Can connect airport over ethernet but not wifi?

Shags22 wrote:

But, when I unplug from power and ethernet cable and move it where my speakers are (about 15m away - same place when airport set-up as own network), all I get is the much hated amber flashing light and can no longer see it in airport utility?

The reason is that you reconfigured the Express to connect to your router using its Ethernet port. When you unplugged the Ethernet cable, that connection was no longer available, leaving the Express all alone with its plaintive flashing light.

Your previous configuration had the Express creating its own little network, perfectly capable of streaming music from your Mac, but with no connection to the world beyond its own. If you want to use an Internet service like Spotify, connecting it to your router is exactly what you need to do.

You can do that with the Ethernet cable or wirelessly. Since you want to use it wirelessly, disconnect the Ethernet cable, "hard reset" the Express again (see below) so that it will create an open network for AirPort Utility to use for the purposes of configuring it, and then reconfigure it with AirPort Utility. It will examine your wireless network and offer to "join" it as a client. It will then be available for streaming music.

The following Apple Support article explains the above steps in detail: AirPort Express: How to join an existing Wi-Fi network in client mode

To "hard reset" an AirPort Base Station: make sure it's powered up, then press and hold its tiny reset button and keep it depressed for five to ten seconds, long enough for its LED to flash amber rapidly. Release the reset button. Then, the LED will glow amber steadily for about a minute. Then, it will flash amber, slowly, about once every second or two, waiting for you to configure it with AirPort Utility.

I agree the message "an unexpected error occurred" is decidedly unhelpful, but it happens whenever AirPort Utility loses communication with the Express for reasons it cannot determine.

The problem with configuring it with the Ethernet cable attached is that it will result in the Express requiring that cable for its Internet connection. Disconnect the cable, "hard reset" it again, and configure it to join your network wirelessly. That is the only way to accomplish what you seek. Sometimes repeating the "hard reset" is necessary in the event you overlooked a setting or two.

Make sure the Express has no excuse not to connect to your existing wireless network. Put it in the same room as your wireless router, at least. After it has been configured to join your existing wireless network, the Express should reward you with a solid green light which should reappear even after you relocate it to its permanent location.

It may no longer appear in AirPort Utility though; since I no longer have any non-Apple routers I cannot be certain what the AirPort Utility picture will look like after it has been configured to join a different manufacturer's wireless.

It may also help to temporarily disable any wireless encryption on your existing router to eliminate that as a source of uncertainty.

If it's not an Apple AirPort Base Station, consult its documentation or support website.

If it is:

In addition to the above, refer to this Apple Support article:

AirPort base station not seen or "An unexpected error occurred" appears in AirPort Utility 6.3

John

I am having a very similar issue and have been at it for about 6 hrs. Set is as follows: TWC Arris cable modem (wifi disabled), ethernet connected to an Airport Extreme. I had and wish to reconnect two Airport Express units to boost the signal in other regions.

I followed all of your instructions (and tried every other trick in the help rooms). Here is what I last did...Hard reset on one of the Express units. Open Airport Utility and I see the 'reset' Airport Express 83a172 click on it and I get the dreaded error below...I am using the current Airport Express Utility 6.3.1.

Any other ideas would be welcome.

Darrell

John

I also tried the additional recommend actions on IPv6. These too did not work for me.

Darrell

AirPort base station not seen or "An unexpected error occurred" appears in AirPort Utility 6.3

Symptoms

• An AirPort base station that appeared in previous versions of AirPort Utility might not appear in AirPort Utility 6.3 for OS X.
• The AirPort base station is detected, but this alert may appear during setup: "An unexpected error occurred. Try again."

Resolution

Set is as follows: TWC Arris cable modem (wifi disabled), ethernet connected to an Airport Extreme

So, the AirPort Extreme is operating normally, is that correct?

I had and wish to reconnect two Airport Express units to boost the signal in other regions.

Can you clarify whether you want the Express devices to connect to the AirPort Extreme wirelessly....or....will they connect to the AirPort Extreme using a permanent wired Ethernet connection?

Yes. The Extreme is working fine as far as I can tell. It is broadcasting a Wifi signal and connecting to it works fine on my Iphone and Ipad. I wish to connect the Express ( there are 2 but 1 at a time) to the AirPort Extreme wirelessly. I am able to connect them using an Ethernet connection but as John indicated that only works via Ethernet and I need them to be wireless. In otherwords, setting them up via the Ethernet does not set them up for wireless use.

I am using Mac OS X 10.7.5. on a mid 2011 27" iMac.

Darrell

Thanks for the clarification. I cannot duplicate the "unexpected error" that you are are reporting when I try this, so don't have a fix for that.

Go ahead and perform a hard reset on an AirPort Express again and give it full minute to start up again to a slow, blinkng amber light.

Temporarily, connect a spare Ethernet cable from your Mac.....not from the AirPort Extreme....... to the WAN "O" port on the AirPort Express and try the setup that way.

If you can complete the setup that way, once you have a green light on the Express, you can disconnect the Ethernet cable from the Mac and Express and move the Express to a location that is about half way between the AirPort Extreme and the general area that needs more wireless signal coverage.

Start up the Express and you should be all set in about a minute.

well here's another clue for you all..."the walrus is Paul". Seriously, I cannot explain this wierd world of Apple but I was able to configure the Airport Expresses (without the error) using my Ipad running IOS 7.0.4. No luck on the Mac but the Ipad configured like a charm.

This tells me that the issue is likely with your Mac, or more correctly, the AirPort Utility application on your Mac.

You might try downloading and installing the application again. If that does not help, then I am stumped.

This worked for me :

If you have an iPad (or I assume iPhone), download airport utility to the iPad.

Try connecting the second airport express using Airport Utility wirelessly through the iPad.

If this does not work, go to Settings, WIFI. You should see the second airport express there with a message saying, do you want to extend the network.

Go ahead and set up the second Airport Express using Settings, WIFI.

It should also then show up in Airport Utility.