Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Airport Express no valid ip

Mar 17, 2011 12:33PM PDT

Hi, My friend recently got a Mac desktop computer and had a netgear router with a comcast motorola modem. Well she wants to stream netflix to a bluRay player so she got a new Motorola Extreme Surfboard modem and the apple guy at BB talked her into an Airport Express router instead of the Netgear N600 Wireless (and she's also going to get a wireless Sony BD). Well she got the modem setup nicely and says it's faster. But she can't get the Airport Express to work. It says no valid ip address. She called Apple care but they were closed. I don't know apples and I'm not there to see her screens. I'm not even sure she has the cords plugged in right.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
AppleCare does not close
Mar 17, 2011 10:05PM PDT

it is a 24/7 operation.

I suspect that she is not actually reading the instructions that came with the Airport Express.

When she configures the AE, she should be telling it to establish a wireless network.

The layout should be, Incoming Cable to Router. Airport Express plugged into an Ethernet port on the Router.

I didn't think that Comcast would allow you to to change out Modems, they don't in my neck of the woods


P

- Collapse -
Isn't the Express a router?
Mar 18, 2011 1:45AM PDT

Doesn't the Express completely replace her netgear router? Well anyway she tried putting her netgear router back on and now can't get it to work again either.

- Collapse -
Netgear is working again
Mar 18, 2011 1:53AM PDT

She had to turn off the wireless up in the upper right for her netgear to work again.

- Collapse -
If you mean Airport on her iMac
Mar 18, 2011 5:13AM PDT

then that had nothing to do with her inability to connect.

Turning the wireless off has no effect if there is not a wireless signal there to connect to.

Now that she has the Netgear router working again, she connects the Express to her wired network and configures it.
That establishes a wireless network to which the Bluray Player can connect to.

Unless she wants to go completely wireless, no wired capability at all, then the Express would replace the Netgear. This severely restricts what other peripherals you can connect to your network, printers, DVR's, etc.

P

- Collapse -
Solved
Mar 18, 2011 12:33PM PDT

FYI - I went over today to help her and after 5 calls to Apple Care (they're only open 6-6pm pacific) and talking to 2 senior techs the last tech decided it was a bad Airport Express. So we went back to Best Buy and exchanged it. She just called me and this one is working fine so far and staying connected. The other one kept losing the internet. We'd call support and get it working and right after hanging up it would go down. Or if you closed Safari and reopened it, it would be down, etc. Very frustrating day.

- Collapse -
(NT) Pleased the problem is now solved
Mar 19, 2011 5:08AM PDT