HELP! - sudden failure of Airport Express/Extreme

After months of flawless performance, my airport extreme/express base station (via AT&T DSL modem) suddenly died. It can no longer be recognized by my new MacBook and 4-year-old iMac; it disappeared from my airport drop-down menus literally overnight. After fiddling with it for hours, resetting, turning things on and off, etc., I was able to create a new base station name which the MacBook recognized and gave me internet access. I was not able to duplicate that solution with the iMac. I renamed the base-station it was picking up, got a full Airport signal but was not able to get on the internet. The express has only blinked amber ever since I tried resetting it. What should I do????
Is it possible that a new network was introduced by a neighbor that has blocked mine? How do I circumvent that problem and restore the service I have enjoyed for many months?
Please help me.
Many thanks.

Welcome to the discussion area!
Is the Express wearing out?
I suppose it is possible, but these devices tend to either work or not work.
Have you checked to see if there are other wireless networks near you that may be showing up? If another network is on the same channel or a close adjacent channel, that could cause signal strength problems with your network.
Don't forget that the neighbor's cordless phone may be causing some issues, or if there is a new security system nearby, that's a possibility as well.
Most newer routers allow their owners to "hide" their network, so to make things a bit more challenging, it's always possible that you may be encountering interference from a network that you cannot "see".
Give a utility like Air Radar a try to display the visible wireless networks around you. It won't pickup an offending cordless phone or a security system, but may give you an idea of how crowded the airways are there.
If you see another network on a channel that the close to your network, try changing the channel on your network to a setting that is as far away as possible from the other networks you see. If there are "hidden" networks around you and you still have problems, you will simply need to experiment to see if you can find a good channel.

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