/packet related issues. Some rudimentary analysis indicates that when the connection stops working on the 5Ghz channel my laptop continually sends request-to-send packets to the extreme, but does not receive a clear-to-send. This occurs after a-few-seconds to a-couple-of-minutes of connectivity - the connection initially 'works' (i.e. wifi packets are sent/received correctly and I can access the internet).
2) Data access and media streaming from the connected USB drive is very poor
I've mostly had problems with itunes. I thought this might be related to the size of my library, but this shouldn't effect single track playing. Even enabling large buffering in itunes results in intermittent pauses and long track loading.
Note: this occurs over b/g connections; as stated already, n connections don't work. iTunes simply goes into a coma for while and then eventually fails. See above. Also, if I just stream from my macbook (i.e. HD connected via USB), it works flawlessly.
The extreme was running 7.4.2 - updated on first connection. It's now running 7.4.1, as I read on the forums that there were some perceived problems with 7.4.2 (although these perceptions may not be accurate.
Concl(f)usion:
I believe I've ruled out the following:
- Distance
- Interference
- Laptop related issues (the same problem occurs with 2 macbooks and a fujitsu laptop).
- Latest firmware
- Software (apps, OS, etc)
Which leaves me to ponder two possibilities:
a) The extreme is damaged.
b) The extreme is not a good product (surely this can't be so?!)
There is, of course, a c-possibility ... that the collective experience of the online community might be able to offer me an alternative path?
I would be very grateful if anyone could offer any suggestions, tips, tricks, spells or simply a hug before I contact apple to begin the process of explaining the issues and seeking some care.
Many thanks in advance,
Dave.

I have had the same problem. Really frusrtating, expecially since the reason I bought the airport was because of all the wireless congestion in my neigborhood with only 11 channels on the 2.4 GHz spectrum.
Bought my airport dual band about a week ago. It had the firware 7.4.2. After extensive searching, I found other with similar issues. Apparently the last stable firmware may be 7.3.8. I am on 7.4.0 and not having any issues any longer (only testing one day now).
This may solve your issue. Login to your airport and choose manual setup. on the summary page, find 'Version' 7.x" and click on the word 'version'. This will allow you to rollback your firmware. I went with 7.4. Depending on what options you need with airdisk, Time Capsule, rolling back may remove those options, so experiment. You can always go back to 7.4.1 or 7.4.2 from within the interface.
Hope this helps.

Airport extreme signal

I don't know if anyone has had this problem ---
but I have a new powerbook with an airport extreme card.
If the computer is near the base station, I get a good signal.I have a widget that gives the strength from 63 - 71, and that is with the computer no more than 12 inches from the router.
When I take the computer down to the basement in a split level house, the signal drops to almost nothing. The signal drop is sudden, not gradual. and doesn't return to full strength until the computer is close to the router.
My daughter, who has a G3 ibook, with the older airport card does not seem to have this problem.
Is is the airport card? Is there something I could do get a good signal throughout the house - or at least in the lower level?
Thanks in advance for suggestions,
nl

I am glad to see there are other people who are having the same problems as I have. My signal on my imac is extremely poor since installing the last airport update. before that i had full 4 bars and fast transmision speeds, now i have one bar and very slow download times. I have moved my base station closer to my computer, but to no avail. this is most definitely somethign to do with the update. is there a way to uninstall it?
I have the same problem. The farther away I am from
my wireless router, the weaker the signal on my
AirPort becomes. The funny thing is that this only
started happening after I downloaded the most recent
airport update last week (11/10/05). Can anyone help?
Apple, can you fix this for us asap? Thanks.

AirPort Extreme signal goes to zero

My AirPort Extreme base station is about 11 months old. Worked flawlessly for several months, then a few months ago it developed a problem in that the wireless signal strength (as seen by an iBook, two PowerBooks and a PowerMac G4 all using Apple cards) sometimes goes to ZERO. No bars, and the network disappears from the menu on all the clients, even the one sitting 10 feet away. Visually, only the center light is on, steady white. The problem is corrected by unplugging/replugging the power cord on the base station.
This sometimes occurs 2-3 times a day, sometimes it does not occur for several days in a row. It has happened in the middle of the day with all users active and it has happened at night with no one active (noticed when the first user tried to connect next morning). The problem may have started with a new level of AirPort software or firmware (we are running the latest available of both, with 3 clients on 10.4.8 and one on 10.3.9) but since the problem is sporadic we didn't associate it with any patch at the time.
The base station is running infrastructure mode, bridging to a wired Ethernet network, so it is not acting as DHCP server. (The wired network clients see no disruption in service when the AirPort goes dead.) 128-bit WEP and access control by MAC address are active.
Any ideas?
PowerMac G4 MDD Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hmmm, unfortunately, it sounds like the AirPort Extreme card inside your AEBS maybe faulty. Since you already know connecting wired clients to the AEBS is not an issue, would it be possible to remove the AEBS from the current network configuration, and install it as a new standalone wireless network...and then check to see if repeats the drop-outs when wireless clients connect to it? The rationale would be to eliminate any possibility that when it's connected to a wired network may be the cause of the wireless drop-outs.

Airport Extreme Sudden Speed Problems

Router: Latest Airport Extreme model with the most up to date firmware
Main Device: 2012 Retina 15" running 10.9.4
Problem
I am having a rather unusual problem with my router. Until about 3 days ago, my computer iPad and other devices had consistent internet connection quality and speed. Now I am experiencing a slow internet connection, constant dropped calls in Skype, failure to access that App store, and a host of other internet problems on my Retina display 2012 15" macbook as well as slow connection on my iPad and iPhone. Websites will "hang" as they begin to load, nothing will happen, and then they will load a bit later. Streaming of videos is very slow and large file streaming and downloading is significantly inhibited (if it works at all). I have a fast broadband connection that is working very well with Xbox live (direct connection to the router) so I am quite sure that the router is the issue, not the internet connection. Interestingly, when I clock my speed my connection I get 10 and 1 mbps (using speedtest.net). I have all full wifi signal strength according to the indicator in the upper right.
Strange Airport Utility Readings
In airport utility, the internet symbol appears to be going orange (disconnected) and back to green. In the past, I have noticed a flashing orange light on my airport extreme but I would just restart it and it would go green. The light is currently green.
Troubleshooting
I have tried a factory reset and it has not done anything to help. I have tried changing the channel and it also does not seem to help.
Any help or direction would be much appreciated. I am hoping this is a problem that can be resolved here at home but I am beginning to suspect I may have a faulty router.

Yes, pack it up and take back to apple for checking / replacement. I think they are often unreliable.
See the long thread about this issue.
New Airport Extreme (6th Gen) Dropping Connection from Time to Time.
This has been ongoing since the AE gen6 came out..
And there are many many threads started like yours that don't get much attention.. but it is the same today..
Wireless issues with airport extreme for external sites only
And it is better to just let Apple deal with it..

Signal strength problem

Hi there- hope you can help.
Until recently I had an iBook G4 sharing the ethernet connection of an iMac G4 via airport. This worked perfectly throughout the house, both with and without an airport express base station
Recently I changed the iBook for a 12" PB G4 1.5 Ghz and set everything up with the exact same configuration. The problem is that the signal strength with the new PB is terrible. The two machines can sit right next to each other and I'll only get a 3 out of 4 signal strength on the PB. And when it gets more than 10 feet away, it loses all connection. This is the same either with the airport base station, or sharing the iMac's ethernet connection via airport cards.
Any ideas?
Many thanks,
Boris

I have a related problem. I'm running 10.4.4 on a G4 PB. I just downloaded the latest Airport update (as of 1/21). When I restarted, I either got a too-weak signal or none at all and I was sitting at the exact place from which I'd done the download. When I bring the PB within 10 unobstructed feet of the base station, the signal returns. This is extremely frustrating as the description of the update mentioned improved reception. Yeah, right. I repaired permissions and restarted which of course made no difference.
I have a feeling that we both need a software fix; I hope Apple is forthcoming with it.
PB g4 12" Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Need helps on weak airport extreme signal

Please bear with me - as I posted here twice
I really need a help, get very tired with this airport extreme card with my brand new Mac Pro.
I bought the machine with bluetooth installed (confirmed that the BT wire connecting with the bluetooth card) and working just fine. I bought the airport extreme card and installed by the shop (there is no apple shop in HK). The IT guy connected only the wire 1 to the card, I questioned whether he needed to connect cables of 1 and 2 together, and he confirmed that only 1 was needed.
Brought the machine home and set up with WiFi with my apple extreme and time capsule (both N), the signal showed a level 4 signal (strongest) but after a minute it dropped to 1 even disappeared despite I placed the time capsule just next to my Mac Pro.
Open the case and connect the cable 2, but it did not show any improvement. Tried the 2 & 3 together - even worst.
Is that a common problem and can't be solved, if so, if I connected the time capsule with Mac Pro via ethernet, would it works? I had tried it but did not work, do I need to do some special setting on time capsule for this connection (Airport extreme (modem) -> time capsule -> Mac Pro (via ethernet)

Have a check of the wiring with the following link
http://web.mac.com/ryemac3/RyeMAC3/Welcome/Entries/2008/4/17Airport_ExpressUpgrade.html
but make sure wire no.3 on top and wire no.1 at the bottom ... cover the wire no.2 with the plastic tube that it came with

Airport Extreme signal strength problem

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