Airport Extreme Base Station as Access Point/DHCP relay

Hi there, I am getting overly frustrated with both the hardware and its doc, so I figured I'd ask here...
Basically, I have a DSL modem that is also a router and wireless router (non-Apple, Westell) setup upstairs. What I would like to do is be able to use an AE to extend my network: the AE would be connected wirelessly to my network and provide ethernet ports for appliances in my basement... I have googled all over and only could find vague answers (either "sure you can" or "use bridge") but nothing detailed... I can't believe this cannot be done, does anyone have recommendations or detailed info?
Thanks in advance

Welcome to the discussions, vwillers!
The AirPort Extreme can "extend a wireless network", but only if that network has been created by another Apple(n) base station. You won't be able to configure it to "join" your network and have the ethernet ports active.
The Airport Express(n) has a very nice feature called ProxySTA. In brief, this allows the AirPort Express to "join" virtually any wireless network according to the article below. By checking the "enable ethernet clients" box, the ethernet port will be active. You could connect a simple switch to the ethernet port on the Express if you need more ports at the "remote" end.
Check the attached article for more info on the ProxySTA feature.
http://www.macworld.com/article/132754/2008/03/express11n.html

Similar Messages

Airport extreme base station cant access external hard drive

Just bought the new Airport extreme base station and I cant access the external hard drive. Any suggestions would be great. Everything worked great on the 5th generation airport extreme. But wanted to have the new speeds. But seems not to be worth it if I cant access my external hard drive. Please Help
Thank you in advance for any help.

I saw it in the finder menu but when I clicked on it nothing would happen. Then I went to my airport utility to see if that the extreme saw it. It was in the disk section. But I can't access it. Today it completely disappeared from the utility but my laptop is still online. This thing is crazy.

How can i access my hdd hooked to my airport extreme base station at home, from another place,office,school..?

i have an airport extreme base station ,i conneted a hdd and i want to acces the hdd with my macbook from another place ...office...school....

I would appreciate if someone could tell me how the AirPort Extreme differs from any regular router.
The AirPort Extreme is a combination router, wireless access point, and Ethernet switch. It also provides both external USB hard drive and printer sharing. So, it is not much different than most other routers on the market today. The one main difference is how you administer it. Unlike most other routers that employ a web-based administration interface, the AirPorts use a dedicated utility, called the AirPort Utility.
I do not have any OS X devices, but I have a lot of iOS devices. If my understanding is correct, I can set up the AirPort from an iOS device.
Yes. There are versions of the AirPort Utility for OS X, Windows, or iOS devices.
Also, I need to know how I would connect my Synology NAS system to the AirPort Extreme network via an Ethernet cable. I would need to be able to acces the files on the NAS through Windows clients. My Synology NAS currently has a web interface....would I still be able to access that web interface with the AirPort?
Your Synology NAS would connect to the AirPort Extreme pretty much the same as for any other manufacturer's routers. That is, you would connect it to one of the available LAN (opposing arrows) ports on the Extreme. You would still use the same web-based interface as before.
Note: When connected to an Ethernet port, the NAS would still function as usual. The AirPort Extreme would not provide any file sharing functionality when connected in this manner. All file sharing features would be the responsibility of the NAS device.

HT1218 After a recent iTunes update attempt iTunes no longer functions and the airport extreme base station is not accessable on our computer. We still have wifi but cannot access the base station software.

After a recent iTunes update attempt iTunes no longer functions and the airport extreme base station is not accessable on our computer. We still have wifi but cannot access the base station software.

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate the response. I tried that approach this evening and it didn't work for me. (Technically it worked for me, when I was hardwired into my base station, but would not work for me wirelessly, which is my main issue.)
Again, using the approach you recommended works only if I have my ethernet cable attached to the LAN port so my computer is communicating directly to the base station through the hard wire. I am able to scan for my base station and make setting adjustments normally this way too.
As soon as I disconnect from the LAN port and try to go wireless is where I run into problems. The Base Station's wireless network I created is available to choose in the top right corner of the monitor with all of the other available wireless devices/networks -- but the network I created does not have access to the internet. I am also unable to configure my Base Station wirelessly. When my Airport Utility tries to scan for the Base Station and Network, it cannot find any Apple Wireless Device. It's like the Wireless Network in my base station is not sending out a signal.
Is there a way to resolve this issue?

Unable to access internet via my airport extreme base station

I have an AirPort Extreme Base Station which is hard wired to a Mac and which communicates wirelessly to a Mac in another room. My internet access is via comcast. Direct connection from this computer to my modem works fine, but not if I go through the AirPort. The LED lights of the AirPort indicate normal network activity, (flashing/on/flashing). I have tried disconnecting and reconnecting everything and rebooting the computer. The system has been working normally through the AirPort until today.

I would recommend that you do the following as a minimum:
Power-down the modem, AirPort base station, and computer(s).
(OPTIONAL) Disconnect the AirPort base station from the Internet broadband modem.
(OPTIONAL) While all of the devices are powered-down, perform a "factory default" reset on the base station. This will get it back to its "out-of-the-box" configuration and make setting it up much easier, especially if you use the "Assist me" process within the AirPort Utility. (ref: Resetting an AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule)
(OPTIONAL) After the base station resets, go ahead and power it back down.
(OPTIONAL) Reconnect the AirPort base station to the Internet broadband modem. For the Extreme and Time Capsule, be sure to connect the cable to the base station's WAN (circle-of-dots) port.
Power-up the modem; wait at least 10-15 minutes to allow it adequate time to initialize.
Power-up the AirPort base station; wait at least 5-10 minutes. Note: The AirPort's status light may continue to flash amber after it has intialized. That is because, there may be some additional configuration items necessary, like setting up wireless security, before the overall setup is completed to get a green status.
Power-up your computer(s).
In this basic configuration, the AirPort base station will broadcast an unsecured wireless network with a Network Name (SSID) of Apple Network NNNNNN. Network clients, connected to the base station either by wire or wireless, should now be able to access the Internet through the ISP's modem. Once Internet connectivity has been verified, you can use the AirPort Utility to configure the base station for wireless security and any other desired options. Please post back your results.

Cannot access certain web sites through Airport Extreme Base Station

I use the old (round) Airport Extreme Base Station (AEBS). Approximately three weeks ago I could no longer connect to americanexpress.com or to Godaddy or their mail servers. About a week ago the Godaddy sites started working again, but the American Express sites are still not working.
My current setup:
- AEBS connected to Time Warner New York cable modem
- Three Airport Express units - two connected to speakers, and one set up with WDS to provide Ethernet access to computer (PowerMac G5), which is in a separate room from cable modem
- I also have an Airport card in my G5 to connect directly to the wireless network (but that doesn't solve any of my problems)
I have tried resetting all the units, and have also tried running the network with all the Airport Express units turned off, none of which as allowed me to access American Express.
I have the exact same problems with my work-issued Windows 2000 laptop when logged in to the wireless network.
When I plug a computer directly in to the cable modem, I have no problem accessing any of the sites, which leads me to believe that the solution somehow lies with the AEBS - I just can't figure out what it is.
Any help/suggestions are much appreciated.
PowerMac G5, 23" Cinema Display, Airport Extreme Base Station (802.11b/g) Mac OS X (10.4.9)

If you're having trouble with throughput performance or just connecting to some websites, try changing the MTU value, on your Mac, to 1492. (The default value is 1500.) To do so, you can use a utility, like Cocktail or via OS X's Terminal.
MTU will vary with connection type. Cable and non-PPPoE, can use up to 1500, whereas PPPoE connections (WinPoet, RASPPPOE, Enternet, etc.) can only use up to 1492. For secure VPN connections (i.e., IPSec) use a MTU value less than 1500.
The best value for MTU is that value just before the packets get fragmented. To test, use the Ping utility.
OS X: ping -D -s 1472 www.dslreports.com
WinXP: ping -f -l 1472 www.dslreports.com
Reduce 1472 by 10 until you no longer get the “packet needs to be fragmented” error message. Then increase by 1 until you are 1 less from getting the same error message. Add 28 more to this (since your ping packet size, not including IP/ICMP header is 28 bytes). This will be your MaxMTU. (Note: If you can ping thru at 1472, stop, you’re done! Add 28 and your MaxMTU is 1500.)

Airport Extreme Base Station and Multiple Computer Access to the Internet

I have my IMAC connected to the internet via the Airport Extreme Base Station. When I am able to connect, my son's MacBook cannot. If I preform network diagnostics and reset the base station so he can connect (which appears to be luck on my part), I can no longer connect. When I first set this up, I had it working with all computers in the house. I tried to expand the system to boost the signal in our house with the airport express units. I have since removed them and started over, but still cannot provide internet access to more than one computer.
Help

Try this first...
Modem/Router Power ReCycling
- Power-off the DSL/Cable modem, Internet Router, & computer(s). (Wait at least 30 minutes. If possible, leave the modem off overnight.)
- Power-on the DSL/Cable modem; Wait at least 30 minutes.
- Power-on the Internet Router; Wait at least 5 minutes.
- Power-on the computer(s)

Currently use Airport Express -1st Generation-to access internet -purchased 2014 Airport Extreme base station -can I import Express back up configuration to keep current settings . Or is it best to do new Airport Extreme as a new Network .

Currently use Airport Express -1st Generation-to access internet -purchased 2014 Airport Extreme base station -can I import Express back up configuration to keep current settings . Or is it best to do new Airport Extreme as a new Network .

Just spoke with Cisco about the router. They said the router is compatible with the E1500. They suggested that I contact Apple to see if their default IP address was that same as the router (192.168.1.1). They told me I would have to change it if that was the case. How would I do that?

Configure TC and Airport Extreme Base Stations with different channels

I had to do some serious workarounds to use the Airport Extreme Base Stations as an access point with the same wireless network name primarily due to channel overlap. I thought I would post my results here since I didnt' find a good article online.
Also, I found the Snow Leopard verison (5.4.2) of the Airport Setup Utility far superior to Lion's Airport Utility (6.x) in terms of advanced setup.
Setup is a 3 flloor house where the 3 wired network locations have wireless overlap. The problem was that the access points would not hand off the wireless signal because the channels for each airport/TC were automatically set to the same channel. In non-apple setups, this is how you force a wireless client to switch access points (since the wireless software on your client/mac/windows can detect which access point is stronger and moves to the alternate channel.
Using apple's "Extend this wireless network" option removes any ability to manually configure wireless channels. I am writing this from memory, so feel free to ask questions and I will track this topic:
Procedure
Setup time capsule as your base station. Do all the setup for your wireless and guest networks. Manually configure the network and change the wireless channel to a specific channel for a/b/g networks (e.g., 3) and n networks (e.g, 167).
Plug your first airport extreme/access point into your wired network. Do not plug it into the "internet" ethernet plug, use one of the 3 ethernet switch locations
Use the airport utility to first configure it to "extend" your wired network.
Then, go in and reconfigure it manually in the airport utility. Choose the option to setup a "new network" and name the network the same as the TC wireless network name, security, etc.
Change the channel from "auto" to a different channel than the TC (e.g., 6 and 137).
Now go to the top tab and click on the "internet" icon
Go to the DHCP tab and change it to "bridge mode." This will tell the AE to not give out IP addresses (the TC will do this for you). If you get an error that the IP ranges conflict, you have not done this
Note that if you have a guest network setup, you will need to set this up on the AE as well.
Now test your airport setup. Take your client (macbook, iOS device) and connect to your network. Move to a spot near the TC and pull up a web page. Keep an eye on the signal strength and beginv moving toward the AE. Refresh the page as you move around. You should at some point see the signal strength increase. Refresh your page again. You should be now connected to to the AE. I have found that Macbooks do a better job than iOS devices because you get an extra signal bar to measure strength, and they have larger antennas which allows you to better measure problems with handoff
Another test you can do is to start backing up on your TC and then test the move. The handoff will truly show you that the TC is handling the process but the AE is relaying to the TC for backup.
If you need to setup another AE, simply follow setups 3-10.
I hope this helps others. I've done this setup 100 times on Linksys devices and although they are cumbersome, they at least allow me to do this setup much more quickly and easily than the apple products.

I had to do some serious workarounds to use the Airport Extreme Base Stations as an access point with the same wireless network name primarily due to channel overlap. I thought I would post my results here since I didnt' find a good article online.
Also, I found the Snow Leopard verison (5.4.2) of the Airport Setup Utility far superior to Lion's Airport Utility (6.x) in terms of advanced setup.
Setup is a 3 flloor house where the 3 wired network locations have wireless overlap. The problem was that the access points would not hand off the wireless signal because the channels for each airport/TC were automatically set to the same channel. In non-apple setups, this is how you force a wireless client to switch access points (since the wireless software on your client/mac/windows can detect which access point is stronger and moves to the alternate channel.
Using apple's "Extend this wireless network" option removes any ability to manually configure wireless channels. I am writing this from memory, so feel free to ask questions and I will track this topic:
Procedure
Setup time capsule as your base station. Do all the setup for your wireless and guest networks. Manually configure the network and change the wireless channel to a specific channel for a/b/g networks (e.g., 3) and n networks (e.g, 167).
Plug your first airport extreme/access point into your wired network. Do not plug it into the "internet" ethernet plug, use one of the 3 ethernet switch locations
Use the airport utility to first configure it to "extend" your wired network.
Then, go in and reconfigure it manually in the airport utility. Choose the option to setup a "new network" and name the network the same as the TC wireless network name, security, etc.
Change the channel from "auto" to a different channel than the TC (e.g., 6 and 137).
Now go to the top tab and click on the "internet" icon
Go to the DHCP tab and change it to "bridge mode." This will tell the AE to not give out IP addresses (the TC will do this for you). If you get an error that the IP ranges conflict, you have not done this
Note that if you have a guest network setup, you will need to set this up on the AE as well.
Now test your airport setup. Take your client (macbook, iOS device) and connect to your network. Move to a spot near the TC and pull up a web page. Keep an eye on the signal strength and beginv moving toward the AE. Refresh the page as you move around. You should at some point see the signal strength increase. Refresh your page again. You should be now connected to to the AE. I have found that Macbooks do a better job than iOS devices because you get an extra signal bar to measure strength, and they have larger antennas which allows you to better measure problems with handoff
Another test you can do is to start backing up on your TC and then test the move. The handoff will truly show you that the TC is handling the process but the AE is relaying to the TC for backup.
If you need to setup another AE, simply follow setups 3-10.
I hope this helps others. I've done this setup 100 times on Linksys devices and although they are cumbersome, they at least allow me to do this setup much more quickly and easily than the apple products.

Networking with AirPort Extreme Base Station

I am connected to the Internet with an SBC dsl modem, which I have had for a couple of years with few problems. However, I have been having issues networking my Mac G5, 1.8 Mhz machine since I purchased it some time ago.
In the beginning (before the Mac or -- BM as I like to call it) I was using a D-Link DI-614+ router and running a desktop PC and a laptop PC wirelessly with success. Then I bought my Mac (which I dearly love) and introduced it into my wireless network. At first it seemed to work OK. Gradually and occassionally it would lock up while trying to access an Internet site. Often the problem was resolved by rebooting the DSL modem, the D-Link router and all the computers. This would give me up to several days with no problems, but then things would rapidly deteriorate and I would have connection problems again.
I thought that if I bought an Airport Extreme base station, that would solve the problems but again, at first things were fine, then rapidly went downhill. I have worked exensively with SBC dsl techs and we have determined that the problem is not with the SBC network or with their dsl modem.
As it stands now I only get a maximum of a couple of hours of time before the slowing down of the network begins. Some of the error messages I get seem to indicate that there is a problem with the distribution of IP addresses. TCP/IP is set to use DHCP, and I connect by setting PPPoE to my SBC connections settings. "Connect using PPPoE" is unchecked. Location is currently "Automatic" although I have used the connection assistant a number of times in an attempt to get the system up and running.
I have the same problems in interconnecting the Mac with the two PCs that are on my system. In fact this is even more erratic than connecting to the Internet.
I have spent many hours with my limited knowledge of these things trying to resolve these issues but have had no success. I have scoured .Mac and other Internet sources and cannot find any specific solution to this problem. I am at a real loss as to where to go next. I am hoping someone here can help or point me in a direction where I might find a solution.
Thanks,
Don
Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Thank you very much for your response. Yes, the Mac is set to use PPPoE and the SBC information is stored there.
Just to clean things up, I removed the PPPoE configuration on the Mac and left it unchecked.
Here is other information about how the system is set up.
Note: + means item is checked, - means item is unchecked
Apple Base Station V5.7
WAN Ethernet Port: Automatic (Default)
+Enable SNMP Access
+Enable Remote Configuration
-Enable Default Host at
+Enable Remote Printer Access
-Enable NAT Port Mapping Protocol
Internet:
Connect Using: PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE)
+always stay connected
Network:
+Distribute IP addresses
Airport client computers:
+Share a single IP address (using DHCP and NAT)
((Use 10.0.1.1 addressing))
Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Airport Extreme base station vs. Linksys router

Hi all -- I have a tech choice to make and I'm soliciting advice and war stories from those who have been in my place.
I have a DSL connection, G5 Mac and a Windows laptop. I've been connecting to the Internet via a Linksys WRT54G router -- the Mac is connected to the router via Ethernet, and the Windows machine connects wirelessly -- and I've been happy with this setup. I have it on good authority that I'll be getting an Airport Express in my stocking this year; I had done a little research and found that it is possible to make the WRT54G and the Airport Express work together, and was planning on doing some hacking and fiddling to make that happen in the new year.
However, last night my WRT54G seems to have died a horrible death -- all its lights started blinking at once, the Internet connection went away, then all the lights went out except for the "diagnostic" light, and now no lights come on at all. No idea what happened, but it seems pretty kaput.
So! I'm in need of a new wireless base station. I could get an Airport Extreme base station, or I could get another Linksys (or another off-the-shelf 802.11 router, but we'll just use "Linksys" as the catch-all phrase here to mean "not an Airport Extreme base station"). The most obvious difference is price -- the Airport Extreme station is $200, while the Linksys is more like $65. Another thing that irks me about the AE station is that it only has one LAN port. I do like being able to plug in my laptop to the wired network to do some diagnostics once in a while and it'd be a pain to have to disconnect my Mac to do so. And then there's nagging worries that the AE base station might not work as well with my Windows laptop.
On the other hand, I'm sure that setting up the Airport Express would be much, much easier with the AE base station. And I do like the idea of the base station being able to dial up if my DSL goes down (as it does from time to time). Basically, I am tempted by the AE base station feature-wise, but I'm kind of balking at paying three times the price and not getting even a second LAN port. Any advice, particularly from people who have used both types of routers in a mixed network, would be appreciated.

Replace your Linksys with another WRT54G. Then you can hook up your anticipated AX as either a client (connected like a computer), a wireless access point (connected using ethernet with DHCP disabled on the AX), or using WDS:
http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=-1&messageID=607414

Problem consistently printing via new (summer 2011) AIRPORT EXTREME BASE STATION and Brother wireless printer (model HL5370DW). What am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for any help you folks can offer. I'm a newb here and will try to offer as much detail as I can about the dilemma at hand.
Scenario: Home network has been recently set up for wireless internet access via NEW Airport Extreme Base Station (purchased September 2011). Units accessing the network include: 2011 Macbook Pro, 2011 Macbook Air, 2007 Macbook, 2009 Macbook Pro, 2 iPhone 3GSs, and a 1st-gen iPad (and a partridge in a pear tree AEBS is configured to run WPA2 encrypted network, as well as a WPA2 guest network. I am attempting to yoke a BROTHER HL5370DW wireless B or G/ ethernet / usb-capable printer to the main network such that any and all units can print wirelessly or its equivalent (i.e., via printer hooked to AEBS through USB hub)
Problem: Despite configuring the Brother printer to recognize the main WPA2 network I created, I am unable to get wireless printing to work. My workaround was to physically connect Brother printer to AEBS via USB, specifically using a Belkin USB hub (after all, I wanted access to usb drives, as well as the printer). This workaround works ONLY SOME OF THE TIME. Generally, after a fresh boot of any computer or after a restart of the AEBS, any given computer will be able to print (i.e., any computer wirelessly connected to the main WPA2 network recognizes the printer). HOWEVER, at random times, printer access is gone (as is access to USB drives connected to AEBS's usb hub). Wireless networks are still up and running when that happens. IS THERE A WAY TO GET THE USB HUB's devices (i.e., printer and usb drives) to ALWAYS REMAIN AVAILABLE AS LONG AS THEY STAY CONNECTED TO THE AEBS? In other words, what accounts for the intermittent loss of the usb peripherals?
Sometimes, I just shut the airport off on whatever computer is having this problem, and the problem goes away. Sometimes, the problem is present across all computers in the house, sometimes only a few are affected. I can ALWAYS see the AEBS in the Airport Utility if the AEBS is connected to the particular computer via ETHERNET CABLE.
My theories:
- true wireless printing (i.e., without usb hub workaround) doesn't work because the N network somehow isn't backwards compatible with the Brother printer, which, i believe, is B/G. Although...isn't Wireless N networking supposed to work with BG devices? I did find a thread (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2570774?start=0&tstart=0 ) that explains some of the particulars of WPA2 encryption and Wireless B/G issues, but it was beyond my level of comprehension (I'm a psychologist, but not an Apple Genius
- The usb workaround is only intermittently viable because of some flaw in the Airport or Airport Utility that causes dropouts to happen when a Macbook Pro or Air's lid gets closed or one gets opened after having been at a different network (e.g., at my office).
QUESTIONS:
- Should I try to use my old router (7 year old Linksys WRT54G) as an access point and connect the Brother printer to that G-router? How do I do that?
- I wouldn't mind just relying on the usb hub method if I could just insure more consistency (i.e., no random dropouts of peripherals). How could I do this?
Rule out:
- wireless printing works on my printer - it was being recognized back before the AEBS. I had the Linksys router running a WEP network and had the wireless printer talking with no cables to the router and the computers. (I just don't want to revert to using WEP encryption given its lack of security and my trying to protect HiPAA related health information on behalf of patients)
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

13 ASCII characters = 104 (aka 128)-bit WEP
encryption
If turning off WEP works, then you just need to
provide the cameras with the "Equivalent Network Password".
One of the problems with WEP is that the actual
standard relies on a 10 character HEX key for 40bit
WEP and a 26 character HEX key for 128bit WEP.
In order to make things easier, vendors use certain
algorithms to convert simple alphanumeric passwords
(or passphrases) into HEX keys, thus enabling the use
of simple easy to remember WEP password rather than
lengthy HEX keys. The problem is that different
vendors use different algorithms to generate the HEX
key and therefore a ASCII password on an AEBS will be
hashed differently on a non-Apple client and vice
versa.
You may find the following article helpful:
- Apple article, especially the part about
"Third-party client to Airport".
Brilliant idea about trying the system with No encryption on... that DID solve the problem... almost.. once I turned off the encryption option, and restarted the Airport, I got a dialog box showing that the "Base station needs attention" but it didn't indicate WHAT kind of "assistance" it needed. Nonetheless, I closed out of the Airport program only to find that the indicator light, which had been Green, was now, flashing Yellow and I could not connect anything, including my computer. I opened the Airport program again and found the ONLY way I could get the Green light on was to select some sort of encryption option... then the light would go Green again but my cameras would not hook up again, and when I went back in and ONLY changed the option to NO encryption, I got the yellow flashing light and the "this base unit needs attention" warning...
I think your suggestions are almost on the mark... is there any way of reconciling the WEP coding between the cameras and the Airport??? Or turning off the encryption option and STILL have Airport work?
Thanks again for your help and suggestions... I really appreciate it.
geoff

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.

How do I connect my Synology NAS to my AirPort Extreme base station?

I'm considering replacing an Apple AirPort Extreme base station with my current 5 year old router. I would appreciate if someone could tell me how the AirPort Extreme differs from any regular router. I do not have any OS X devices, but I have a lot of iOS devices. If my understanding is correct, I can set up the AirPort from an iOS device.
Also, I need to know how I would connect my Synology NAS system to the AirPort Extreme network via an Ethernet cable. I would need to be able to acces the files on the NAS through Windows clients. My Synology NAS currently has a web interface....would I still be able to access that web interface with the AirPort?
Thanks for all your help in advance as I am VERY new with networking devices.

I would appreciate if someone could tell me how the AirPort Extreme differs from any regular router.
The AirPort Extreme is a combination router, wireless access point, and Ethernet switch. It also provides both external USB hard drive and printer sharing. So, it is not much different than most other routers on the market today. The one main difference is how you administer it. Unlike most other routers that employ a web-based administration interface, the AirPorts use a dedicated utility, called the AirPort Utility.
I do not have any OS X devices, but I have a lot of iOS devices. If my understanding is correct, I can set up the AirPort from an iOS device.
Yes. There are versions of the AirPort Utility for OS X, Windows, or iOS devices.
Also, I need to know how I would connect my Synology NAS system to the AirPort Extreme network via an Ethernet cable. I would need to be able to acces the files on the NAS through Windows clients. My Synology NAS currently has a web interface....would I still be able to access that web interface with the AirPort?
Your Synology NAS would connect to the AirPort Extreme pretty much the same as for any other manufacturer's routers. That is, you would connect it to one of the available LAN (opposing arrows) ports on the Extreme. You would still use the same web-based interface as before.
Note: When connected to an Ethernet port, the NAS would still function as usual. The AirPort Extreme would not provide any file sharing functionality when connected in this manner. All file sharing features would be the responsibility of the NAS device.

Airport Extreme Base Station as Access Point/DHCP relay

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