Extend Network with Airport Extreme & Express

Bob,

Thanks for your lightning fast reply. I have ordered the Airport Express N and it will be here today. My old Airport Express was G and I'll retire that one. My brand new Airport Extreme Base Station - Dual will work great with the new Airport Express N so I'll follow your clear directions to extend the network to the porch. But, if I use the iPhone on the porch, my definition a G speed, and since the Airport Express N doesn't have dual speeds, will the entire network drop to G? And if so, is it temporary? I can of course observe these thing, but since I always have the iPhone with me, I'm just wondering if this is a good idea. Now that I have the Extreme Dual -- I'm enjoying speeeds like never before, but unfortunately the reach is not to the porch.

Karen

The speed will drop only temporarily at the times when the iPhone is active. Should be no problem.

Bob,
Worked like a charm. Thanks so much for your easy to follow directions. Worth $99 to "extend the network" and the iPhone is great on the porch now.
Best,
Karen

Glad you got things going! Enjoy the speed.

Bob,

You are a busy guy,, we thank you for the good assistance. Happy to hear you were in our "neck of the woods" and glad you had a good time. We are in a very small fishing village about 3.5 hours north of La Paz. Look San Juanico up on the web and if you are ever in the area come for a visit. Just ask for "Honda Mike & Jan".

You are correct about the mixed units I currently have. Some day I'll replace the Extreme ""g" and Express "b" with new "n" models, but for now......

Here is a better idea of what we currently have:

iMac that is connected direct to our Hughes Net modem via ethernet cable. (Not wireless. Wireless and Hughes Net in our area is not a good idea.)

Extreme "g" located on our desk next to the iMac and the Extreme has a Dr. Bott antenna connected.

An Express "b" located in our living room connected to our stereo. The Express is 22 feet from the iMac/Extreme antenna.

Another Express "n" located in my shop and connected to a stereo. This Express is 61 feet from the Extreme/iMac.

So my setup looks like this:

Modem > iMac (the Extreme is not hard wired).... Internet Music streams wireless from iMac to Extreme > house Express > shop Express. (The Extreme is setup as the network and the two Expresses and iMac have joined the network.)

Should I plug the Hughes net cable into the Extreme and another cable from the Extreme to the iMac?? Or is the way I have it setup now OK until I get all "n" stuff??

I'm just all tangled up and kinda lost.... The setup in use now has worked good for three years until recently and suddenly we get "drop outs" every afternoon. Our town has grown and I think there are other wireless/phones that maybe causing issues for us... Or perhaps it is "sun spots, alien invasions, star alignments, or other weird things".

I read in this thread your post about selecting a channel clear of other networks.... I can try that, change all three units to a new channel...

Sorry to ramble on..... any suggestions are welcomed...

thank you! but I already did all this, I had reset both airporextreme and airport express and start from the beginning but ,still when I trying to set airport express is asking me again for a password and nothing happen from there...any thing I can do to overcome this? it is annoying!!.

Is it asking for a Base Station password or a Wireless Network password?

What step are you trying to do when it asks you for a password?

Bob,

At work I happened to mention all of this to my Mac support guy - the fact that I bought the extreme, and 2 airport expresses to extend the network. He told me that the expresses are a "placebo" effect. They are currently plugged into the wall (electricity only) and are not hooked up to a mac. He told me repeaters are necessary to extend the network, or a 2nd extreme with will make the 2 extremes dedicate one to "send" and one to "receive" which would extend. I think he makes sense. Did you realize that I wasn't wiring the 2 extra expresses?

Thanks for any thoughts - I'm thinking of returning the expresses and getting a 2nd extreme -- about the same money.

Thanks in advance,
Karen

+"He told me repeaters are necessary to extend the network, or a 2nd extreme with will make the 2 extremes dedicate one to "send" and one to "receive" which would extend. I think he makes sense.+

When you setup the Express to "extend" it performs a dual function. One, it receives the wireless signal that is being broadcasted by the main router and Two, it re-broadcasts or extends that signal to the area in which it is located. You could say it repeats as well if you want, but Apple does not use that terminology.

Perhaps your friend was thinking of another function of the Express...."Join". It receives in this mode, but does not extend or rebroadcast the wireless signal.

Your friend is confusing some terminology that other manufacturers use and, he may also be thinking about some older technology that was used in previous generation Apple products. You can be assured that the Express, when set to "extend a wireless network" is performing the exact function that you desire, namely it receives the signal from your base station and extends or broadens the wireless network that is created by your base station.

+Did you realize that I wasn't wiring the 2 extra expresses?"+
Absolutely. I use the same setup and know that it works through a number of tests.

You might want to refer your friend to the Designing AirPort Networks Guide so that he can come up to speed on things regarding the "extend a wireless network" function. Your Expresses are both receiving and sending, and they are doing it all without any wiring. Your current setup is doing exactly what you want.

http://manuals.info.apple.com/enUS/Apple_AirPort_NetworksEarly2009.pdf

Bob,

Yippee! I knew I was enjoying great speeds in the far reaches of the house now, and of course it's due to the new expresses.

I'm leaving things exactly where they are, and thanks for patiently explaining the terminology. He's been around the Mac desktop environment for a very long time, so I agree that he is thinking "old Apple".

Cheers,
Karen

Bob,

Furthermore, I did a screen capture of this information and my old school friend who runs an IT dept supporting 200 Macs said "Wow! Who knew? Thanks so much for bringing me up to speed". So as usual, Mac people open to new information and willing to learn.

Thanks again,
Karen

Thanks for the feedback. We're users, just like you trying to pass along some things that we've learned the hard way. One of the advantages of the forum is that you can usually get someone to respond who has actually "done it" as opposed to the guy who says "yeah, you should be able to do that, or that should work".

It is possible, of course to setup an Express for wired operation if you have the luxury of ethernet cables that are already installed behind the walls in a home or apartment. But, that's rare, so the wireless approach it probably the best way for most people to easily improve their wireless coverage.

You can always add another Express to your network if needed, or move them around if you wish according to your needs. The ethernet port on the Express is also active in your configuration, so if you need to connect an ethernet device like a DirectTV DVR, you can do so. Just another bonus on the new "extend" feature of the Express(n).

Hello, jumping off this discussion....

I have a Airport Extreme Base Station configured exactly as described in this forum thread. I am hoping to extend the "N" network on this AEBS using a new n-capable Airport Express.

I select "Allow network to be extended" on the AEBS and I select "Extend a wireless network" on the AEXP. This does not work in N-only mode. The AEXP will not restart properly and extend the network. Amber light just flashes.

As soon as I select "N with b/g compatibility" on the AEBS, the AEXP lights up and extends the network. This is not good, in that when I look under the "Wireless Clients" on the AEBS, the AEXP is connecting as a b/g extender. NO N!!!

I've tried toggeling other N-only modes (2.4, 5ghz) on the AEBS with no success.

Any thoughts? This seems contrary to everything else explained in the documentation and on this forum.

Thanks for any tips.

Hi Bob,

Back again. My Optimum cable boost signal of 30 mps is good per SpeakEasy.com. My 2 extended wireless Airport Express N's however are not showing strong signals. I downloaded Air Radar and they are showing up between 30 and 40% while the base station is high 70's. I'm using a channel that has a little bit of competition but nothing major. The graphs on Air Radar are showing a fair bit of noise (consistent 10 with spikes).

Today my cable company put in a new modem for VOIP which could account for the drop on the 2 Express'. I've unplugged them and switched locations, same behavior.

Any ideas? The speeds are by no means terrible but wondering if there's a fix.

Thanks as always,
Karen

Hi Karen,

Try moving the AX's a bit closer to the main router if you can so they will get a bit more signal strength to work with and "extend".

Anytime you make a change to the network with another device, etc. it's a good idea to power cycle the entire system.

Just power everything down for a few minutes. Order is not important.

Start the modem first and let it run a few minutes alone, then the router attached to the modem, then the next device directly attached to the router, Expresses, etc and finally your computers and printer(s).

Please post back on your progress.