I have an airport extreme and express setup. My extreme is in my 2nd floor office with windows facing the water. My dock is about 250 ft away down a very steep hill. I have the express about 100 ft down the hill in an electrical waterproof box attached to a tree as high as I could install. The signal is weak and I'm thinking I might have to buy another express. Any thoughts on the best setup for me. I ultimately want to control speakers(hard wired in) down at the dock with my iphone. I have a receiver coming with airplay built in.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Airplay Express
- Thread starter tkowalski
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
in airport utility click on your airport extreme. click on wireless pane. then at the bottom of that screen click wireless network options. make sure the transmission power is 100%.
This one im not too sure about so maybe someone else could clarify. 802.11 N has the widest range out of A,B and G. Maybe if you ran both routers in 802.11 N only and not B, G compatible it would transmit farther.
Also, unless you have a simultaneous dual band airport extreme make sure you are using the 2.4 ghz antenna because 5 ghz wont give you the range you get with 2.4 ghz.
Sorry thats all I have. Try those and get back to us. Maybe someone else will have another idea.
This one im not too sure about so maybe someone else could clarify. 802.11 N has the widest range out of A,B and G. Maybe if you ran both routers in 802.11 N only and not B, G compatible it would transmit farther.
Also, unless you have a simultaneous dual band airport extreme make sure you are using the 2.4 ghz antenna because 5 ghz wont give you the range you get with 2.4 ghz.
Sorry thats all I have. Try those and get back to us. Maybe someone else will have another idea.
Range of express
Thanks for the response. I checked and tried all the settings. Still not quite there. I get a signal down at the dock and then it goes away. I know this is an unusual set up. Somehow if any one knows if I just need to buy another express which I don't think I should have to. Or any other thoughts
Thanks for the response. I checked and tried all the settings. Still not quite there. I get a signal down at the dock and then it goes away. I know this is an unusual set up. Somehow if any one knows if I just need to buy another express which I don't think I should have to. Or any other thoughts
just to clarify, are you using the airport extreme to create the network and the express to extend the network or are you having the express join the network of the airport extreme. if you havent already have the airport express extend the wireless network.
EDIT: i dont know if this will work plugging into the usb port on the extreme but maybe contact the seller and see. It looks promising.
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Amped-Wirel...ltDomain_0&hash=item23105889fa#ht_4682wt_1189
EDIT: i dont know if this will work plugging into the usb port on the extreme but maybe contact the seller and see. It looks promising.
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Amped-Wirel...ltDomain_0&hash=item23105889fa#ht_4682wt_1189
Last edited:
np. its fun and we are all learning too.
open up airport utility/click airport express/click the wireless tab/under wireless mode you will have different options to extend, join or create the network. extending will take the airport express, connect it to the extreme and extend the range to make a bigger network. joining it will have the express join the network.
Range of express
I'm back. I am now losing the signal at the dock. It worked for a week or so just great. Called apple about adjusting settings. Is it possible because of the terrain, that I might need a 3rd express(see previous post for my setup) right at the dock?
I'm back. I am now losing the signal at the dock. It worked for a week or so just great. Called apple about adjusting settings. Is it possible because of the terrain, that I might need a 3rd express(see previous post for my setup) right at the dock?
When you say you are losing signal, do you mean the Express is losing signal from the extreme, your iphone is losing signal from the extreme or your iphone is losing signal from the express?
I'm losing the wireless network connection on my iphone. I am using an iphone app from yamaha to run stereo down at the lake, 100 ft away from express and 250 ft away from extreme. Like I said it worked great for over a week, then just stopped. When I walk back towards the express it reconnects. Apple people at the store said I shouldn't need another express, but I really think because of the terrain I do.
Since it worked for a week, I think one of two things happened. The watertight box failed and the express is damaged somehow slightly. Or the express decided to change a setting that is having the effect of reducing the range. The express and extreme should broadcast in all directions basically creating a sphere around each of them. So elevation changes should be meaningless. It seems like you are asking for 150 ft reach from your express, which seems like a lot but it is basically unobstructed I assume. Just a few trees and such as you head down to the dock? And since it worked for a while, it should work again.
Is there a way that you can verify that you are connecting to the Express and NOT the Extreme? If both have the same SSID, change one of them so you know, for a fact which one you are connected to.
Having multiple access points with the same SSID is great, and in theory the device should connect to the AP with the strongest signal, but sometimes this is not the case.
If you are, for some reason, getting the connection from the Extreme, instead of the Express that would likely explain your connection issues.
Having multiple access points with the same SSID is great, and in theory the device should connect to the AP with the strongest signal, but sometimes this is not the case.
If you are, for some reason, getting the connection from the Extreme, instead of the Express that would likely explain your connection issues.
Connectivity
Thank you all for the responses. By process of elimination, I think the problem is the connection to the express in between the extreme and dock. I bought another express and tried it at dock, no luck, I then replaced new express where the one is between extreme and dock, no better. I unplugged the express between extreme and dock and there was no difference. So I believe I am connecting to the airport express or extreme that is inside the house. Again because when i approach express that is halfway I reconnect. so if you can understand my chaos, I believe the express in between is not really connecting to the extreme inside my house. Yes, No? So I need to know how to know if the express half way down the hill is getting the connection from the the extreme in the house. This is wearing me out!!!!!
Thank you all for the responses. By process of elimination, I think the problem is the connection to the express in between the extreme and dock. I bought another express and tried it at dock, no luck, I then replaced new express where the one is between extreme and dock, no better. I unplugged the express between extreme and dock and there was no difference. So I believe I am connecting to the airport express or extreme that is inside the house. Again because when i approach express that is halfway I reconnect. so if you can understand my chaos, I believe the express in between is not really connecting to the extreme inside my house. Yes, No? So I need to know how to know if the express half way down the hill is getting the connection from the the extreme in the house. This is wearing me out!!!!!