[danger359]

Hi,

I was struggling with the same issues you describe: The AE base station disappearing, various of the remote Apple express items disappearing, not recognizing each other. My approach requires static IP for the apple express adapter(s) (network access points (NAP)), e.g., 192.168.1.2 (assume 192.168.1.1 is your router/gateway/cablemodem), 192.168.1.3, and so forth

1. Do a complete reset on the apple express adapters and then unplug them, set aside.
2. Configure your Apple Extreme as a WDS main.
-Wireless should be on g b/a compatible
-Configure static IP, e.g., 198.162.1.2
-Wireless clients: add the airport MAC address of each of your WDS remotes
- If you need it, add in DHCP but these will only be for client computers, not the WDS remote(s).
- Make a note of the wireless network name you have assigned - IMPORTANT
- Also note the Airport MAC address of the AE Base station - IMPORTANT
3. Make sure you can connect to your AE base station by both wireless and via the ethernet connection. Ping the IP.
4. Now plug in your first Apple express adapter. Select it from Airport Utility for manual set up. I highly recommend that you connect it via ethernet to the AE Base station.
5. On wireless tab: enter the wireless network name, exactly as it appears in the base station config.
6. On the WDS tab, select WDS remote and then add the AE Base station airport MAC address in the field for that purpose.
7. Now go back to the Internet tab. You see that it has automatically selected DHCP and indicates this is part of an Airport WDS network.
-Change this to "manual"
-Enter a static IP for this node, e.g., 198.168.1.3
- Make sure the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 because it is probably defaulting to 255.255.255.255 (which can be one cause of failure to recognize this device).
- Enter the gateway/router IP (this is not the same as your AE Base Station)
8. Give the device a unique name (can't remember which tab that is on - maybe under the "options" button)
9. Update
10. After updating you MAY need to remove power to the Airport express NAP, then restore it.
11. Via your connection to the AE Base station (try both wireless and wired), ping the IP of the new WDS remote.
12. Remove the ethernet connection between the AE base station and the new WDS remote. The light should stay green. Once again, ping it.
13. Connect via wireless/ethernet to the WDS remote and ping your gateway or try to access the internet if the gateway is already connected. It should work. If not, then you might have a bad airport express adapter. (That is one problem I discovered today).
14. Repeat as needed for other WDS remotes.

I hope this works for you! The key points are to reset the airport express adapters to factory defaults, configure the Airport extreme base station first, then the WDS remotes, and be sure you can ping the IPs via wireless and wired connections as complete configuration of each item.

Regards,

David