Additional Ethernet ports on Airport Extreme Base Station

I would like to know how one could add additional Ethernet ports to an Airport Extreme Base Station - I need 6 ethernet ports.
Is it possible to daisychain two Airport Express Base Stations so that all computers can see each other, or is it best to buy an ethernet switch?
If the latter is the answer, hardware recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks

Is it possible to daisychain two Airport Express Base Stations so that all computers can see each other, or is it best to buy an ethernet switch?
It would be best (cheapest) to use an Ethernet switch instead of getting a second wireless router with a built-in switch.
If the latter is the answer, hardware recommendations would be appreciated.
A 4-8 port model from any of the name brand vendors should do just fine. An example would be the Linksys SD2008.

Similar Messages

Printing to Ethernet Printers Using Airport Extreme Base Station 802.11n

I don't want anything extraordinary. I think what I have to set up is pretty simple.
I have a PowerMac G5 tower and an Airport Network with an older 802.11g AExBS connected to my cable modem. I just acquired an AExBS 802.11n. While I'm sure that people would tell me to ditch the older one an just use the newer one, that is not today's task.
All I would like to do is to use the AExBS for my 3 Ethernet printers. The printers are:
Brother HL-2070N
Brother MFC-420CN
HP Color Laserjet CP2025dn
Each printer is plugged into each of the 3 ethernet ports and not the WAN port. I didn't have any problems using my Netgear WGT624 wireless router, so I don't know why the AExBS is giving me such a headache. Is there something simply I'm missing in the instructions? Can anybody tell me if I'm missing something here?

Now I have managed to delete all but my directly connected USB printers in the Print & Fax area of my System Preferences. What gives?
I thought this was going to be straight forward. They don't even address hooking up ethernet printers in the manual. I've looked over the web and see other people having the same problem, but their original setup appears to be different and/or more difficult.

Please help me connect eMac, cable modem, and Airport Extreme Base Station

I connected Ethernet cord from cable modem to Airport Extreme Base Station and then another Ethernet cord from Airport Extreme Base Station to eMac, but I could not get internet access on my eMac that way. I'm only getting internet access by directly connecting eMac to cable modem. Can someone please help me with a step by step explanation of how to set these 3 machines up so that I can have internet access on both my eMac and, wirelessly, on my new MacBook. Thank you very much in advance.
eMac & MacBook Mac OS X (10.3)
eMac & MacBook Mac OS X (10.3)
eMac & MacBook Mac OS X (10.3)

jenngee, Welcome to the discussion area!
Ensure that you power off the cable modem for a minute or so when you switch it to another Ethernet device.
Ensure that you are connecting the WAN port of the AirPort Extreme base station (AEBS) to the cable modem. The eMac should connect to the LAN port.
The steps for setting this up can be found in the "Designing AirPort Networks" (direct PDF link) document. Look through that document and try to get it setup. Then return here if you have more questions. Don't forget to post what you tried and the issues you encountered.

How to add Ethernet ports to an Airport Extreme Base Station?

I have successfully connected an HP Office Jet 6310 to the Airport Extreme Base Station, after downloading the latest software from HP. It is printing wirelessly, and it is great so far.
The only problem is that the cable modem connected to ADSL has only one Ethernet port, and the Airport Extreme Base Station also has one Ethernet port. However, I need one more port to connect a phone (Vonage Telephone Adapter = VTA).
What is the easiest way to achieve this? I saw several other messages discussing hubs and routers, but the answer is not clear yet. If I purchase an additional router, should it be connected between the cable modem and the Airport Extreme Base Station, or the other way round?
Any help or advice would be appreciated!
Thank you in advance for your time.
MacBook Pro with 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.7)

One final vital piece of information, which should be my conclusion on this topic.
Following the advice received, I purchased a Switch from Linksys. Since the device didn't work for my purpose (dividing the Ethernet connexion into an Ethernet line for the HP printer and the Vonage phone), I called the Linksys support.
I was told that what I needed was not a switch, but a router. I thus had to get reimbursed for the switch and hunt for the proper router.
Finally, today, I have been able to find the item corresponding to my needs:
A Belkin Wireless G Router F5D7230-4
It costs less than 50 US$ and has all the necessary Ethernet ports. The setup is very simple, and I got it operational within a couple of minutes, despite some small problems getting the setup Wizard to work. It is Mac OS X compatible.
Thus, at the end, I have got the HP 6310 Office printer and the Vonage VTA phone working together, with a robust Wireless network including WPA security. I would recommend this type of setting.
The only trouble is that the AirMac Extreme Base Station has become completely useless! I will perhaps keep it as a souvenir, or as a decoration in the living room... This wouldn't have happened if the creators of this nice object, which is extremely expensive for what it provides, would have thought of including at least two Ethernet ports!
The unexpected reply to my query could thus be ironically formulated by saying: "replace the Airport Extreme Base Station with a cheaper an more efficient device." Sorry for that!
With my best regards to those who took the trouble to read this thread to the end.
Yours, Hotaru

Have 2 airport extreme base stations connected in chain. Airport utility shows slave unit without power. However, power is on slave unit, but status lights do not show up at all. Small green lights at each back port blink. Anyone have any ideas?

Have 2 airport extreme base stations connected in chain. Airport utility shows slave unit without power. However, power is on slave unit, but status lights do not show up at all. Small green lights at each back port blink. Anyone have any ideas?

Unfortunately, you are describing the symptoms of an AirPort Extreme with a failing (or failed) internal power supply.
As a last resort, try a Factory Default Reset on the AirPort Extreme as follows:
Power off the AirPort by pulling the power cord
Wait a minute or two
Hold in the reset button first, and keep holding it in for an additional 8-10 seconds while you simultaneously plug the power back into the AirPort
Release the reset button and allow a full minute for the AirPort to restart
Now try to configure the AirPort again. If you continue to see the same symptoms as before, the AirPort will need to be replaced.

Using the WAN port as a "LAN" port on the Airport Extreme Base Station...

Hi everyone,
I'm re-building my home wireless network and I'm doing so in preparation for the Slingbox AV I ordered last week. Here's my current setup:
I have a DSL modem attached to an Airport Express (802.11n) in my office broadcasting my internet signal. I have an Airport Extreme Base Station (802.11g) set up in my living room as a WDS extender. I currently use the base station in my living room to connect the DishNetwork ViP722 DVR to the internet and allow me to set recordings remotely on my iPhone when I'm away from home. I use the LAN port on the base station to do this, and now with the Slingbox on the way (should be here early next week), I'm wondering what I need to do to make an internet connection available for the Slingbox AV.
My question: Will I be able to simply use the WAN port as a "LAN" port since the Airport Extreme Base Station is being used as a WDS? It'd be awesome if the WAN port would become, essentially, a LAN port since it isn't being used.
Thanks in advance for your advice and insight!

slugoo wrote:
My question: Will I be able to simply use the WAN port as a "LAN" port since the Airport Extreme Base Station is being used as a WDS? It'd be awesome if the WAN port would become, essentially, a LAN port since it isn't being used.
I'd be surprised if that worked. The operation of an AirPort base station depends on keeping the WAN port and the LAN port(s) separate, as those normally are on two different networks.
You might consider buying an Ethernet hub or switch, which would allow your AirPort Extreme's LAN port to be shared. Here's an example of an inexpensive one:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7169244&st=ethernet+switch&type=pr oduct&id=1110266457435

How do I open the same ports on an Airport Extreme Base Station for multiple computers at the same time?

As the title suggests...
I have a mix of five Mac and PC's at home using an Airport Extreme Base Station as the router.   I need many ports opened on the AEBS for all of the computers- not just one computer. (for example: three people want to play TF2 on Steam at the same time; each machine needs the correct ports open on the router).   Port forwarding only allows me to forward a given port to a single IP, yet I need that port open for five differnt IP's, all at the same time.
How do I do that on an AEBS?
In the same way, I have a small office of four iMacs using an old airport with the same exact issue.   I would like to be able to connect to all of them remotely with Apple Remote Desktop, but the port forwarding on the airport only allows a port to forward to a single IP.   I want to be able to tunnel into the office network and log onto any machine behind the Airport extreme... not just a single IP.    I currently have it set up where I can tunnel into the office from my house, I can find the one machine that the port forwarding has been assigned to, I can log on and everything is just fine... with one machine.    How do I open the firewall for the other machines?
TL,DR version: How do you open ports on an Airport Extreme Base Station instead of forwarding ports?   Forwarding ports doesn't work for multiple IP's.

You can open a single or multiple ports to a single device or different ports to different devices, but you cannot open the same port to multiple devices via the AirPort Utility for the Apple routers.

I have a AirPort Extreme Base Station with Gigabit Ethernet 802.11n ?

I have the 802.11n Airport Extreme Base it went bad so Apple Sent me a new one to put into my
office where I have a iMac 24" 2.4ghz with really fast internet
I also HAD a AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11g and AirTunes G not N so when I received the
new 802.11n Airport Extreme I sold the Airport Express 802.11g now my Macbook Pro 17" 2.33mhz
which is in my family room and that is also where the Airport Express with iTunes was located
now my internet is like really slow on the MBP 17" I have 5 bars in the pizza menu bar but my
internet speed is really BAD on the MBP 17" and I have 16mg speed on the net
+BIG ? DO I NEED TO BUY A 802.11n AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes??????+
TO EXTEND THE RANGE OF MY AirPort Extreme Base Station with Gigabit Ethernet Which is in my
Office where my iMac 24" 2.4ghz is located and the internet zooms on the iMac but not my
my Macbook Pro 17"
Please help as I don't want to spend money on another 802.11n if it will not extend
I
Message was edited by: macman60

So you agree to the lose of the Airport Express removal has caused me to lose enough of a signal to make the Internet...
Sorry but I'm not sure what this long run-on sentence is trying to say.
You asked if the network could be wirelessly extended and that is what I replied to.

What's the most recent opinion about Time Machine backups to Hard Drives connected to the USB port on the Airport Extreme Base Station (5th generation)?

I have been searching the Apple communities and Internet for a final answer. I just bought an Airport Extreme Base Station (5th generation) and LaCie d2 quadra 1TB external drive as a replacement for TWO failed Time Capsules, neither of which Apple would replace due to failed power supplies. I formatted the 1TB drive using Disk Utility (Mac OS extended (journaled)) from my MacBook Pro, and then plugged into the Airport Extreme Base Station USB port. The Airport Extreme Base Station see the Hard Drive, and my MacBook Pro sees the Hard Drive in my finder under shared resources. Time Machine, however, does not see the drive. Is there a solution for this problem? If Time Machine will not work, is there another software product out there that will work, like Carbon Copy. Having to plug the backup drive into the USB port of your laptop every evening kind of defeats the purpose of having a laptop. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Keeping in mind that this is not supported by Apple, I have been successful at doing the following:
1) Format the entire drive (1 Partition) as Mac Extended (Journaled). You must click in Options and set it as a GUID Partition Table (first option)
2) Plug drive via USB to AEBS
3) Using Airport Utility, use Manual Setup, then under Disks, select the new Disk and click File Sharing, then Enable File Sharing and Secured Shared Disks (recommended, of course). Other settings are up to you.
4) IMPORTANT: you will NOT see this Disk in Time Machine until you open Finder and double-click on it. You will not need to do this again (hopefully).
5) Now it should appear in Time Machine. Remember to exclude any large files like Virtual Machines, since they will be re-backed-up (is that a word?) every time it changes in any way.
6) Remember that the first backup (over WiFi) is the longest. Leave the computer alone during this period.
Good luck, and let us all know how it went for you!

How do I set up a wireless network with an AirPort Extreme base station and two airport extreme but between apple devices either by ethernet

How do I set up a wireless network with an AirPort Extreme base station and two airport extreme but between apple devices either by ethernet

This Apple support document provides good general information on configuring different types of neworks using multiple AirPort routers.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4145
In particular, you would want to focus on the information regarding a "Roaming Network"

Printer and AirPort Extreme Base Station with Gigabit Ethernet

Hello!
I own a macbook, one windows xp pc, and two windows vista notebooks. I bought a airport extreme base station. I set it up with my macbook at first and I do a print and it works. I do the same with the others. I install the printers drives to all notebooks. Then tried to print and only one of them worked. They all have bonjour download for windows. So i restarted all the pc's and mac and tried to print and never prints. On the pc's i get a error message. On the mac i get an its busy and never prints. All of them connect to the internet, but no printing. I have the printer connected to the base station. I did two prints and then I couldnt print after that. Internet works. Please i need some help to fix this. Thanks in advance

Hi
Maybe you already have fixed your printing problem. I'm no expert but I sometimes have had printing problems and I feel for you. However, first of all. What sort of printer do you have? It sounds to me that one of the pc printing documents got stuck somewhere on its way to the printer and now it is taking up space on the network (figuratively speaking ofcourse). I can recall something happening to my network/printer some years ago. Unfortunately I can not remember what I did to fix the problem but if I were you I would do the following: First I would disconnect the pc from the network and then try to reset the printer clearing its print memory. Then I would try to get the mac to print again. If succesfull I would take the mac off the network and connect one of the pc's and get that to print. If I succeded I would repeat the procedure with the other pc's. If I wasn't succesfull I would clear the memory again and then try with one of the other pc's. But I would only try one computer at the time to try to isolate the problem. Maybe you have already tried this and since pc's are a mystery to me I dont't know how to help you in that department. However using bonjour on the pc's I would not expect to have problems (though I use Windowc XP print menu on my vertual pc - works fine).
Hope that you will solve your problem soon.
Berit

How do I find a hard drive connected to Airport Extreme Base Station?

*Apple Says:* "If your base station supports it, you can connect a USB hard disk to the USB port on your base station and computers on your network (both wired and wireless) can connect to it to access, share, and store files and data."
Cool. So I followed the instructions. The drive is recognized by the base station and listed in the Airport Utility. It looks like it's ready to go...
So... How do I access the drive? I don't see it on my desktop, it's not under network. I've tried "Connect to server..." and browsing, I can't see the drive, anywhere. Yeah, I've searched the crap out of this issue on google and this message board as well as apple support knowledge base. I'm sure this is a simple issue and I'm just missing the obvious. Help me out.

Hello Timothy Uhl. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
Try the following to mount the disk...
o Click on the Desktop to enter Finder
o Go > Connect to Server...
o Enter 10.0.1.1 for the server
o Enter Disk Password
o Connect
If this still doesn't solve the problem, let's double-check your disk sharing settings...
AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn) - File Sharing Setup
Either connect to the AEBSn's wireless network or temporarily connect your computer directly (using an Ethernet cable) to one of the LAN ports of the AEBSn, and then, using the AirPort Utility in Manual Mode, check these settings:
Disks - File Sharing
o Secure Shared Disks: <With disk password | With base station password | With accounts >
(Note: Choose "With a disk password," or "With base station password" if you want to secure the shared disk with a password, or choose "With accounts" if you want to secure the disk using accounts.
If you choose to use accounts, click Configure Accounts, click the Add "+" button, and then enter a name and password for each user that will access the disk.)
o Guest Access: <Not allowed | Read only | Read and write>
o Share disks over Ethernet WAN port: (unchecked)
(Note: Select the "Share disks over Ethernet WAN port" checkbox if you want to provide remote access to the disk over the WAN port.)
o Advertise disks globally using Bonjour: (unchecked)
o Workgroup: <Windows workgroup name>
o WINS server: <WINS server IP address>

Solution to Airport Extreme Base Station + Airport Express networking probs

I've been investigating this for 3 straight days after inadvertently destabilizing my network. There are tons of posts discussing a variety of issues, all of which seem related. My goal here is to provide links to other relevant posts and explain what I ended up doing to get things to work.
First, the background. You can skip below to SOLUTION if you don't really care... However, I highly recommend you take the time to read everything, as you'll get other useful information in the BACKGROUND section. I'm guessing many of you have similar, related problems so BACKGROUND might help provide context (and solutions) to some things you are seeing...
MY SETUP:
AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS) of type b/g (round one, not square one), connects to the cable modem, and creates a WDS network that is then shared across two standard AirPort Express (AEX) units (100megabit, not the gigabit ones). One AEX serves as a relay unit that accepts clients, the other serves as a remote unit that also accepts clients. The intent is to show a single network throughout the house and let users log on to one network and move between networking units without having to switch from network to network.
I have a variety of networked devices throughout the house all running on the same network (2 Mac Pros, a Powerbook G4, a Mac Mini, an Apple TV, a Windows XP laptop, two iPhones, two wifi printers, and a 5-unit Sonos system, plus the AEBS and two AEXs). Yeah, I'm a geek.
The Mac Pros are both running 10.4.11, and the Powerbook is running 10.5.2.
AEBS is running firmware 5.7
AEXs are running firmware 6.3
All Macs were initially accessing configs via the recently released AirPort Utility 5.3.1. More on that later.
BACKGROUND:
I've had this network setup working for about a year now. Recently, I've been having poor network performance problems and came to the conclusion it was a LAN problem (ie. problem with my home network, as opposed to with my ISP). Upon initial investigation, I began by looking at my networking logs (via AirPort Utility 5.3.1). You get to those by selecting the unit in question, choosing "Manual Configuration", the selecting the "Advanced" tab up top with the "Logging and SNMP" sub-tab. Click the "Logs and Statistics" button therein for log details from that unit.
The first thing I noticed was "Administrative access denied to ff80::xxxxxxxxx" messages - a lot of them. I didn't recognize the ff80:: address in question, and so became concerned it was someone outside the network trying to hack one (or all) of the AEBS/AEX units. You can see threads discussing that investigation here:
"Hack or panic?" - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1438486
"Administrative access denied" - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1438865
Long and short of it is that the recent AirPort Utility 5.3.1 release (current as of March 13) seems to have problems (keychain) when attempting to access the AEBS and AEX units. The "Administrative access denied" logs actually refer to the client machine you are using when you try to read the logs. The ff80::xxxxxx address is simply the IPv6 address for the machine you are using; if you turn off IPv6 on your client machine, that address should switch over to begin showing a regular IP address instead (something like 10.0.1.xxx), which makes it easier to associate the IP to the machine. I explain how to deactivate IPv6 on both Tiger (10.4.x) and Leopard (1.5.x) here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6814978#6814978
Anyway, in the process of investigating the "Administrative access denied" problem, I began tinkering with my AEX settings. Specifically, I ended up performing a hard factory reset (unplug unit, plug back in while holding down the little button with paper click/pen for ~10-15 seconds until light flashes green 4x then reverts to amber/yellow/orange). I began reconfiguring my entire WDS network using the newly updated AirPort Utility 5.3.1, and that's when the trouble started.
(If you are having problems seeing either your AirPort Extreme Base Station or AirPort Express, read this:)
In short, each time I thought I had properly configured things and then confirmed settings (kicking off a reboot on the AEX unit) the unit would restart with new settings but not properly join the WDS and not show up in the AirPort Utility list of units. More specifically, I would start with a "wiped" AEX and see both the AEBS and the AEX in my AirPort Utility list, but upon confirm/reboot the AEX would disappear and the AEBS would remain. However, that's not 100% correct. It seems that sometimes I would end up with the AEX and NOT the AEBS. Because both the AEX and AEBS were theoretically "hosting" the same network name (remember, WDS shares the network name across units) my auto-login feature for my client computer's wifi seemed to "jump on" whichever unit it first saw hosting the default network name for my house. In other words, it seems what was really happening was that I was ending up with two separate networks in my house, both with the same name but not talking to each other (as opposed to two units sharing the same network name and internet connection). The AEX would continue to blink orange/amber/yellow (whichever color it is to your eyes ) because it could not grab an internet connection -- and if I was on the network through that AEX unit I would not get internet. But if i was connected through the AEBS I would continue to have internet access. As far as my client computer (my Mac Pro) was concerned, I was on the home wifi network even if I was on the AEX rather than the AEBS -- it would show the home wifi network name as the name of the network it had connected to. But when I opened the AirPort Utility 5.3.1 I would see only the AEX (if I was connected through it) or the AEBS (if connected through it) -- a clear indication that the units were not truly sharing the same network.
I tried rebooting and reconfiguring the AEBS and AEX about 50 times (literally). I even tracked down an older version of the AirPort Utility 5.2.1 via this thread (see Tesserax post):
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1067565
One interesting thing re: 5.2.1 is that the "Administrative access denied" errors summarized above disappeared. As explained in a post reference above, the going theory is that this a permissions/keychain problem new and unique to AirPort Utility 5.3.1. However, even though 5.2.1 does have a slightly different interface with different settings, I still couldn't get the WDS to work.
EVENTUALLY, I came across this post:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1422527
MuaddibOfArrakis walks through setting up a WDS from scratch, and the workflow is different than what is possible with either AirPort Utility 5.3.1 or 5.2.1. He's doing it with the old version of AirPort Admin Utility, which I fortunately saved a copy of many moons ago when I had somewhat-related problems with my WDS (since forgotten). In fact, it's a lot easier. What's nice about this older app is that it literally does the heavy lifting of "connecting" the AEBS and AEX units during the configuration -- it reboots both at the same time as the config is happening, and lets you choose from a list of available units to "add" to your WDS network. In short, it's a FAR SUPERIOR workflow even though some of the GUI isn't as intuitive as the newer AirPort Utilities that were designed to replace it.
SOLUTION:
If still have a copy of the AirPort Admin Utility follow the instructions from MuaddibOfArrakis here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1422527
If not, try setting up your WDS network using AirPort Utility (hereafter AU), with these configs (take from my now-working network), as viewed through AirPort Utility 5.3.1.
I. Configure your AEBS.
Select the AEBS from AU, and choose "Manual Setup"
1. Under the AirPort tab up top:
a. Under "Base Station" sub-tab:
i.) assign a name for that specific unit, so you can later identify the specific unit from the list of units -- this is the name that will show up beside the unit in the AU list of configurable units. You can name it something like "kitchen", or "office". I have mine numbered, so XXXXXv1, XXXXXv2 etc where the XXXXX is the name of the shared network and the numbers help me tell the units apart. Just be sure you name each uniquely, and if you have several you might write the name on the unit itself.
ii.) pick a password for logging into that unit. This is different from the network password, its a security check to get in and change the configs on this unit later. Be sure to remember it in your keychain for the sake of simplicity, and write it down somewhere secure.
iii.) if you choose to set time automatically, pick a location that you will use consistently across all your units. I use time.apple.com.
iv.) uncheck "Allow configuration over Ethernet WAN port" unless you want to be able to remotely mess with settings -- which you almost certainly do not need to do.
v.) I left the "Options" button alone - no settings there.
b. Under the "Wireless" sub-tab:
i.) Wireless Mode: "Participate in a WDS network"
ii.) Network Name: this will be the name of your wifi network shared by all units, so be sure to remember what you pick. If you are already connected to this AEBS via wifi while you are making these changes, then you can use the same wifi name you already have set up -- you don't have to change it. Note that if you DO change it, after reboot your will LOSE connection to the network and have to reset your wifi settings on your client machine to match the new network/password in order to be able to access the network.
iii.) pick a Radio Mode. I'm using b/g compatible. You'll want to do the same, unless you are on the new gigabit AEX. I'm pretty sure about this, but not 100% -- others post if I'm wrong.
iv.) choose a Channel. This can be a more complicated procedure, but for now just pick something consistent across all your units. If you get everything working and find that you're having intermittent network problems, you could later try changing your Channel -- it can pick up interference from phones, microwaves, etc and changing it can help.
v.) I have wireless security set to WPA/WPA2 Personal.
vi.) Wireless Password is the password for access to your wifi network (not your unit itself). If you are connecting to your AEBS via wifi while doing this config, then you can use the same password you have already set up. Pick a good one unless you want other folks jumping on your wifi and stealing your bandwidth and/or credit card numbers . Remember it in your keychain and write it down someplace secure, because you'll need it for the other units too. As noted above, note that if you DO change it, after reboot your will LOSE connection to the network and have to reset your wifi settings on your client machine to match the new network/password in order to be able to access the network.
vii.) Click the "Wireless Options" button. I have my multicast rate set to 2mbps, transmit at 100%, timeout at 1 hour, and i have checked the "Create a closed network". This last step keeps your network from advertising itself to the outside world. Users can only find it by explicitly typing the network name into their wifi settings (e.g. AirPort -> Other... then enter Network Name, Security and Password). I leave interference robustness unchecked.
c. Under the "WDS" sub-tab:
i.) the AEBS should have it's WDS Mode set to "WDS main".
ii.) Check the "allow wireless clients" box on the AEBS; this lets you connect client machines to it directly too.
iii.) hit the plus button to add the Remote system (AEX). There are two types of configs for the AEX's - "remote" and "relay". Assuming you have 3 units like me (2 AEX and 1 AEBS) the key question is whether you will place each AEX within direct reach of the AEBS (remotes), or if you will have one AEX in the middle connecting to an AEBS on one side and an AEX on the other -- where the furthest AEX is out of reach from the AEBS (remote) and connects only to the AEX in the middle (relay). I'm using a relay setup. If you are using relay, you can still set up the AEX relay to serve client computers too -- it doesnt have to JUST relay. More on that later. For now, you want to add only AEX units that will talk DIRECTLY to the AEBS. So if you have a setup like mine, just add one (the one in the middle - the relay). If you have two remotes connecting directly to the AEBS, you will add them both here. When you hit the '+' button it will ask for both an ID and description. For description I use the name I'm assigning to each unique unit (as above, "kitchen" or XXXXXv1 or whatever you use). For AirPort ID, use the number listed on the AEX unit itself (not the number for "Ethernet", also on the AEX unit).
d. Under the "Access" sub-tab:
i.) I have it set to "Not Enabled". I'd suggest you start that way too, and you can go change it later if you get everything working correctly.
2. Under the "Internet" tab up top:
a. Under the "Internet Connection" sub-tab:
i.) Connect Using: Ethernet
ii.) Configure IPv4: Using DHCP
iii.) Ethernet WAN Port: Automatic (Default)
iv.) Connection Sharing: Share a public IP address
b. Under the "DHCP" sub-tab:
i.) DHCP Beginning Address: 10.0 . 1 . 2
ii.) DHCP Ending Address: 10.0.1.200
DHCP Lease: 4 hours
c. Under the "NAT" sub-tab:
i.) nothing should be checked;
ii.) nothing under Port Mappings either
3. Under the "Printers and Advanced" tabs up top:
Nothing special needs to be configured there.
THAT'S IT.
=============
I. Configure your AEX(s)
Select the AEX from AU, and choose "Manual Setup"
1. Under the "AirPort" tab up top:
a. Under "Base Station" sub-tab:
i.) pick a unique name for this unit, same logic as for AEBS
ii.) pick a password specific for accessing this unit, same logic as for AEBS
iii.) Set time automatically: be sure to use the same settings used on your AEBS
iv.) Options: no need to set any
b. Under "Wireless" sub-tab:
i.) Wireless Mode: Participate in a WDS network
ii.) Network Name: same name used for AEBS, this is the name of your wifi network
iii.) Channel: same as AEBS
iv.) All settings here (those above, plus Security and Password & in Options button) should be the same as for AEBS settings on this tab
c. Under the "WDS" sub-tab:
...if AEX is "in the middle" (as described above):
i.) WDS Mode: WDS relay
ii.) Allow wireless clients: check (unless you only want to bridge between the edges without letting folks connect on this AEX in the middle)
iii.) WDS Main: set to the AirPort ID (aka MAC address) for the AEBS. You can find it on the bottom of the AEBS, either labeled as such or at the bottom beside the logo of a wireless signal (square logo, with semi-circles mimicing a radio signal).
iv.) WDS Remotes: click the '+' to add any AEX's that will connect to this relay rather than directly to the AEBS. Same deal as above, use the name in the description and use the AirPort ID from the side of the AEX (not the Ethernet ID).
.....if AEX is connecting to a relay ("on the end", as above) or if there is no relay and AEX connects directly to the AEBS:
i.) WDS Model: WDS remote
ii.) Allow wireless clients: checked
iii.) WDS Main: if connected to a relay, use the AirPort ID of the relay AEX. If connected to the AEBS directly, use the AirPort ID of the AEBS
d. Under the "Access" sub-tab:
i.) MAC Address Access Control: Not Enabled (for now, you can change later)
2. Under the "Internet" tab up top:
a. Under the "Internet Connection" sub-tab:
i.) Connect Using: AirPort (WDS) -- should be selected and gray'ed out.
ii.) Configure IPv4: Using DHCP
iii.) Ethernet WAN Port: Automatic (Default)
iv.) Connection Sharing: Off (Bridge Mode)
3. Under the Music, Printers and Advanced tabs up top:
Nothing special needs to be configured there. You can worry about AirTunes settings later...
That should be it. I'd recommend setting up the AEBS first, then the relay (if applicable), then the remotes. Initially, you can bring each unit in the same room with you for configuring. After configured and restarted the AEX should blink then turn solid green. If it turns green you should be good to go.
HOPE THIS HELPS. As noted above, I did not config through AirPort Utility 5.3.1 so I haven't tested this procedure through that app. However, after getting my network to work I went back and transposed all settings into this post to help others. Please provide feedback on whether or not this is working, so we can collectively try to move towards a setup procedure that works for everyone....
Good luck!
Message was edited by: b.byrd

I'm not convinced that the problem lies in Airport Utility. This same thing was happening to me, nearly exactly as you describe it. The thing is that with me, the problems clearly started when I updated the firmware in my Airport Express (n). That's when all the wacky stuff started happening. Sometimes it would show up in AU, sometimes it didn't and even if it didn't, I could still access the internet through it.
But as you said, the problems got really bad when another Express (b/g) was put on the network with it. Even when it did work, the (b/g) would make it impossibly slow.
You know more about this than me, and clearly have more patience if you've restarted the network fifty times. I gave up at about ten.
In any case, your solution is more of a work around and if you're still having that slow connection problem, I'm not sure you've got it. But thanks for your reporting of this. At least I know I'm not crazy.

Define static IP for both LAN and W-LAN devices with an Airport Extreme Base Station

Hey guys,
I have a lot of different devices connected to my Airport Extreme Base Station (5th Gen) either wirelessly or via ethernet cable. Since I control some of them via VNC and currently have to find the corresponding IP-addresses through trial-and-error, I'd like to define static IP-addresses for the computers in question. My network consists of a cable modem connected to a TP-Link WR1043ND router in the basement, from which an ethernet cable leads to the WAN-port of the aforementioned Airport Extreme Base Station on the 2nd floor. Two of the devices I want to remote-access are wired to a D-Link DES-1005D switch, which in turn is connected to the 1st ethernet port of the Airport Base Station. The remaining 3 remote clients are connected over 802.11n. All computers run Windows.
My problem now is that even though I was able to define static IP-addresses employing the "DHCP only" router mode, this didn't seem to work for the two computers connected via ethernet. Not only did I lose any internet connectivity with those, I even lost the ability to remote-connect to them using the VNC-viewer.
The question now is: how do I specify static IP-addresses for my ethernet devices correctly?
I hope you can help me.

My network consists of a cable modem connected to a TP-Link WR1043ND router in the basement, from which an ethernet cable leads to the WAN-port of the aforementioned Airport Extreme Base Station on the 2nd floor.
If you read the information in the other post, my answer would be the same here.
The Router Mode of DHCP Only is rarely used, and would only really be appropriate if your ISP was providing you with a fixed bank of multiple fixed or static IP addresses to use. This does not appear to be the case in your post.
If this were the case, the first IP address would be used as a Static IP address for your connection, and other devices on your network would receive the other fixed IP addresses.
99%+ of the time, you would use the Router Mode setting of DHCP and NAT on a network when you want the AirPort to perform as the main router for the network.
But......your post also indicates that you have another router upstream on your network from the AirPort Extreme. You would not want to run two routers in series on a network. That explains the problems that you are having.
The AirPort Extreme needs to be configured in Bridge Mode. It cannot be the "main" router on your network when you already have another router on the network. That is a fundamental networking rule.

Can I use an Airport Extreme Base Station from the USA in Europe ?

A friend of mine gave me an Airport Extreme Base Station from the USA to Germany. When I hook it up to my PB by ethernet cable the Computer can't find the Base Station at all. If I use my Sonnett Aria Extreme PCI card it finds the station but in the pop-up menu asking in which country I want to use the airport station it only offers North and South American countries. How do I go from here and why is my PB not finding the station when I'm using cables ? Has it something to do with different models for different countries ? Any idea ? Thanx

Here you go ...
Changing the Radio Channel on the AEBSn
Either connect to the AEBSn's wireless network, or temporarily connect your computer directly (using an Ethernet cable) to one of the LAN ports of the AEBSn, and then, using the AirPort Utility in Manual Setup, check these settings:
AirPort - Wireless
o Channel: <Use Automatic or select a preferred channel>

Additional Ethernet ports on Airport Extreme Base Station

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