Having problems connecting to wireless network when extended

Question

Hi. I recently switched over to a mac and love it!! However I recently purchased a Time Capsule and a Airport Extreme to extend the network and am having problems. My macbook continues to log onto the guest network and not the main wireless network. When I try to switch to the main network it asks me for the WPA password and then it tries to connect but then states connection timeout. When I remove the guest network from my list of networks it will not allow me to connect to the internet at all through the main wireless network unless I power down the airport extreme that is extending the network. One final note, I have no problems at all if I keep the airport extreme shut down and do not extend the network. It seems it is not the time capsule but the airport extreme. One other additional note, my windows machines are having no problem connecting to the main wireless network with the network extended!!

Answer 1

Welcome to the discussions!
A few thoughts:
If you have not already done so, it will makes things easier to troubleshoot if you assign separate names to your "main" and "guest" network. By default, they are the same name and it sometimes is difficult to know what network you are actually connected to.
Open AirPort Utility, click Manual Setup
Click the Wireless tab below the row of icons
Look for an "options" button. This should allow you to assign a separate name for the "guest" network.
The "main" network can be extended, but the "guest" network cannot be extended. Your other computers may be connecting to the "guest" network unless they are newer devices capable of connecting at 802.11n only 5 GHz.
It's easy to make a mistake when setting up the "extend" feature. Please check the following settings for your TC and AirPort AX or AEBS (You posted in the Airport Express forum, but talk about having an AirPort Extreme in your post).
You will use AirPort Utility - Manual Setup as above to check your settings as follows:
_On the Time Capsule:_
Click the Wireless tab below the row of icons
Wireless Mode should be "Create a wireless network"
Make sure there is a check mark next to "Allow this network to be extended"
_On the AX or AEBS:_
Click the Wireless tab below the row of icons
Wireless Mode should be set to "Extend a wireless network"
Make sure there is a check mark next to "Allow wireless clients"
The Security and Password settings must match the settings of the TC exactly
You should now be able to identify whether your computers are connecting to the "main" or "guest" network. If your computers are connecting to the "guest" network, they are connecting directly to the Time Capsule regardless of their location in relation to your device that is extending the network.
Using your Mac, if you hold down the "option" key while you click on the fan shaped airport icon at the top of the screen, you will be able to see whether you are connected to the "main" network (802.11n 5 GHz) or the "guest" network" (802.11 2.4 GHz).
The BSSID will display the AirPort ID of the device that you are connected to. By noting the ID of your Time Capsule and AX or AEBS, you will know which device you are actually connected to on the network. As you move closer to the "extending" device, your computer should automatically switch to the device with the strongest signal.
Please post back on your findings.