Member Avatar for Farwest2

I have a green light on my Airport Express, and signal strength when I check it, but the internet won't come through. It spools and spools and then finally times out. I tried going to , but it times out there as well.

Then, when I connect the ethernet cable directly to my computer, internet is back up again.

Seems like an Airport glitch. Is there a way to reset or fix my Airport?

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Likely cause: the AirPort Express is associating with the Mac (green light, wireless present) but not getting or passing a valid WAN address from the modem/router. That matches ’s symptom where the cable straight to the computer restores Internet. As asked, the single quickest diagnostic is whether the base station and the Mac have real IPs (not self‑assigned 169.254.x.x). ’s restart/service‑order tip is on the right track — the Mac will cling to a working Ethernet link unless the interface order or cable is changed.

Recommended checklist:

  • Power‑cycle correctly: turn everything off, connect the AirPort Express to the modem, power the modem up first and wait until it’s fully online, then power the AirPort Express so the modem issues a fresh DHCP lease. Many modems bind to the first MAC they see.
  • Verify addresses: open AirPort Utility and the Mac’s Network prefs (AirPort/Wi‑Fi -> TCP/IP). A valid WAN IP on the base station and a non‑169.x client IP are required.
  • Internet mode: in AirPort Utility confirm the Internet connection type is correct (DHCP vs PPPoE). If the Express is the network router, enable NAT/DHCP on it; if there’s already a router upstream, set the Express to bridge mode.
  • Interface priority: in Network preferences make the AirPort/Wi‑Fi service take precedence over Ethernet (or physically unplug the Ethernet cable while testing) so the Mac uses the wireless route. This addresses ’s en1 comment.
  • DNS vs routing: test by pinging a public IP (for example, 8.8.8.8) — if IP pings work but hostnames don’t, fix DNS entries on the base station or the Mac.
  • Reset/update: if configuration looks right but it still fails, do a soft reset or factory restore via AirPort Utility (record current settings first) and apply any firmware updates.

If the Express still won’t obtain a WAN address after these steps, the modem may be holding the old MAC lease or the Express hardware could be failing; power‑cycle the modem again with only the Express attached or try the Express on a different modem/router.

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Member Avatar for yellow

Do you get an IP address when you connect via AE? Or do you get a 169.x.x.x address?

Member Avatar for redage

the computer not easily let go of a working internet connection. when changing the e-net ports, restart is mendatory. unplugging build in e-net cable as well. to use airport you need to have en1 in net-pref-pane.

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