Airport Express Blinking Amber Light

Question

Airport Express Blinking Amber Light

I have only had my Airport Express for a couple of weeks. I put it in my bedroom and use it for Airplay to speakers. My main router is an Airport Extreme.

I set the Airport Express to extend my network.

It was working fine for a while but lately it keeps going to a blinking amber light. When this happens it no longer shows up in Airport Utility.

If I unplug it and wait a while then plug it back in it will start up and the light turns green but after a few minutes it starts blinking amber again.

I checked the firmware and it's 7.6.2.

It sounds to me like it might be defective. I cannot use it like this. All the posts I've seen about the blinking light say to go to Airport Utility but when mine does this it says it cannont locate the device. My only option is to have it forget the Airport Express.

Posted on Nov 22, 2012 4:40 AM

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Answer 1

tzbikowski

Level 4

1,952 points

Nov 22, 2012 4:45 AM in response to Michael Napier

Hi Michael,

You may have WiFi range problem (if the Airport Express is hard wired to the Airport Extreme)

Can you plug it in somewhere closer to A Extreme (or via cable) and try to access it?

If this does not work you can always reset it and try to start from the beginning.

Let me know if you need detailed instructions.

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Answer 2

Nov 22, 2012 4:59 AM in response to Michael Napier

I may have figured it out already. After posting this I went into my Airport Extreme settings and noticed that I had set the wireless channel manually. I switched it back to Auto and the Express reconnected and has been connected now for 15 minutes.

I'm crossing my fingers.

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Answer 3

Nov 28, 2012 3:35 PM in response to Michael Napier

Well it had been working perfectly since the 22nd but this morning it was blinking amber again and wouldn't shoo up in Airport Utility. So I rebooted the Airport Extreme base station and it reconnected and has been connected all day.

So it looks like my problem might be with the base station.

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Answer 4

Nov 28, 2012 3:49 PM in response to Michael Napier

Have you thought about checking the actual signal-to-noise (SNR) at the location of the Express to see what type signal quality that the Express is receiving?

You would want to see a SNR value of at least 25 to establish a reliable connection. A higher value would be better, of course.

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Answer 5

Nov 30, 2012 6:58 AM in response to Bob Timmons

What would I use to check the SNR?

It's weird that restarting the Extreme fixes it and it works for several days.

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Answer 6

Nov 30, 2012 7:17 AM in response to Michael Napier

There are a number of utilities that display SNR values. A good choice is WiFi Explorer for about $3.

Mac App Store - WiFi Explorer

In your case, to check the SNR value at the location of the Express, you would temporarily power off the Express so that only your AirPort Extreme is providing the wireless signal.

Locate your Mac laptop as close as possible to the location of the Express and open WiFi Explorer. Locate your wireless network in the display, then look for the SNR heading and note the value for your wireless signal.

Use this chart to get an idea of your signal quality at the location of the Express:

40+ Superior

35 Excellent

30 Very Good

25 Good

20 Fair

15 Low

10 Very Low

5 Not reliable

You would want to see a SNR value of at least 25 where the Express is located. Higher would of course, be better.

If you do not see 25, move your laptop closer to the AirPort Extreme and wait a few seconds for the SNR value to update. A location that will display 25-30 would provide a reasonable chance for reliable performance....assuming you do not have cordless phones or some other WiFi device interfering with your signal.

Move the Express to the "new" location and power it back up.

As you have already found out, WiFi Explorer will also display other networks around you that may possibly be interfering with your signal. Hopefully, you do not see more than a few other competing networks.

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