Trouble extending my wireless network via (4) Airport Express'

I am having difficulty extending my wireless network - I have a Airport Extreme as the base station - I was hoping to daisy chain the express devices throughout the home but I'm losing signal strength as I get further away from the base... is it possible to link each device so that i can have one network running with multiple Airport Express' wirelessly? Any help you can provide would be appreciated...
Thanks
Steve

If you have the newer AirPort Extreme 802.11n and newer AirPort Express 802.11n devices, it is not possible to "daisy chain" the AirPort Express devices. That's because each AirPort Express communicates directly to the "main" AirPort Extreme....not to another AirPort Express.
The "extend" setup is like the hub and spokes of a wheel. Your AirPort Exrreme is the "hub" and each AirPort Express resides at the end of a "spoke".
The "best" way to extend any wireless network is to run Ethernet cabling to the location of each AirPort Express. If it is not possible to run the Ethernet cable, your next option would be Ethernet power line adapters to send an Ethernet signal over the AC power lines in your home.

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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.

Trouble extending my WiFi network with older Airport Express

Hi,
As the question states, I have an older Airport Express which I have dug out to try and extend my WiFi network in a new house.
I am on Virgin Media (fibre optic) in the UK and get a good WiFi service but one room in the house (which I have just turned into a cinema/media suite) has no reception.
I have successfully managed to 'create a new network' via the Airport Express and the signal strength is 100% but for some reason if I try to reconfigure the device to extend the existing network I get no improvement at all from the (zero) signal I was receiving before.
Am I doing something wrong? Or is there an additional step I am missing?
I could live with having a secondary network but what I would really like to achieve is Home Sharing from my main computer, so that I can access my photos, movies and music etc. from iTunes on the big screen. If the computer exists on another network my iPad, iPhone and AppleTV can't see/use the media from that room.
Many thanks in advance,
Colin

Are these the steps you used?
To create a wireless extended network, you must place any extended Wi-Fi base stations within range of the primary Wi-Fi base station.
Start with the device that will be configured as the primary Wi-Fi base station. Then configure your extended Wi-Fi base stations, ensuring that each is within direct range of the primary Wi-Fi base station.The physical location of extended Wi-Fi base stations will vary according to the building environment and may require some experimentation.
If you have configured your Wi-Fi base stations in the past, it may be helpful to do a factory default reset of each Wi-Fi base station that will be part of the wireless extended network before you begin.
Configuring the primary Wi-Fi base station
Power on all 802.11n Wi-Fi base stations and allow them time to appear in the AirPort Menu Extra.
Open AirPort Utility (On a Mac, choose Go > Applications from your desktop, click the Utilities folder, then open AirPort Utility. In Microsoft Windows, choose Start > All Programs > AirPort to start AirPort Utility).
Select the primary Wi-Fi base station in the Base Station Chooser, then click Continue. Note: If you see a message appear that indicates that the Wi-Fi base station has been reset, click Cancel to continue.
Click Manual Setup. Enter the base station password if necessary.
Click AirPort in the toolbar.
Click Wireless.
Choose “Create a wireless network” from the Wireless Mode menu.
Select the “Allow this network to be extended” checkbox.
Enter a Wireless Network Name.
Optional: By default, Wireless Security is set to None so that no password will be required to join the network. We recommend you click on the Wireless Security menu, select WPA2 Personal, and create a password between 8 and 63 characters long.
From the Radio Channel Selection menu, select Automatic.
Click Update.
The next window may indicate that there are some problems. Resolve the problems, then click Update.
You are now ready to add extended Wi-Fi base stations to your network.
Configuring an extended Wi-Fi base station
Place any extended Wi-Fi base stations within range of the primary Wi-Fi base station
Ensure that all 802.11n Wi-Fi base stations are powered on and allow them time to appear in the AirPort Menu Extra
Open AirPort Utility (On a Mac, choose Go > Applications from your desktop, click the Utilities folder, then open AirPort Utility. In Microsoft Windows, choose Start > All Programs > AirPort to start AirPort Utility).
Select the Extended Wi-Fi base station in the Base Station Chooser, then click Continue. Note: If you see a message appear that indicates that the Wi-Fi base station has been reset, click Cancel to continue.
Click Manual Setup. Enter the base station password if necessary.
Click AirPort in the toolbar.
Click Wireless.
Choose “Extend a wireless network” from the Wireless Mode menu.
Choose the network you want to extend from the Network Name menu.
Enter the network and device password if necessary, then click Update.
The next window may indicate that there are some problems. Resolve the problems, then click Update.

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 do I extend a wireless network from one Airport Express to another?

I have an Airport Express in my living room, wired into my router and it's currently outputting a wifi signal.
I just got another Airport Express, and I've plugged it into my kitchen.
How do I use Airport Extreme Admin Utility to see the other Airport Express (which currently has a solid orange light), and label it as "Kitchen", so that I can have music playing in my kitchen as well?
I really don't want to have to wire an Ethernet cable all the way to the kitchen so that it picks it up, because I don't have room for that sort of hook up on my router.
Is this possible.. and if so.. could someone kindly, please, write me a step by step tutorial as to how to add my "kitchen" to the wireless network.
Thank you.

Try temporarily connecting via Ethernet to the AirPort Express (AX). After you configure the AX you can disconnect the Ethernet connection.

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.

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

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

Trouble extending a wireless network

Hello,
I am having trouble extending my wireless network. I have a time capsule running 802.11N and this is plugged into a Motorola Cable (SBV5121) modem. Until now I have not had any trouble with this network running either a PC or MacBook.
I recently purchased an airport express - dual band, and have configured both it and the timecapsule to allow network extension (express is configured to extend a network).
After some time - perhaps 2-3 hours or even longer, I lose my internet connection (error I get is I cannot obtain an IP address - or no valid IP address.) I think this may be related to DHCP, so I tried config with static IP for both time capsule and airport express internal network. When I lose internet connection, I can still use the express to play music through - which to me indicates problems re the outside network.
When I unplug (turn off) the express from power - I am able to get back on the net. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the discussion area, phazyme!
Suggest that you try forum expert Tesserax's guide found this the link below:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2422028&tstart=0

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?

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.

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

How can I extend a wireless network with my AirPort Extreme Base Station?

Today I purchased a brand new, dual-band base station to replace my Belkin N router, as I have had a handful of firewall, coverage, and other networking problems in my house lately. First off, I really like this router and it was very easy to setup. My MacBook Pro could use both bands and established a 300 Mbit/s link very quickly. After tweaking various settings to my liking, I was also able to maximize the connections on many of my non-Apple machines and devices. I noticed that the range of its network was better than my Belkin's, but unfortunately, it failed to completely saturate the area sufficiently. Since the Belkin still works well enough, I was hoping I could bridge them together one way or the other.
The Belkin router does not support any bridge mode that I know of, but the AirPort Extreme should be able to join a wireless network and then extend that over WiFi and Ethernet, correct? I would like to place them at opposite ends of my home so I can get strong WiFi signals everywhere inside. However, when I try to get the base station to connect to my preexisting WiFi connection, it tells me that I can't extend the network and fails to join.
So is this possible? And if it is, how would I go about setting it up? I know it would probably be easier if I had a simple range booster such as an AirPort Express, but I didn't buy one while I was at Fry's since I hoped I could make use of the older Belkin. This is its product page, if needed. Thanks for any suggestions.
-MacUser

The Belkin router does not support any bridge mode that I know of, but the AirPort Extreme should be able to join a wireless network and then extend that over WiFi and Ethernet, correct?
Sorry, but no. The AirPort Extreme Base Station cannot "join" a network like the AirPort Express or Time Capsule, but you wouldn't want to do this anyway because in this configuration these devices will only perform as wireless clients ... not routers.
Instead, the AirPort Extreme can either be extended or can extend another 802.11g or 802.11n AirPort ... or a very very few non-AirPort devices.
One option for your Belkin would be to connect it to the AirPort Extreme by Ethernet but this may not meet your requirements or be a desirable situation. Otherwise, you would need to get another AirPort to extend your current one.

I have an airport extreme and am trying to extend the range of the wireless network with an airport express. I set it up with the help of apple support, both lights are green on both airports, but the range didn't change. What could be wrong?

I am trying to extend the range of my wireless network by adding an airport express to an airport extreme. I configured it with the help of apple support, but it hasn't changed the range that I can access the internet wirelessly in my house. What could be the problem? Does weather affect the wireless network??

So, on the Extreme you checked the box to "allow this network to be extened" ?
Correct?
And on the Express, you set it up to "Extend a wireless network" ?
Correct?
See this Apple article and see if you missed anything...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4145
To learn about other options for expanding your Wi-Fi base station wireless network and things you should consider before expanding your network, click here.
Set up: Components of an extended network
➊ Primary Wi-Fi base station (this is the base station connected directly to the Internet)
➋ Extended base station
Configuring a wireless extended network
To create a wireless extended network, you must place any extended Wi-Fi base stations within range of the primary Wi-Fi base station.
Start with the device that will be configured as the primary Wi-Fi base station. Then configure your extended Wi-Fi base stations, ensuring that each is within direct range of the primary Wi-Fi base station.The physical location of extended Wi-Fi base stations will vary according to the building environment and may require some experimentation.
If you have configured your Wi-Fi base stations in the past, it may be helpful to do a factory default reset of each Wi-Fi base station that will be part of the wireless extended network before you begin.

Trouble extending my wireless network via (4) Airport Express'

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