Airport Express Will Not Extend Network After Recent Firmware Update

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Level 1

7 points

Airport Express Will Not Extend Network After Recent Firmware Update

After the recent firmware updates to both Airport Extreme and Airport Express I am no longer able to extend my home network. The Express just continues to blink Amber until you either ignore the issue or unplug it. So far I have rolled all devices back to multiple different versions of firmware. Created a whole brand new network several times. Changed SSIDs several times setup with and without DHCP and NAT. Multiple hard resets on all devices. Finally I got the Extreme and 1st Gen Express to cooperate. The problem still exists with the Express 2nd Gen. Apple Store won't do anything because of the warranty status. So I am stuck. Rolling back doesn't help and reapplying the update doesn't help. 20 something resets in and I am tired of troubleshooting. Anyone have any ideas? This is super frustrating as the firmware caused the issue.

Posted on Jun 7, 2016 7:45 PM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

148,519 points

Jun 8, 2016 10:58 AM in response to mdfica1

Let me make sure I understand your current networking equipment and your networking goals with them.

You have three AirPort base stations:

An AirPort Extreme (which exact model?)
A 1st gen 802.11n AirPort Express base station.
A 2nd gen 802.11n AirPort Express base station.

The Extreme is your "main" base station and you are trying to extend its Wi-Fi network with both of the Express base stations ... correct? Currently, what are the exact firmware version installed on each of these?

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Answer 2

Jun 10, 2016 6:43 AM in response to Tesserax

I am having a very similar problem after applying the 7.6.7 firmware update last night. The Airport Extreme is Green and working properly. The 2 Airport Express are showing amber and in Airport Utility there is a red circle with a "1". When I click on the Express the status shows amber with "Extended Network". When I click on the Extended Network status it has a pop-up box that says, "This Airport basestation was unable to extend the wireless network...".

My set up is below

Time Warner Cable Modem - Arris

Airport Extreme - Main Base Station - 5th Gen - Firmware 7.6.7 - Status Green

Airport Express - Extension base - 1st Gen - Firmware 7.6.7 - Status Amber

Airport Express - Extension base - 2nd Gen - Firmware 7.6.7 - Status Amber

Each Express connects separately to the Extreme to extend the wireless.

Extreme

|

------------------------------------

Express Express

I have already done multiple restarts (soft and hard) on both Express' and I have also done a Factory Reset to see if that would resolve it but it didn't. I'm stuck.

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Answer 3

Jun 10, 2016 6:48 AM in response to mdfica1

This might be able to help you. AirPort base stations: Can't add additional AirPort base stations to an extended network if MAC Address Access Control i…

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Answer 4

Jun 10, 2016 7:32 AM in response to ctalbot2004

This did it. The post in the link wasn't clear because I had a different version of Airport Utility but the bottom line issue was the fact that I had Timed Access Controls set on the Airport Extreme. Once I cleared the Timed Access Controls for the Airport Express' they both changed to Green status. Thanks.

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Answer 5

mdfica1 Author

Level 1

7 points

Jun 10, 2016 5:45 PM in response to mdfica1

My setup is as follows

Airport Extreme 802.11N (2007) Main Base Station

Airport Express N 1st Gen currently able to extend the network without issue.

Airport Express N 2nd Gen blinks amber until ignored. Airplay works. Ethernet access works.

All are at 7.6.7

All have been rolled back to the last useable firmware (7.6.3 some 7.6.2) and then restored. And then updated and then restored again.

The link does not resolve for me as Time Access Control is not and has not been enabled.

All have restored to factory settings multiple times. The only problem unit is the Express 2nd Gen.

SSID has been changed and set as visible. non complex alphanumeric password for SSID and units. No issues until 7.6.7 update. Amber light started about 1 day after the update after a power outage an subsequent reboot. Surge protectors in place. The only other change to the environment has been a new modem and boost in MBPs from ISP. 1 IP address change after problems started. Time Warner provided Arris Modem. The new modem went into place the same day as the update rolled out. So this is a compounding uncertainty.

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Answer 6

Tesserax

Level 10

148,519 points

Jun 11, 2016 9:11 AM in response to mdfica1

Airport Extreme 802.11N (2007) Main Base Station

That would be either a 1st or 2nd generation AirPort Extreme base station. Most consumer-grade networking hardware have a typical useful life of around 5 years. The fact that yours is still functional would be unique. This may not be an issue, just making you aware of the possibility. The same would hold true for your 1st gen AirPort Express which came out in 2008. Interesting that it is the 2nd gen Express that is the one giving you issues.

All have been rolled back to the last useable firmware (7.6.3 some 7.6.2) and then restored. And then updated and then restored again.

Unfortunately, 7.6.3 is, in my experience, the least stable firmware version available for the base stations. If you must downgrade, I would recommend 7.6.1 instead.

Amber light started about 1 day after the update after a power outage an subsequent reboot. Surge protectors in place.

What exact error(s) were associated with the flashing amber LED status light?

To find out why your base station's status LED is flashing amber:

Open AirPort Utility
Click on the AirPort base station
Look for a Status setting in the small window that appears. Note: Status only appears if there is an issue or notification.
Click on the small amber dot there and another window will open to explain what the "issue" might be.

Surge protectors in place. The only other change to the environment has been a new modem and boost in MBPs from ISP. 1 IP address change after problems started. Time Warner provided Arris Modem. The new modem went into place the same day as the update rolled out. So this is a compounding uncertainty.

A least a few of things here:

If you had a power outage due to a lightning strike, for example, the surge protector may not have been enough to prevent damage to your networking electronics. This also may be why the 2nd gen Express is "acting up." The question would be are all of your base stations connected to separate surge protectors?
The Arris / Motorola SB61XX-series of modems have been known to be problematic with Apple base stations. Neither are bad in themselves, they just don't "play nice" together.
A number of the major ISPs are rolling out IPv6. This too, has been an issue with Apple base stations. The current workaround is to configure the base stations to use the "Link local only" option for IPv6.

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Answer 7

mdfica1 Author

Level 1

7 points

Jun 11, 2016 10:03 AM in response to Tesserax

7.6.1 is not showing as available for any of the units.

The units were updated to 7.6.7, the next day the power outage occurred. After the units rebooted all were blinking amber as the modem was still rebooting. Modem reboot complete. Base station went to Green. Both Express units kept blinking Amber. Error message states This Airport base station was unable to extend the wireless network. Make sure the wireless network you are trying to extend is working and was set up correctly, that you entered a matching wireless network password into the device, and that this device is in range of the wireless network.

The power outage was not lightning or surge related. All units are on separate surge protectors and there is a whole house unit installed as well.

IPv6 is not in play.

All units were just fine until 7.6.7 rolled out.

The error message is: This Airport base station was unable to extend the wireless network. Make sure the wireless network you are trying to extend is working and was set up correctly, that you entered a matching wireless network password into the device, and that this device is in range of the wireless network.

WiFi signal is great. No device connection issues. Speed is great and no signs of slowdowns. No packet loss when testing at multiple areas in network.

The 2nd Gen is the only unit giving the error. The 1st gen gave the error after 7.6.7 and was resolved with a restore back to factory.

The problem is 7.6.7. Others are having the same issue and are just ignoring the issue. If you ignore the issue the light goes green, however no wireless client can connect.

I have been setting up networks for years using  gear and other manufacturer gear. This is not a hardware problem as it occurred after the 7.6.7 update, unless 7.6.7 has caused the hardware issue, however the unit functions without issue as the stand alone bas station. I know this because both Express units had the same symptom after the update. 1 was resolved with a hard reset back to factory and then setting up as new. The other has been through the same process over 20 times and still will not extend. This is true regardless of distance from the main base station, It was been tried at 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 30, and 60 feet increments. Nothing unusual about the construction around the units (standard building materials).

The units lights were not inspected prior to the power outage as they are out of line of site. Meaning the amber light could have been blinking prior to the outage. The only reason the amber light was discovered after the outage is because I ran a whole house check once power was restored. Power was out for less than 1 hour and all IP security cameras rebooted and connected without issue. There are less than 20 total devices connecting to the network at any given time. And each unit can handle up to 50 clients, except for the 1st gen Express which I believe can handle up to 20. (This unit typically only has 2 maybe 3 connect at any time.)

No DHCP reservations. No double NAT. Port Forwarding setup for 3 IP cameras (Foscam).

Nothing funky about the setup and network being extended was solid until 7.6.7

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Answer 8

Tesserax

Level 10

148,519 points

Jun 11, 2016 12:23 PM in response to mdfica1

Unfortunately, as you know, anything can and will go wrong with firmware updates. It may work for most, but there are always exceptions.

There is a way to manually download and install an earlier firmware version directly from Apple, including 7.6.1 for each of your 802.11n base stations. There is a specific version for each base station model ... even at the same build level.

There are three basic steps involved:

Verify the Product ID of the base station.
Download the specific firmware version for it.
Install the firmware.

Verify the Product ID

Run the AirPort Utility, select the base station, and then, select Edit.
On the Utility's menu bar, select File > Export Configuration File…
Leave the default values for the "Save As" & "Where" fields. Optionally, you can change them as desired.
Similarly, you can choose to encrypt (or not) the saved file.
Once you make any changes/choices, select Save.
The exported configuration file, by default, will be named: <Save As name>.baseconfig
Look for the following key:

<string>TimeCapsule6,116</string>

<integer>116</integer>, where syAP is the Product ID number of the base station.

Download the Firmware

Start by reviewing the version.xml file that is located at: ~/Library/Application Support/Apple/AirPort/Firmware/version.xml
- Open the file in Text Edit (or an editor of your choosing).
- From the Text Edit menu bar, choose Edit > Find > Find…
- Enter "ProductID" in the search field. The first occurrence should now be highlighted.
- If it matches the Product ID number for your base station, then note the URL provided for the location key. It should be something like: http://apsu.apple.com/data/… This is the location of the firmware file on the Apple servers, which you will want to download.
- If the numbers do not match, click on the right arrow to the right of the search field to advance to the next match. Keep doing so, until they do. Once found, note the URL provided immediately after the location key.
- Once you have the correct URL, note the value immediately after the "sizeInBytes" key. You will want to compare this with the size of the downloaded file to check to see you have a successful download.
Open a web browser, and then, enter the URL that you just found from the version.xml file. The firmware should now download to your computer and be located in your default Downloads folder.
Once the download has completed, verify that the downloaded firmware size matches the file size Apple provided in the "sizeInBytes" key in the version.xml file.

Install the Firmware

In the Airport Utility, select the base station that you want to upgrade.
Hold down the option key, and then, select the current firmware version number. You should now have a list of available firmware and an "Other…" option.
Select the Other… option. This will open a Finder window to allow you to locate the firmware file that you just downloaded. By default, it should be located in your Downloads folder.
Select the firmware file.
Click Open in the Finder screen. A warning dialog window will appear.
At this point, you can select either Continue to upgrade the firmware or Cancel to abort the upgrade process.
Once finished you should check to see that the AirPort Utility now shows the correct firmware version.

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