How do I set Airport Express to work as repeater?

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Level 1

11 points

How do I set Airport Express to work as repeater?

How do I get my Airport Express to work as a repeater for my Apple TV, iPhones and iPad? I use a Mac Pro and a Netgear N300 Wireless N Router. The N300 sees the Airport fine and I can play music to the Airport from iTunes, but none of the other advertised features appear obvious.

All of my other Apple products sync to the N300 Router without issue and apart from some minor setting up to get it working with Apple TV, the N300 presents no compatibilty issues whatsoever.

When I purchased the Airport Express, I truly beleived that the Airport Utility Software, would allow me to choose whether I want to use it for Audio or USB or Repeating / Extending my network, by simply selecting the mode I required, when I required it. After all, isn't that the beauty of Mac computers?

Alas, there is no such drop down menu or button I can press in Airport Utilty to make such a straight forward selection. Instead, from what I can see so far in Airport Utility and various forums, there is a very long and painful process that must be carried out to use the Airport to extend my WIFI network.

I refuse to believe that it can be this hard and assume that that there is some really obvious setting I can change to make this work. It certainly wouldn't surprise me if Apple left this out of the manual, as Apple are legendary for not telling you how connect to 3rd party products, as I found with Apple TV.

As I said, I have read a million threads on this topic and all I have found so far are wanna be geeks, getting lost up there own a**es with lots of technical rubbish that has nothing to do with the problem.

If there is anyone there who actually knows what they are talking about and can explain this without Pythageros Theorem, I would be most grateful.

AppleTV 2

Posted on Jan 30, 2012 1:29 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 30, 2012 6:30 AM in response to Troy The Man

The AirPort Express can "Join" virtually any wireless network to provide AirTunes and remote printing capability.

But, the "Extend a wireless network" function of the Express appears to be a proprietary feature that will only work with other Apple wireless routers.

As far as we know, this feature is not compatible with routers from any other manufacturers, so there is virtually no chance that it will work with the Netgear N300 router.

I refuse to believe that it can be this hard and assume that that there is some really obvious setting I can change to make this work. It certainly wouldn't surprise me if Apple left this out of the manual,

Well, you can try either the guided setup or the Manual Setup method to configure the Express to "Extend a wireless network", but you are going to get an error message that the "network cannot be extended".

If you have the time and wish to prove this to yourself.....

Open AirPort Utility - Click Manual Setup

Click the Base Station tab below the icons to name the Express, setup a device password and adjust Time Zone settings

Click the Wireless tab and adjust as follows:

Wireless Mode = Extend a wireless network

Wireless Network Name = The name of the Netgear network that you wish to extend

Enter a check mark next to "Allow wireless clients" if not already checked

Wireless Security = Wireless security setting of the Netgear network

Wireless Password = Enter the password of the Netgear network

Confirm Password

Click Update and wait for the error message

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Answer 2

Troy The Man Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 31, 2012 12:33 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks Bob. Yes, I have done exactly what you have explained and was given an error message as you point out.

I have played with the N300 router settings too, which does have a section deticated to 'Wireless Repeating Function', however if I try to switch on the repeater feature, it forces me to remove all Security options and choose just one channel, rather than 'Auto'. So, I run with this madness and set the N300 as it tells me "Per Wi-Fi Alliance guidelines for 40 Mhz and 20 Mhz coexistence, even if you select 'Up to 300Mbps' mode, your products service rate might drop to 20 Mhz. This typically corresponds to 130Mbps to 145Mbps performance.

Still I go ahead and hit the apply button, only to find I completely loose the WIFI conection to the Airport Extreme, Apple TV, iPhone and iPad. No WIFI at all.

Back to the drawing board.

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Answer 3

Troy The Man Author

Level 1

11 points

Feb 11, 2012 5:48 PM in response to Troy The Man

I have just installted the new Airport Update and latest Firmware. Still no luck. I Just get errors if I try to Extend the Network in the Airport Utilities Application. This is so rubbish. There are always small compatibilty issues with a Mac or Apple products, but they can be usually be overcome with relative ease. This problem however, is proving be to be impossible, which is very disappointing. This could have been a really cool product, but thanks to good old Apple Politics, the Airport Express only reaches a quarter of it's potential. I really wish Apple wouldn't do this, it's begining to bore me.

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Answer 4

Feb 11, 2012 6:32 PM in response to Troy The Man

This problem however, is proving be to be impossible

If you review this post, I think you will see that we said that there was "virtually no chance" that this would work almost two weeks ago.....but admire your efforts to prove otherwise. Sorry that things did not work out for you.

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Answer 5

Troy The Man Author

Level 1

11 points

Feb 14, 2012 12:53 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Bob, if there is one thing that I have learned in over 20 years of owning Apple Macs, it is that where there is a will, there is a way.

I believe that phrase to be truer now than it ever was, hense my persistence on this topic.

Other than Firmware restrictions, I cannot fathom any reason why the hardware itself, would not allow the Airport Express to fully function with a Netgear router.

Thus, in contrast my my frustrated comment that this problem is proving to be impossible. That it may, but there is a solution out there. It's just a matter of finding it my friend! 😉

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Answer 6

Feb 14, 2012 6:40 AM in response to Troy The Man

I'm sure an Apple engineer could tell you how Apple encodes a special proprietary code to the wireless signal.

But, even if you knew what it was, that type of data would be embedded into the firmware of the device....which cannot be altered except at the factory.

So, it would seem that you have two tasks....

1) Find an Apple engineer....at a notoriously secretive company.....who is willing to divulge this information

2) Figure out how to use that information to somehow change the embedded firmware in your device

Admire your tenacity, but at some point soon I think you will realize that there is virtually no chance for either of these things to occur.

Nonetheless, good luck in your journey.

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Answer 7

Troy The Man Author

Level 1

11 points

Jun 30, 2012 3:11 AM in response to Bob Timmons

OK Bob.

So having tried everything, I finally took your advice and threw away my Netgear router, to purchase a brand new Airport Extreme.

At first, it seemed that my problems were solved, but once again the Apple TV, did not like it one little bit.

Yes the iPhone and iPads all work great, but Apple TV Streams so painfuly slow when the Airport Express is in "Extend a Wireless Network" mode, that it is pretty much useless.

It must also be said, that even if switch the Airport Express off at the mains, the Airport Extreme gives only slightly faster speeds to the Apple TV unit, but still no where near as good as my old Netgear router.

The Airport Extreme on it's own, will not play a HD movie to Apple TV as it is too slow. This is madness!

Even my Netgear N Router played movies to the Apple TV, only the Apple TV Box had to be elevated to pick up the signal.

To let you know my system, I use a Mac Pro 8 core. Internet comes in on a Cable Mode which I run an ethernet cable to the Airport Extreme. At the other end of the house is an Airport Express connect via WIFI and Airport Utility states that it has a good connection. About 7 meters away from the Express, is my Apple TV.

What can I possibly be doing wrong???

The entire network from the Mac Pro to the Apple TV is purely Apple. How can it be so slow?

Thanks in advance again mate.

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Answer 8

Jun 30, 2012 4:45 AM in response to Troy The Man

Hi, i have your some problem. I've a netgear DGND3700 connected to iMac with ethernet and it works great, but in the oter side of my home the wireless signal is too low, because i've decided to does get an ethernet cable in lounge room and attach a gigabit switch netgear to connect a decoder, apple tv and airport express, but it dosent work.

it can't access to the network despite is connected with ethernet cable.

this is a erreor message that i have:

"the base station is not risucita to expand the wireless network. Make sure that the wireless network you are trying to expand it up and working properly, have entered into deispositivo the correct password for the network and the wireless device is within range of your wireless network"

how it's possible if it's connected with ethernet cable?

thanks Claudio

p.s. sorry for may bad english but i'm italian 😀

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Answer 9

Troy The Man Author

Level 1

11 points

Jun 30, 2012 8:32 PM in response to traverso85

I had a play with the network last night and I have improved it, but it is still not as good as it should be. I have utilised the Dual Band feature in the Airport Extreme and set the Apple TV to 5GHz. With this setting the Extreme apears to connect directly to the Apple TV, bypassing the Airport Express Repeater, but gives me 3 bars of signal strength in Apple TV. (Without repeater it is only 1 bar).

The Airport Express uses the 2.4GHz band to extend the rest of the network and does this very well. This arrangement kind of works for me, however it has to be said, I am still less than impressed with the speed of the Airport Extreme, which is no where near as fast as my tacky old Netgear N300 Wireless Router.

You can select the 5GHz Band in Aiport Utility, by clicking the Airport Extreme edit button, select 'Wireless' and click the 'Wireless Options' button at the bottom of page.

Tick the 5GHz box and you are away. Just Setup Network in Apple TV and select [your network name] 5GHz.

Let me know how you go with this.

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Answer 10

John Galt

Level 10

145,520 points

Jun 30, 2012 8:54 PM in response to Troy The Man

Even my Netgear N Router played movies to the Apple TV, only the Apple TV Box had to be elevated to pick up the signal.

… About 7 meters away from the Express, is my Apple TV.

What can I possibly be doing wrong???

First of all, the fact you had to "elevate" your Apple TV to receive a signal from your Netgear router was a symptom that it was already near the limits of its wireless range. Placing an Express in the same vicinity will not help.

The key point to bear in mind is the Express can "extend" only what it receives. Placing an Express near the limits of a wireless network will merely "extend" a poor quality connection. The Apple TV will receive a strong signal from a nearby Express, but its bandwidth will have already been reduced due to its distance from the Extreme, which means your streaming will be slow.

Placing the Express closer to the Extreme will permit it to "extend" a stronger signal to the Apple TV. Does that make sense?

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Answer 11

John Galt

Level 10

145,520 points

Jun 30, 2012 9:13 PM in response to traverso85

Hi Claudio,

If I understand you correctly, your Express is connected with an Ethernet cable to your Netgear router. This is a different configuration than what Troy The Man is attempting to accomplish.

In your case you should configure your Express to "Create a wireless network".

Your configuration should look similar to this

Make sure your Wireless Network Name, Security, and Password are exactly the same as your existing wireless network.

Connect using > "Ethernet" and Connection Sharing > "Off (Bridge Mode)" as in the following:

You will need to translate them to Italian 🙂

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Answer 12

Jul 1, 2012 2:43 AM in response to John Galt

thanks, but if have some name network and some password, it's become an extension of my network? Becouse i need to work at same network for itunes an sharing.

Thanks Claudio

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Answer 13

Troy The Man Author

Level 1

11 points

Jul 4, 2012 9:56 PM in response to John Galt

I have now repositioned my Airport Express at a central point in the home and AP Utility says that I have Excellent signal throughout.

However, despite this, my Apple TV and my iPhones all ignore the Airport Express, only connecting to the Airport Extreme at the far end of the house and with a 'Fair' signal. Fair signal is not very good and streaming is slow and unreliable.

On top of this, The AP Express only allows me to use Airplay from a phone and will not connect with iTunes to play Audio.

I am really beginging to dislike this Airport Express.

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Answer 14

Troy The Man Author

Level 1

11 points

Jul 4, 2012 10:31 PM in response to Troy The Man

It's working now.

I almost forgot that since the last iTunes release, you have to restart the computer a couple of times before anything works.

Oops! Silly me 😠

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