How to extend an Airport network further than an Express' range?

Hi,
I'm trying to (massively) extend an Airport network, but there aren't electrical outlets close enough together on our property to string together a series of Airport Express "repeaters." Is there another product, eg. from a third party, that has a larger range?
Thanks,
Marv

My policy on answering questions is that I never answer one unless I've done it myself to verify.
In addition, you might want to refer to Apple's own Support Document linked below on extending....which anyone working at an Apple Store would have immediate access to with a few clicks at the computer:
Unfortunately, if someone at an Apple Store told you that the Time Capsule could not be used to "extend"......he was just wrong or too lazy to look up the answer, so he made one up. You might want to show him his own support document...and then talk to another sales guy there when you need product information.
Products Affected
AirPort Express 802.11n (1st Generation), AirPort Extreme 802.11n (1st Generation), AirPort Extreme 802.11n (3rd Generation), Time Capsule 802.11n (1st Generation), Time Capsule 802.11n (2nd Generation), Time Capsule 802.11n (3rd Generation)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4259
Good luck on your consensus building.

Similar Messages

How to extend an existing network with airport

How Do you extend a wireless network using two airports?

Please check out the following Apple Support article for details on how to extend a wireless network with multiple AirPort base stations.

Airport Express is no longer able to extend my Airport network.

After the 7.6.1 upgrade, my Airport Express is no longer able to extend my Airport network. I didn't change any configuration, but as I was confirming the configuration options in Airport Utility, I noticed that the option for the Airport Extreme to "allow this network to be extended" is missing and that my Airport Express had been changed to client mode. I really need the capability of extending the range of my network, it worked before the firmware upgrade, so how can I get it back? The hardware are both less than a year old (I bought them in the summer of 2011).

I suggest downloading Airport Utility 5.6
It was released the sameday as 6.0 but it doesn't have the features you used to have as you just found out.
Airport Utility 5.6
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482

Hi. Does anyone know how to extend the airport express and extreme with Cisco Router DPC3925. I have upgrade my wireless to 50Mbps. Thank you

Hi,
Can someone help.
I have a Cisco router DPC3925 provided by the ISP and I cannot extend my wireless with Airport Express.
Also I intend to extend it with Airport Extreme.
Please help.
Thank you.

Sorry, but your post is not clear. The topic of this thread is how to extend an AirPort Express or AirPort Extreme with a Cisco router.
This would mean that the main router was an AirPort device and the Cisco would be extending the existing network provided by the AirPort.
Is that really what you want to do?
If not, then it sounds like your Cisco ISP provided wireless router is your "main" router and you will be using the Time Capsule to extend the network.
Please start another post to tell us exactly.......
What device will be the main router providing your Internet connection and wireless network
What device will extend the network
What operating system that you have on your Mac or PC

How to extend a wifi network of third party router with TC 4th generation?

After searching the communities for a while, I did not find a definitive answer on the following question:
- I recently bought a 4th generation Time Capsule 2TB (MD0322/A), that I also want to use as an extension for our existing wifi network.
- This wifi network is maintained by a Sitecom Wireless 300N XR Gigabit Router. Router is set to work over 2.4 GHz (B+G+N) because of several non-N-wifi devices in the network. The channel in use is currently 11.
- This router provides so called WDS functionality, i.e. the ability for other wifi access points to act as a seamless extension of the basic wifi network (using the same SSID).
- The security settings in the router are WPA2 Mixed, with a password in plain ASCII.
- There seems to be no way to set different security levels for WDS-connections versus normal AP (access point) connections. If WDS is enabled, the security settings of the AP-mode are extended to the WDS connection.
I have set the Sitecom router to enable WDS, and added the MAC-address of the TC in the configuration of this router.
When configuring the Time Capsule, with Airport Utility 5.5.3, I can select the option to use TC to extend an existing network, and I can select the network of choice using the WPA personal or WPA/WPA personal security. However, the TC does not succeed in extending the network, and reports this back. If I manually configure the TC and select the network of choice, Airport Utility reports back that the selected network cannot be extended.
I have read several times in other posts that Time Capsule can only connect to third party routers via WDS using WEP-authentication, but these posts were quite old. I was wondering if this is still the case, or that Apple has updated this functionality in newer versions of TC, and thus there could exist a trick to connect to a WDS using WPA.
I really would appreciate suggestions
Bram Bos

gilles13 wrote:
I have a mac and pc (win7) both are connected thru a network with wifi and allready two access pt.
Airport can not be used to extend a WiFi created by a non-Apple box.
You need to turn off the radio in the router (shut down the existing WiFi). Purchase TWO Airport Express units. Connect one to the router with an Ethernet cable. Configure that one as your primary WiFi network and then use the second Express as the extender.
You need to locate the second Express where it receives a decent WiFi signal. Too far away and it has nothing to extend. Too close and it doesn't buy you anything. Before you plug in the second Express, check to see where the primary WiFi disappears completely. My personal WAG is that you want to locate the second Express 2/3 the distance to that point.
If you use Airport Utility to configure the units, it's a snap. In fact, if you configure the primary first and the extender second, AU will default to exactly the settings that you want.
By the way, I refereed to the Express because it's less expensive than the Extreme and you didn't indicate any need for the Extreme features.

How to extend and Extreme network using Express

so i have the latest airport extreme and noticed that between my computers and iphones i cannot get good signal in my yard...the computers or iphones drop off the network and join again a little later! I configured the AE to extend the network but it seems the computers and iphones etc. never let go of the extreme signal to jump to the AE signal! The distance between the AX and AE are about 50 to 75 feet away from each other with the Extreme being near a window facing my shed where the AE is being used as and extender and as Airtunes for speakers in my yard. Is there something i'm doing wrong?

If the AirPort Express is setup correctly to "extend a wireless network", both the AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express will be using the same wireless network name, security, password and channel.
Apple's instructions to setup the "extend" configuration are here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4259
If you configure the AirPort Express to "join a wireless network", it will not provide any additional wireless coverage in that type of configuration.

Fun Extending an AirPort Network

I previously had an AirPort network configured as follows:
AirPort Extreme(n) Base Station connected to Internet router via Ethernet
Time Capsule and AirPort Express extending the wireless network
The good idea fairy hit me and I decided to do some home cabling. The end result was that the Time Capsule is now also connected to the Internet router via Ethernet. This is where the fun begins.
I'm not sure what to do from here, but here is what I have done so far:
1. AirPort Extreme on wireless channel 1, with the box checked to allow the network to be extended
2. Express still extending the wireless network
3. TC set to "Create a Wireless Network" using the same wireless network name and WPA password as the Extreme, but on channel 4, also with the box checked to allow the network to be extended.
Questions:
1. What, if anything, have I done flat-out wrong, and what could I do better?
2. Specifically, should the Extreme and TC be on different channels?
3. Does it hurt that they both have the box checked to allow the wireless network to be extended?
4. Anything I have missed?
Thanks in advance. It appears that my cabling skills exceed my network admin knowledge.

So in your new configuration, I understand the following: Modem > AEBSn > TC >>> AXn, where ">" represents an Ethernet connection, and ">>>" would be a wireless one. Is this correct?
If so, the following would be the basic settings for each of the routers:
AEBSn
o Wireless Mode = Create a wireless network
o Allow this network to be extended (disabled)
o Wireless Network Name = <enter desired Network Name here>
o Radio Channel Selection = 1
o Connection Sharing = Share a public IP address
TC
o Wireless Mode = Create a wireless network
o Allow this network to be extended (enabled)
o Wireless Network Name = <same as AEBSn>
o Radio Channel Selection = 6 or 11
o Connection Sharing = Off (Bridge Mode)
AXn
o Wireless Mode = Extend a wireless network
o Allow wireless clients (enabled)
o Wireless Network Name = <same as AEBSn>
o Radio Channel Selection = N/A
o Connection Sharing = N/A

How many devices on airport network

How many iOS devices can an Airport network support (original airport+Time capsule)?

Time Capsule supports up to 50 wireless devices.
Not sure what you mean by "original: AirPort. If this is an AirPort Express, it supports 10 wireless devices. Most versions of the AirPort Extreme support 50 wireless devices.

Extending WiFi airport network through ethernet

Dear mac users,
in a three stories house I used to have a wifi network, containing the internet provider modem-router as DHCP, an airport extreme via ethernet to it (bridge mode), and a time capsule and an airport express extending wirelessly the network in the 2 other floors respectively. As I had delays in wireless backup and some hickups in music streaming from the airport express and video streeaming from apple tv, I decided to change the topology and connect the time capsule and airport express via ethernet to my airport extreme. I took the opportunity and used a netgear switch to hardwire 3 other ethernet sockets in my house. In one of those I plugged the apple tv. I followed your guidelines and use the create a network and bridge mode guideline for setting up the devices. I also use the same name and password for my network, (name: abc, and a WPA2 password). Internet access is OK in all stories. Nevertheless I have two irrtating issues:
a) the airport utility cannot see all three airport devices simultaneously (airport extreme, airport express, time capsule), as before. It only sees the ones in range, depending on the position of my mac in the house.
b) it seems that depending on my position in the house the network my computers are joining has different name, ie. abc 2, or abc 3 or abc. In addition the remote app on my iphone and ipad, cannot see the aiport express to stream music when they are not in range to the airport express.
Could you please help me. What's wrong with my setup?
Thank you in advance for you kind support
George

+Do I need to turn of NAT for the roaming network to work?+
If your AirPort Extreme is connected to a modem (only one ethernet port on the device), then you need to configure the AirPort Extreme to handle both DHCP and NAT. This will be done for you automatically when you do the following:
Open AirPort Utility - Manual Setup
Click the Internet icon
Connection Sharing = Share a public IP address
If your AirPort Extreme is connected to a gateway (a combination modem and router that will have 3-4 ethernet ports), then you need to setup the AirPort Extreme as a "bridge"
Open AirPort Utility - Click Manual Setup
Click the Internet icon
Connection Sharing = Off (Bridge Mode)
All of your other devices...Time Capsule, AirPort Express must be configured as follows:
Open AirPort Utility - Click Manual Setup
Click the Wireless tab below the row of icons
Wireless Mode = Create a wireless network
Wireless Network Name = Exact same name as your AirPort Extreme network
Radio Mode = Your choice, but should be similar to the AirPort Extreme
Channel = Automatic*
Wireless Security = Exact same setting as your AirPort Extreme
Wireless Password = Same password as AirPort Extreme
Click the Internet icon
Connect Using = Ethernet
Connection Sharing = Off (Bridge Mode)
Update to save settings
* With a lot of devices, you may want to set the Channel manually. Set up separate channels for each device and keep the channels as far apart as possible.

Extending the AirPort network

Can I use AirPort express model no A1264 as a range extender with AirPort express model no A1392 as the primary router ?

If you begin with a "hard reset" of each base station, and connect them as you intend to use them, AirPort Utility will lead you step by step to the correct configuration. Make sure the A1264 Express is well within the wireless range of the primary router.

Better to create or extend my existing network? (Time Capsule, Express, AppleTV with wireless modem internet)

We have Optus ADSL broadband (Australia) running wireless via a 'Sagemcom F@ST 3864 Optus' modem. We have an Airport Time Capsule (for backup) and an Airport Express (for music connection) and Apple TV.
I currently have the Time Capsule (Express & TV) set up as their own network, sharing the internet from the Optus wireless network. Is creating a new network like this the best scenario? Or is it better to extend the existing Optus wireless network? Besides extension for range/reception, does either option have particular benefits over the other?
Other than internet, we just stream music/movies from laptops & phones to speakers/TV, so the thinking behind creating a new network rather than extending, was based on the assumption that the Time Capsule may be better at data transfer than the modem?
Any thoughts would be great!

Is creating a new network like this the best scenario? Or is it better to extend the existing Optus wireless network? Besides extension for range/reception, does either option have particular benefits over the other?
I would say it is about 50-50.. 6 of one .. half a dozen of the other.
Any scenario you dream up has a set of good points and bad points.
So some factors.
1. I presume you have the TC plugged by ethernet into the Sagem modem.. bridged and creating its own network.. using two different network names keeps the local connection load contained which is good thing.
Wireless is fundamentally poor. It has limits on being only able to handle a single client at a time.. so time slicing between all the clients. plus it is half duplex.. which is simply it can either transmit or receive not both.
In comparison, Ethernet via modern switches.. can have multiple computers talking to each other at once and can both tx and rx, ie full duplex. So using extend wireless is very bad. It means wireless is much slower as each packet is double handled.
Using multiple APs connected back by ethernet to a main router is definitely the right way to go. They can be in roaming or setup with completely different names.. that is almost irrelevant. It is easier though to manage when you do the naming and setup so you specifically allocate load.
For example.. if the TC is doing backups from TM on the computers and you start having streaming issues with the Apple TV, split the load, by naming the 2.4ghz and 5ghz differently in the TC.. and force backups to 5ghz and streaming to 2.4ghz (or visa versa depending on range issues etc.).
2. Network wise different AP should all live happily together in one happy family. The reality is that more equipment leads to more issues. I have been hitting a few issues lately with wireless routers exactly in your setup being unavailable to the network, if a computer happens to be connected to the wrong router.
For example a computer connected to the Sagem, whether by wireless or ethernet, may have issues backing up to the TC. It shouldn't but it does. I am seeing Mavericks in particular giving strife this way.
Someone recently posted a very helpful article on why this is happening.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5863043?tstart=0
For most people in a home network you do not want the hassle of running a server. But you can see that sometimes things start getting complicated.
Best principle is hope for the best.. set it up as per what you have done.. if it bombs or is unstable.. work back through the issues.. there are some alternative configurations which are more complicated.. eg running the TC with static IP, that seems to alleviate some of the bugs.
3. What works is best. Whatever the theory.. try a few setups.. what you setup that works well for you is the best even if the theory says no.. that is bad.
eg One post a person used roaming network with all AP's fixed to the same channel, so the idevices would roam properly. This is wrong.. but works.. normal roaming network laptops seem to be able to roam well but idevices do not. Pick what works.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/25138680?ac_cid=tw123456#25138680

Changing the radio channel on Airport Express used to extend an Airport network?

Hi,
I'm using a Time Capsule as my primary wifi base station and an Airport Express to extend the network. The two devices are connected by WiFi.
My problem is that the 5GHz network of the Airport Express is using channel 100 and the reception just 5 meters away from it is everythign but great. According to Apple WiFI diagnostics I should use on of the low intensity channel like e.g. 36, 40.
My problem is that I dont know how to change the channel. Using Aiport Utilities there is no option to select the radio channe in the options for the wireless network. Is this not possible at all?
Thanks a lot for your help!

What model is the TC?
If you are extending the TC by wireless then the channel must be set on the TC not the Express.
Go to the wireless tab of the airport utility and select wireless options. Channels are there.
But if you have the new AC model the channel will not change for 5ghz.. you will not be able to adjust it even if you change the numbers..
You really should use 2.4ghz for areas where signal is bad.. it is still much better than 5ghz.

How to extend 5g N network at N speed?

I'm having trouble with my "5G N only" network going through walls. I need to add an extender. However, I'm assuming if I add an airport express (that i already own) it will not extend the network at 5G, N speeds? Do I need to add another new airport extreme to do this?

I have a 5Ghz connection which goes through two floors and I have maximum signal strength (15 bars in Internet Connect)
How far are you wanting to extend it?

Using a Time Capsule to extend an airport network

I'm making plans to replace my aging (6-8 years old) Airport equipment with newer equivalents. My current setup consists of an Airport Express acting as the main router (wired into the ADSL modem and stereo), with an Airport Extreme extending the network in another room (with connected printer). I realise that one would normally use the Extreme as the main unit and extend it with the Express, but logistical reasons (the phone line is right next to the stereo) mean that I need to use the Express as the main unit or else lose the stereo from the network.
Anyway, I plan to replace the Airport Express with a newer Express and replace the Airport Extreme with a Time Capsule. Ideally the network setup would remain the same, with straight swap-outs of the units. However, I have been given conflicting information regarding whether a Time Capsule can or cannot be used to extend a network in this way (ie. whether or not it can be used to extend a network in which the main router is an Airport Express).
Can anyone provide me with a definitive answer to this? Many thanks.

My policy on answering questions is that I never answer one unless I've done it myself to verify.
In addition, you might want to refer to Apple's own Support Document linked below on extending....which anyone working at an Apple Store would have immediate access to with a few clicks at the computer:
Unfortunately, if someone at an Apple Store told you that the Time Capsule could not be used to "extend"......he was just wrong or too lazy to look up the answer, so he made one up. You might want to show him his own support document...and then talk to another sales guy there when you need product information.
Products Affected
AirPort Express 802.11n (1st Generation), AirPort Extreme 802.11n (1st Generation), AirPort Extreme 802.11n (3rd Generation), Time Capsule 802.11n (1st Generation), Time Capsule 802.11n (2nd Generation), Time Capsule 802.11n (3rd Generation)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4259
Good luck on your consensus building.

How do i get airport extreme to see 2 express devices after i told it to forget devices

when setting up express devices I indicated to forget devices and now need to set them up but airport utility nolonger sees them. how do i correct my mistake

To set up the AirPort Express......
With an AirPort Express powered on for a few minutes, hold in the reset button on the device for 10-12 seconds and release. Allow a full minute for the Express to restart to a slow, blinking amber light.
Open AirPort Utility
Click on Other WiFi Devices
Click on AirPort Express
The setup utility will open up and suggest a configuration for you. Follow the prompts.
If you are using an iPad or iPhone for the setup....
Tap on Setttings on the Home Screen
Tap on WiFi
Under the title of Setup a new AirPort Base Station....tap on AirPort Express
Set up other Express device(s) the same way.

How to extend an Airport network further than an Express' range?

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