We had a freak January Thunderstorm the other night.
We did not loose power but had a couple of lightning flashes and thunder booms. Woke up the next morning to find the porch lights were not working. Was a little odd but everything else seemed to be working just fine.
Turns out they are wired to my basement circuit which had been tripped. I reset everything and began checking my electronics as my home theater is down there.
Everything seemed good. Though my one camera that is plugged in to the basement was not working.
Once everything was back on my network was acting funny not holding a solid connection for very long and in Airport utility everything would drop and come back a few minutes later. So I unplugged my modem, airport extreme, and airport express (hardwired to the extreme upstairs to give better wifi coverage in the basement.) As long as just the modem and airport extreme were on everything was fine.
As soon as I plugged in the Express it everything would go wonky again. Even my Extreme would start dropping and disappearing from the network for a couple minutes then reappear. When it would flash back on the Express gave me an invalid ip address error.
So I did a factory reset on it. I now have the express upstairs next to the Extreme and the yellow light is flashing on the Express but Airport Utility is not finding an unconfigured Express nor is it finding the old configured Express.

So I am presuming it must have gotten fried.
Guess I will be getting a new Express and getting a new surge protector for all my home theater stuff since it appears to have taken a hit. Thankfully I only seem to have lost the Express as everything else down there is functioning properly. Minus my camera though I think it just got bumped back to the factory IP address as the camera still lights up but can't find it on the network. Factory IP is a 192.168.X.XXX and my network uses the 10.01.XX series so should just have to reset the IP on the cam and hopefully will be good.

Any other thoughts on the Express before I go order a new one???

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Black92LX,

As much as I hate to say this (and I'm an Apple Airport Extreme owner myself), Apple has abandoned the WiFi router market and you may be able to do better elsewhere.

When mine finally dies, that's what I plan to do.

No thought on the Airport Express, but I do suggest that, if you don't already have a whole-house surge protector, you get one.

I would also suggest things like computers and network gear, upon which your home communications depends, be on a good UPS.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
As much as I hate to say this (and I'm an Apple Airport Extreme owner myself), Apple has abandoned the WiFi router market and you may be able to do better elsewhere.

When mine finally dies, that's what I plan to do.

Someone (maybe you) mentioned this in another thread and there is no eveidence of such things just internet speculation.
They are still selling new units on their site and in their stores, they also just released a firmware update less than a month ago.

Aside from outside sources they just flat work.
I have an old Extreme the wide flat one that I bought refurbished like 6 years ago.
I have had to reset it once, outside of moving and setting up an entirely new network.

I need nothing fancy just a base station wired to some thing in the basement for better coverage.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
As much as I hate to say this (and I'm an Apple Airport Extreme owner myself), Apple has abandoned the WiFi router market and you may be able to do better elsewhere.

When mine finally dies, that's what I plan to do.

there is no eveidence of such things just internet speculation.

No?

Apple disbands AirPort wireless router team, reassigns engineers: Report

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
As much as I hate to say this (and I'm an Apple Airport Extreme owner myself), Apple has abandoned the WiFi router market and you may be able to do better elsewhere.

When mine finally dies, that's what I plan to do.

there is no eveidence of such things just internet speculation.

No?

Apple disbands AirPort wireless router team, reassigns engineers: Report

Again as I mentioned in the other thread that is an article from well over a year ago with no word on the issue from Apple. Companies move folks around to other projects all the time.
You can still buy their products New in stores and online and they are still pushing out firmware updates so clearly they have not abandoned the Airport. Sure maybe putting less resources towards it but far from abandoned and their products still blow anybody out of the water for simplicity and ease of use.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
No thought on the Airport Express, but I do suggest that, if you don't already have a whole-house surge protector, you get one.

I would also suggest things like computers and network gear, upon which your home communications depends, be on a good UPS.

I had a whole house surge protector at the last house we built. This house does not have one and I had no idea it was such a simple install.
So looks like I will be adding one.
https://www.askmediy.com/how-t...use-surge-protector/
About $125 is good insurance. Thanks for the reminder.

Try unplugging power from the Express and letting it sit for at least 20-30 minutes. When you're ready to attempt setting it up again use an ethernet cable between it and the computer you're using. If Airport Utility won't find it then it's probably a goner.

Apple's latest firmware update (7.7.9 & 7.6.9) has caused some oddball issues on some Airport devices. After a couple of phone sessions with Apple support I got the impression that this latest firmware is "stressing" the hardware more than previous versions. Quite a few folks rolled back to 7.x.8, there's several threads on various Apple forums regarding this. My in-law's Airport Extreme displayed some wonky behavior after upgrading and it took a long power-down to get it functioning right again.

Don't forget to run your Ethernet through surge protector also. Don't forget.

Regarding options if it is dead, I’d suggest a whole Home mesh like Orbis. I recently switched and could not be happier. Much much better performance.

quote:

Originally posted by FlyingScot:
Regarding options if it is dead, I’d suggest a whole Home mesh like Orbis. I recently switched and could not be happier. Much much better performance.

Not too terribly interested in WiFi mesh stuff.
Phones, nest, one camera, and harmony hub are the only wireless stuff I use. Everything else is hardwired. WiFi only beats wired when it is impossible to wire something.

I have an old style Airport Extreme collecting dust I’ll give you a good deal on.

Email me if interested...

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
No thought on the Airport Express, but I do suggest that, if you don't already have a whole-house surge protector, you get one.

I would also suggest things like computers and network gear, upon which your home communications depends, be on a good UPS.

I had a whole house surge protector at the last house we built. This house does not have one and I had no idea it was such a simple install.
So looks like I will be adding one.
https://www.askmediy.com/how-t...use-surge-protector/
About $125 is good insurance. Thanks for the reminder.

I use THIS ONE 95% of the time for my customers. If it's built into drywall and not in unfinished area I sometimes use the panel manufacturers breaker style surge instead same with if the leads won't reach to both the breaker and neutral without extending the manufacturers wiring.

Is your panel in finished or unfinished space?

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
No thought on the Airport Express, but I do suggest that, if you don't already have a whole-house surge protector, you get one.

I would also suggest things like computers and network gear, upon which your home communications depends, be on a good UPS.

I had a whole house surge protector at the last house we built. This house does not have one and I had no idea it was such a simple install.
So looks like I will be adding one.
https://www.askmediy.com/how-t...use-surge-protector/
About $125 is good insurance. Thanks for the reminder.

I use THIS ONE 95% of the time for my customers. If it's built into drywall and not in unfinished area I sometimes use the panel manufacturers breaker style surge instead same with if the leads won't reach to both the breaker and neutral without extending the manufacturers wiring.

Is your panel in finished or unfinished space?

Finished.
Though opening it up a bit to extend the area would not be too difficult.
I have a Siemens panel are the breaker style much more expensive? I only have 2 spots left.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
No thought on the Airport Express, but I do suggest that, if you don't already have a whole-house surge protector, you get one.

I would also suggest things like computers and network gear, upon which your home communications depends, be on a good UPS.

I had a whole house surge protector at the last house we built. This house does not have one and I had no idea it was such a simple install.
So looks like I will be adding one.
https://www.askmediy.com/how-t...use-surge-protector/
About $125 is good insurance. Thanks for the reminder.

You're welcome.

Here's a fairly recent thread on them: Whole house surge protection

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Don't forget to run your Ethernet through surge protector also. Don't forget.

I've managed entire buildings-full of Ethernet network wiring (from coax, on) and never found that necessary.

Even outdoor POE WiFi access point installations don't recommend that. Leastwise not as I've ever seen. ICBW.

The only time I've ever had infrastructure wiring cause a problem due to storm-induced power surges it was a bunch of serial ports (pre-Ethernet days) and it turned out the reason was they were mis-wired.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
No thought on the Airport Express, but I do suggest that, if you don't already have a whole-house surge protector, you get one.

I would also suggest things like computers and network gear, upon which your home communications depends, be on a good UPS.

I had a whole house surge protector at the last house we built. This house does not have one and I had no idea it was such a simple install.
So looks like I will be adding one.
https://www.askmediy.com/how-t...use-surge-protector/
About $125 is good insurance. Thanks for the reminder.

I use THIS ONE 95% of the time for my customers. If it's built into drywall and not in unfinished area I sometimes use the panel manufacturers breaker style surge instead same with if the leads won't reach to both the breaker and neutral without extending the manufacturers wiring.

Is your panel in finished or unfinished space?

Finished.
Though opening it up a bit to extend the area would not be too difficult.
I have a Siemens panel are the breaker style much more expensive? I only have 2 spots left.

Same cost lower ratings, lower coverage, and two year warranty vs lifetime. Advantage you can gain two 15a or two 20a circuits if you need the space later.

Cover plate for flush mount on drywall for finished areas for the first link I posted.

PS don't ever plan on making a claim on any of them. They are all secondary to any other insurance (homeowners). They are still worth it because they will stop most surges. Always combine with point of use surge protector as well.

They say lightning never strikes the same place twice, I say bullshit. My house got hit several years ago and fried every piece of electronics in my house right down to my stove vent hood. I had replacement homeowners insurance but my my idea of a replacement was much different than the insurance companies, what a mess. I installed a surge protector. Lighting hit my house a second time traveled down my chimney into the firebox of my fireplace, which is metal, went thru the block wall into my garage and fried my Jeep Grand Cherokee, they never could get it normal again. A third strike hit a willow tree about 50 ft from my house and fried both my outdoor solar powered motion detector lights which were $550 each. I am thankful that none of the strikes started a fire or injured anyone. I was at home all three times.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Don't forget to run your Ethernet through surge protector also. Don't forget.

I've managed entire buildings-full of Ethernet network wiring (from coax, on) and never found that necessary.

Even outdoor POE WiFi access point installations don't recommend that. Leastwise not as I've ever seen. ICBW.

The only time I've ever had infrastructure wiring cause a problem due to storm-induced power surges it was a bunch of serial ports (pre-Ethernet days) and it turned out the reason was they were mis-wired.

It happened once in the early 90s at a company I worked for. Lighting didn't hit the building, but somehow caused a surge in the coax cable run through the ceiling of the single story building. That cable connected two routers with computers and printers were connected via Ethernet to both routers. Both routers were fried as well as two NICs on one side and three on the other. Nothing else was affected.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

I use THIS ONE 95% of the time for my customers. If it's built into drywall and not in unfinished area I sometimes use the panel manufacturers breaker style surge instead same with if the leads won't reach to both the breaker and neutral without extending the manufacturers wiring.

Is your panel in finished or unfinished space?

Skins, if your main breaker is at the top of your panel, is it OK to use a knockout near the top and mount this on the side of the panel?