I have an Airport Express that is set up as an extender. Recently the Airport Utility and the indicator on the AE itself has shown as green. However, there are times when neither device we use with it can hook up to it, even from 6 feet away. Even when it is hooked up, it is often only a weak signal. Anyway to figure out what is happening?
Kurt-
You might try a third device. Unless it is located near something that is causing strong interference, there appears to be a two-to-one probability that the AirPort Express is malfunctioning. While repair might be possible, replacement might be less expensive.
One thing you can try is to reset the AirPort Express to factory settings, and re-install it as an extender. Check the "Tips and Troubleshooting" chapter of your Setup Guide.
My old second-generation model is partially reset by using a straightened paper clip to hold down the reset button for ten seconds. A complete reset is done by holding down the reset button while plugging it in, and waiting until the status light flashes before releasing the reset button.
Fred
Another thing to try Fred would be one of those freeware wireless signal testing programs, like Vistumbler found at:
or inSSIDer 3 which can be found at:
One note about inSSIDer, they went commercial after the above freeware release. inSSIDer 4 is only available as a paid or demo version.
Anyway try one or both of the above and see if someone else has setup a router or access point on the same or adjacent radio channel and is interfering with your signal.
I'll try both. However, since the extender is around 6 feet from where we use the things that are having problems reaching the extender, I find it hard believe interference would be the problem.
If someone has a wireless phone or other device like wireless headsets operating at the right frequency you could be standing side by side and a laptop or other device might not be able to sort out the two signals.
Using either of the RF sniffing programs already mentioned you can take a laptop and power off your known radio stuff and see if others are on the same channel. Then power your stuff on and check the signal level on a laptop and see how "loud" the transmitter is broadcasting the SSID you are looking for compared to the other signals (if any). At the same time you can see how far away you can still get a valid signal.
I have been in large apartment complexes where there were 5 or 6 devices found on practically every channel. Took a bit of tweaking to get things working right there. Funny thing was that some of the apartments had unsecured connections that were quite a bit faster than the slow DSL I was paying for.
If all else fails, take the Airport and a laptop to another physical location and see how the signals look on the SSID checking programs. Reason I mention that is there are RF signals that can jam an access point but are not visible (understandable) by receivers. They sense the interference but have no idea what is actually causing it. Trying another location can help pinpoint if that is the problem.
If I was > >
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