Airport Express

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Once I set up my airport express through the airport utility to go through my airport extreme, will it show up in my wifi network as the name I set it up as or will it still be under the original wifi name?
 
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You have an airport express and an airport extreme on the same network - right? Both do the same thing except the airport extreme has 802.11ac which is even faster wireless than the Airport express with it's 802.11n. Without knowing exactly how you plan to sett your network up I can only guess what you are doing.

Are you using one to extend your network? Only one can be handing out IP addresses (DHCP). The other should be in bridge mode.

As for the names and assuming you want both on the same network.... The device name can be anything you want and should be different. The network name needs to be the same in both devices. What you will see on any device "looking" for your wireless network will be the network name.

If this is not what you want please provide specific details about what you want to do and I will try to walk you through setting it up.

Lisa
 
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Hi Lisa,

I am attempting to use the express to extend my network to a room that previously was receiving poor to no signal. Using Airport Utility I have my Airport Extreme handing out IP Addresses and my Airport Express in Bridge mode.

I have the airport extreme located under my TV on an entertainment stand with the modem. I also have the airport express that I bought half way between the room with the airport extreme and the bedroom about 50 feet away (but with walls in between).

Once I hooked up the AP express I went into Airport utility and it located the express wirelessly and added it as an extension of the AP Extreme. From there my signal improved. **Improved as in it went from NO signal to 2 bars.

Is there a better way to do this that may result in a better signal?
 
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Extending the network the way you described will have your extended router (the Airport Express) broadcasting the same network name as your Extreme.

Another option to having them bridge wirelessly would be to run an Ethernet cable from the Airport Extreme to the Airport Express. I did this to extend the signal from one end of my house to the other, and it worked very nicely.
 
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Another option to having them bridge wirelessly would be to run an Ethernet cable from the Airport Extreme to the Airport Express. I did this to extend the signal from one end of my house to the other, and it worked very nicely.

Thanks for the tip! I would love to do it that way but it would require either drilling holes or running a wire around the baseboard which would look awful in my current apartments layout.
 
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I just thought I'd mention that you can often increase your Airport wi-fi transmission/reception just by changing the angle of the units. Having one or both sitting at an angle or even on their sides is not uncommon. ;)

Or you can google creating your own modded antenna but there are easier methods.

And don't forget the option of using a Powerline adapter and save drilling holes and long wires:
Powerline | Networking | Home | NETGEAR

Some articles you may want to check out and read:
4 Wi-Fi Tips from Former Apple Wi-Fi Engineer - The Mac Observer
and
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3394
 
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I dont 100% understand the power-line adapter. I would plug it in, connect it to my Airport Extreme via Ethernet, then plug the second one into the desired room and plug my Airport express into it?
 
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Basically the power-line adapters use your house wiring to extend your wired Ethernet.

If you don't need wireless, you don't even need an Airport Express or anything equivalent, but you'd be restricted to hardwire Ethernet.

Try angling your wi-fi units first before considering using them and maybe save some money. ;)
 
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Gotcha, but if you did need the wireless you would just plug the express into the second power-line adapter?
 
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So I bought the power line adapter and it worked great! The only issue I am having now is that certain devices are acting oddly under the new extended signal. Most notably my smart devices aren't loading photos on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. A small issue I know, but I am curious as to why its happening all the same. Any thoughts?

I ended up getting the TRENDnet Powerline AV500
 

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