Macbook airport card keeps swapping between airport express stations

Hi
i have set up a network with 4 airport expresses.1 is the WDS main and is connected to the internet, 2 is configured as a relay with no client access, 3 is a client of the relay and is wired for airtunes, 4 is a remote and allows client connections.
Everything works except i noticed constant drop outs on all machines.
I ran AP grapher and i can see that Airport is connecting to 4 remote station with very strong signal and then for no reason switches automatically to the 1 base station and back again after a few minutes. The signal for the base station in ap grapher is -66 vs -39 for the remote station.
why does airport switch like this? Is there a way i can make it lock on the strongest signal or specific mac address?
Thanks for anyone's help.

try removing, then replacing the airport card in your comp
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58535

Similar Messages

Using airport express station to connect to FIOS wireless

My G 5 tower does not have an airport card so I'm trying to configure an airport express station that I have to be used as a card. However, it tells me that it needs to find an airport wireless node to connect to. Is there any workaround to connect to a FIOS router?

See if any of these help, if not reprt back...
http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/setup.html
http://www.macinstruct.com/node/97
http://gigaom.com/apple/how-to-setup-an-airport-extreme-in-bridge-mode/

Second Airport Express Station Setup Problems

Hello all,
I have a primary airport express station as my main wireless hub in the living room. It's physically connected to my cable modem as well as external speakers and works fine. I just purchased a second Airport express station and external speakers to set them up in my bedroom. I connected the new station to the A/C power and connected the speakers to it. Then went to my iMac and launched the Airport Utility to set up the second wireless station. I can see the second station (as well as the existing Living Room one) on the list of devices, but when I try to configure it, it asks me if I want to switch wireless networks (in order to configure this new station). I tell it to switch and then it times out telling me that I can't connect to the station (or wireless network).
I've tried to reset the new station and unplugging it and all the usual stuff to no avail. The living room station is still visible and working fine, but I cannot configure the new station to join the existing network and stream music to the speakers connected to it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
UPDATE: The old (living room) station is 802.11g, whereas the new one (bedroom) is 802.11n.
--Gabriel

It's always a good idea to configure devices in close proximity to the "main" router and then move them to the desired location after they have been updated with new settings.
Perform a Factory Default Reset as follows on the AirPort Express (AX):
Power down the AX
Hold in the reset button and keep holding it for 10-12 seconds while you plug the AX back in to power
Release the reset button and let the AX restart to a slow, blinking amber light after about 40-45 seconds
If available, temporarily connect a spare Ethernet cable from your computer to the AX so that you are using a wired connection rather than wireless
Setup the AX to "join" the wireless network and click Update to let the AX restart to a green light. You can disconnect the Ethernet cable.
Then move the AX to desired location. I assume that the AX will be located where it can receive a good quality wireless signal.

Why can't one of my Airport express stations extend my wireless network?

Background:
I have an Airport Extreme cabled to my Comcast router.
I have three Airport Express units scattered around my house.
All have worked fine for many months and all are running version 7.6.4.
Problem:
Recently, one of the Airport Express stations had a yellow, flashing LED and a status of "Extended Network - This Airport base station was unable to extend the wireless network..."
Using Airport Utility, this station displays a connection quality status of "good."
This unit also has the exact same settings as my other two Airport Express units.
Using Airport Utility I instructed the unit to "Ignore" the status, and the LED turned green. But the status of "Extended Network" continues to display.
I've tried a hard reboot of the unit, but nothing changed.
Any suggestions as to how to correct this status?

Thanks for the suggestion, but apparently the culprit was my Airport Extreme.
I swapped the locations of two of my Airport Expresses and the problem replicated. Both had the "Extended Network" status and both showed a red number 1, indicating that a firmware upgrade was available (but no update button appeared). I returned the two Expresses to their original locations. Same situation after they booted.
Then I performed a hard reset of my Airport Extreme. After the reset, all three Airport Expresses now have no special status messages in Airport Utility and all have a connection of "good" or "excellent." Plus, no red number 1's appear (which should only appear if a firmware update was available).
So, problem solved.

Disappearing Airport Express Stations from Admin Utility / Fontbook

I am struggling with a strange phenomenon: I am using OS 10.3.9 on a Powerbook G4 12“, 2 Airport Express Stations (one as a basestation connected to a DSL Router, and the other one as an Airtunes station (using iTunes 6.01). Over the past weeks, I have repeatedly had problems like disappearing Airtunes connection, invisible Airport Express Stations in the Airport Admin Utility, and disappearing fonts from the fontbook (only the system fonts remain). The internet connection was always working, inspite of the invisible Airport stations (they still could be configured by entering their IP-addresses).
I have twice „reset“ the fontbook acc. to the X-Lab instructions (http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/undofontbook.html) including permission repair, cache cleaning, etc. However, after a couple of days (or new starts, I am actually not quite sure?) the problem has come back. The same with the Airport stations and Airtunes: Switching between different accounts in the network preferences (I am also using the Powerbook in other networks) I have usually managed to get the Airtunes connection back, but again usually only for some time. Today I have followed recommendations from the airport express discussion forum, hardly resetting both Airport stations and creating a new network with the Airport Set-up Assistant. The stations were again visible in the Admin Utility, Airtunes was back again, and, strange enough, all my fonts were back again (without removing any preferences, etc.).
However, after a shutting down the Powerbook and restarting it, the same problems are back: everything is gone again. I would really appreciate some hints what could be the reasons, and what might be a lasting solution.

Thanks again for your comments. Strange enough, after having newly configuring the network (IP-adresses were 10.0.0.1 for the basestation, 10.0.02 for the Powerbook, 10.0.0.3 for the Airtunes station) and then restarting the computer, everything was back to normal (airports visible, airtunes working, fonts visible). Alas, however when I again restarted, everything was gone again. (The ADSL-modem and router I am using is a SpeedTouch 530).
Acc. to your comment, I then changed to "distribute IP-adresses" in the Admin Utility and selected the 10.0.1.1 adress range (The basestation now uses 10.0.1.1, the Powerbook 10.0.1.2 and the Airtunes 10.0.1.3). Restarting resulted in everything visible again. I am now hesitant to restart again.
Anything you can recommend so that I better understand what is going on? I still think that there must be some relation between the network settings and the fontbook issue.

How many AirPort Express stations can be supported by an AirPort Extreme wirelessly?

I got one AirPort Extreme in my home and would like to extend the wireless network by purchasing additional AirPort Express. Wanna know how many AirPort Express stations can be supported by an AirPort Extreme wirelessly?
Thanks.
Tony

Bob -- question for you which I can't answer as I don't have an airport extreme. The newer Extremes can create both G and N networks and can create the N network in the 5 mhz band. Can you increase the number of Express units you can connect wirelessly if you split the load between the 2.4 mhz G and 5 mhz N networks created by the Extreme. (recognizing that the 5 mhz band has less range than the 2.4 mhz band)
Not an issue for me as I only have three connected wirelessly, but I've always wondered about this. Of my three AX units one connects to a G network created by a Linksys WRT54GS and two connect to the N network created by the AX.
So instead of 3-4 AX units could it become 6-8?
Carlos

My old Time capsule was not working well. I replaced it with a new Airport Extreme. Now I can see the other airport express stations. I tried resetting them, but it did not work. What do I do?

I replaced my old time capsule with a new airport extreme. I have 3 airport express stations that I have all around the house. (2 1st generation, 1 second generation). I can't see them with airport utility. I tried resetting, but no luck. Any suggestions?

Bring all the express to the same room as the mac you are using to setup the network..
One by one, plug them in and do full factory reset on them.. they should then show up in the Airport utility as Other Wi-Fi devices (1) and you can select them and continue the setup.
If that fails try using the airport utility on ipad or iphone as they are far less problematic than Yosemite in particular.

Airport utility can't connect to Airport express station

My AirPort utility has problems to connect to my AirPort Express station (old model a/b/g; old firmware 6.1).
First problem was, that it could not read the configuration. After a factory rest like described here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108044 the utility comes one step further and asks me for a password: I tried "public" several times, but it asks me over and over again for a password. What i my problem?

Problem solved: I downgraded the AirPort utility to 5.0. Then I was able to access the AirPort Express station. Upgraded the firmware to 6.3. Then the station was recignized by AirPort utility 5.3.1 again. Connected it to the AirPort Extreme as AirTunes-station. Works perfectly.

Stream to two different Airport Express stations?

Hello,
I've set up my apartment with two Airport Express stations. I can roam around the apartment and get a good wireless signal wherever I go. Using Airtunes, I can stream music to either of the locations, but not both. Does anyone know if this is possible? I have a stereo in each room, and sometimes (during a party for example) want them both to play from my iTunes.

I believe you are limited to one at a time.

Why doesn't time capsule come with AirPlay and an audio out plug? I have to buy an Airport Express station and put it right on top of my time capsule to wire it to my stereo. Doesn't make sense...

My Time Capsule is right by my stereo and would like to stream my itunes there. But it looks like I would have to add an Airport express station right on top of my time capsule to do this. Which doesn't make sense to have 2 wireless routers on top of each other. Is that the only way?

Well you can't do it with a Time Capsule.
You could get an Apple TV instead of an Air Port Express and then you can get video as well..

Printing problem with Macbook, Airport Express and new Canon IP4600

Just set up new printer, a Canon ip4600. Adding printer in System Preferences to my flat-screen iMac, I got it working using the Airport Express. But trying the same thing with the Macbook (2.4 GHz Intel), can't get it to print. (Both worked fine with previous Epson printer.) I fear it's a network issue, not sure what to do. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

For each of the AirPort Express Base Stations (AX), did you also change the "iTunes Speaker Name" on the Music tab when using the AirPort Admin Utility? Is this the name you're referring to from iTunes?

Linking 2 Airport Express Stations iMacG4

I am trying to link 2 Express Stations for use with my Cable Internet Connection.
I have a iMac PowerPC G4 without an Airport card...
I configured 1st Express as remote station where computer is connected to...2nd express is by Linksys cable modem and has booted and is on solid green light....
Using WDS I can not locate main station and express connected to computer is flashing amber...
I can not seem to get the sttions to locate each other...I even tried setting them up one room apart thinking it was the distance...
can anyone help setting these two express stations up via WDS network on older iMac G4 with no airport card?
Thanks

Wireless Distribution System (WDS) Setup
Main Base Station Setup
(Note: When you set up base stations in a WDS, you need to know the MAC address of each base station. The MAC address is printed on the label on the bottom of the base station next to the AirPort symbol. To make it easier to set up a WDS, place all of the base stations on a table and plug them into a power supply.)
- Connect to the wireless network created by the base station you want to set up as the main base station. (or connected directly, using an Ethernet cable, to the LAN/Ethernet port of the AEBS/AX)
- Open AirPort Admin Utility, select the main base station, and click Configure. Enter the base station password. (The default password is "public.")
- Click the WDS tab.
- Select the “Enable this base station as a WDS” checkbox, and choose “main base station” from the pop-up menu.
- Click Add and enter the MAC address of a base station you want to set up as a remote base station. You can also enter a description for the base station, the base station name, or its location.
- Select “Allow wireless clients on this base station” if you would like wireless client computers as well as base stations to share the connection.
- Click Update to send the new settings to the base stations in the WDS.
(Note: After you click Update, you can give each base station a name and password, and choose how the base station receives IP addresses.)
Relay/Remote Base Station Setup
- Connect to the remote or relay base station network, click WDS and enter the MAC address of the main base station.
- Click Update to send the new settings to the remote or relay base stations.

Can you help with D-link and two airport express stations

I currently run a Dlink 604 wireless and 1 Airport express for iTunes in my front room.
A Express is also linked to the Dlink via a cable.
All works fine - G4 dual running OS x 10.3.9
I would like help with a couple of things please:-
1. I have no current security on my Express, so anybody can use the net connection through it. How do I change this and still be able to use my tower and laptop?
2. I have a second Express from work that I would like to use upstairs. It does work but requires me to swap the network to use it for iTunes and then I have no internet.
It was formatted at work so has different ip numbers etc.
Can I make this station join my exisitng network?
As my lap top is wireless will I be able to surf through it upstairs?
Thanks
JohnO

1. You need to open the Express's configuration in Airport Admin Utility and change the Wireless Security settings to WEP or, preferably, WPA or WPA2. When you attempt to connect to the network from your computers, you will be prompted for the password.
2. The easiest thing to do is to hard reset the second Express and then use the Airport Setup Assistant to configure the second Express to join and extend the first Express's network. To do a hard reset, hold down the reset button until the LED starts flashing rapidly.
BTW, I know it can work because I have the exact same setup (D-Link DI-604 and two Expresses in an extended wireless network).

Airport Extreme with Two Airport Express Stations

Alright... It's been a while since I turned to the community for help, but here I go.
I've got an Airport Extreme Base Station (Dual Band) purchased a little over 1 year ago. I also have two Airport Express Base Stations (Let's call them AX 1 and AX 2 for short) purchased in the last 6 months. I am trying to configure everything as follows. Wireless signal originates from AEBS in one corner of the house, gets picked up by AX 1 downstairs, and then broadcast to AX 2 upstairs which in turn broadcasts the network to our computers upstairs. Instead what is happening is that it goes AEBS > AX 1 and then AX 2 acts as a client only to AX 1 and will not extend the signal any further. I've been trying to use the default "Extend a network" option, avoiding the WDS setup because i've read that WDS will drop everything to 802.11g instead of 802.11n. Is this true?
Signal in the house is fairly poor and I can't move the AEBS from where it is due to wiring constraints with the cable modem.
Any help would be appreaciated! I'm just trying to get decent 802.11n coverage throughout all the house :/

Christopher Sant wrote:
I've got an Airport Extreme Base Station (Dual Band) purchased a little over 1 year ago. I also have two Airport Express Base Stations (Let's call them AX 1 and AX 2 for short) purchased in the last 6 months. I am trying to configure everything as follows. Wireless signal originates from AEBS in one corner of the house, gets picked up by AX 1 downstairs, and then broadcast to AX 2 upstairs which in turn broadcasts the network to our computers upstairs. Instead what is happening is that it goes AEBS > AX 1 and then AX 2 acts as a client only to AX 1 and will not extend the signal any further.
I believe that "extending" a network can only use one "hop", so that you can't have AX 2 extend the network from AX 1. WDS would allow you to have one AX as a "relay" and the other as a "remote", but as you mention, there's a performance penalty for that.
Signal in the house is fairly poor and I can't move the AEBS from where it is due to wiring constraints with the cable modem.
That may actually be your best option. Consider using PowerLine devices to "extend" the Ethernet connection between your broadband modem and your AEBS:
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/power-network.htm
Then put the AEBS near the center of your house and if needed, configure each AX to extend the network from the AEBS.

Can I update my airport express station so I can connect to it with the newest airport utility?

the airport express worked with my old computer which had snow leopard. I just recently upgraded and got a new MacBook with mavericks and it won't let me connect to the airport. Any solutions to this problem without buying a new airport?

Unfortunately, updating the older Express that you have would require that you literally change all of the hardware on the device. Even if the parts were available....Apple does not offer them......it would likely cost more to "update" your old Express than buy a new Express.
You can use....or borrow for a few minutes....another Mac running Leopard or Snow Leopard, or a PC with AirPort Utility installed on the device to administer the older AirPort.

Macbook airport card keeps swapping between airport express stations

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for