Extended Apple Wireless Network

I have an AirPort Extreme conecte by Ethernet to an ADSL router provide by my telephone company. The AirPort Extreme provide Wifi to all my devices help by a new Airport Express, an Old Airport Express and in the last place an old Airport Time Capsule (2GB). This way I can reach part of my work space. The problem is that the old AirPorts loose the connection often. Especially the AirPort Time Capsule. And I have to reboot it almost every day.
I must specify also that at this end point (the AirPort Time Capsule), locate around 10 feets above the rest of the NetWork, I have connected through Ethernet cable and Wifi 3 Macs and a QNAP NAS + ipads, ipods and iphones.
My question is, to improve performance should I get last generation AirPort Express or Extreme devices, and use the old ones to extend the network in other directions? Or there are better ways to set an extended Network area.
Thank you in advance for your attention.

Can you give exact models of everything.
Main AE.. ??
New Express is fine.. but is old express N wireless or earlier?? If earlier throw it away.... and even the old N wireless one is probably not helping a lot.
Model of the TC (2TB) can be a number of models.. generally it will be Gen4. The do however have 2TB in Gen2, 3, 4 and 5 so it is hardly specific.
Especially the AirPort Time Capsule. And I have to reboot it almost every day.
This could be wireless but could be other things as well.. they get unreliable.
I do run a fairly complex network of Apple routers.. my experience is that 7.6.4 firmware is a dog. It is repeatable that if I flash up to 7.6.4 things go bad.. and if I flash back to 7.6.1 it fixes it. So my advice.. move what you can to 7.6.1 .. the newest express won't budge but seems ok.
The other part of this is to use v5 airport utility. This is hard in Mavericks.. but there are ways and means.
http://coreyjmahler.com/2013/10/24/airport-utility-5-6-1-on-os-x-10-9-mavericks/
Only using 5.6 utility can you see what is going on.
So my v6 map looks like this.
On the summary page it shows the link is Good.. and what does that mean.. nothing much at all.
So in v5 utility I can open both devices at the same time and see the link speed.
It is the top link on both graphs.. and it has a link speed of 60Mbps but as you can see.. signal to noise ratio is pretty close on both ends.. but also i have forced it to connect at 5ghz.. because it would drop to 6Mbps on 2.4ghz. So even though the signal is low the link is more stable.
To manage that I have set different names for the bands and done the setup from v5 utility.. it offers far superior controls.. and manual setup is essential .. plus tracking why dropouts are occurring..
In the end.. run ethernet between them.. I am doing this as a fill in until I get a chance to run ethernet .. but you can try EOP (homeplug) adapters as alternative.. anything but wireless repeater.

Similar Messages

Can't extend my Apple Wireless network with Airport Utility 6

I have an Air Port Extreame and an Air Port Express and am trying to extend my network and since I upgraded to Air Port Utility 6 it will only let me join the network and not extend it. I can not find the option to allow this network to be extended anymore within 6 on the extreame. Is anyone else having this issue as well or am I just missing where to choose to allow my network to be extended like I did in 5?

It would be hard to say, at this point, if this option was "missed" or became "automatic" when another AirPort is configured to extend a wireless network. I would tend to agree with you that it is the former.
As you know this is a user-to-user community. Although Apple employees occasionally visit the forums, there is no guarentee that they would act on any of the suggestions users place here. Instead, you should submit your suggestion to the following Apple site.

Extending an Apple wireless network beyond reach of the base station

Hello; I have an apple network that consists of one AirPort Extreme with two airport expresses acting as wifi extenders for the Extreme. I need to extend my wireless network even further, beyond the distance where another airport express could connect to the extreme. Could I connect, via Ethernet cable, a third airport express to one of the two existing airport express's to accomplish this? If so, would I be using the WAN or LAN port? Thanks!

Could I connect, via Ethernet cable, a third airport express to one of the two existing airport express's to accomplish this? If so, would I be using the WAN or LAN port? Thanks!
Yes. You would configure the third Express as a roaming type network with the existing extended network. Since this Express will be in bridge mode, it really doesn't matter which port you use. However, for consistency, I would recommend that you use the WAN port for the connection.

Can I use my airport express to extend a wireless network with a non-apple router?

I have been trying to extend my wireless network in my house. Right now I have a dsl modem/router provided by Century Link and an older AirPort express (not sure how old but it uses AirPort utility v5.6). I want to be able to share my printer and use AirTunes. Currently I have the AirPort plugged into the router and setup to create a new wireless network. I would like to combine them so I don't have to switch between to print and play music. I am not really sure where to start or if it even possible. Any info would be great!

If you keep the Express connected using Ethernet and configure the Express to "Create a wireless network" using exactly the same wireless network name, exact same wireless security and same wireless password as the Century Link network.....everything will behave as one "big" network, and you will have additional wireless coverage near the Express.
If you do not need extra wireless coverage, you can turn off the wireless on the Express.
The Express must be in Bridge Mode.
Most users know the name of their wireless network and password, so the really tricky part of doing this is that you must know exactly what type of wireless security settings the Century Link router is using....and then match up the same settings on the AirPort Express.
If the settings do not match up exactly, then you wind up with two separate networks that will each require their own log on.
If you can check the setting for wireless security on the Century Link router and provide that information to us, we can tell you how to set things up the way that you would like.

Extending a non Apple wireless network

Does the wireless network on the non Apple modem/router stay on in addition to the newly created Apple wireless network?

Yes it does.
If you want it off, you will need to get into the administration settings for the modem/router to disable the wireless function.

Can I use a Time Capsule to extend my wireless network.

Hi, I have just bought a 3TB time capsule as my old (flat style) 500GB TC is reaching full capacity. The old style TC will then be surplus to requirements as a data storage unit, at least for myself, though it might be useful for my son to use as his Time Capsule.
Ideally, as we have a wireless 'blind spot' out in the rear extension of the house, it would be useful to use the unit to extend my wireless network (and also use it as a separate TC if possible). Is this possible? If it is how would I go about it?
Hope someone can help . . . .
Cheers
John

Is it possible for you to consider connecting the Time Capsules together using a wired Ethernet connection?
Here is what Apple has to say in their support document about extending:
Adding Wi-Fi base stations when it is unnecessary can reduce Wi-Fi throughput because the Wi-Fi network will require more data management overhead. The network configuration also becomes more complex. In the case of a wirelessly extended network, throughput may be reduced to less than 60 percent of that of a single device. The general rule is to keep the Wi-Fi network as simple as possible. You can accomplish this by using the minimum number of Wi-Fi base stations required to service the physical network area and by using Ethernet wherever possible.
Extending the range of your Wi-Fi network by connecting Wi-Fi base stations together using Ethernet is always the best option, and will provide the best throughput.
Wi-Fi base stations: Extending the range of your wireless network by adding additional Wi-Fi base stations

Can I create a unique subnetwork when extending a wireless network using Airport Extreme?

My office building has an Airport Extreme to provide wifi to our individual suites. I would like to create a sub-network using my Airport Extreme for my suite only that uses the wifi signal from our office building and provides internet to the computers (both wired and wireless) in my suite but have it protected so that other suites in my building can't see my computers. Is this possible and how do I do it? I have currently set up my Airport Extreme in wifi-mode "extending a previous wireless network" and have the router with its unique router name. But once I extended the wireless network, I could not find the network name of my router, only the office name (the one I was extending). The computers connected via ethernet to my Airport have internet access but none of my wireless computers see my airport name, it sees the office building network name. I'm assuming they are connecting to my Airport since the signal level is much higher than before and it appears that my Airport is rebroadcasting the network name of my office building. Is there a way to have my Airport broadcast its unique identifier for wifi, still connect to the internet via wifi signal to the Office building airport and maintain segregation between my computers and the rest of my office building?
Also, when I use the Airport Utility on my Iphone, I see the internet -> the office airport extreme -> and then 2 different base stations connected in a Y. Mine and my neighbors (who is probably doing the same thing as I am). But there is a dotted line to my base station, does that mean I'm connected to the internet via my neighbor's airport?
Any thoughts?

I would like to create a sub-network using my Airport Extreme for my suite only that uses the wifi signal from our office building and provides internet to the computers (both wired and wireless) in my suite but have it protected so that other suites in my building can't see my computers.
It is not possible to configure a single Apple AirPort router in this manner using wireless only, but it would be possible to do this with a single AirPort if you connect your AirPort Extreme to the "main" router using a wired Ethernet connection.
As for wireless only....you could probably do what you want by using two Apple routers....an AirPort Express to join the wireless network and provide an Ethernet signal to the AirPort Extreme's WAN port. Then the AirPort Extreme could then be configured to provide a separate network using a different subnet.
Users on the "main" network would not be able to "see" any devices on your "private" network and vice versa.
I use the two router set up all the time at hotels that only provide a wireless signal. The first Express "joins" the wireless network and feeds an Ethernet signal to the second AirPort which is configured to "create a wireless network" in router mode.
This way, I can connect multiple devices to my "private" network, but only pay the hotel for one connection since the hotel router only "sees" the AirPort Express that joins the network.

How do I use airport express to extend my wireless network?

How vcan I extend the range of my wireless network using Airport Express?

It appears that you may have "join a wireless network" and "extend a wireless network" mixed up a bit.
The Express can "join" virtually any wireless network produced by any manufacturer's router if it is provided with the correct settings:
name of the wireless network
the correct wireless security settings
and correct password.
"Join" is normally used for AirTunes or to connect a USB printer to the Express for remote printing.
But, the Express does not provide any additional wirless coverage when it "joins" another wireless network.
Apple's "Extend a wireless network" feature, which was introduced about 5 years ago, allows the Express to connect to another Apple "n" wireless router and then "repeat" or "extend" the wireless signal....providing more wireless coverage in the area where the Express is located.
This is a proprietary setting. Apple says it will not work with devices from other manufacturers. To our knowledge, this is correct.
Prior to 2007, Apple used a setting called WDS to allow the Express to be configured to provide more wireless coverage. Attempts were made by a number of manufacturers to standardize the WDS settings, but things were never finalized.
The result is that Apple's older "b/g" routers were sometimes compatible with WDS settings from another manufacturer. There were a handful of products....5 or 6, as I recall....that were said to work. Some did, some didn't. Linksys had a couple of models, Netgear had one, SMC another, etc. Extremely limited.
Since WDS was never adopted as an industry standard, manufacturers developed their own WDS settings. Compatibility was extemely limited and unreliable. That continues to this day with WDS.
Bottom line....It is always best to stick with the same manufacturer throughout your network as far as routing is concerned.
If you have an newer "n" Apple router like an AirPort Extreme, the Express can extend the wireless as can along Extreme. If your Extreme is dual band, and you want to extend both bands, then you need another Extreme.
Another responder suggested to someone that they could connect the AirPort Express to a router via Ethernet. What exactly would that achieve?
That is a completely different subject since this discussion is about extending a wireless network using wireless only.

I have installed Airport Extreme on my iMac, but want to extend the wireless network with Airport Express. Everything is fine until I try to select Extend the wireless network. I select Extend Wireless network but have no success. Ideas?

I have installed Airport Extreme on my iMac, but want to extend the wireless to rooms with a weak signal. The internet connection is fine with the basic setup. As soon as I go into Airport Utility to select Extend Wireless Network and fill in what I believe is proper information, I get an error message that Airport Extreme no longer has an IP address, the internet connection is broken, and under Wireless, that there is a wireless network in existence that can't be found. Rebooting the modem only brings the Airport Extreme back to the starting gate so that the internet is once again available. I assumed (naively) that with the All Mac All-the-Time context, adding Airport Express would truly be Plug and Play. I got the plug, but no play. I asked a Comcast technical specialist about it and he said that I needed to reset the Airport Express settings back to their default, factory status. I looked that process up online and found out that the way to do that was to hold down the reset button, then plug Airport Express into the socket and wait for the green light to flash four times. Then wait 45 seconds and the default settings will return. I did all that, only to find out that after the initial flash of green, green never appeared again. I got a fast flashing yellow light, followed by the light going off. Apparently this didn't reset it properly. So, after hours trying to get this system to work, I appeal to someone who can see through this mess and provide the key to success!
highFly376

Let's see if I can get this straight.
You have an Airport Extreme base station that is set to "Create a wireless network" and you have the box checked for "allow this network to be extended"....
Then you have an Airport Express that is set to "Extend a wireless network" which you selected the name of your network in the box...
Correct?
See this Apple document:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4259?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
The wireless unit on the right of the diagram can be either of the newer Apple base stations.
Extreme, Express, Time Capsule

Using Time Capsule to extend a wireless network

I have an office in the top of my house (2nd floor roof conversion) and as a result the wireless signal from the ground floor is very weak. i would like to boost the signal using my Time Capsule, placing it on the 1st floor, shortening the distance the signal has to travel.
Is this possible? In the AirPort settings I can seen an option to 'extend a wireless network using an ethernet cable' but if that is the only option I may as well just move my wireless home hub to the 1st floor.
Can the network be extended wirelessly?
many thanks!

Thanks for the clarification.
Unfortunately, the "extend a wireless network" feature of the AirPort Express is only compatible with an Apple base station.
Therefore, you will not be able to use the TC to extend the wireless network that has been created by the BT Home Hub. You might check to see if BT offers an "extension device" or "remote" that would allow you to expand your wireless signal.
The TC will need to be configured to "Join" the wireless network that you have there.

When I change the setting on my third generation time capsule to "extend a wireless network", the update fails. Why?

I purchased a new router. Everything is working great except for a third-generation time capsule which will not accept a change from join a wireless network to extend a wireless network as it did before. Does anyone know how to fix that?

You cannot extend a non-apple router..
So what new router did you buy?? If it don't have an Apple Symbol on it.. it aint gonna work.

Why can't I extend my wireless network on my Time Capsule?

So I'm having trouble extending my wireless network in my house with my Time Capsule. I just recently moved into an apartment and had Time Warner install a modem with a bult in router. I then tried to install my TC upstairs and attempted to extend an exisiting network, however my current network doesn't appear on the list of networks to choose from. Why is this?
*I've read that you cann't extend a network if the original router you're extending from ISN'T an apple router? I'm having a hard time believing that, since all network providers provide you with their own equipment. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Connect your Time Capsule to your router with an Ethernet cable. That is the only way to "extend" a network created by a non-Apple product.
*I've read that you cann't extend a network if the original router you're extending from ISN'T an apple router? I'm having a hard time believing that, since all network providers provide you with their own equipment.
All network providers provide you with the cheapest possible junk. Ask TW how to disable their router and use their equipment strictly as a modem. ISPs have different names for this such as "bridge mode" or "transparent bridging". That way, you can use all the Time Capsule's features.

This AirPort base station was unable to extend the wireless network.

I have an AirPort Extreme in the lounge connected to BT infinity.
I also have an airport express in the kitchen connected to a stereo system.
I have had this set up for around 12 months.
The airport express will not extend the wireless network.
I reset it, restart, factory reset etc and it will work fine for around 3 days, then I get the same error message saying
This AirPort base station was unable to extend the wireless network. Make sure the wireless network you’re trying to extend was set up and is working correctly, that you entered a matching wireless network password into this device, and that this device is in range of the wireless network.
The express is situated easily within range of the extreme. And the airplay between those two, my iMac and two apple tv's works pretty much as it should.
Can someone please shed some light on this?
Maybe I have it in a wrong setting or summut....

G Beach wrote:
I am also experiencing a recent failure in my Airport devices no longer extending my wireless network.
My Aiport Express and second Airport Extreme were extending my wireless network for more than a year
The only change that has taken place lately is that the firmware for both devices was upgraded to 7.6.4, however the upgrade was only in response to trying to resolve this problem. Needless to say, the firmware upgrade did not resolve anything.
If I didn't know better, I'd have thought I wrote the above.
I have a TC from a few years ago (last one before the tower, I think), plus the older AEBS that it replaced extending the network, plus a 1-year-old Express also extending. I had upgraded them all to 7.6.3/4 when it came out, but reverted them all to 7.6.1 when everything went crapways (others having the same issues of the LAN regularly croaking), and didn't bother upgrading again since.
Today I just tried 7.6.4 on all of them, and it seemed OK at first with green lights all around in Airport Utility. Then I made one change, which was to enable 5Ghz on the main AEBS/TC only (the express doesn't need it, and the older AEBS can't do it).
The latter two started flasing amber and giving the "unable to extend wireless network" error message.
So I'm wondering if you are similarly using 5Ghz?

Extend Existing Wireless Network

I am trying to extend my existing wireless network. I think I have it set up correctly, but I have a question about it. I initially had the network set up with a 2WIRE modem (AT&T) and an Airport Extreme. It has been really sluggish as of late, so I re-positioned the modem and AE (out of entertainment cabinet) and now it's more out in the open.
After doing that my Macbook which I use upstairs was running pretty fast, but the iMac which is downstairs and on the same level as the modem/AE was running very slowly. So, I thought I'd extend the network using an Airport Express. I think I have it set up correctly, since everything seems to be working just fine, BUT the question I have is...does the Express HAVE to be plugged int the modem in order to extend the network?
I thought the whole point of using the Express to extend the network is that you could have the Express in between the modem/AE and the computer - on the same level of the house or another level, or at least in another rom on the same level.
I hope I've explained my situation well enough for anyone to be able to provide assistance. Everything is working fine, but I guess I'm looking for some reassurance that I've done things correctly
and maybe a better understanding of how extending a network really works.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Julie

Hello Julie
To extend your wireless network I suggest you do the following;
Take the express and extreme into the same room. Ideally, plug the extreme into your modem using an ethernet cable and have the express hooked up to power on its own in the same room.
I would reset both device to their factory defaults and start over. To reset the devices to factory defaults, unplug them from their power source, hold down the recessed reset button while plugging them back into to power and continue to hold the reset button until the one LED begins to flash rapidly.
Do this with the extreme and the express. Now open airport utility, select your airport extreme and set it up from the start using the continue button and answer all the questions. Once the extreme is setup, you should see a large green checkmark. See the mac you set it up with can connect to the internet.
If you are on the internet through your extreme's wireless network you're almost there.
Step 1. Using airport utility select the airport express and click continue. The key here is to ask the express to join an existing wireless network when the question arrises.
This should do the trick for you.
Alternate to step 1. If you want to you can skip step 1 above and select your extreme using airport utility, go to the Base Station menu and select Manual Setup, click the Airport icon from the manual setup window, click the Wireless tab and put a tick next to "Allow this network to be extended". This will instruct the extreme to allow its wireless network to be extended. Update your extreme after turning on this option and give it about one minute to update itself.
Now, using airport utility, setup your express to using the continue button and instruct it to join an existing wireless network when the question comes up.
So you have two options, either should do.
Hopefully this was not too difficult. Airport utility will still see the two airport routers but from your airport menu you will always see only one network because the extreme and express behave as though they are one large network.
Consider unplugging the express now and moving it to the other floor. After you take the express upstairs, give it a minute and if it is in range of your extreme it will assume a green light, if on the other hand it continues to flash amber it's possible that it's too far from the extreme. In this case consider plugging the express into a wall socket nearer to the express.
Does this help?
Most of what I explained might be better explained by Apple, see page 43 of http://manuals.info.apple.com/enUS/Apple_AirPort_NetworksEarly2009.pdf. The steps on page 43 are what you would do with your extreme - to extend its wireless network.
Let me know how it goes.
If your devices are under 90 days old you still have complimentary phone support. If you have an AppleCare protection plan on your mac one of your devices are covered for hardware support and the 3 years phone support. If you are eligible AppleCare will be able to walk you through this.

How can I extend my wireless network using Airport Express and an Airport Extreme on BT Infinity?

I have BT Infinity and I am using the Time Capsule with Airport Extreme as my router. Working well (even on wireless). I want to extend the wireless network with an Airport Express, but I cannot work out the settings necessary in Airport Utility. I am using Mountain Lion 10.8.2 on a Mac Pro. Please help!

BT,
I've read several of your posts, thanks for taking the time to share your wealth of knowledge.
I'm in a situation similar to the one described by 'scoutusmaximus'. Seeking the flexibility of a standalone router, I finally upgraded my 4-yr old ATT DSL gateway (modem+router) to a Comcast standalone modem + the ASUS RT-AC66U: http://www.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Routers/RTAC66U/
Typically, I stick with all things Apple but the ASUS router seemed fairly superior to the current-gen base station (on paper, anyway; time will tell when it comes to performance) so, for once, I jumped ship. My plan was to extend the ASUS wired/wireless network using my TimeCapsule and 2 Airport Expresses in bridge mode, however, a google search turned up several unhappy customers that claim those devices don't play well with non-Apple routers, especially when it comes to 'extending' a network.
Questions:
1. Can I successfully extend the wired/wireless network created by the ASUS router using the 3 airport devices listed above w/out negatively impacting performance? I'd rather have 1 wireless network as opposed to creating a new wireless network with the TC and then extending it with the AP Expresses... though I'd consider that option down the line if it came to that.
2. Will the LAN ports on the TimeCapsule remain functional?
Btw, my house is wired so, I can reach all 3 devices via ethernet cable coming off of a central, managed switch. Supposedly, you only lose the LAN ports on the TC if you extend wirelessly.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Extended Apple Wireless Network

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