Airport Express has disconnected internet

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steve1974 Author

Level 1

16 points

Airport Express has disconnected internet

For over a week, my mid-2011 iMac was requiring its wifi to be turned off and on as the internet was dropping out. This appears to be a common issue among users on these forums. The iPad, two iPhones, two iPods, Apple TV, HP printer and Samsung Smart TV were having no such problems. I would love to know why that would be happening. This issue has seemed to have started post-Mavericks.

Anyway, today there is no internet available to any devices. They can all see the Airport Express wireless connection and I can still even print however the Airport Utility app tells me the internet is disconnected. There is a green light on the AE and the AU tells me it can see the ports, etc but internet has an orange light.

I have connected the Ethernet cable directly into the computer and it works just fine. I have also tried completely rebooting the AE as well as changing from 2.5 to 5 GHz but have had no joy.

Do I need to replace my Airport Express or is there something else I can try?

AirPort Express 802.11n (1st Gen), iOS 7.0.4

Posted on Feb 19, 2014 4:00 AM

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Answer 1

sterling r

Community Specialist

Feb 21, 2014 12:25 PM in response to steve1974

Hello Steve1974,

It sounds like your Airport Express is having some intermitent connectivity issues. I recommend starting by performing a soft reset, then a hard reset, and if needed, a factory reset of the AE and test the issue after each reset:

Resetting an AirPort base station FAQ

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3728

AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and AirPort Time Capsule (802.11n/ac)

Soft reset

Connect the device to power and wait for it to complete its start up process. To learn more about the start up process, please see All about Wi-Fi base station Status Lights (LED).

Press and hold the reset button with a pen, pencil, or straightened paperclip for 1 full second, then release it. The light (LED) will begin flashing amber, indicating that the device is in soft reset mode.

From the AirPort menu bar item, choose the network created by the device (the network name does not change).

Open AirPort Utility from Applications > Utilities.

Select the base station, then click Edit (The Edit window will indicate that the base station is in Soft Reset mode).

Move through the tabs to make changes to your passwords or other settings as needed, and click Update and Continue as required

Quit AirPort Utility.

Hard reset

Press and hold the reset button with a pen, pencil, or straightened paperclip until you see the status light (LED) start to flash amber rapidly, which should occur after about five seconds.

Release the button and the device will reset.

Wait about a minute for the base station to finish restarting, then open AirPort Utility from Applications > Utilities.

Select the base station from Other Wi-Fi Devices, then click Edit.

Select the Other Options button.

Select "Restore previous settings" and click Next until you get to the final window.

AirPort Utility will indicate that Setup is complete. Click Done.

Quit AirPort Utility.

Factory Default reset (using reset button)

If the device isn't accessible from AirPort Utility, the Factory Default reset can be accomplished by using the reset button.

Press and hold the reset button with a pen, pencil, or straightened paperclip until you see the status light (LED) start to flash amber rapidly, which should occur after about five seconds.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

All the best,

Sterling

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