Airport express used as a range extender with a Virgin / Netgear superhub does not work

Question

Level 1

4 points

Airport express used as a range extender with a Virgin / Netgear superhub does not work

I use Wifi around the house over three floors and in the rear kitchen. reception in the kitchen is poor, possibly due to masonry walls between the modem and the kitchen.

I bought an Airport Express hub 802.11n in January 2016 to extend the wifi signal to the kitchen and hopefully the patio beyond. The distances are not great - 10 to 15m. We have Virgin as a provider with a Virgin Super Hub (VMDG 490) Netgear.

Airport express installs itself and this is confirmed when checking on my Mac with Airport Utility, the APE shows up and itself indicates a solid green light.

Problem is that when using wifi devises in the kitchen the signal is poor to non existent and when I switch the APE off the signal is no worse, implying that the signal received is that from the Super Hub rather than the APE.

I guess I may not have completed the set up for extending an existing network?

Any suggestions?

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), Modem Virgin Super Hub

Posted on Apr 22, 2016 1:27 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Bob Timmons

Community+ 2024

Level 10

159,314 points

Apr 22, 2016 5:56 AM in response to larusi

The AirPort Express is not designed to wirelessly extend the signal from a 3rd party router, so if you are trying to have the Express connect using wireless and extend the signal, it cannot do this with your Virgin Super Hub.

The Express is designed to only wirelessly extend the signal from another Apple router.

The Express has "joined" your wireless network, so it could be used to connect a compatible USB printer or for use with AirPlay.

If you want the Express to extend the signal from the Super Hub, the Express must connect to the Hub using a permanent, wired Ethernet cable connection.

Or, another option would be to add another Express, install it near the Hub and connect it to the Hub with an Ethernet cable. Then, a "remote" AirPort Express would be able to wirelessly extend the signal from the "main" Express.

Reply

Answer 2

Apr 30, 2016 2:00 PM in response to larusi

I too am trying to extend my wifi signal. i have a small one story home and its 1600 Sq.ft. I'm using now a mac computer and have a netgear r6300 router. but i purchased the airport express and its on a ledge between family room and living room. But I don't see that's working correctly as an extender. I have nothing plugged into the airport utility box.

can anyone tell me how do i know if its working for my iPads that are about 30 feet from my netgear router and mac computer. by the way my mac is running on wifi and not ethernet cable to router.

Reply

Answer 3

May 1, 2016 5:43 AM in response to Domenick1

As we noted above, the AirPort Express is not designed to wirelessly extend the signal from a 3rd party router, so it is not going to do what you want with a Netgear router.

The iPads are picking up a wireless signal from the Netgear router. You can confirm this by powering off the AirPort Express and noting that the connection remains the same.

If you want to keep the AirPort Express, then it will need to connect back to the Netgear router using a permanent, wired Ethernet cable connection.....or.....if you cannot run the cable, then a pair of Ethernet over Powerline (EOP) adapters might be able to send an Ethernet signal over the existing AC wiring in your home.

The theory with EOP devices is that you already have the wiring in place, you just need the adapters. In practice, things do not always work as well as the theory suggests though, so it would be a good idea to understand the store's return policy if you want to try an EOP product.

Reply