supertomtendo
Level 1
(0 points)
Q: Setup extended network with ethernet
I Have an extreme station as my main connected to the modem router and the speeds are great. However upstairs the extended express station is slow as heck... It's using a power line Ethernet but it doesn't seem to be actually using that? How do I set this up so both routers are producing the same speeds or somewhat near the same speeds??
Bob Timmons
Level 10
(105,018 points)
Temporarily, move the Express close to the AirPort Extreme and connect a spare Ethernet cable.....any length will do.....from one of the LAN <--> ports on the AirPort Extreme to the WAN (circle of dots) port on the AirPort Express. If your Express has only one Ethernet port, then just connect to that port.
Power up the Express and let it run a minute or two
Hold in the reset button on the Express for 7 to 8 seconds and then release
Allow a full minute for the Express to restart to a slow, blinking amber light status
Click the WiFi icon at the top of your Mac's screen, then click directly on AirPort Express under the heading of New AirPort Base Station
That will get the setup "wizard" going, and it will take a few seconds to analyze the network and then display a window that looks like the example below, except that you will see pictures of your devices and the name of your network
Type in a device name that you want to call the Express. Keep it short and simple.....something like Express
Click Next
Then screen message will change, and it is important for you to watch carefully to confirm that the Express is being set up to extend using Ethernet. This confirms that the setup wizard is picking up the wired Ethernet connection between the AirPorts and that the Express will be set up correctly.
When the screen message changes to Setup Complete, click Done and close the window. The Express is now configured correctly.
Before you move the Express back to its remote location, if you have a laptop with an Ethernet port, temporarily connect the laptop to the powerline adapter. Turn off the wireless on the laptop and then make sure that you can get a good Internet connection that way. If you can, then the powerline adapters are working correctly.
It would be a good idea for you to run an Internet connection speed test to see how well the powerline products are working. Just log on to something Speediest.net and run the check. Hopefully, the speed will be about the same as it is at your "main" AirPort Extreme.
Now disconnect the Ethernet cable from the laptop and connect to the WAN port on the Express, or if your Express has only one port, connect to that port. Check things out. You should have a much better signal now in the area where the Express is located.
