Connect to Linksys Cable Gateway via AirPort Extreme Base Station?

Question

Thank you in advance for any replies.
I have the following new setup:
A G3 Blue tower running OS X 10.4.10 is successfully connected to the internet via a Linksys WCG200 Cable Gateway connected to RCN's cable internet service. The WCG200 unit has wireless capacity though it's connected to the G3 tower via ethernet cable.
A second Mac (G3 iMac DV running OS X 10.4.10) is in another room in the office. I'd like to set it up with internet by wirelessly connecting with the existing WCG200 unit using an Airport Extreme Base Station (AEBS) I've recently acquired. To ensure a smooth process, I reset the AEBS to factory settings and installed the AEBS software (version 4.2) onto the iMac DV. Finally I plugged in the AEBS into the iMac DV using an ethernet cable plugged into the AEBS's WAN port (AirPort Admin Utility advised me to do so).
That's the hardware configuration. Working out the software and configuration details is proving 'niggly'.
First, I used the AirPort Setup Assistant to configure the AEBS. I told it to Set up a new Base Station, then to set it up as connecting to the internet using a Cable modem (the top option of two—the second was to set it up with internet through a LAN). I set up the name and passwords for the Base Station and had the utility configure the AEBS accordingly.
No internet connection occurred. I tried using the Internet Connect utility in the Applications folder, but no button or visible option for connecting via AirPort appeared, as the Setup Guide indicated it should, only a button for a VPN appeared.
I called Apple and asked whether it was even possible to connect to the internet using the AEBS talking wirelessly to the WCG200 unit. A tech told me it could be done by going into the AirPort Administration Utility, going into Configuration, clicking on the WDS tab and inputting the MAC address for the WCG200 unit, then going into the Airport tab and typing in the channel that the WCG200 is using. Note that the WCG200 unit has 3 MAC addresses listed; one each for “modem MAC address,” “WAN-MAN MAC address,” and “WAN-DATA MAC address”. I used the “modem MAC address.
The Apple tech added that it might need further tweaking, but that Apple couldn’t provide this tweaking and that I might check various forums if need be.
I followed the Tech’s advice, at which point the utility informed me that it couldn't use DHCP or NAT with this setup’ and to make sure that the "Distribute IP Addresses" checkbox was deselected under the Internet tab. This I did, but it was already deselected. I told the utility to update the AEBS accordingly, and restarted everything, including the 2 Macs and the WCG200.
Result:
No connection.
Tried it again with the Ethernet plugged into the AEBSs LAN port, still no connection.
Help! Can’t I get the AEBS to even see the WCG200? I know wireless is properly functioning in the WCG200 because another user with a Windows laptop connects to it wirelessly. The Mac Tech also mentioned that this could be relatively easy with an AirPort Express piece of hardware (Card? Base station?) but that it would be difficult with the Airport Extreme Base Station.
At this point we’re willing to spend $100 on getting this up. What would be our best option in terms of equipment, or can connectivity be accomplished with what we have?
Thanks again,
skyheart

Answer 1

skyheart, Welcome to the discussion area!
In theory using WDS would provide what you need.
In reality the Linksys device is not compatible with Apple's WDS and therefore this will not work.