I give up on Airport. I'm returning my Airport Express.

[krye]

After 12 days of me struggling with my new Airport Express, I have decided to return it. The problem was that I moved my Mac Pro from the living room to the bedroom. Running Ethernet to the bedroom from the living room seemed like a pain. Since I have a Netgear 802.11g router for my MacBook, I figures I'd throw an Airport Express card in the Mac Pro and just go wireless. Since the Netgear router is 802.11g, I also figured now was a good time to go "n". So I picked up the Airport Express and swapped it out with my Netgear router.

Problems begin:
I can't seem to get more than 2 bars on my Mac Pro for any useful amount of time. When I first connect I have full bars, as soon as I connect to the internet, it drops to 2 and becomes unusable. Unusable in the sense that I can no longer connect.

My MacBook is fine. I get full bars all the way out to the end of my driveway. The Mac Pro is no more than 20 feet from the AE and is not obstructed. Besides, that Mac Book gets full bars sitting right next to the Mac Pro. I can't figure it out.l It just doesn't work.

Also, my Tivo was hardwired to the Netgear router. Now it's just plugged into a switch along with the AE. The Tivo can't see the internet anymore because it doesn't see a DHCP server. So the tivo can't talk to the AE.

So that means I have to put my Netgear router back in so the Tivo can get online. I'll also have to break down and run Ethernet to the bedroom for the Mac Pro. As for the MacBook, it's a first gen MacBook and is not equipped for 802.11n. So the 802.11n Airport becomes a waste for it. My "g" Netgear router is more than enough for the MacBook's casual internet use.

Maybe the 10.5.3 update will fix the issue. But I can't wait for that. I'll take stability over speed any day. So I'll have to just run a wire and be done with it. Needless to say, I'll be returning the Airport Express today. From all the Macs, iPods, and peripherals I've purchased over the years, I have to say that this is the first Apple product that I am returning and the first Apple product I have not been totally satisfied with.

A bummer to say the least. Anyone else given up on Airport?

 

[gkarris]

I thought the AE was good only for WIRELESS clients, hooking up a switch to the AE and plugging more wired clients I don't think works. You would need the wireless adapter for your Tivo (I have a third party old one for mine).

Also, the AE has no external antenna - so of course, coverage will lack.

Did you hook up the internal antenna of the computer to the Airport card?

Sounds like you need something more comprehensive than an "Express".

 

[krye]

I thought the AE was good only for WIRELESS clients, hooking up a switch to the AE and plugging more wired clients I don't think works. You would need the wireless adapter for your Tivo (I have a third party old one for mine).

Also, the AE has no external antenna - so of course, coverage will lack.

Did you hook up the internal antenna of the computer to the Airport card?

Sounds like you need something more comprehensive than an "Express".

Yes, the Airport Express installation is good. I confirmed that. It works flawlessly with my Netgear router. Full bars all the time. It runs at "g" speed, but stable.

As far as the Airport Extreme goes, I've given up on wireless. I'm going to just run a wire and stick with my Netgear gigabit switch/router setup. And I'll save myself the money.