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We have an original AirPort Express (802.11g) in our kitchen. Seems like every 4-6 weeks it stops accepting connections and I have to unplug and replug it into the AC outlet to get it to reboot. Our "snow" AirPort Base Station never requires a reboot.
Do others have the same experience? Are the newer (802.11n) AirPort Express better?
It's not a huge problem, but one of life's little annoyances I could live without.
- Winston
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definitely shouldn't.
are you using it to expand your wireless range or play music or both?
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I have a snow and I have to reboot it every 4-6 weeks it seems. My APE needs a reboot probably every 6-8 weeks.
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The AirPort Express and Snow are both used as wireless access points. They are wired to a Linksys 8 port switch, which is plugged into a Zyxel DSL modem/router. So neither device is doing routing, and the AirPort Express is not doing music or print serving either. I don't think I've ever used either one as a router.
With our previous DSL modem we had an SMC router in the line after the modem. I did have to reset that regularly, but that may have been the fault of the DSL modem and/or how Earthlink worked with the modem. I'd typically reset both the router and the modem when DSL stopped working. Almost never have to reset the Zyxel, but I think that has more to do with Earthlink (and whoever is supplying their DSL coverage) than with the Zyxel. DSL has become more dependable over time.
- W
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Is the box working 24/7, like checking email all day, downloading anything during the night, or doing an offsite backup over the internet? If not, you could put it on a light timer that does the reboot in the middle of the night. It's not entirely necessary, but it would do the work for you.
It's not normal for the AExp to be doing that, by the way, so maybe it's just giving up the ghost. Does it really "stop accepting connections", like it disappears from the Airport menu up at the top? Or, it is in the menu, you are connected to it, but you simply can't get a webpage to show up?
Jeff
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Some of the 'G' expresses I've dealt with have been flakey, dropping out sometimes, difficult to reset, etc. right out of the box. Seemed to be hit or miss. The 'N's haven't been a problem though. Assigned IP for the express?
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Thanks for the timer suggestion. Probably overkill for this situation.
It has been this way for several years. It does just stop accepting connections. My AirPort network is private (SSID doesn't show in AirPort menu) and has a password. But when this happens I can't use "Other..." to re-enter the info and connect. As soon as I reboot the AE my computer re-connects.
Occasionally I can get a reconnect by turning the Mac's AirPort card off and back on. But in these cases I assume its the computer which has a hiccup.
The Express does not have an assigned IP - not sure what you are asking. It's acting as a bridge, so it doesn't need an IP address.
- W
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I unplug and plug in my airport express every few weeks. I sometimes get a slowdown in my wireless speed and I reboot both the express and the base station at the same time.
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My Airport extreme (802.11g)and airport express (802.11g) both crap out every few weeks. They just run as access points for 802.11b/g clients so they don't slow down the 802.11n network.
The airport express is connected to the time capsule via ethrnet.
