Extending wireless network w/old airport express

I'm trying to extend my wireless network that uses a new airport express with an older model airport express. Is this something I can do? How?

Bob thanks for the reply.
In short, the reason I am looking for this is that i have recently purchased a B&w zeppelin air for my summer house which is about 50-60 feet from my router. When in the summer house i can get wifi coverage on my iphone 4 and all ipads both 1&2 but the airplay drops on the zeppelin air. Is it possible to have the airport express setup as an alternative wireless and plug it in my summer house and have the zeppelin air airplaying from the express. I know it sounds complicated but just wondering what the alternatives are.

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Extend wireless network with multiple airport express and netgear powerline

I currently have the following network configuration:
1. Using ATT u-verse (2-wire 3800HGV-B "modem") to internet
2. Disabled the u-verse modem wireless router, and have connected an Apple Time Capsule wireless router (on a DMZ)
3. Have four Netgear XAVB5001 powerline adapters connected to the time capsule (for our iMac desktops and the Apple TV)
4. Have an Airport Express wirelessly connected to the time capsule to extend range (for our iPhones and iPad)
All this is currently working. What I would like to do is the following, keeping 1-3 above the same:
4. Connect the airport express to the time capsule via Netgear XAVB5101 powerline adapter (instead of wirelessly connecting to the time capsule as it is today) and use it to extend the wireless range of the time capsule
5. Add ANOTHER airport express to the time capsule via powerline adapter (and extend the wireless range elsewhere in the house).
Does anyone have any experience with this kind of setup and can assure that it would work? (I'm trying to decide whether to spring for a couple more powerline adapters and another airport express)
Thanks in advance!
Dave

I had a VERY similar problem: I was trying to extend my wireless network using a hardwired ethernet connection from Airport Extreme to my Time Capsule. Every time I plugged in the wire to the TC, everything disappeared. Unplugged, and boom. Came back.
Here's how I solved it:
Go into Airport Utility and select the unit you are trying to use as a wireless extender and choose to edit it. Then, on the wireless tab select CREATE a wireless network. But, give it the exact same name and password. This is completely counter-intuitive. You would think to choose EXTEND, but this would be wrong. Next choose the network tab. And, select Router mode to Bridge (off).
By choosing the same name and password, your phone, laptop, etc. will think it's on the same network and move seamlessly from one to the other.
See if this fixes your issue. Fixed mine instantly. AND, it only took 3 painstaking hours of checking ethernet connections and rewiring jacks, etc. to figure it out. LOL

Trouble extending wireless network using 2 Airport Expresses

I used to have one Airport Express extending my Time Capsule, and had a stable network. Since adding a second Express I have intermittent prroblems - sometimes termporarily "losing" the network from my devices (Mac Mini, iPhones, iPads) at various parts of the apartment. I absolutely can no longer use Time Machine to back up my Mac Mini from the second Express to the TC (a full backup estimated 5 days and keeps timing out or failing).
There's quite a bit of degradation in the signal from the front of the apartment (the TC) to the back (the 2nd Express). For example, at the TC attached to the cable modem, I get about 20-25 Mbps download (very happy) and in the back where my computers now are, I get about 2 Mbps (unliveable - really).
I need it to be stable, but sure hope I can get better performance. Can anyone help me troubleshoot or tune up the performance?
Are these Expresses phasing each other in and out?
My configuration:
Living room: Time Capsule (1st generation) running 802.11n 2.4GHz only network. Firmware version 7.6.1
Next in line, about 35 feet away, Airport Express, FW Version 7.6.1
Last in chain, another 35 feet away, Airport Express, FW Verson 7.6.1
I live in a 1,600 sq ft apartment, not a huge house. There are some walls, but I try to keep them pretty exposed.
I set it up using Apple's Airport Utility v 6.1 (610.31), from Mac Mini using Lion 10.7.4
Default settings, no tricks, DHCP. Just turned off Airplay to see if that would help.
Airport Utility says (today) I have "excellent" connections between the devices.
Any help would be grealy appreciated.
Jim

Next in line, about 35 feet away, Airport Express, FW Version 7.6.1
Last in chain, another 35 feet away, Airport Express, FW Verson 7.6.1
The "remote" devices in Apple's "Extend a wireless network" setup all connect directly to the main router...in this case, it would be the Time Capsule.
The setup works like the hub and spokes of a wheel. The Time Capsule would be the hub and each AirPort Express resides at the end of a spoke. A device at the end of a spoke cannot communicate with another device at the end of another spoke. It communicates directly to the Time Capsule.
Remember that an "extending" device can only extend the bandwidth (speed) of the signal that it receives. It can help provide more signal strength.....but it cannot make the signal that it receives go faster. Placement is critical.
If you had only one Express, a good location might be approximately half the distance from the Time Capsule to the general area that needs more wireless coverage.
Chances are, the second Express is receiving such a weak (and slow) signal, that it cannot do anything to help. It is like a copy machine trying to copy a very poor image. You may well be better off eliminating the most distant Express and trying things that way.
Things get more complicated when you add in obstructions like walls. Even a typical interior sheetrock wall will absorb 15-20% of the signal or more, so after a few walls the signal has already lost approximately half of the strength...and speed.

Extending wireless network with an aiport express

I have a netgear wireless router set up in my house on the second floor, but my room being located on the first floor i get a poor signal so i bought an airport express to extend my network. i tried going through the aiport exress setup assistant but that wouldnt work, so i ended up hooking it to my netgear router on the second floor to set it up in airport admin utility and then brought it back down to the first floor. my itunes worked with the speakers for about.. ten seconds then stopped. and my signal is just as weak as before.. any suggestions?

Unfortunately, it is simply not possible to use an Airport Express to wirelessly "extend" the wireless range of any model of Netgear wireless router. Netgear's wireless routers do not support Apple's implementation of a wireless distribution system (WDS), which is a necessary requirement for setting up an extended wireless network with the Airport Express. And no - it doesn't work the other way around either (Airport Express as base station, Netgear wireless router to "extend").
It sounds like you did successfully configure your Airport Express to "join" your existing wireless network - which will allow you to print and stream iTunes to the Airport Express. The problems you are having with Airtunes "hanging" on your Mac are almost certainly due to the poor wireless signal quality problem that you are already aware of.

Can I extend my network by connecting one of my airport express devices to my airport extreme via an ethernet cable? I have CAT5 cable throughout my house but have a wireless network w/ 3 airport expresses

Can I extend my wireless network by connecting one of my airport express devices to my airport extreme via an ethernet cable? I have a wireless network with 3 airport expresses and 1 airport extreme functioning as the base station. I have CAT5 throughout my house.

Welcome to the discussions, mib88!
Can I extend the network a second time with another Airport Express...
The short answer would be no. If you want more details, please continue to the next paragraph.
Apple's "extend a wireless network" works just like the hub and spokes of a wheel. Your main hub is either the Time Capsule or the AirPort Extreme and the AirPort Express is at the end of a spoke. You can add more devices at the ends of other spokes, but these devices will communicate directly to the hub, not to another device at the end of a spoke.
Apple does offer an option which is is known as a "static WDS", which can consist of a "main", "relay" and "remote" device. The problem here is that this type of setup has two huge drawbacks:
1) All of your faster "n" devices will drop down to much slower "g" speeds
2) The bandwidth or speed capability on the network will drop down to only 25% of the original bandwidth with a "main", "relay" and "remote" on the network.
Don't think you want this on your network. Your best option is to connect the new AirPort Express to the "hub" using an ethernet connection. If you can't run the ethernet cable, take a look at a pair of ethernet powerline adapters to accomplish the same task by sending the ethernet signal over the AC powerline in your home.

HT4259 I have a Netgear wndr3400 and I can "join a wireless network" but can not "extend a wireless network" on my Airport express. Does anyone know why?

I have a Netgear wndr3400 and I can "join a wireless network" but can not "extend a wireless network" on my Airport express. Does anyone know why?

Sorry, but "Extend a wireless network" is a proprietary Apple setting that will only work if you have another Apple router.
It is not compatible with devices from other manufacturers.

Extending My network with three Airport Express or buy an Airport Extreme?

I live in a large three story house and currently have it wirelessly networked using two Airport Express' but my signal is very weak on the third floor and in other spots throughout the house.
Would it be possible to buy a third AE and extend the network that way or would I be better off buying a AEBS?
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

It will really depend on the construction materials used in your house or any other forms of Wi-Fi interference that could prevent a clear wireless signal. Both routes, you suggested, will have it advantages and disadvantages.
Extending the existing network wirelessly using a WDS, effectively, cuts the throughput in half for each base station in the chain...so, in this case the second AirPort Express Base Station (AX) (acting as a WDS relay base station) would only get half that of the first AX (acting as the WDS main base station). In turn, the third AX (acting as the WDS remote base station) would receive half of the second's throughput. The good news is that you should have a strong signal across each of the AXs, just lower throughput the farther along in the chain.
The 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn) has a greater range than either the older 802.11g version or the AXs. You may find that it will provide enough to cover you entire house. In the off-chance that it doesn't, you can still use it to create a WDS between AEBSn and your current AXs.

I am unable to join my existing wireless network with new AirPort Express

I am unable to join my existing wireless network with new AirPort Express.
I am using a DLink DI-524 Router, Windows 7 (64), and the AirPort Express.
AirPort Utility will not recognize the AEX wirelessly, it will only recognize it when it is connected by Ethernet. I can then configure the AEX and verify that the settings stick once disconnected and then reconnected. However, even after that, it will not recognize the AEX once disconnected from the Ethernet cable.
I followed the suggestions of several other threads on these forums. But I am unable to get the AEX to work.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the discussion area!
It's almost always a security setting that causes problems when the Airport Express (AX) tries to join a third party wireless network. The AX usually does not "join" correctly and that's why you can't see it on your wireless network using AirPort Utility.
Using an ethernet cable is still the more reliable way to configure and adjust the AX, but if you are want to try to configure it using wireless, you must return the AX back to factory defaults as follows:
Power down the AX
Hold in the reset button +and keep holding it in+ as you plug the AX back in to power
Release the reset button after 10 seconds
When it is set to factory defaults, the AX broadcasts a wireless signal with a network name like "apple network xxxxxx" where the "x's" are either letters or numbers. You must look for this network by clicking on the fan shaped Airport icon at the top of the screen. If you don't see this network, then click Join Other Network to search that way. Unless you connect to this network, you will not be able to configure the AX using wireless.
Do you know the exact security type that your D-Link router is using? That is the key element in the process.
Open AirPort utility, click Manual Setup
Click the Base Station tab to establish a name for the AX, device password and adjust time zone settings
Click the Wireless tab
Wireless Mode....Join a wireless network
Wireless Network Name...must exactly match your D-Link wireless network name
Enable ethernet clients if you want the port to be active (your D-Link must be compatible with ProxySTA for this to work)
Wireless Security...exact setting of the D-Link network. WEP security causes a lot of issues. Try to use WPA/WPA2 Personal, which is far more secure.
Wireless Password...must match the D-Link network
Click the Music icon to enable AirTunes
Click Update to save settings
Any luck?

Unable to create a wireless network with my airport express. Please help!

I am trying to setup a wireless network with an airport express, and connect to it with my Macbook. I just bought both of these and haven't been able to get wireless to work.
I initially plugged the ethernet cable from my cable modem into the airport express and plugged it into the wall. The macbook detected it when I opened airport utility, but the express had a flashing amber light and I was unable to connect. I then unplugged the express and re-started the cable modem. This time, the airport express showed a solid green light -which should mean that it is working correctly. However, the macbook did not find the airport express device when i searched for it using airport utility. I am able to connect the macbook directly to the cable modem, after re-starting the modem, and access the internet so at least some of the systems are go.
Any ideas? Thanks in advance for your help.
Tom

Is the issue that you cannot access the 802.11n AirPort Express Base Station (AXn) with the AirPort Utility that is running on your Win7 PC? ... or that once you have configured the AXn, the PC is unable either to find the new wireless network or can find it but cannot connect to it?

HT1515 extend a wireless network using my airport express

I bought an airport express back in 2006 with my macbook. I recently bought a time capsule and am now using it as my wireless router. Can I use my old airport express to extend / boost my wireless signal throughout my house? if so how?

Check the label on the side of the AirPort Express to see if the version that you have includes the feature to "extend" a wireless network.
If it does, you will see Model No A1264 there.
If you see A1088 or A1084, unfortunately this version of the Express does not have the ability to "extend" the wireless signal using wireless only.

How to extend range of my wireless network with an Airport Express connected by ethernet with Airport Utility 6.0

Hi everyone,
I have AirPort Express 802.11n (1st Gen) firmware 7.6.1, that is connected to my main wifi base station (a TimeCapsule) by ethernet. I would like to extend the range of the Wifi Network but am not clear on how to do so using the new interface of Airport Utlity 6.0.
Does anyone have any tips on how to do this?
BR
AK

Hi Everyone!
Many thanks for the tips. I have downloaded 5.6 and have set my Airport Express in the "Extend a wireless network" mode. I was still having a few problems with the quality of the wifi connection in different parts of my apartment (by no means a very large one, but walls seem to be made of extra dense concrete here in Singapore) and went out and bought a few powerline adapters by TP Link (http://www.tp-link.sg/products/details/?categoryid=1862&model=TL-PA211#spec).
If you don't mind a slightly long post, I would be very grateful for any tips:
My setup is now as follows:
Main room
Time Capsule - connected to a Cisco DPC3925 Modem (http://www.cisco.com/web/consumer/support/modem_DPC3925.html) both connected to a TP Link adapter 1.
iMac - connected via Ethernet to TP Link adapter 2 and wifi enabled
Airport Express 1 - connected by Ethernet to TimeCapsule (and thus TP Link adapter 1) used to stream audio to a stereo that doesn't have an optical cable input. Since it is an Ethernet connection, I have wifi turned off.
Apple TV 1 - connected by Ethernet to TimeCapsule (and thus TP Link adapter 1)
Bedroom A
Airport Express 2 - connected via ethernet to TP Link adapter 3
Bedroom B -
Apple TV 2 - connected by Ethernet to a TP Link adapter 4
After following the tips on setting up the extended wifi network, I find that when I use a wireless client (e.g. iPad, Macbook air, etc) in either Bedroom B or Bedroom C (both don't have wifi in the room) the connection is very poor. Even more odd is that the connection in Bedroom A, one that does have Airport Express 2. To be clear when I mean very poor, I mean Skype/facetime skips frames and freezes... this doesn't happen when I am in the main living area.
I would be very grateful for tips on how to set up the most robust network given the configuration above. Specifically, I am wondering about:
When I select Extend a wireless network option on Airport Utility 5.6 the summary page states that it is connecting using "Wireless Network" vs what I would expect it to say "Ethernet connection".
Is there any advice on whether to enable 5Ghz network and if so, should I try to use that for the various wifi clients?
Does anyone know if I can somehow use Apple products to extend the reach of the Cisco DPC3925? Frustratingly the signal is quite strong (compared to Apple routers), but I cannot properly stream audio/video if that wifi network is used (as my iMac that hosts the content is on the Apple one... and I'd have to walk over to switch it to the Cisco one).
Any other tips would be much appreciated!
Cheers!
AK

How do i extend my network with a airport express

How do I extend my network with mt airport express

Hi Tesserax, I'd like to join this discussion. It seems Jasonbeyer didn't reply, but I have a question related to his.
I'd like to extend the wireless signal from my Cisco Model DPC/EPC2202 VoIP Cable Modem (802.11n) to the living room where, at the moment, it is non-existent. I assume there's inteference or the signal cannot reach through the concrete walls and rooms leading up from my bedroom to the living room.
My question is:
I'm thinking of extending my wi-fi signal by using the Airport Express and simultaneously using it to connect to my hi-fi to play iTunes from my bedroom's iMac.
Something's telling me it's not going to be that easy. I'm using an iMac (7,1) if that's any help or clue.
What are the things I should take note of and will Airport Express be compatible with my modem? Would I have to get TWO Aiport Express to bridge the signal to my living room?
Thank you everyone for your time. Cheers!
Kane

Extending a network with 2x Airport Express

I tried searching and couldn't find any discussions which answered my question. We have a home office which was just completed (an actual, separate structure, not just a room) and I need to connect it to the main house where our Internet connection comes in. What I'm trying to do is use an Airport Express (802.11n), which wirelessly connects to the main router, an Airport Extreme (802.11n, 2nd gen.). This Airport Express is then connected via Cat5e cable and a gigabit switch (it's a pretty long run) to another Airport Express (802.11n). This second Airport Express will then reconvert the connection to wireless and allow us to connect our devices in the office to the rest of the network and get access to the Internet.
Here's a crappy diagram I drew in Paint: http://i.imgur.com/5KrhX.png
When I first connected the second Airport Extreme in the office, I got a pop-up showing the new device in Airport Utility. However, no matter how I configure it, I cannot successfully get it to join the network properly. I've gone through the process multiple times, but am not having any luck. I've attempted to get it to "join my existing network" and then specify to connect via Ethernet and extend my network, and then tell it which device (the first Airport Extreme) it's connected to via Ethernet. Once I try to commit the changes, though, the device restarts and ends up with a blinking orange light, disappearing entirely from the list of devices in Airport Utility.
I've checked and the Airport Extreme is set up to allow devices to extend the network, and I've tried setting the first Airport Express to both "Join my wireless network" and "Extend my wireless network," though neither seems to make a difference.
Am I missing something, or trying something that won't work? Any ideas?
Thanks!

When I first connected the second Airport Extreme in the office, I got a pop-up showing the new device in Airport Utility. However, no matter how I configure it, I cannot successfully get it to join the network properly. I've gone through the process multiple times, but am not having any luck. I've attempted to get it to "join my existing network" and then specify to connect via Ethernet and extend my network, and then tell it which device (the first Airport Extreme) it's connected to via Ethernet.
You have two choices with AirPort Express #1:
Configure the AX as a wireless Ethernet bridge. Apple calls this configuration a ProxySTA. In this configuration, the AX would join the wireless network provided by the AirPort Extreme, and then, share this connection out it Ethernet port to the Ethernet switch.
Configure the AX to extend the wireless network of the AirPort Extreme. This would also enable the base station's Ethernet port.
Of the two, I would recommend the first option.
To configure the AX as a ProxySTA, you need just to make the following two setting changes:
Wireless Mode = Join a wireless network
Allow Ethernet clients (enabled)
Both of these settings are on the Wireless tab in the AirPort Utility.

Extend wifi network via PLC + Airport express

Hi everyone,
I have a linksys WRT54G and an Airport Express. I'm using the WRT54G to create a wifi network (toto), and the AE is too far away to get the WR54G signal.
I want to connect the WRT54G to the AE via PLC to extend the toto network, but when I try to select "extend a wireless network" in the airport utility, it says "the network you selected cant be extended..."
Ideally I don't want do have 2 wifi networks... And I think WDS is not what I want to do.
Do you know what settings do I have to use ?
Many thanks !!!!!
Message was edited by: dathieums

Hello dathieums. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
The following are a few articles that you can find in both these Discussions and on the Internet where users have been successful extending the this Linksys wireless router with an AirPort Express Base Station (AX), that you may find helpful in configuring yours:
o How to extend your Linksys WRT54G with AE
o Linksys WRT54G and WDS
o Extend a Linksys WRT54G network via AirPort Express
o Linksys WRT54G, Airport Express, and WDS
o AirTunes, AirPort Express, and the WRT54G

When adding WRE54G to wireless network incompatible with Airport Express

I added a Linksys WRE54G to expand my network to a Powerbook G4 laptop with a weak signal. When I connect the wireless expander, I no longer see the Airport express in the airport utility. I cannot access the printer or itunes speakers attached to the airport express. When I power off the expander and have a weaker signal, the airport express is available again. I don't know how to configure the wireless expander to work with airport express, and if I try to create a WDS network with the airport express (currently unsuccessful), then I believe I will lose itunes support (and maybe the printer?).
Does anyone know how to configure the WRE54G so that I can still see the airport express on my network?
Thanks,
Brigitte

I was having the same problems. Try this link, someone seems to have solved it.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1271648

Extending wireless network w/old airport express

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