Problem adding an Airport Express to my current network

[vkalia]

Hi -

I am trying to add an Airport Express to my existing wireless network, in order to increase the range of the network.

I've run Airport Utility and gone through the setup wizard - everything seems to have gone of fine, it says "Settings for this Airport Express have been successfully updated" and then it goes into "Waiting for the Airport Express to restart..."

But that restart doesnt happen - or rather, I get the message "Unable to find the Airport Express base station" (words to that effect). And after this, I can no longer find that new Airport Express on the wifi network.

So I reset the base station and tried a manual setup. Same problem - settings updated, Airport Express doesnt restart properly and can no longer be found on the network.

Any ideas what is going on here? I tried it using Mac Mini running 10.5.3 and Airport Utility 5.3.1.

Edit - I just tried this doing this on my Macbook running 10.5.4 and Airport Utility 5.3.2 - same problem.

Thanks,
Vandit

 

[waw74]

what are you using for the main base? it it's not an product, you might have problems

try plugging your laptop into the express with ethernet, that way you might be able to see what the problem is. In my experience it's always better to setup while plugged in instead of trying to do it over wireless.

 

[vkalia]

what are you using for the main base? it it's not an product, you might have problems

I am using another Airport Express as the main base station. Within Airport Utility, it is set up as "create new base station."

When setting up the second base station to extend the network, I had set it up to "extend wireless network" while setting it up manually, and "join existing network" when setting it up using the wizard. Neither worked.

However, when I tried setting up the second base station as a separate network, it was working fine.

So I assume it is something to do with my settings.

I tried setting both base stations up as WDS - one Airport Express as the "main" station, and the other are a "relay" station, as described in the support.mac.com. However, those instructions are based on Tiger, and I think I am screwing up somewhere with my Main and Relay settings. Just found some more info on Apple Support and am going to try it.

Vandit

 

[vkalia]

Setting up a secure WDS network - possible?

Well, ok, I figured out the problem. It worked once I set up the main base station and the additional ones as part of a WDS network using some info on the support.apple.com website.

Only thing is - this setup only works in an unsecured network. Really - who at Apple thought that was a good idea?

Anyone know if there is a fix that lets you set up a secured (WEP or WPA) network using the Airport Express?

TIA,
Vandit

 

[coopermac]

Has anyone had any luck with this so far. I have bought a new Express and am trying to connect it to extend the network created by by TC to give a better signal in another part of the house. I am trying to set it up but get the same problems as the OP. I had hoped that the new Express and Airport utility would have sorted this out. All the apple docs are still refering to the old extreme and express. The only way I have managed to get the two to work together so far is by connecting them up with ethernet cable which seems to defeat the object of a wireless network and contradicts Apples claims for the express.

Can anyone help please?

 

[mzd]

i had to set my wireless network to allow for access points and then i had to turn the AirPort card on my mac on (mac connects via ethernet to my wireless router) for the AirPort Express and AirTunes to all work properly. i also had to reset the AirPort Express after i first got it.
i have both a hidden SSID, MAC address filtering, and WAP security on my wireless network. obviously i had to add the Express's MAC address as well.