Motorola Surfboard, Airport Extreme and Airport Express

I'm about to make the switch to cable for my internet connection so have ordered a Motorola Surboard SB5101 and Airport Express to use with my existing AEBS (prev gen). My question is that due to where the cable outlet is in the house and also the wife not wanting any unnecessary hardware in the living room I have proposed to set up the network as follows:
Cable -> Modem
Modem via Enet -> Airport Express
Airport Express acts as "Bridge"? to AEBS
MacPro -> AEBS via Enet
I would appreciate any feedback wether this should work or not or if you have a better solution with the given hardware. I thought about putting the AEBS in the living room, but that's a tough sell as it's a bit more of a sore thumb in there. Thanks.

Sort of...
If the AirPort Express (AX) and AEBS are both 802.11n capable, the AX would be configured to create a wireless network, allow the network to be extended, and to share an IP address (NOT bridging). The AEBS would be configured to extend an existing wireless network.
If either of the AX or AEBS are not 802.11n capable, the AX would be configured to create a wireless network, act as a WDS main base station, and to share an IP address (NOT bridging). The AEBS would be configured to act as a WDS remote base station. Unfortunately the WDS link would cut your available bandwidth in half.

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AP Extreme and AP Express drop internet connection and/or can't be found.

There have been a few posts about Airport's losing their connections and whatnot with Leopard and newer things, but not exactly the issue that I've been dealing with:
I setup a brand new Airport Extreme and Airport Express in our house because we needed the extension to get internet into the front room, and we wanted to link our stereo to iTunes.
The problem is, when my wife and I close the computer and then later reawaken it, the connection will show up as full strength, but then upon opening Safari, we are told that we are "not connected to the internet" and need to run network diagnostics. Running network diagnostics restarts the router, and it then will work.
The biggest and most irritating problem is that it doesn't always do it. Right now I just picked up my Powerbook after not being used all day and it works great.
Also, when I open AirPort Utility, it may or may not find both the Extreme and the Express. Sometimes it only finds one or the other (sometimes only the Extreme, which makes zero sense to me because the Express is between me and it).
Suggestions? Clarifications? Directions to another post that I may have missed?
Thanks,
benson
PS My setup for those who would ask:
Comcast Cable with a Motorola Modem
Airport Extreme (the latest one)
Airport Express (brand new)
Also: My house was built a while back, and has old concrete "sheetrock" and a fireplace right in the middle of the house. Problem?

Erin I am sorry you are facing difficulty downloading the Creative Cloud software. It can be frustrating when you do not have access to high speed stable Internet.
You can attempt to download the base installers and updates by following the directions listed at:
Adobe CC 2014 Direct Download Links: Creative Cloud 2014 Release | ProDesignTools
All Adobe CC 2014 Updates: The Direct Download Links for Windows | ProDesignTools
You may want to attempt to utilize some form of download management as the main issue seems to be the stability of your connection.
There is not currently a method to resume downloads within the Creative Cloud Desktop application. There is download management included though it may not be enough to compensate for the current Internet connection. If you are curious you can find additional details on how to resolve download errors at Error downloading Creative Cloud applications - http://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/error-downloading-cc-apps.html.

Making sure I'm correctly connected. Extreme and (2) Express's

I have an Extreme and two Express's for wireless connections. My Mac Pro 2.26 is connected via hard-wire to the Extreme. I also have 3 other Mac's in the house which connect wirelessly.
In the Airport Utility, under Wireless, the Extreme is set to "Create a wireless network".
Both the Express's, under Wireless, are set to "Extend a wireless network".
I've been reading that some folks have been telling other folks to set the Extreme to "Participate in a WDS network", and the Express also set to "Participate in a WDS network".
I'm trying to get the best connection out of my wireless hook-up.
Any suggestions regarding which is best?
Thanks!

Welcome to the discussions!
If your Extreme and Expresses are all "n" capable, the best setting by far for your Expresses is "extend a wireless network". Check to make sure that you have "allow wireless clients" checked on the Wireless setup page for each Express.
The reason for this is that WDS penalizes you 50% of your bandwidth for each device that you add to the base station. So with one Express, you have 1/2 the bandwidth of your original network. With two Expresses, you are down to 1/4 of the original bandwidth. Imagine a busy four lane highway that suddenly becomes a single lane to get an idea of the speed penalty that WDS can apply.
WDS must be used if any device on the network is "g" only, so that is why you may see some advice to use WDS on a network.
On your Extreme, also check to make sure that you have "allow this network to be extended" checked on the Wireless setup page.
If your wireless network is setup correctly, you should be able to get fairly uniform speeds throughout your house. It may take a bit of experimenting to find the right position of reach Express. In general, start with the Express positioned approximately half way between the Extreme and the area you want to reach. Then move the Express closer or further away for best results depending on obstructions, walls, etc.
You can get a quick speed check on your network by holding down the option key while you click on the fan shaped Airport icon at the top of your screen. Look for the Transmit Rate.

Motorola Surfboard (combination modem and wireless router) plus Airport time Capsule - 2TB

I am reading all of the discussion posts regarding the new OS Lion and starting to become wary. Here is my pridicament:
I have 3 PS3 game consoles (2 are wirelessly connected to the Motorola Surfboard),
3 PC laptops (also wirelessly connected to the Motorola Surfboard)
My thoughts were to purchase the Airport Time Capsule with the new IMac and possibly set up a wired connection to the Motorola Surfboard with the Airport Time Capsule, then provide a wireless connection for all of the Apple products in my home as well as a back up file system. Mind you I have 3 IPhones, 2 IPads, and will be purchasing a new IMac with Retina Display and an HP - LaserJet Pro MFP M1217nfw Network-Ready Wireless Black-and-White All-In-One Printe.Will this be too much on one modem? and has anyone else even tried this type of configuration?
As smart as I think I am, I am hesitant on making this purchase, and sometimes I feel that sales reps at retail stores tend to be over confident in their knowledge of a wireless home system.
Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Reaper64 wrote:
... Will this be too much on one modem?
Certainly not.
The limiting factor is likely to be your ISP's delivered speed. Whatever bandwidth you have will be shared among all the devices. If they're all streaming video at the same time, for example, one or more of them may become slow.
You don't need to purchase a Time Capsule simply because you're buying a new Mac. The iMac can join any network.
The Time Capsule can replace the router function of your existing combination modem / router, or it can join your network as either a wireless or wired client. If you want to use it for Time Machine backups, you should favor the latter. It can also create an additional wireless access point if you so choose. The Time Capsule is a very capable full-featured router but if you don't need a router or additional access point, then you can use any external HD for Time Machine backups. That would be a lot less expensive.
Lion has already been superseded by Mountain Lion. A new iMac will ship with Mountain Lion installed.
Only certain model MacBook Pros and iPads have a "retina display" - no iMacs.

Airport Extreme and Multiple Expresses with iTunes

I have an airport extreme base station running a bgn network and six airport expresses connected (three wired and three wireless) to stereo systems throughout the house. They seem to stumble all over themselves with an IP address distribution or something that makes them cut in and out after playing for about 20 minutes. I've tried assigning IP addresses but it doesn't seem to work. I'm guessing that one of the wireless expresses loses signal for a second and that causes all the issues. Any thoughts?

So the airport extreme is setup and the wireless is going. But when I hook up the airport express, I've plugged it in and when I use airport utility through the desktop which is hardwired connected to the airport extreme, the express does not show up the devices list.
Can somebody explain to me how the airport express is used to boost the signal of the airport extreme using airport utility within windows vista? thanks!

TCP/IP printing through 1x Extreme and 4x Express

Want to print on my Business Laser Color, Copier & Scanner through an Airport Express near that printer. (impossible to install CAT5/6 in that area)
I use an Extreme as a main base and 4x Express on the same wireless network for my iTunes and want to connect my printer in TCP/IP mode (want to access the scanner remotely) but can't figure how to do it on the Express. DHCP is on on all Airport and can configure also DHCP on in the menu of the printer.
Thx guys !
Denis

I wonder if this would help if you could find the IP address of the printer.
Printing to a network ethernet printer (which has an IP address) from a Mac running OS 10.3.x
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3005.html

Using both an Apple Extreme and Apple Express??

I am using Apple Extreme for my everyday use - Just purchased a new Yamaha receiver with a LAN for Pandora, etc. I plugged it in to my airport express and just getting a blinking yellow light. Looked for it in the networks in area but didn't show - is there something I need to do to get this configured or to see it on my Extreme? Any ideas?
Thanks

Thanks.
Hold in the reset button on the AirPort Express for 9-10 seconds and then release it. Allow a full minute for it to restart to a slow, blinking amber light.
Unplug the power on the Express and temporarily move it to the same room as the AirPort Extreme for the setup.
Power up the Express and let it run a minute.
Open AirPort Utility and click on the tab at the upper left corner of the window that reads Other AirPort Base Stations (1).
Click on AirPort Express xxxxxx
Wait a minute or two while AirPort Utility analyzes the network and then announces that the Express will be configured to "Extend" your network.
Enter in a name for the AirPort Express device
Click Next
Wait a few minutes to allow AirPort Utility to read the setttings on the AirPort Extreme and configure the AirPort Express with the settings that it needs
When you see the message that Setup is Complete, click Done
Unplug the Express and move it to the desired location and power it back up. Wait a minute for a green light.
Make sure the AV receiver is powered off
Connect a known good working Ethernet cable from the LAN <-> port on the Express to the AV receiver and power up the receiver.
Check things out.

Express - extreme and more expresses

Short version: Is there any disadvantage to be had from placing an extreme downstream of an express? Is there any reason why the extreme ought to be the centre of the network with other devices (expresses and possibly even another extreme) downstream of it?
Here is the longer version and my thinking:
I am about to move to a new flat which features two ethernet points in every room, connected by wire to a main box in the hall.
A big part of my current (and future) setup is about air-playing music to different rooms (often several rooms at the same time) using airport, and I am sure that doing this via ethernet will mean fewer dropouts, which is great.
I have been toying around with various different network shapes in my head.
The main thing that occurs to me is that it seems a waste to have my extreme plugged into the main network switch-box in the hall, which is near ceiling level, because I wouldn't really be able to use it for much there:
It is not where I need wifi coverage.
There is nowhere to put a printer near there.
There is probably not even enough space for an ethernet hard-disk in there.
In fact it's possible the extreme wouldn't even fit in the box.
I think it would be much better to have an extreme placed in the guest-bedroom where my computer desk will be, and where it can drive things like hard disks and printers.
However, I don't really want to buy a second extreme to give me one in the hall and another in the bedroom (I imagine I will buy a third express though).
So, I was thinking about two options:
1. Putting an express in the ethernet box, into an eight-way gigabit ethernet switch and from there to the various different devices in the house, including the extreme on my desk.
Internet
    I
Express
    I
8-way-Switch
I                  I              I
Extreme     Express Express
2. Using the ethernet in the flat to take the inbound internet direct from the cable modem into the guest bedroom through the first ethernet slot there, into the extreme, then back to the box in the hall using the second ethernet slot, and from there use the eight way gigabit ethernet switch to take the signal to the various other ethernet slots (and in three cases to airport expresses in other rooms).
Internet
    I (ethernet to guest bedroom)
Extreme
    I (ethernet back from guest bedroom)
8-way-Switch
I                  I              I
Express     Express Express
Does anyone have experience of either set up, or any views on what might work best? Should I expect much loss of bandwidth if I am sending the signal over more of the ethernet cabling (as in idea two, where it will be much like Bilbo Baggins, going There and Back Again).
Thanks very much for any feedback.

Short version: Is there any disadvantage to be had from placing an extreme downstream of an express? Is there any reason why the extreme ought to be the centre of the network with other devices (expresses and possibly even another extreme) downstream of it?
Yes, the Extreme is a much faster and more capable router.. it has much faster wireless. If you put an extreme in downstream setup to express it will be limited to 100mbit ethernet and limited to 300mbit wireless.
That is the short version.
Long version you have obviously thought about the problem.. if you feed incoming cable to the Extreme, route from there then feed it back to the main swith which is gigabit.. that is fine.. Lots of ethernet cables is no problem as long as they are Cat5e at least and tested to work properly at full gigabit. Ethernet is good for 100M runs on Cat6 (somewhat less on Cat5e), and can handle 2 or 3 repeaters so total length of 300M or more.. again somewhat reduced by poorer Cat5.. but in a house wiring should be no problem. A switch is a repeater for ethernet. So each time you have a router or switch it is effectively a signal repeater.
So yes you can get away with what you want by judicious connections as per your version 2 layout.

Time Capsule with Extreme and 3 Express

Hi, new to this. I just bought a Time Capsule, set it up to my router and ethernet to my iMac (works fine). Time Capsule to router with a manual configuration (fixed IP from ISP). I wanted to:
1- Get my old Extreme to connect wirelessly to my Network at a remote room. Then connect two more iMac's via ethernet to my Extreme.
2- Use my extremes to distribute my network through the house.
I've tried all possible combinations but keep failing at it. I don't know fi I should create a WDS, extend my network, share IP or distribute IP.
Can somebody please help me?

Hello coronelcb. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
Since you will have a mix of 802.11n and 802.11g AirPort, you will not be able to extend the Time Capsule's (TC) "n" network wirelessly with the 802.11g AirPorts, but you could configure them in a WDS. Note; however, that for each base station in the WDS, the overall bandwidth of the wireless network will be halved ... so, with a total of 4 base stations, at best, you will get 54 Mbps/2x2x2 = 6.75 Mbps. Your actual throughput will be even less.
As as option, you could create a "Dual Band" network between one of the 802.11g AirPort Extreme Base Stations (AEBS), and then create a WDS between that AEBS and the other two. In a "Dual Band" network, the TC will provide a "n" network, and the AEBS will provide a separate "g" one. The AEBS would connect to the TC via Ethernet and configured as a bridge to allow the TC to continue to provide both NAT & DHCP services for the entire network.

I have got a Airport Extreme Basestation and an 3 x Airport Express Base station.

Hi
I have a netgear modem. Would like help with how to create one network with strong wireless signal all around the house and the gym outside. I basically know how I will setup the Airport Extreme and One Express ( for streaming music from Itunes ). How to use the other two Expresses to extend the wireless side of the network to have a strong signal all around the residental area.
Please help

Not knowing your exact building floorplan, I would start with the following basic setup of your AirPorts:
Connect the 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn) to the Netgear router by Ethernet.
Reconfigure the AEBSn as a bridge.
Configure the AEBSn for the option "Allow this network to be extended" enabled.
Configure each of the 802.11n AirPort Express Base Stations (AXn) with the option "Wireless Mode = Extend a wireless network" enabled.
Both AXns will be connected back to the AEBSn by wireless.

Speed issue with WDS, Airport Extreme, and Airport Express 802.11n

I have a Airport network set up using WDS and two airport base stations: an Airport Extreme 802.11n, and an Airport Express 802.11n. The Extreme is configured to be WDS main and is connected to my cable modem and other computers, while the express is WDS relay and acts as a switch.
I don't actually have any wireless clients connecting to the express. I'm using it to connect a mac with no airport card to the network by plugging it into the ethernet port on the express. For the most part, it works, and the mac gets a network address and can access the network. However, the connection speed from the Express to the Extreme seems slower than it should be.
Since both are 802.11n, and the Mac is plugged into the Express's 10/100 ethernet port, I figure the theoretical top speed that the Mac should be able to communicate with another device plugged into the Extreme is at around the same speeds as 100 mbps ethernet, since the 100 mbps ethernet connection should be the bottleneck in this case. In reality, the speeds are much slower: when I transfer files between a machine connected to the extreme (via ethernet) and my mac, the speed tops out at about 2 megabytes a second, if that.
I looked in the Airport Extreme's logs, and it indicates that the Express is only connected at 54 mbps, as though it were a 802.11g Express. I have no idea why this is! Also, the only wireless communication is between the Extreme and the Express, so one wireless device acting as a relay for another (and thus cutting the throughput in half) shouldn't be an issue.
Does anyone know why the speeds are so slow, and if there's anything I can do to improve them?

Hello Brian Kendall. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
I looked in the Airport Extreme's logs, and it indicates that the Express is only connected at 54 mbps, as though it were a 802.11g Express. I have no idea why this is!
That is because you established a WDS which only runs in 802.11g. Since you have two 802.11n base station, you would want to take advantage of the "Extend a network" feature available with these base stations.
Here's a typical setup:
o If practical, place the base stations in near proximity to each other during the setup phase. Once done, move them to their desired locations.
o Open AirPort Utility and select the base station that will connect to the Internet.
o Choose Manual Setup from the Base Station menu, or double-click the base station to open the configuration in a separate window. Enter the base station password if necessary.
o Click AirPort in the toolbar, and then click Wireless.
o Choose “Create a wireless network” from the Wireless Mode pop-up menu, and then select the “Allow this network to be extended” checkbox.
o Next, select the base station that will extend this network, and choose Manual Setup from the Base Station menu, or double-click the base station to open its configuration in a separate window. Enter the base station password if necessary.
o Choose “Extend a wireless network” from the Wireless Mode pop-up menu, and then choose the network you want to extend from the Network Name pop-up menu.
o Enter the base station network and base station password is necessary.
o Click Update to update the base station with new network settings.
(ref: Page 46 of "Designing AirPort Networks Using AirPort Utility.)

Set up roaming with Airport Extreme N and Airport Express N

The Apple pub "Designing Airport Networks" states you can connect an AirPort Extreme Base Station or a Time Capsule using Ethernet to create a roaming network.
I need someone out there to confirm that I can create a roaming network using an Airport Extreme N and an Airport Express N. Remember the two will be connected via Ethernet. All I want to do is walk from end to end of my (very long) house and have my laptop connect to the strongest signal. However, most publications and postings here seem to always focus on installing two Extreme Base Stations (not an Extreme and an Express).

OldNGray, Welcome to the discussion area!
Yes you can do that. When you connect 2 base stations via Ethernet, you can easily create a large wireless network regardless of the manufacturer or model of the base stations.

Setting up airport extreme and express

i purchased both the airport extreme and the express. i have cable modem and use a router (to it i have connected vonage phone and an external drive). from the router, i have successfully hooked up my airport extreme.
i now want to hook up my airport express in another room, so i can use it to connect to speakers and listen to music.
when i plug in the airport express, i dont get a connextion (amber light blinking). i have not bought the speakers/system yet, so i dont have any cables hooked to it. could this be the reason as to why i am not getting a connetction?
i also thought that i did not need to hook up anything to it, since this would just extend my wireless connection (i use a macbook and ibook)
any thoughts?
g5., imac, macbook Mac OS X (10.4.8) fairly new to apple

You will want to set up the AX as a wireless client...
To set up AirTunes on the AirPort Express Base Station (AX), using the AirPort Admin Utility, connect your computer directly (using an Ethernet cable) to the Ethernet port of the AX, and then, try these settings:
AirPort tab
- Base Station Name: <whatever you wish or use the default>
- Wireless Mode: Join an Existing Wireless Network (Wireless Client)
- Wireless Network: <select the existing wireless network>
Music tab
- Enable AirTunes on this base station (checked)
- Enable AirTunes over the Ethernet port (optional)
- iTunes Speaker Name: <whatever you wish>
- iTunes Speaker Password (optional)
In iTunes:
iTunes > Preferences... > Advanced > General
- Look for remote speakers connected with AirTunes (checked)

Airport Utility: I can see Extreme and Express but no Apple TV

Hi,
When I launch Apple Utility, I can see my Extreme and (2) Express's, but Apple TV is no where to be found.
Is there any way for the Apple Utility to work with the Apple TV?
Thanks!

When I launch Apple Utility, I can see my Extreme and (2) Express's, but Apple TV is no where to be found.
Sorry, but that is normal as the AirPort Utility does not administer the Apple TV ... only AirPorts or Time Capsules.

Extending network via airport extreme N non dual band and airport expresses

I have experimented with this a lot because I have 3 expresses and an extreme, one express is wired to my extreme in bridged G mode so my iphone can access my network of macs and the rest are running in N 2.4ghz joined to the extreme network as apposed to extending the network. It seemed to me that the 5ghz is much faster but has very poor range about half the range of the N so I run the network in 2.4ghz. Oddly the express I have bridged running in G mode seems to have more range than the N network. Whenever I tried to extend the network with an express in N 2.4ghz my performance went down and I could not really notice any difference in range. Perhaps this has changed with firmware updates of late so I am going to play with them some more. A side note is that when the express is in join mode to my extremes N 2.4 ghz network I can stream full HD video 1080i and 5.1 sound to my other macs. So when my MBP is hooked up to my AV
setup I can stream Eyetv recordings around the house. But when I extend the network the playback is choppy. It seems when you extend the data rate takes a dive. The odd thing to me is that it seems that the N network does not have any more range that the G express if not even a little less range. My extreme and bridged express are in the same place in my house and if I go outside on my deck there is no N and there is a little G and again if I extend the N network with an express it seems to make almost no difference in range and the transfer speeds seems to drop.
Any thoughts on how to improved N speed / range in extend mode would be appreciated.

The ethernet port is active with this settting, (assuming you enable it in AirPort Utility) which can be a plus in some installations, but I see no improvement in the "breadth" of the wireless network using the "Join" setting, at least when comparing it to the "extend" setting. Is this correct?
The AXn's feature to join a wireless network & have its Ethernet port enabled, as you already know, is known as ProxySTA.
Although a convenient feature indeed, it's not stellar as far as maximum bandwidth goes. As an example, the following would be typical "real life" throughput values (for the AXn's 2.4 GHz radio) based on the AXn's configuration:
o Router: Wired-to-wireless: 85 Mbps
o WDS: Wireless-to-wireless: 33-39 Mbps (Note: Extended would be closer to the Router value)
o ProxySTA: Wireless-to-wired: 26-35 Mbps
Unfortunately, ProxySTA is the "worst" of the bunch.
I have to believe that a lot of the confusion between "join" and "extend" is occurring because the "extend" option is not available in the auto setup using AirPort Utility. Aren't there a lot of users out there configured to "Join" when they think they are "extending"?
No doubt the "Manual Setup" function of the AirPort Utility still needs a bit of improvement as it does tend to confuse folks. Similar, would be the differences between "Extend" & a "WDS" as both are types of WDS.

Motorola Surfboard, Airport Extreme and Airport Express

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