rspell

Q: Airport Express Network Extension

I purchased an Airport Express with the sole purpose of extending my current wireless network to the backyard. The pool has just been finished (yay!), and my Verizon router is on the opposite side of the house. I am trying to put the Express in the living room and set it up to extend my wireless connection, but it just isn’t working as easily as I think that it should.

 

When I go through the setup process, everything seems to work well and the express gets connected as shown in the picture below.

 

And then after about two minutes the express disappears with the following message.

 

There really isn’t much to configure on this thing, and I’m not understanding why it isn’t working as I think it should. All I want is internet at the pool! On a side note, if I just set it up to connect to the wireless network, it does that and never loses the connection.

 

Basically this all boils down to the question of can I use an airport express to extend a non-airport wireless network?

 

Thanks

Rex

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Jun 25, 2015 6:25 AM

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Q: Airport Express Network Extension

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  • by rspell,

    rspell rspell Jun 25, 2015 6:30 AM in response to rspell
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 25, 2015 6:30 AM in response to rspell

    pictures didn't come through in the first posting.

    screenshot_57.png

    screenshot_58.png

  • by ClosetotheEarth,

    ClosetotheEarth ClosetotheEarth Jun 25, 2015 6:44 AM in response to rspell
    Level 1 (51 points)
    Jun 25, 2015 6:44 AM in response to rspell

    Hi! The airport needs to be reset. Even though it is new it may have been set up, then you tried again? Follow the steps to do a "soft" reset by pushing in the little button on the back with a paperclip or something narrow.

     

    Resetting an AirPort base station FAQ - Apple Support

     

    It just needs to be set up with the Airport Utility again.

  • by rspell,

    rspell rspell Jun 25, 2015 6:55 AM in response to ClosetotheEarth
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 25, 2015 6:55 AM in response to ClosetotheEarth

    ClosetotheEarth,

     

    Thanks for the quick reply. I tried doing the factory reset multiple times yesterday, and the express always followed the same pattern of connecting and looking like it was going to work and then disappearing. I will try the soft reset when I'm home again tonight.

  • by ClosetotheEarth,

    ClosetotheEarth ClosetotheEarth Jun 25, 2015 7:23 AM in response to rspell
    Level 1 (51 points)
    Jun 25, 2015 7:23 AM in response to rspell

    The other thing I am thinking is that the other airport that you would be extending is not showing up. Try setting up to create a network. Because if this is an extension it should show an additional airport above it to be extended. So this is showing up that it is not set up properly for your intended purpose.

  • by rspell,

    rspell rspell Jun 25, 2015 8:15 AM in response to ClosetotheEarth
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 25, 2015 8:15 AM in response to ClosetotheEarth

    Close,

     

    There is not another airport that I am extending. I have a router from my service provider, Verizon, that I am trying to extend with an airport express. Will an airport express only extend another airport network or any wireless network?

     

    If the answer is only another airport wireless network, then I need to return the airport express and find another solution.

     

    Thanks

    Rex

  • by ClosetotheEarth,Solvedanswer

    ClosetotheEarth ClosetotheEarth Jun 25, 2015 8:21 AM in response to rspell
    Level 1 (51 points)
    Jun 25, 2015 8:21 AM in response to rspell

    Hi Rex! Well yeah thats the bad news. The good news is that if you return that you can extend with a linksys or a netgear router. You can only extend with another airport. I would suggest Netgear since they have the good online utility Netgear Genie so that set up and maintenance is easy. You are welcome! Happy to help.

  • by ClosetotheEarth,

    ClosetotheEarth ClosetotheEarth Jun 25, 2015 9:46 AM in response to rspell
    Level 1 (51 points)
    Jun 25, 2015 9:46 AM in response to rspell

    Thank you Rex for the This helped me feedback! Hope all goes well! Sara