Need help - extending network with 2 AirPort base stations

[Poki]

I need some help with my AirPort Setup. As you can see, a current generation AirPort Express is connected by wire to my router. Both the older AirPort Express (which does support 802.11n) and the AirPort Extreme (A1354) are set to extend the network. But one of them doesn't want to extend it.

If I restart the main Express, the two other base stations sometimes switch place, with the Express extending the network and the Extreme showing the warning. So all the base stations seem to work fine by themselves.

Any ideas why this is and how I can solve it?

 

[satcomer]

That red mark means an Update is ready to install!

 

[Poki]

That red mark means an Update is ready to install!

The red mark can mean any number of errors - you only see what it means if you click on it. In my case, all my base stations run on the latest software (7.6.7. I think). The error message reads something like "Can not extend wireless network", but it does not give a proper explanation why this is.

 

[Oliverhay]

Any ideas why this is and how I can solve it?

I've always had performance trouble with wireless extending a network. Is there any possibility to ethernet one of your secondary devices to either the router or main airport?
Do you think its likely that the secondary airport is trying to extend the already extended network of the secondary extreme? If you think about the positions of the three devices, are the secondary on different sides of the primary or both to one side?

 

[LiveM]

Some old Airports work differently when extending. They could be daisychained amd used a different protocol or something so that could be related to your issue. Perhaps the latest Airport Utility update is also related to both these things.

However, first I would suggest seeing if you can get away without extending wirelessly. It really hobbles your network possibly more so with older routers involved.
[doublepost=1465453024][/doublepost]Here you go:
https://support.apple.com/en-nz/HT202056

Wireless Distribution System.

 

[Poki]

Thank you for your replies.

Some old Airports work differently when extending. They could be daisychained amd used a different protocol or something so that could be related to your issue.

WDS isn't supported since the days of the b/g "raindrop" AirPort Extremes, so that's not the problem. Seems like a simple software bug. After restarting everything a couple of times, it simply worked, without changing anything. Hope Apple can fix such strange inconsistencies in the future.

 

[Altemose]

@Poki What I would do is ensure that the main Express is set to DHCP & NAT mode as well as set to "Create a Wireless Network". I would then reset the two "extending" AirPorts and allow the AirPort Utility to perform the process. A little side note, depending on the generation of the Extreme, it may be more lucrative performance wise to swap the Extreme and the main Express.