Extend Existing Wireless Network

I am trying to extend my existing wireless network. I think I have it set up correctly, but I have a question about it. I initially had the network set up with a 2WIRE modem (AT&T) and an Airport Extreme. It has been really sluggish as of late, so I re-positioned the modem and AE (out of entertainment cabinet) and now it's more out in the open.
After doing that my Macbook which I use upstairs was running pretty fast, but the iMac which is downstairs and on the same level as the modem/AE was running very slowly. So, I thought I'd extend the network using an Airport Express. I think I have it set up correctly, since everything seems to be working just fine, BUT the question I have is...does the Express HAVE to be plugged int the modem in order to extend the network?
I thought the whole point of using the Express to extend the network is that you could have the Express in between the modem/AE and the computer - on the same level of the house or another level, or at least in another rom on the same level.
I hope I've explained my situation well enough for anyone to be able to provide assistance. Everything is working fine, but I guess I'm looking for some reassurance that I've done things correctly
and maybe a better understanding of how extending a network really works.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Julie

Hello Julie
To extend your wireless network I suggest you do the following;
Take the express and extreme into the same room. Ideally, plug the extreme into your modem using an ethernet cable and have the express hooked up to power on its own in the same room.
I would reset both device to their factory defaults and start over. To reset the devices to factory defaults, unplug them from their power source, hold down the recessed reset button while plugging them back into to power and continue to hold the reset button until the one LED begins to flash rapidly.
Do this with the extreme and the express. Now open airport utility, select your airport extreme and set it up from the start using the continue button and answer all the questions. Once the extreme is setup, you should see a large green checkmark. See the mac you set it up with can connect to the internet.
If you are on the internet through your extreme's wireless network you're almost there.
Step 1. Using airport utility select the airport express and click continue. The key here is to ask the express to join an existing wireless network when the question arrises.
This should do the trick for you.
Alternate to step 1. If you want to you can skip step 1 above and select your extreme using airport utility, go to the Base Station menu and select Manual Setup, click the Airport icon from the manual setup window, click the Wireless tab and put a tick next to "Allow this network to be extended". This will instruct the extreme to allow its wireless network to be extended. Update your extreme after turning on this option and give it about one minute to update itself.
Now, using airport utility, setup your express to using the continue button and instruct it to join an existing wireless network when the question comes up.
So you have two options, either should do.
Hopefully this was not too difficult. Airport utility will still see the two airport routers but from your airport menu you will always see only one network because the extreme and express behave as though they are one large network.
Consider unplugging the express now and moving it to the other floor. After you take the express upstairs, give it a minute and if it is in range of your extreme it will assume a green light, if on the other hand it continues to flash amber it's possible that it's too far from the extreme. In this case consider plugging the express into a wall socket nearer to the express.
Does this help?
Most of what I explained might be better explained by Apple, see page 43 of http://manuals.info.apple.com/enUS/Apple_AirPort_NetworksEarly2009.pdf. The steps on page 43 are what you would do with your extreme - to extend its wireless network.
Let me know how it goes.
If your devices are under 90 days old you still have complimentary phone support. If you have an AppleCare protection plan on your mac one of your devices are covered for hardware support and the 3 years phone support. If you are eligible AppleCare will be able to walk you through this.

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Unable to extend existing wireless network with new TC

I have an original 500GB Time Capsule that I've been using successfully for a long time. It is plugged into my modem/router (which acts as a DHCP server) in bridge mode.
As the TC is getting full (and the number of Macs in our house is increasing!), I decided to buy another TC - this time the latest 2TB model. I have set it up so it extends my existing network. However, as soon as I plug it into my network my Internet connection breaks (or goes very slow) and the modem/router activity light flashes like crazy. As soon as I unplug the new TC from my wired network, I get my fast Internet connection back and the modem/router goes back to normal.
I've tried using the LAN and WAN ports on the new TC to connect to my wired network but the result is the same.
Has anyone any ideas what the problem is? Is there a problem using the latest TC to extend the wireless network of an older model TC?

Welcome to the discussion area!
If you are connecting your Time Capsules using an ethernet cable, you would connect from one of the LAN ports on the "main" device to the WAN port on your new 2TB device.
The 2 TB device must be configured as a "bridge".
You would configure the 2 TB device to "create a wireless network" using the same network name (SSID), security setting and password as your "main" device. (The "extend" setting is only used if you are connecting your devices using wireless only...and you are using ethernet).
When you "create" the wireless network on your 2 TB device, you are configuring what is known as a "roaming" network. Your laptop will automatically connect the device with the strongest wireless signal depending on where it "roams".
To configure your 2 TB device as a bridge:
AirPort Utility > Manual Setup > Internet icon > Connection Sharing setting = Off (Bridge Mode).
Please post back on your results.

Extend existing wireless network with airport express..impossible?

I have tried to extend my existing wireless network with an airport express, but it seemd that I always need a ethernetcable...apple support insured me it is possible but the airport utility software only allows me to extend using a cable it seems....

Couple of thoughts here.......
The AirPort Express will only extend a wireless network if you have another Apple router providing the wireless network to be extended.
Is your "main" wireless router an Apple product? If yes, what model number do you have?
It would also help if we could get the model number of the AirPort Express. Some older versions are not capable of extending a wireless network.

Extending existing wireless network but via ethernet

Hey all,
The basic principle is I'd like to extend my wireless network - but using Ethernet.
The main reason for this is that I have Gigabit ethernet devices connected to the LAN ports on the Time Capsule, and then it's WAN port connected to the rest of my network.
I would like to enable the 5ghz N wireless on the TC and add it to my existing N 5ghz wireless network.
However when selecting either 'Extend' or 'WDS' in the settings in Airport Utility, the Internet tab shows it is receiving it's internet connection, and main connection to the network through wireless. Why would it want to be doing that when I've connected it to a Gigabit network?
All I want it to do is extend the wireless range of my main N base-station. I don't want traffic coming from the Gigabit devices to the LAN ports on the Time Capsule to then be routed over wireless instead of going out via the WAN port and the rest of my wired network.
The wireless network should just act as a bridge for devices to connect to my wired network. There should not be ANY communication between the wireless stations themselves. Communication between bases should be done through wires.
I had thought of one solution, however that consisted of each wireless unit having it's own network. But then there wasn't any way to group these individual networks into a big wireless mesh.
Any thoughts or solutions?
Cheers,

Literally, the only thing you need to do is set-up your base-stations to all create wireless networks with the *same name*.
Because they're all broadcasting the same name, it will act as one large network, as such, and your computer will share data with which ever station is closest.
It's like a mobile (cell) phone and the broadcasting towers.

Extend existing wireless network (long house) with Airport Express

Help !! I am trying to reconfigure my airport express to extend my wireless network (Long House)through my wireless ISP (Bigpond)modem (2701HGV-W Gateway) following the sudden and unexpected death of my Time Capsule, whose router was doing this job previously.
I am not technically savvy, but can follow simple, idiot proof instructions. All I seem to be able to do is join a wireless network....is this the same as extending it?

Bob Timmons wrote:
Hi Jolly Giant,
+what you could do is run a (long) Cat5 ethernet cable from the Gateway to your Airport Express (AE) in the far away location. if you then join the AE to your wireless network, wireless clients could access it via the wireless access point the AE provides.+
Sorry, but this is not correct. The "join" setting is only used if the Express will be connecting to the wireless network by +wireless only+.
With the Express connected by ethernet, the correct setting is "create a wireless network". The wireless must be configured with exactly the same name, radio mode, security, password, etc as the Gateway's network. But, the channel on the AirPort Express should be set to a value that is at least 5 settings away from the channel that the Gateway is using to minimize distortion. This type of network is known as a "roaming" network.
Connection Sharing on the Express must be set to "Off (Bridge Mode)".
okay, got it. thanks for letting me know - i'll keep that in mind ! (:-)
my apologies to the OP for having been confusing

Joining vs.extending existing wireless network?

I've come to understand these as quite different (extending vs. joining). I have an AEBS and an AX. Prior to enabling WPA for my AEBS (which knocked my AX off the network!), I had my AX set up in a WDS, i.e., extending the range of my existing AE network. The AX was also connected to my home stereo.
Before I do a hard reset of my AX and attempt to get it connected to my AE network again, could someone explain the difference between extending and joining a wireless network?
I understand that EXTENDING the range involves setting up the network in a WDS, BUT I've come to learn that this may REDUCE overall network performance! This has come as quite a surprise because my intent was to STRENGTHEN the signal between my Intel iMac and my G5.
CONNECTING to an existing network would still allow me to stream iTunes through my home stereo, but it sounds like such a set up (without WDS enabled?) would be BETTER for overall network performance?
Can someone clarify this for me?

I understand that EXTENDING the range involves setting up the network in a WDS, BUT I've come to learn that this may REDUCE overall network performance! This has come as quite a surprise because my intent was to STRENGTHEN the signal between my Intel iMac and my G5.
It does improve/increase the RF signal. That is the goal of WDS.
However because of the overhead with all the base stations talking on the same channel as the data transmission, the data rate is reduced.
CONNECTING to an existing network would still allow me to stream iTunes through my home stereo, but it sounds like such a set up (without WDS enabled?) would be BETTER for overall network performance?
It would be better for the wireless data rate.

How do I extend an existing wireless network using airport express?

Hi all,
I am trying to extend existing wireless network using airport express, my main router is Belkin

Unfortunately, Apple's "extend" feature is designed to only work with other Apple routers if you are trying to "extend" using wireless only.
It is extremely unlikely that this feature would work with a router from another manufacturer using wireless only.

I am trying to extend my existing wireless network

I am trying to extend my existing wireless network beyiond an extreme and an express by adding a further express. Is this possible?

This is not possible if you are trying to do this wirelessly, as Apple's "extend a wireless network" feature will only allow the signal to be extended one time.
It is possible to have more than one device extend the network, but each extender must communicate directly to the AiPort Extreme....not to another extender.

Extending an existing wireless network with a new Airport Extreme(802.11n)

Is it possible to extrend a existing wireless network comprised on a Airport Extreme (g) and a Airport Express with a new Airport Extreme (n) ? and possibly accesss an airdisk? Have tried settng channel to the same (1) but no worky.
I have had real problems (at least 2 hours with Apple Care to no avail) at getting the new Airport Extreme(n) to connect to the internet (Ozemail/iinet) with PPOE. Authentication when changed to occur at ADSL modem and produces no errors (green light) but no internet still through AE(n). Not Hardware either as both ADSL modem and AE(n) have been changed.
So as a last ditch attempt, thought I might try extending the preexisting network that works fine so I can access an AirDisk.
Any reponses appreciated.

Search this forum for "WDS". Since I am having massive problems myself right now, I can only tell you: Try the two methods mentioned in this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=944334&tstart=0
Maybe you're lucky!

Extending an existing wireless network using Time Capsule

I connected my Time Capsule via Ethernet cable to my network. I used the airport utility to extend my existing wireless network (Cisco router)k. After that my wireless devices were disconnected and I got a message stating "Unable to join wireless network". The macbook that I used to set up the Time Capsule showed a message along the lines that a device on the network was trying to use the macbook's IP address, I changed the macbooks IP address and then was able to connect my ipad and iphone to the wireless network but the connection was unusable as it was so slow. has anyone done this successfully and if so do you have nay advice

If you connect the TC to the network by ethernet you do not extend an existing networking.. indeed you cannot.. only works with apple routers and no ethernet.
You create a wireless network.. you can use roaming .. ie use the same wireless name and security settings as the existing Cisco router but you must set different channels.
If you need instructions in that setup what version airport utility are you using. I would strongly recommend a version 5.. it is so superior cf toyland v6.

How do I extend an existing wireless network with a 2nd time capsule? I want to tether them with a gigabit ethernet connection.

I am having trouble with extending a wireless network using 2 timecapsules (1 is 1 terrbyte hdd, the other has a 2TB HDD.) The first one is connected to the WAN (cable modem) and our LAN. I would like to connect the 2nd one to the ethernet LAN and have it 'rebroadcast' the 1st ones wireless n network in order to expand the overall range of the network. Your help is very much appreciated.

Suggest that you download and install the much more useful AirPort Utility 5.6 for Mac OS X Lion.
I assume that Time Capsule 1 is operating correctly at this time.
Open Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility 5.6
Select Time Capsule 1 and click Manual Setup
Click the Wireless tab below the row of icons and make a note of each of the setttings on this Wireless page.
Make sure that the Ethernet cable is connected to the WAN "O" port on Time Capsule 2.
Open up AirPort Utility and select Time Capsule 2 and click Manual Setup
Click the Wireless tab below the icons and enter the exact same settings that you wrote down for Time Capsule 1
Click the Internet icon, then click the Internet Connection tab
Make sure that the settings look like this:
Connect Using = Ethernet
Connection Sharing = Off (Bridge Mode)
Click Update and allow 25-30 seconds for Time Capsule 2 to restart to a green light
Very important......perform a power cycle of the entire network as follows:
Power off every device in any order that you wish
Wait a minute
Power up the modem and let it run for minute by itself
Power up Time Capsule 1 the same way
Power up Time Capsule 2 the same way
Continue starting devices one at a time the same way until the entire network is back up

Extending an existing wireless network

I would like to extend my wireless network.
Got time capsule as a base station, and an AirPort express as a secondary station.
The signal between the two is weak.
Is there a possibility to connect the two using an Ethernet cable??
What should be the setting on both the time capsule and the airport express??
Thanks GT

The signal between the two is weak.
Is there a possibility to connect the two using an Ethernet cable??
What should be the setting on both the time capsule and the airport express??
Roaming Network Setup
Ref: See page 42 of the Apple AirPort Networks guide.
Setup the Time Capsule (TC) connected to the Internet to "Share a public IP address." Internet > Internet Connection > Connection Sharing: Share a public IP address
Setup the AirPort Express Base Station (AX), as a bridge. Internet > Internet Connection > Connection Sharing: Off (Bridge Mode)
For each base station:
Connect to the same subnet of the Ethernet network. In this case with the AX directly connected to the TC by Ethernet, they would already be on the same subnet.
Provide a unique Base Station Name.
The Network Name (SSID) should be identical.
If using security, use the same security type (WEP, WPA, etc.) and password. Note: It is highly recommended that you use WPA2 Personal for best bandwidth performance.
Make sure that the channel is set at least three channels apart from the next base station to prevent Wi-Fi interference.

Extending an existing wireless network using an Airport Extreme (dual band 802.11n)

Hello,
I currenlty have a wireless network set up inside my apartment using a Linksys E1000 wifi router. I would like to extend the network into a second room using my airport extreme. However, I have tried to set up the airport extreme to extend a network and it tells me that it cannot extend my currently network. I have already restored my airport extreme to its factory settings (using the reset button on the back of the airport extreme) as I used to use the airport extreme as the main base station in my previous apartment.
Help please!

Unfortunately, Apple's "extend a wireless network" function was designed as a proprietary feature that only works with other Apple routers.
It would be extremely unlikely that it would work with a router from another manufacturer if you are trying to "extend" using wireless only.
Suggest that you use another Linksys "repeater" or "extender" to insure compatibility with your current router.

How do i use the airport extreme to extend my wireless network

How do i connected my airport extreme up to my existing network so that it can extend my wireless through out the house ??
Can it be done wirelessly or do i need an ethernet cable thats about 10m ?
Keith

The AirPort Exteme can "extend" your existing wireless network (using wireless only) if it is being provided by another Apple router.
If your current main router is not an Apple product, then you will need to plan to connect the AirPort Extreme to your router using an Ethernet cable.
Post back for more information if needed.

I have a mid-2010 iMac and just purchased a 2TB TC, can't join existing wireless network with AC standard so attached to iMac via ethernet with TC wifi turned off. How do i access TC now? not showing up in disk utility or on desktop. working fine with TM

I have a mid-2010 iMac and just purchased a 2TB TC, I just found out that it can't join existing wireless network with new AC standard so attached to iMac via ethernet with TC's wifi turned off. How do i access TC now? not showing up in disk utility or on desktop. It is working fine with TM. My cheeper seagate drives etc kept crashing, so i didnt trust cheeper back up options anymore. Connected those drives to TM via firewire and could see the drives and access them.
Also, I didn't want to bridge TC with my new fios router that I paid 100 dollars for, to get N speed and also paying 10 dollars more a month for fast speed. I heard that bridging slows down everything and then there can be port issues with mail etc. I connect to the internet via airport only and it is pretty fast. Getting over 50mbs downloads and over 30mbs uploads. Plus everything in my home it connected to my fios router, airport express for music streaming, two apple tvs, vuezone camer system. I really didn't want to monkey around too much with my system. But are there other options to connect the new TC. Can't find info anywhere for this and called apple who gave me the info above. after hanging up, i see that i cant access my TC and I am wondering if i would have to reset it to turn wifi on again to make changes to the drive, turn off blinking light or repair it in disk utility if it should become corrupted.
For other with similar issues i did solve some other problems: when i connected it to my ethernet port on my iMac wifi stopped working. Found that I had to turn off the ethernet in the system>network screen, but then TM didn't see the TC so i restarted after changes and then it saw it.
Now a rant. I can't believe in this wireless age that Apple would make a product that cant join a wireless net work. The apple rep said i could return it and look for the previous TC that would join an existing wireless network. Are we going backwards?
Thanks!
lennydas

Ok... it is getting a bit clearer but there are still some questions.
I connect to the internet via airport only and it is pretty fast.
I was assuming airport in this statement in your first post meant the TC or the Express.. but I now realise we are still in the mass confusion stage where apple calls everything wireless an airport. So what you mean is the airport internal card of the computer??
Also, I didn't want to bridge TC with my new fios router that I paid 100 dollars for, to get N speed and also paying 10 dollars more a month for fast speed. I heard that bridging slows down everything and then there can be port issues with mail etc.
I think this is mistaken.
Putting the TC in bridge mode plugged into your FIOS will not slow the network.. nor will it cause mail or port issues.. in bridge the TC is just a fancy WAP and switch plus the network hard drive.
If the computer is close it will be faster than the FIOS.
You can run both wireless networks with different names.. so it is clear which is which. But you can also setup roaming so the computers themselves pick which is the best wireless.
I tried extending the wireless net work and tried joining wireless network, but the TC kept crashing and I had to keep resetting the TC. the Apple support person said these, extend wireless network and joint wireless network, are no longer a connection option with the new TC because of the new AC protocol.
Thanks again!
You cannot extend to a non-apple wireless router.
You cannot use join a wireless network because when you do the ethernet ports will be cut off.
But that has not changed.. I don't think Apple support is correct.. there has been no change with the AC model.. it is simply a fact that apple routers do not work in join wireless mode other than as a dumb client. The same applies to AC as to the earlier version.. but I have asked another person to check this.
Join in the express is the only apple router that still allows an ethernet connection.
For now you best use of the TC is bridged to the FIOS. Wireless you can sort out between several options.

Extend Existing Wireless Network

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