Multipmultiple Airport Extreme Base Stations: WDS Or "Extend Wireless Network" To Have Wired -- Wireless Bridge?

Hello there!
I've been looking for this info, but have as yet been unable to find it. Here's my scenario:
I have two Airport Extreme Base Stations (both are dual band) and 3 airport expresses. The main internet connection in my house is in one room, where I have an AEBS as the main wireless router. In another room, I have a bunch of ethernet-only devices. I'd like to use the 2nd AEBS in this room, plug the ethernet devices into it and have the 2nd AEBS act as a wired <--> wireless bridge (connected to the same wireless network as the 1st AEBS). I've attempted this via "extend a wireless network," but the ethernet devices don't get past the AEBS they're plugged into. Should I instead be implementing WDS?
I mention the airport expresses as I'd like to have airtunes & wireless signal in other areas, but would like to keep the set-up as simple as possible (i.e., not config the AXes for WDS unless it's required).
Thanks in advance for any help!

Unlike the 802.11n AirPort Express Base Station (AXn), the 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn) cannot be configured as a wireless Ethernet bridge.
However, there are at least two ways to configure it to provide wired clients access:
Connect the second AEBSn back to the first by Ethernet; reconfigure the second AEBSn as a bridge and disable its wireless radios, or
Reconfigure both AEBSns into an extended wireless network. For 802.11n AirPorts, this would be called a dynamic WDS. The AEBSn, connected to the Internet would be the "main" base station and it would only require that you enable the "Allow this network to be extended" option in the AirPort Utility. The extending AEBSn would need to be configured with the option, Wireless Mode = Extend a wireless network, enabled.
In both configurations, the second AEBSn's Ethernet ports would be enabled for wired clients.

Similar Messages

Airport Extreme Base Station - Need to extend network for extra distance

The literature on this topic is sparse. I have an Airport Extreme base station. I will like to "extend the signal" so that it is stronger in part of house. I would like to buy a product that will do this. Questions:
I think this is called "bridging".
1. Can I do this with the Airport Express as a 2nd unit??
2. Does the Airport Extreme work with other WDS 2nd units like Netgear?
3. Is there a darned manual to tell you how to configure the settings on BOTH stations?
Thanks.

How new is your Extreme? I ask because if your Extreme supports 802.11n, the setup process will be greatly simplified.

Can an airport extreme base station attached to another airport extreme base station as an extender transmit a different network name and have it's own security?

Can an airport extreme base station attached to another airport extreme base station set up as an extender transmit a different network name and have it's own security?

No. The AirPort cannot extend another AirPort's wireless network and simultaneously broadcast its own wireless network.
It can however, be connected to another router (including another AirPort) by Ethernet, and then, be configured to broadcast a wireless network with another Network Name and Security Type.

How to get this Airport Extreme base station to produce a wireless network?

I had this Airport Extreme base station working fine at the house that I moved from a couple of days ago.
After my house move, however, it seems that the AE base station isn't producing a wireless network. My wireless laptop isn't detecting a wireless network. Also, the left hand side light on the AE base station is not lit.
The AE base station was softly cushioned during house the move.
Regarding configuration:
My non-wireless iMac (running 10.3.9) connects to the AE base station via an ethernet cable.
Before my house-move, I regularly connected wirelessly via the AE base station from a couple of wireless-equipped laptop computers.
I was using AE software version 5.6. (In desperation, I have just updated to version 5.7 - but that hasn't improved or changed situation.)
At the new house, I found that I had to reset the AE base station back to factory settings before I could successfully connect to the internet through the AE base station from the (non-wireless) iMac.
Since resetting the AE base station at the new house, I can also print via a USB printer that's plugged into the AE base station.
I just cannot pick up any sign of a wireless network from the AE base station.
G4 Powerbook Mac OS X (10.3.9) Problem started while I had Airport Extreme software v5.6. No improvement/change after v5.7 update.

Sorry for my delay in closing this issue.
I got the wireless network running again - though I'm not sure which of a "litany" of separate actions (which I gleaned from dialogs in several similar postings for similar issues to mine) was the solution. I suspect it was one of the following two actions, which have stuck in memory:
1) I relocated a nearby cordless phone cradle/charger/base-station from alongside the Airport Extreme base station to about seven feet (two meters) away. However, the cordless phone is about eight years old, and I believe its radio frequency is far out of the range that I have read (in similar postings) can interfere with the Airport Extreme base station.
2) I re-set the Airport Extreme base station, (a) by depressing the tiny reset button at the rear of the base station for more than 5 seconds (until the led started blinking), (b) from Utilities/AirPort Admin Utility/Configure/Restart. However, I had reset the Airport Extreme base station those ways previously without that restoring the wireless network. Also, I didn't record the sequence of the multiple resets and the configurations at the times of the resets.

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.

2 airport extreme base stations later and still no internet connection-

Sorry - yet another beginner with internet connection troubles! (I have read all the posts I could find relating, but without any help).
I have had a Demon broadband account now for about a month (I’m in the UK) and in that time I have purchased a D-Link DSL-300T Ethernet modem and an Airport Extreme Base Station. I got wireless internet working relatively easily – with a powerful range over the whole house and garden, but then one Sunday night, the internet connection via the base station suddenly ‘died’.
I spent the following 3 days scrutinising all of my settings of both the Modem and the Base station, re-setting both, and bought new Ethernet cables / micro filters etc but with no luck. (I’ll point out at this stage that my broadband account is still active, and if I connect the Ethernet modem directly to my iBook [wired] I can still get my broadband connection. Alternatively, I tried daisy chaining the modem to the base station and then via an Ethernet cable to an iBook, but no connection could be made).
When wireless, Airport Admin recognises there is a modem there, and under preferences > network under Airport it states I am connected to the internet – but I’m not.
I then phoned D-Link and they confirmed my firmware was up-to-date for use with Apple products and talked me through all of the modem settings and tweaked a few things, but there was still no connection to the base station. I then phoned Apple. They were incredibly helpful (as ever) and after 35 min. came to the conclusion the base station might not be re-setting itself properly. The replacement one came yesterday, and again I spent a number of hours trying to get it connected to the internet, but there is still no internet connection via airport and I can confirm this from both my eMac and iBook.
Reading through the forums on here, I understand that my particular modem is problematic with the base station, but I can’t work out why it use to work and now it doesn’t! One theory I have investigated is that the firmware of the base station is two advance for the modem following an update, but after reinstalling the original firmware I started with, I still have no luck.
- The eMac is running 10.3.9 / iBook is running 10.4.3. The base station is reinstalled with the latest firmware via system update. The first base station and the modem were delivered to me 31/10/05.
Any help or suggestions would be really appreciated if anyone has any ideas
Thanks for your time
Will.
UK.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2316
78&tstart=0
I think if you follow the instructions I gave in this
link you will be fine.
Remember, If you for any reason loose your
connection, it is normally always a Power Issue..Your
ISP is down for service ..or some other anomoly, If
you were good before your settings will still be
good...Good Luck...Don
Hi Don,
Thanks for you quick response. I printed off the instructions you posted on the support forum before, and ran through your procedue exactly, (twice) but I'm sorry to inform you that I haven't been able to re-establish my wireless internet connection. Would it be safe for me to assume at this stage that my modem is indeed fualty? It contines to work fine independantly, (I'm using it right now) but it can't seem to make contact with the basestation.
Will.

Airport extreme base station no longer recognizes password

Away from house for a week. Came back and none of our iPhones, iPads can connect to wifi network. Airport Extreme base station will no recognize my network password to check settings. Airport Epress will not join network either.

Hi danny_A1A!
I have a couple of articles here that should be able to help you troubleshoot this issue. The first is a quick assist article pertaining to Wi-Fi issues and can be found here:
Wi-Fi Quick Assist
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1145
We also have another article on troubleshooting Wi-Fi connectivity, and it can be found here:
Wi-Fi: How to troubleshoot Wi-Fi connectivity
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4628
Take care, and thanks for visiting the Apple Support Communities.
-Braden

DrayTek Vigor 120 + Airport Extreme Base Station? I have queries.

Ok, so my 3 or 4 year old USR 9108 router went down today-- again. I'm fed up and want a new one. It dies on me once or twice a month. It has decided it doesn't like my powerline adapters lately. and I'm fed right up. I run an internet radio station and what I need is stability.
At the moment, I'm thinking of setting up a DrayTek Vigor 120 ADSL modem (modem-only) with the Airport Extreme Base Station for my router. (I already have an Express on my network.)
First of all, can anyone please comment on whether they have this set-up and whether it's solid? I've heard good things about both of these devices, and I need something that's not going to flake out as regularly as my USR has been doing of late. Rock solid is a good thing for a 24/7 stream.
Second, can I just confirm a few questions that I think I know the answer to, but want to be sure before shelling out?
I am in the UK using an ISP that uses PPPoA; so I need to be sure the modem has a PPPoA to PPPoE bridge in order for the Airport to talk to the outside world. (Right?). I gather the DrayTek will do this. Will it therefore be just a question of setting the Airport to connect via PPPoE and then entering my ISP login settings in Airport Utility?
I need a setup ideally that, like the USR, will allow me to assign IP addresses manually to some machines or devices on my network but allow DHCP on other things (like my iPhone). It's particularly important that the radio stream should have a static IP. I gather, from having a play with my Express's settings, that I'll be able to accomplish this either directly or by DHCP IP-reservation. Directly would be preferable. Therefore, if I, e.g., assign my computers an IP address on their local network settings and then just shift the Airport's DHCP range so that it starts with (say) 192.168.1.10, rather than, 192.168.1.2, will the Airport be happy with that?
I also need port forwarding / port mapping. This should be o.k., right?
Thanks for help, people.

I'm running a very similar setup here in the UK. I use a Netgear DG834 rather than the Draytek 120 which I was looking at. I use a Time Capsule connected to the router which is in half-bridge mode and this allows me to connect using PPPoE, which is possible on the BT ADSL network, which I didn't know before! - there's no need to get an expensive PPPoA-PPPoE bridge. I guess the Draytek would do an even better job than the Netgear, but mine was the free solution
I use the TC to give out addresses to a network of various kit, with one fixed IP for a specific device. I find the TC and my airport express very easy to set up and run, if slightly light on the details of what's actually going on. That said, if it doesn't work, then they're probably broken!
Nothing you've asked for is out of the ordinary / impossible on the apple kit.
Hope that helps!

Printing wirelessly to MacBook Pro with Airport Extreme Base Station

I have an Airport Extreme Base Station that I used to use wirelessly until I got Verizon Fios. The Fios technicians said the base station couldn't be used and so it's been sitting unused for a few months. However, I really, really miss printing wirelessly, and was wondering if it was possible to use the Airport Extreme Base Station ONLY to print wirelessly, and not connect it any way to my internet (I don't want to mess with any of the fios stuff at all).
If it's not possible, is there any other way to print wirelessly without purchasing another product or special printer. I have a HP c4480 printer.
Thanks!

If your printer has a USB cable the easy way to go about this in my opinion is to plug that USB cable into your Extreme base station. I have the Extreme ABS that looks like a flying saucer. I plug the usb cable into the port that has the symbol that doe NOT look like this <--> rather it looks like a Saguaro cactus.
My computer then sends print documents to the Extreme via WiFi and then Extreme sends them to the printer via the USB cable.
If your Airport status is not showing in the Mac's menubar go to system Prefs/Network/Airport and check a little box so it will show up in the menu bar.
Now if your Extreme is plugged in the wall and powered up your Mac should be able to find it. Click on that menubar item for Airport and scroll down and select your Airport Extreme. I don't know for sure what its name will be. It should still be the same as it used to be when you used it last.
Now try printing a simple document. In the print dialog window you should be able to select what printer you want to use. If your new Extreme printer is listed select it. You may need to click on Print & Fax and figure out how to select it from there, and choose it to be the new default printer.
I think this info will do the job. Whenever you want to print you have to go to the Airport icon in the menubar and change your airport connection from your Verizon stuff to your Extreme. Then of course you have to change back when you are done. That is why it would be great to toss the Verizon WiFi radio out the window and just plug your Verizon modem into your Extreme WiFi radio transceiver (router). But I understand you cannot deal with that at this time.
If this does not do the job, if I have missed something, I will bet you 5 bucks that you can still figure it out if you just look at any error messages and/or look at the Print&Fax prefs and the Print dialog windows etc. and see what I may have missed. Maybe you have to go to SystemPrefs/Sharing and allow your printer to be shared. I don't think so. The way I figure any of this stuff out is to just look at stuff and think and try things and see what happens.
Your Verizon setup should be something like this.... a cable comes into your house and goes to a 'modem'. From there and ethernet cable (CAT-5 cable) goes from that modem to your Verizon router (WiFi radio transceiver).
As for getting rid of the Verizon router, when you are ready to give it a go, simply unplug the ethernet cable (it has a plug on the end that looks like the kind of plug that telephones use to plug into the wall, except it is a bit wider, but still has that same kind of snap-lock tab) that comes from the Verizon modem (the modem has the heavy round cable and probably many blinking lights) and plug it into the Extreme. Mine has an icon on the Extreme that is many dots in a circular pattern.
At this point you may have to unplug the Verizon modem form the wall AC power and the Extreme also. Then plug them back in, wait a minute, go to your Airport icon on your Mac menubar, Select Extreme and start surfing the web.
It really is that simple with a Mac. Maybe Verizon has found a way to make things difficult but my guess is no. Any password should be taken care of in your Airport Setup Utility program. It should be the same password(s) as you used before when you used your Extreme.

Using Airport Extreme base station as wireless Cable router and airtunes.

Can I replace my wired Roadrunner cable modem with a Apple Airport Extreme wireless 56g router removing the wired modem out of the picture?
I just have read and have not come to the complete conclusion that the Airport extreme base station is a standalone wireless router.
I would like this if it is a wireless standalone router as I want to but a pair of wireless airtunes router for music around the house keeping the Airport Extreme in my room where the airtunes routers would not be as I have the computer in my room and I have iTunes right there and would not need the airtunes routers in my computer room.
Leon.

Can I replace my wired Roadrunner cable modem with a Apple Airport Extreme wireless 56g router removing the wired modem out of the picture?
The AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS) does NOT have a built-in DSL/Cable modem. You will still require a Cable modem in order to access your ISP's Internet service.
I just have read and have not come to the complete conclusion that the Airport extreme base station is a standalone wireless router.
The AEBS IS a wireless router, but it is NOT a combination wireless router & cable modem.

About Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station?

I Need A Wireless Router & i'm looking for Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station cause I Need a Wireless Router cause I Have at Home a Sony DVD Wireless Blue-Ray Player & i'm trying to Connect to The Internet on The Device but it's not letting me cause it say's I Have No Wireless Router to Connect to or Something? but I Connected The Sony DVD Blue-Ray Player to My 15inch Coby L.E.D LEDTV1526 HDTV & it Play's Blue-Ray Movies Excellent it just I Cannot Connect to The Internet on there cause I Need a Wireless Router & I Wanted to know if Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station is The Right Wireless Router for Me? cause I Like Apple & I Would like to Get The Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station if it's ok with what I Need it for? I Never had a Wireless Router before, I Love Sony & I Love Apple they both have Great Products on My Sony DVD Wireless Blue-Ray Player I Can Stream Movies From The Internet & I Wanna do that let me know if Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station is ok for me Please?
in My Bed Room I Have My 15inch Coby L.E.D LEDTV1526 HDTV & I Have My Optimum Cable HDTV DVR Cable HDTV Ready Connected & My Sony DVD Blue-Ray Player Connected to My 15inch Coby L.E.D LEDTV1526 HDTV But I Need a Wireless Router & is Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station right for me? all I Need now is Apple TV Next then i'm really Loaded Up.
in My Home I Have Optimum Triple Play Package Deal, I Have Cable HDTV Silver Package with Optimum DVR & Optimum Online Boost Plus for Internet & I Have My Regular Optimum Phone Service all 3 from Cablevision in My Bed Room & I Have over 2000+ DVD Movies & Music CD's & on Apple iTunes I Have almost 1000 Music & Music Video's & Almost 1000 App's for My Apple iPhone 4 32GB & Future Apple iPod Touch 64GB & I Have 32 Movies on Apple iTunes & 4 TV Shows on Apple iTunes & I Have 70 Mac App Store Mac App's from The Mac App Store
& in My Bed Room I Have My 2009 Apple 24inch iMac Computer & My Canon PIXMA MP480 All-One Photo Printer & My Apple Mouse & Apple Keyboard & My G-Technology G-Drive 1TB Drive & My Canon Powershot A2100 IS Digital Camera & My Apple iPhone 4 32GB From Verizon Wireless Connected To My 2009 24inch Apple iMac Computer so I Have lots of things going on in my Room. so have a Very Merry Christmas & Happy Holiday's & Happy New Year
If Someone did not like the way I Made this Thread i'm Very Sorry I Did it in the wrong way, I'm Sorry & I Won't do it if it was the wrong way i did it? & i'm sorry I Made the Mistake & I Just thought i would get Help on the Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station I Needed help with & I'm Sorry what i did if You did not like it, I Have not been on here often & I Only come here if I Need help with something so maybe you could let this thread slide but if not? then it's ok & i'm still Sorry I Made it & I Did not mean to make it in a bad way if thats what you thought? so have a Very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year & Happy Holiday's from your Online Friend & Costumer Byron.
Peace.

Ok after Christmas was Over I Went to PC Richard & Son & was looking for an HDMI Cable & I Found it so then I Asked them about My Sony DVD Blu-Ray Player & told them about the situation that I can stream Movies from the Internet to The Sony DVD Blu-Ray Player & then I also talked to them about a Router so after that they had Showed me The BELKIN Share N300 Wireless N' Router & they said this is The Cheapest 1 & it was $29.99 plus tax, they said that I Can Connect that to My Sony DVD Blu-Ray Player to The BELKIN Share N300 Wireless N' Router & Connect The Belkin Share N300 Wireless N' Router to My Cable Optimum Online Modem then Connect The Wire from The Optimum Cable Modem to My Computer so now My Sony DVD Blu-Ray Player can Stream Movies from The Internet & also I Have everything Conected & working great & I also have Netflix on My Sony DVD Blu-Ray Player & I Can also watch Movies on Netflix on My 24inch iMac Computer to, everything is working fine so now 1 Very Last Question & i'll leave you alone
if I Were to Buy Apple TV Can I Get a Wireless Home Networking Connection on The BELKIN Share N300 Wireless N' Router? or is it only can Work on an Apple Airport Extreme Base Station?
I Hope you had a Happy New Year ok take care from Byron.

Trying to connect a NetGear Wifi Range Extender to my existing Wifi. I have an Airport Extreme Base Station and I am also connected to a Vonage Phone Router. Any help would be appreciated?

I am trying to connect a NetGear Wifi Range Extender to my existing Wifi. I have an Airport Extreme Base Station and I am also connected to a Vonage Phone Router. Any help would be appreciated?
The Apple update Firmware for my Airport Extreme Base Station does not update for some reason? Help?
Additionally, I have an older version Airport Express that does not update with the newer Airport Utility Version 6.3 and asks me to download 5.6 to update? Is this worth it?
Thanks

The netgear is not going to work very well.. and not at all unless it is universal wireless extender.. you cannot use WDS method.
If it does support universal wireless then make sure the airport uses a rational SMB compatible wireless name.. not an apple name which is 35 characters long with spaces and illegal characters like apostrophe.
So nice AE name.. AEwifi and actually while you are trying.. fruitlessly to do this.. use AE24ghz and AE5ghz (so different names on the different bands)
Assuming your AE is gen3 or greater.
You should also fix the wireless channel at least for 2.4ghz since the netgear is probably only going to repeat 2.4ghz so use channel 11, as a trial.
And use no wireless security as a test.. if that works.. then use WPA1 & 2.. as often old equipment using WPA2 is not compatible.
If it fails with simple name.. fixed channel and no security. Sorry it is not compatible at all.. it happens.
If your AE is G wireless or earlier model.. really the time has come for replacement.
If your Express is G wireless model it is not supported.. and is too old to bother with expect I guess if you want to run audio to a speaker.
You must use older 5.6 utility to do this.. so do you have a computer running older OS.. up to Mountain Lion it is easy to install with a bit of manipulation.. later is much harder .. or windows computer anywhere or available to you.

Airport Extreme Base Station N adjusts time, then drops WDS

I have a WDS network with a +Time Capsule+ (TC = WDS Main) and an +Airport Extreme Base Station with 802.11n+ (AEBSn = WDS Remote). Everything works great - except when it doesn't. The AEBSn will suddenly drop the connection, and instead of a normal IP address (10.0.1.11) it will get a self-assigned one (e.g. 169.254.130.58). I have pawed through a number of log files, and I see that at the point that things go south, I get a whacky net-time update; for example:
Jul 31 20:25:21 Severity:5 Internet Configuration leased -- host <10.0.1.11/255.255.255.0> gateway <10.0.1.1> dns <10.0.1.1> wins lease <14400> domain <dclient.lsne.ch>
Jul 31 19:54:15 Severity:5 Clock synchronized to network time server time.euro.apple.com (adjusted -3606 seconds).
Jul 31 20:55:35 Severity:3 No Address for NTP server time.euro.apple.com.
Note the 1-hour backwards time adjustment; after that, the AEBSn has dropped the connection. Note that there was no user traffic on the network at the time - no one was home.
Sometimes the status light on the AEBSn will go yellow, sometimes it stays green - I haven't been able to detect a pattern to that. The TC is zen: he's green no matter what happens. I thought he was supposed to be a caring master?
I thought this was perhaps related to interference from other wireless networks - I live in the city and there are a bunch around me - so I moved to the least-used primary frequency band: no change.
Help!!! This is driving me bananas. Thanks in advance.

Bob,
Thanks for the response, and sorry for taking so long to get back. I think I found how to fix the problem of the dropped WDS connections, and I wanted to give it a while to make sure the problem was really fixed.
The drops got to be more and more frequent, until finally the WDS connection would drop pretty much immediately. At that point, the TC (the master in my setup) for the first time started showing signs of being unhappy: the status light would briefly flash orange at irregular intervals (I could see nothing relevant in the log file, though). I had always assumed the problem was at the AEBS end, and had always restarted him, but this time I tried restarting the TC - and bingo presto, everything started working, and has been working for over a month now, without ever restarting the AEBS.
I would guess that there's something in the WDS implementation (at least on the TC) that gradually degrades over the period of many months - memory leak or fragmentation or similar.
Thanks for the suggestion about the "extend a wireless network" option. When I read the manual, I got the impression that was just an automated way of setting up WDS; I didn't realize that it affects the band used. I now realize that the title of the section, "Extending the Range *of an 802.11n Network*," is not totally anodyne. Anyway, I just now set it up as you suggested, and so far, so good.
Thanks again,
-- Philip

HT4259 Extending AirPort Extreme BASE STATION range

I am using an older (2006) 54Mbps AirPort Extreme Base Station and want to extend the range. I am experiencing issues with dropped or slow signals in rooms that I would consider tough to reach (basement for example). Can I use an AirPort Express to extend the range of the WI-FI and how exactly is this done? Or would I be better off updating the AirPort Extreme Base Station? It's worked flawlessly for 6 years, just have more wireless requirements.
Thank you all in advance.

I am using an older (2006) 54Mbps AirPort Extreme Base Station ... Can I use an AirPort Express to extend the range of the WI-FI and how exactly is this done?
The short answer is yes; the longer answer is that the only way to "wirelessly extend" the range of your 802.11b/g-only Extreme is to create a Wireless Distribution System (WDS).
Not only is a WDS a tedious pain to set up, even for experienced users, its performance is likely to be disappointing. It may not even solve your dropped signals or slow throughput.
There are better ways to extend your wireless range. By far the best and least expensive alternative is to connect an additional base station to your existing Extreme with an Ethernet cable. If you don't want to do that, and you understandably decide against a WDS, then your remaining alternative is to buy a newer, 802.11n capable Extreme or Express. They can use Apple's "extend a wireless network" feature that will eliminate nearly all the disadvantages of a WDS.
Read this to determine how to create a WDS: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4262

How can I extend a wireless network with my AirPort Extreme Base Station?

Today I purchased a brand new, dual-band base station to replace my Belkin N router, as I have had a handful of firewall, coverage, and other networking problems in my house lately. First off, I really like this router and it was very easy to setup. My MacBook Pro could use both bands and established a 300 Mbit/s link very quickly. After tweaking various settings to my liking, I was also able to maximize the connections on many of my non-Apple machines and devices. I noticed that the range of its network was better than my Belkin's, but unfortunately, it failed to completely saturate the area sufficiently. Since the Belkin still works well enough, I was hoping I could bridge them together one way or the other.
The Belkin router does not support any bridge mode that I know of, but the AirPort Extreme should be able to join a wireless network and then extend that over WiFi and Ethernet, correct? I would like to place them at opposite ends of my home so I can get strong WiFi signals everywhere inside. However, when I try to get the base station to connect to my preexisting WiFi connection, it tells me that I can't extend the network and fails to join.
So is this possible? And if it is, how would I go about setting it up? I know it would probably be easier if I had a simple range booster such as an AirPort Express, but I didn't buy one while I was at Fry's since I hoped I could make use of the older Belkin. This is its product page, if needed. Thanks for any suggestions.
-MacUser

The Belkin router does not support any bridge mode that I know of, but the AirPort Extreme should be able to join a wireless network and then extend that over WiFi and Ethernet, correct?
Sorry, but no. The AirPort Extreme Base Station cannot "join" a network like the AirPort Express or Time Capsule, but you wouldn't want to do this anyway because in this configuration these devices will only perform as wireless clients ... not routers.
Instead, the AirPort Extreme can either be extended or can extend another 802.11g or 802.11n AirPort ... or a very very few non-AirPort devices.
One option for your Belkin would be to connect it to the AirPort Extreme by Ethernet but this may not meet your requirements or be a desirable situation. Otherwise, you would need to get another AirPort to extend your current one.

Multipmultiple Airport Extreme Base Stations: WDS Or "Extend Wireless Network" To Have Wired -- Wireless Bridge?

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