do i need to connect my airport express to the ethernet cable?

Hello Arturoalm. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!

I want to create a DWS.

By "DWS," did you mean WDS (Wireless Distribution System)?

my airport extreme has internet on it already. does my airport express also needs to be connected to the internet before they can join together?

Not necessarily. It will depend on what your goal for the AirPort Express is. That is, will you be using it to extend the wireless range of the AirPort Extreme? ... or just for streaming iTunes and/or sharing a USB printer?

Ok, if you want to use the AirPort Express for sharing a printer, you don't need to configure them for a WDS. A WDS would only be required if you want to extend the wireless range of the Extreme. Also, the Express does not support external USB hard drives, so I assume that you mean that you will be connecting this to the AirPort Extreme ... correct?

Are either or both of your AirPorts the newer 802.11n versions?

Would you please confirm the model# of your Express. You can find it printed on the label on one of its sides. It would either be: A1084 or A1264.

The A1084 is the older 802.11b/g AirPort Express Base Station (AX). This version can only support a single USB printer attached to its USB port.

If you need to support multiple printers, you would need to connect them to your 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn).

Ok, just so I can provide you with the proper setup instructions, I want to make sure what your goal is for the AX. Do you want to use it for both sharing a printer and extending the wireless range of the AEBSn, or just for sharing the printer. Because it is an older model, I would recommend the later for performance reasons.

Then all that will be required will be to reconfigure the AX as a wireless client.

Here's how:

o Start by performing a "Factory Default" reset on the AX. This will get the AX back to its "out-of-the-box" configuration.

o After completing the reset, temporarily connect the AX directly to one of the available LAN ports on the AEBSn with an Ethernet cable.

o Launch the AirPort Utility; Select the AX, and then, select Manual Setup.

AirPort > Wireless
o Wireless Mode: Join a wireless network
o Network Name: <Either select the AEBSn's wireless network from the pop-up menu or type in its Network Name>
o Wireless Security: <Select the security type used by the AEBSn>
o Password: <enter the wireless network security password>
o Verify Password: <re-enter the same security password>
o Click Update to write the new settings to the AX.

While still connected to the AEBSn, you can go ahead and connect the printer to the AX's USB port. Verify that the AirPort Utility recognizes the printer, and configure each of your computers to use this printer. Also this would be a good time to have each computer print a test page or two to verify everything is working.

If everything went well, you can now disconnect the AX and place it (& the printer) in the desired location.

would the above setup also work if I am not using an AEBSn? I ended up with the AX and would LOVE to extend my wireless network. I have the basic 2WIRE Modem that At&T gave me

You're very welcome!

If your goal is to extend the 2Wire's wireless network with the AX, then it may be possible, but not with a WDS. Instead, the AX would need to be connected to the 2Wire router by Ethernet (wire), and then, the network reconfigured for a "roaming" network.

Tesserax wrote:
If your goal is to extend the 2Wire's wireless network with the AX, then it may be possible, but not with a WDS. Instead, the AX would need to be connected to the 2Wire router by Ethernet (wire), and then, the network reconfigured for a "roaming" network.

Ok that's what I need to figure out how to do, where do I start?

Since the solution to your situation has nothing to do with the OP's post, please start a new post. Include what you are trying to do; the make & model of all of your networking equipment, and what you have tried so far to resolve it.

Thx!