Mac peripherals forum: Airport Express disappears from Airport Utility

following the instructions that came with it.

The blinking yellow light indicates that it is not seeing the base station, or the rest of the network.

Could be due to a security problem that you created when you configured the wireless security.


P

I have an airport extreme and an airport express extending the network. The setup used to work flawlessly. Now for no apparent reason the express drops the connection (or is dropped). The airport utility logging and statistics show it as connected, but the icon has disappeared for the left panel in the utility, the network link is gone and I have to physically change something (anything) in the extreme setup to get it reconnected. Have changed bands - N& b/g N 2.4, N & a, N 5 - doesn't help. Tried changing channels and even automatic - doesn't help. Tried changing physical locations of devices doesn't help. Tried reset devices - doesn't help. Sometimes connection lasts for hours, sometimes minutes. Security mode is wpa2.
This is driving me crazy! This used to work!

I guess I didn't make the sequence clear: the express spontaneously disappears from the utility listing FIRST, then I have to change settings to get it to reappear. Yesterday I tried resetting both devices but that didn't help. I also found that if I power off the express and then on again it will connect to the network. Another part I also don't understand is which the express connect shows in the utility graphing window but the device is not listed and in fact is unreachable as I can't access the network drive with finder and iTunes streaming fails.

I too have a problem with Express dropping out when streaming. Usually 15 minutes into the stream from iTunes. I found that if I unplug the Express from outlet for a few seconds and replug, it restarts in a few minutes. My express is always on, green light and all. It seems to be very warm all the time.

Peter,
I am having the same problem with my airport express. I am using it as a router as I am currently away from home from a few days. It works for a while, then drops out for no apparent reason. The light on the airport express remains green, and the network shows up under network preferences. It does not, however, show up in Airport Utility. Sometimes my laptop (i5 mbp, os 10.6.3) still thinks its connected to it but i have no internet connection and it will not be accessible through airport utility. The thing that makes it weird to me is that it shows up as a network but times out when i try to connect. Seems like the same problem you are having, its there and its not there, at the same time. It seems to solve itself if i simply unplug it and then plug it back in. I dont understand whats causing this though and need to resolve it. Very frustrating. I posted this over on the apple site too.

I have a new imac and an airport express. Actually, everything is working, get on internet, printer share, itunes stream. No complaints, however, my airport express never shows up in Airport Utility. Not that I need to configure anything, but it doesn't make since that my computer is using the airport network but the utility doesn't see it. Seems like a bug that Apple needs to fix.

I doubt it is a bug. However last month I did encounter a real stumper. The really neat thing is it made me think this could be used to hide a WAP. The owner had set the WAP to European and was able to set the RF channel higher than 11. No machine could find it!

That's not a bug.
Bob