I was having wifi issues in the house while using a new airport express to extend the network until I changed channels. Went from refusing to connect to full strength. That was with my iPhone 5 though.
We've got three MBPs, one MBA, a Mini and a MB all on wireless at the moment and I've never had an issue with wifi.
I have also been plagued by WIFI problems over last year. Thankfully I found a permanent solution.
This is going to be a long explanation.
I also used to use the WIFI extend feature with 3 x Airport Extreme & 2 x Airport Express to support:
3 x Mac Minis, 1x iMac, 2 x MBPs, 1 x MBA, 6 x Apple TVs, 2 x Windows PCs & a variety of mobile devices.
For the most part the WIFI would work, except network speeds would drop out every now and then, with a few occasions where communication would be lost between some of the Airport routers (causing havoc with many of the network services: DHCP, DNS, iTunes Home sharing, Airplay, ...)
The cause of the problems I finally discovered was as a result of a number of factors, for example;
1. Variety of device types, or more specifically their varying WIFi inadequacies / speeds.
2. Distance between WIFI routers.
3. Environment interference (Microwaves, fluorescent lights, wall composition, open/closed doors, ...)
4. Airport Extended Network overhead.
5. Number of Airport routers extending the WIFi network (5 of them)
5. 802.11 version (higher spec WIFI is typically more prone to problems with the above factors)
Basically all of these factors draw down on the maximum speed of your WIFI , and in my case also gave rise to a number of intermittent failures (that seemed to only be remedied with a reboot of all of the routers)
I fixed this by wiring the Airport routers together using a typical star and/or mesh design (using Ethernet over Powerline converters). The WIFI routers were then moved closer to devices (i.e. no longer positioned according to WIFI extend network signal limits)
The typically fixed position devices (Mac Mini, Apple TVs, iMac, ...) were wired using Ethernet cables directly into the closest Airport router. All mobiles devices (MBPs, phones, tablets, ... ) continued to connect via WIFI.
The result is pure perfection: WIFi RSSI in each location is always in the -40 to -50 range with transmit speeds running at the top end of the 802.11n capabilities (~500 Mbps).
This solution ensures that each Airport router location is furnished with the maximum possible signal strength / speeds -- specifically not being impeded by any network extension overhead.
Btw the reason I chose to use Ethernet over Powerline was to avoid having to run cables through the house / office (re it uses your existing electrical wiring) + it also avoided the need to use more than one Ethernet port on primary Airport router (the Powerline units can communicate with any other unit, hence only one was needed at the primary router)
Here's the reference Apple URL for how to configure the Airport routers for maximum performance both on the Ethernet and WIFI ends (roaming network):
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4260
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