Airport Express signal fades; network topology, connecting hubs an issue?

Also, I should point out that I am having problems with slow Safari Web page loading as well. This predates the 10.4.6 update, but it has become worse under 10.4.6.

Intermittently but often, the progress bar takes 10, 20, or 30 seconds to fully load. Sometimes, a page never fully loads. At other times, i wait 10 or 20 seconds as a page loads, and then hit Command/Period to stop the load process. Then, the fully loaded page appears (it has just stalled on display)!

This stalling just happened while I was uploading the previous message!

Safari stalled when I attempted to view the message after posting it. After waiting for 10 seconds, I hit Command/Period to force it to draw what I thought would be an incomplete page. Safari displayed the page -- WITHOUT the Apple's .html Stylesheet being applied! Does this tell us that OS X, Safari, and/or G4 PowerBooks are having problems quickly processing the stylesheets? Perhaps this is the cause of so many recent Safari complaints about slow page loading!

PROBLEM SOLVED!
A confusing Ethernet and WiFi network configuration problem has been resolved and I've successfully connected an Airport Extreme (AEM), Airport Express (AEX), and two, 8-port 10/100 hubs to a Comcast cable modem to receive fast Internet service throughout our home office using a combination of 802.11g WiFi and Ethernet.

Initially, I had incorrectly connected Ethernet cables to the routers, a setup process that can be confusing. As a result, the WiFi signal on the AEX had been fading out since installing OS X v10.4.6 and changing the AEX setup from the original WDS bridged access point setup into a separate, second network connected back to the Airport Extreme and cable modem via Cat 5e or Cat6 Ethernet.

Typically, throughput for a bridged, WDS wireless setup is inherently slower than setting up an AEX as a second network, but a wireless WDS is easier to configure. Not surprisingly, the bridged, WDS network I used the AEX for during the past two years was 30% slower than the Airport Extreme WiFi or Ethernet network zones.

So, when upgrading to OS X v10.4.6, I decided to reconfigure the AEX as a separate network connected to the AEM via Ethernet to improve Web surfing speeds. I used the Airport Admin Utility to activate the AEX's LAN port and set it up on a different channel from the Airport Extreme. After doing this, the new AEX still was 30% slower than the Airport Extreme WiFI and wired zones, and the AEX signal was fading out and requiring constant reboots.

I suspected my Ethernet network wiring was the problem since I was unsure how to connect the hubs together. To sort this out, I downloaded a manual for the Asante FH208P hub we use and re-read the Setup and Uplink port info. Then I made new hub connections. Here is how the Ethernet network is now (correctly) wired.

NETWORK TOPOLOGY
- Comcast cable modem is connected to Apple Airport Extreme (AEM) serving DHCP addresses via the AEM's ethernet WAN port using Cat5e Ethernet cable with RJ45 connectors.
- AEM Ethernet LAN port is connected to Hub 1 port (#6) using Cat5e Ethernet cable with RJ45 connectors (This actually is a Netline Broadband Gateway 7s 10/100 router that's been reconfigured to act as a simple hub).

- Uplink (port 8) on Hub 1 is connected to standard RJ45 Ethernet port (#6) on Hub 2 (Asante FH208P).
- Uplink (port 8) on Hub 2 is connected to LAN port on Apple Airport Express (AEX) using newer Cat6 Ethernet cable with RJ45 connectors.

- Port 7 (adjacent to Uplink port #8) on each hub is unused -- Uplink ports must be shared with adjacent ports (#7 on these hubs). When Uplinks are used to connect two network devices, these #7 and #8 ports cannot be in use at the same time.


This connection configuration has eliminated problems in which the AEX signal would routinely fade out after being used for a short time. Also, I get a speedy 5- to 6mbps Internet service on the entire (Ethernet and WiFI) network. Network printing works (Ethernet and WiFI), and the sound system connected to the AEX can be used with iTunes (again, via Ethernet and WiFI).

Powerbook G4 Al15; G4 1.2GHz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Issue solved.