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ferg · Jun 2, 2010, 07:30 AM

I live in a 3 story townhouse, built of concrete and steel.

I have a Time Capsule on the bottom floor connected to my cable modem.

I have an Airport Extreme(flying saucer one) and 2 Airport Expresses. The Time Capsule can get the signal to the second floor with little problem, but it does have a degradation to about 50%.

No matter what I try I cannot get a solid signal to the third floor.

The first question I have is the Airport Extreme only has the option to be a WDS remote or relay, there is no option to 'extend a wireless network' like the Airport Expresses have. What is the difference?

The Airport expresses do not seem to like the Airport extreme, they drop in and out of the network(set to 'extend' network). I have one on the bottom floor by the stairwell to try to boost the signal to the middle floor and one by the stairwell on the middle floor(narrow house), to try to boost to the top. The Airport Extreme is at the top of the stairwell on the middle floor to try to get as close to the signal as possible. Nada. I have been able to get a good signal up to the top, but it never lasts, and I have not been able to duplicate it for a while now.

Are there any configurations I should try(placement, order, etc), or settings I should change(multicast rate(I have tried low and high), wide channels, interference robustness, WDS remote or relay)?

I have a Macbook Pro(Late 2008), iMac(on the bottom floor right next to the Time Capsule, never a problem, most important to have the best connection), and 2 iPhones. There is occasionally a Dell laptop in the mix. I have a Samsung TV and Blu-ray at the top floor which ideally I would like to get a decent connection to.

Each floor is about 10ft high, and about 12ft wide and 20-24ft deep, if that helps.

Thanks for any help!

Andy8 · Jun 2, 2010, 07:57 AM

Are you using your Time Capsule as the wireless router for the bottom floor? It will have way more range than the old AE you are using.

ferg · Jun 2, 2010, 08:03 AM

I have the cable modem on the bottom floor connected directly to the Time Capsule, which shares the internet access to all. It is set to 'Participate in a WDS network' (I had it set to Create a wireless network, but it would not 'see' the Airport Extreme)

Andy8 · Jun 2, 2010, 08:27 AM

This is a very good guide for setting up an Apple wireless network, may give you some options you have not considered.

Apple AirPort Networks

ferg · Jun 2, 2010, 08:31 AM

Thanks much, I will have a look!

Cold Warrior · Jun 2, 2010, 02:08 PM

Put the cable modem and airport on the second floor, then the signal may propagate above and below.

You'll get better range at 2.4 GHz than 5 GHz. Not sure if your model TC does 5 GHz though.

ferg · Jun 2, 2010, 09:49 PM

Yeah I wish I could, but there is no practical spot for it. Also the iMac is on the bottom floor and it is imperative it has the most reliable and fastest signal.

ghporter · Jun 2, 2010, 09:53 PM

The construction of your home is a major problem for wireless networking. Signals in the frequency range used by both G and N don't do well in cinder/concrete block construction, and the steel, whether reinforcement rods or beams, will cause interference through something called "multipathing." Basically you could only do worse if the place was all metal.

If you MUST have the iMac on the bottom floor have a very reliable, fast connection, run a cable there from your Extreme. But it will really NEED to be in the center floor for its signal to get where it is needed. If it stays on the ground floor, the top floor won't have a chance at a reliable signal.

AKcrab · Jun 2, 2010, 11:14 PM

This might be another good time to recommend using the existing wiring, as discussed here.

ferg · Sep 23, 2010, 12:35 PM

AKcrab, I took your advice and got the Belkin Gigabit Powerline HD startup kit.

I plugged on into the wall on the bottom floor and plugged it directly into the Time Capsule. I plugged the other on the top floor and plugged in an Airport Express next to it in Bridge mode and connected the two.

Perfect. Almost.

The New network on the top floor can be seen and connected to by my Samsung TV, Macbook Pro, my wife's Dell laptop, my wife's iphone.

the only oddity is my iphone. it sees the network, connects with no problem, I just dont get an IP address assigned, it either has nothing or a private IP.

I stream movies from my iMac on the bottom floor to my TV with TwonkyMedia and it works perfectly (except it does not like .mov files, not sure if that is the TV or the server, assuming the TV).I can see photos, play music(although Samsung's interface leaves a bit to be desired), it is awesome.

Just wish I knew why my iPhone gets the snub. If every other device did not connect so well, including my wife's iPhone, I would not be so bothered by it. Any suggestions or ideas would be most welcome.

And thank you for all the help and advice!

ghporter · Sep 23, 2010, 12:41 PM

Your AirPort network security may be the stumbling block here. It's a royal pain to get a decent WPA password entered in an iPhone.

You DO have both bands enabled with the AirPort, right?

ferg · Sep 24, 2010, 07:59 AM

Yeah I think so. I fiddled around last night and basically ended up pulling the plug on everything, restarting everything and somehow it worked. I hate that, makes it harder to figure out what is wrong, but at least it is all working now!

ghporter · Sep 24, 2010, 10:14 AM

One thing to remember about all consumer network devices is that they are all microcomputers-and their software/OS is not fail-proof. A hard restart often "just fixes" all sorts of issues, with "connect but fails to get IP" a biggie.

I always suggest turning off everything and letting it sit for several minutes before even thinking that there's a hardware problem.

ferg · Sep 27, 2010, 05:10 PM

Yeah. I have noticed that after a while everything on the upstairs network(created by the Airport Express connected to the Upstairs Belkin)loses the Internet access and sometimes the network itself. When i unplug/replug in the Belkin connected to the Time Capsule downstairs everything gets access again. Is there some sort of time out setting that may be configurable?

I have also run into problems with the wife's Win7 Dell Laptop connecting to the upstairs network. I am sure it was able to do it before, now it sees it, connects, but gets no internet. Not being to familiar or fond of Windoze, I just want to chuck it into the ocean. But that unfortunately is not an option. I have tried removing the password with no luck, is says it had internet over IPv4 but not over IPv6(which is what my MBPro seems to have).

baffled again!

ferg · Nov 15, 2010, 07:09 PM

Ok, I think I know what the problem is. If the wireless devices are upstairs, turned on and in the range of the network and I unplug/plugin the powerline at the router on the bottom floor, the devices pick up the network. If I take the iphone say from the downstairs network to the upstairs network, it picks up the network but gets no services. If I go back down, it picks up the main network and works just fine.

I am not sure why this occurs.