Need an Extended Network to Cover Large House

Hello,
I have a new iMac upstairs in the front of the house with my modem in the master bedroom closet. Both are upstairs and are in opposite corners of the house. I also have an Apple TV downstairs, which almost is in the middle. I've had a D-link wireless router with an external antenna and I could never get a good connection between my iMac and Apple TV.
So I'd like to purchase two Airport Express Base Stations and connect one to the modem and the other in one of the other rooms to connect to the main base station. Essentially I'd like one to be the base station and the other to act as a repeater to extend my wireless station. Is that possible?
Thanks in advance!

In response to this thread I'd like warn the consumer. I have an Imac G5 1.8GHz Power PC w/ 2GB DDR SDRAM that I purchased 4-5 years ago with an express base station. All my equipment was located in my home office roughly in the middle of an 1800 sqft, single story, brick ranch. I purchased a powerbook about 3 years ago which received a signal over the whole house. I recently relocated my home office to the far end of the house due to a baby that will be here july 2009. I purchased an additional express base station to act as a booster because we could no longer get a signal in our master bedroom which is opposite the relocated office. After talking with tech support for two hours I still didn't have a better signal. The old base station actually had more range than the newer one. the newer one is faster when in range but the range has dropped. In reading these threads it seems as though the base stations can lose up to 50% of their strength when used this way. CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE ADVISE?

Similar Messages

  • Airport Extreme doesn't cover (large) house. Is it possible to configure a "repeater" of some type?

    Airport Extreme doesn't cover all of my (large) house. Is it possible to configure some sort of repeater?

    Ideally, you would locate another AirPort Extreme, or possibly an AirPort Express in the central portion of the area that needs more wireless coverage and then connect back to your "main" AirPort Extreme using a wired Ethernet connection.
    This type of setup provides the best performance for the network while allowing you to place the extending device exactly where it is needed.
    Alternately, you may be able to locate another AirPort Extreme or AirPort Express at an approximate mid-point between your "main" AirPort Extreme and the area that needs more coverage and connect the remote device using wireless only to "extend a wireless network".
    As you might imagine, the "extending" device can only extend or repeat the quality of signal that it receives, so establishing a line-of-sight relationship between the main and extending device would be ideal. Otherwise, you may be able to get away with a wall or two or a ceiling in the signal path, but this is always somewhat an "iffy" proposition because it is just not possible to accurately predict wireless performance in advance.

  • 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.

  • Airport Express & Apple TV in Large house with lots of concrete!

    Hi there
    I have set up an AX & Apple TV network in a large house (not my own mind you) as follows:
    1x AX(n) upstairs acting as base station
    1x AX(n) downstairs at a Hi Fi audio system (using with Airtunes)
    1x AppleTV upstairs in TV Room
    1x PC with windoze Vista with Netgear RangeMax NEXT Wireless-N USB-WN111-100ISS
    The problem/scenario is this:
    1. The house walls are all concrete and has a lot of angles, so the range is very limited due to no line of site connections.
    2. Although all devices see each other, it is really at the edge of the range and sometimes when using an iphone as a remote for instance downstairs at the HiFi, one loses the connection to the network.
    3. Furthermore the network needs to be expanded to include an AX in the main bedroom that is also upstairs but at the opposite end of the house.
    4. The people of the house wants to use their iphones as remotes with Airtunes & Apple TV.
    The questions:
    1.)Will the range of the network be much larger/stronger if I replace the AX I am currently using as router/base station with an AEBS?
    2.)Also, If i want to extend the network to the patio (downstairs outside about 80ft), can I set the AX that is plugged in to the HiFi (for Airtunes) to also extend the network or will this take away the Airtunes functionality?
    3.) Will the use of iphones on this network not "downgrade" the network from N to G?
    Thanks a lot for the help!

    Thanks a lot John
    John Galt wrote:
    You described what I have in mind, though for bandwidth purposes I envisioned dedicating the "n" network to your wireless computers, Airtunes, and AppleTV, and the "g" network strictly for the iPhone. This assumes both your Expresses are the newer ones capable of 802.11n.
    I might also add that this setup will be strictly used for Airtunes and AppleTV. The only computer connected to it will be the PC that the music gets streamed from. So therefore I there is no "real" need for N capabilities on the AEX's as it will only be iphones and airtunes running on it. Also the house is on a farm so the closest interference apart from microwaves and cordless phones are probably 10km away
    I will first try this setup with a:
    1.N network between the AppleTV and AEBS
    2.G network between AEBS and AEX for Airtunes and Iphone remote.
    I see where you are coming from with the N network for the AEX & Airtunes, but this will mean I will have to buy not only a new dualband AEBS and new AEX (which I have to buy anyway to extend the network) but also buy an additional 2 or 3 AEX's, which will make it a pretty pricey picnic.
    So I will first try my luck with a G network for Airtunes.
    Now I just have to sit and wait patiently for the incompetent agents in South Africa to get the new dualband AEBS in... (yes we dont have an "official" Apple presence in SA and yes the "official agents" are useless and yes it will probably take another 8 weeks for it to arrive in SA with the new iMacs, mini's and pro's and yes the agents' service and support will be nonexistent to mediocre.... IF we are lucky..)
    Nevertheless, with that rant out of the way, thanks again for the help!

  • Extending network on both sides of Time Capsule

    I need to extend network on both side of Time Capsule. One one side, there is a airport express "n" working great. I have an extra "g" airport express which I'd like to plug in on the other side, but a good distance away (about 125 feet). I could also purchase a second "n" if necessary. My questions:
    1. Will this deteriorate my speeds on existing Time Capsule and Airport Express?
    2. Do I need to set up the second Airport Express or simply plug it in?
    3. Can I use the "g," with the understanding that there will be some speed deterioration on the "g" side, or would it be better to just go get a second "n."
    I would greatly appreciate any help you could provide. Thanks

    To clarify my unclear question: If I connect by the second airport express BY ETHERNET and it is a "g" rather an "n," will it have any affect on speeds for rest of network?
    That is true. The Ethernet connection will not affect the other wireless network.
    Also, not sure what you mean by "WDS?" Is that another term for airport extreme?
    WDS == wireless distribution system
    AirPort Utility 5.1 Help: Extending the range of your wireless network
    And finally, by "range extender" I see a "Lynksys Wireless G Range Expander" on the market. Is that just another "airport" and would your answer to my question 4 apply to that?
    "AirPort" is Apple's marketing term for 802.11 wireless networking. Therefore it does not apply to any Linksys device.
    It is possible that it would answer question 4 but I have no experience with that device.

  • I have an Airport Extreme as my router and am using time capsule to extend the network in my new house. My ISP is only providing me 4-5 ip addresses and wants me to set up my router to issue out new ip addresses for all my devices.How do I fix this?Help

    I have an Airport Extreme as my router and am using time capsule to extend the network in my new house. My ISP is only providing me 4-5 ip addresses and wants me to set up my router to issue out new ip addresses for all my devices.How do I fix this?Help.
    They said I need to change my settings to NAT settings. I haven't been able to figure out or find anything. I have also spoken to Apple Support on the phone for hours without being able to figure out how to do this ( i don't think he knew much either lol.) Please help me because I've got about 15-20 devices in my house that require to be connected to the internet and this is just making things ridiculously slow and painful for me.
    Thanks!

    It is on DHCP & NAT under router mode yet my isp is still the one issuing ip addresses to my devices instead of the router issuing them

  • I have one modem in the house but I need 2 different networks.

    I have one modem in the house but I need 2 different networks that will not communicate or even see each other. The first network is the one that needs to be the most secure. The computers are used for personal information, documents, pictures, Apple TV and iTunes home sharing.(3 Apples, 3 iPads, 3 iPhones and 4 Apple TVs)  The second network needs to be for the 3 computers and gaming systems used for social games on Facebook, PSP, XBox, and a gaming system used for World of Warcraft.  The social interactions seem to be the ones that have picked up most of our computer network issues and I would like to be able to isolate them from any communication with our home network (2 PCs and 1 Mac). Is there a way that I can use 2 different routers along with blocking any bluetooth and/or bonjour connections?  I am not worried about a networked printer for the second network, it is more to try and contain any issues that may slip though virus protection and create a mess with our home systems. It would be nice to still be able to set up a Guest Network for the herds of kids and adults to use when visiting as well.  PLEASE tell me this can be done.
    Thank You
    Christine

    Christine,
    Apple may be able to do some, but not all of what you want to do.
    The dual band AirPort Extreme can create a main, or "private" network and a separate "guest" network. The private network can be configured to handle both wired and wireless clients. The "guest" network works only for wireless clients.
    Computers, devices, etc on the "guest" network cannot "see" or communicate with any of the devices on the main or "private" network. But, it is possible to allow clients on the "guest" network to see other devices on the "guest" network, so a wireless printer on this network would allow anyone on the "guest" network to be able to use the printer if you need that functionality.
    You can "extend" the "main" network using more wireless devices if you need more wireless coverage. The "guest" network cannot be extended.
    Depending on the level of service you have with your ISP, you may have bandwidth issues with two networks and multiple devices all trying to use the Internet connection.  I would think that a 25-30 Mbps connection would be the bare minimum to handle what you want to do and 50 Mbps would be advised.
    If you want to use two separate routers, you are really looking at a commercial type installation best handled by commercial products like Cisco, so that might be the place to look.

  • Airport Express extending network needs to be restarted daily

    I'm having a really annoying problem with my Airport network. Here's the configuration:
    Den: Latest generation simultaneous Dual-Band Airport Extreme
    Living Room: older 802.11g Airport Express used only for AirPlay
    Office: older 802.11n Airport Express wired to the Airport Extreme via ethernet, extending network
    Hallway: 802.11n Airport Express wirelessly joining and extending network
    Bedroom: Latest generation simultaneous Dual-Band Airport Express wirelessly joining and extending network
    I have an older house which is not terribly big but the radio-opaque walls make it difficult to propogate wireless, thus the need for so many units.
    It all works pretty well except for my bedroom Airport Express (simultaneous Dual-Band). On a daily basis it will lose connection with the network or go so painfull slowly that it's pointless. The only solution is to do a reboot of the unit which works temporarily (good connection / good speeds) My son likes to watch Roku in our bedroom and that Roku uses the WiFi that the Airport Express should provide. Needless to say troubleshooting wifi when your 3 year old is crying because he can't get 30 seconds of streaming before the signal craps out is not fun. Anybody have any suggestions???

    "Hard reset" the bedroom Extreme to preclude the possibility that some corrupted internal parameter is limiting its performance. Consider doing that with all of them. They will subsequently need to be reconfigured.
    Configure the den Extreme to provide a unique name for its 5 GHz network, and ensure all the devices capable of using it are using it, and not 2.4 GHz. Find out what your Roku is capable of using.
    The key to solving problems, if your challenging requirements are solvable, is to start with as simple an installation as possible, then progressively add to it. Find out the maximum usable range of your den's Extreme in both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, then position any devices used to "wirelessly extend" its signal roughly half the distance to that Extreme - not a different base station. The ideal location for the Roku's Express may not necessarily be in the bedroom.
    Run speed tests each time and make sure you are not trying to "extend" a weak signal. "Extending" a weak signal makes it stronger, but no faster that what it receives.
    That's all you can do.
    ... I thought "N" networks minimized that problem.
    You're right about that.
    The thing is I get decent wireless reception in the bedroom WITHOUT the express plugged in.
    I wonder if those devices are really using the Express you think they are. That's the problem with multiple base stations. There are ways of addressing this question but not with the current AirPort Utility version.

  • Want to buy airport extreme, am using mountain lion.  Will this work ?  also,  my house is 5,500 square feet all on one floor.  Do I need an extender and which one?

    want to buy airport extreme, am using mountain lion.  Will this work ?  also,  my house is 5,500 square feet all on one floor.  Do I need an extender and which one?

    ...  If I purchase an express to extend is it hard to configure as an extender? 
    No, AirPort Utility prompts you with step-by-step questions and makes configuration simple.
    The Express and Extreme have the same transmitter power specifications, so I suggest the $99 Express as an extender, should you need one. Beware that you cannot add a second Express to wirelessly extend the network any further - as the following excerpt from Extending the range of your wireless network by adding additional Wi-Fi base stations explains:
    Extended network range considerations
    In the above example the primary Wi-Fi base station ➊ is out of wireless range of the extended Wi-Fi base station ➋, therefore the extended Wi-Fi base station cannot join or extend the wireless network. The extended Wi-Fi base station must be moved to a location that is within Wi-Fi range of the primary Wi-Fi base station.
    Important Note
    If another extended Wi-Fi base station ➋ is placed between the primary Wi-Fi base station ➊ and the extended Wi-Fi base station ➌, the extended Wi-Fi base station ➌ will not allow clients to join it. All extended Wi-Fi base stations must be in direct range of the primary Wi-Fi base station.
    A "roaming network" that Bob described, in which all base stations are connected with an Ethernet cable, is by far the best alternative.

  • I have an AirPort Extreme time capsule . I need to extend my wifi network range. Which devise is better ?? Airport express or AirPort Extreme ??

    I have an AirPort Extreme time capsule . I need to extend my wifi network range. Which devise is better ?? Airport express or AirPort Extreme ??

    Since you have the new Time Capsule, then you will need a new AirPort Extreme to match the performance capabilities of the Time Capsule.
    If best quality is preferred, you will need to connect the Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme using a wired Ethernet connection between the devices. The advantage of doing it this way is that you can locate the AirPort Extreme exactly where it is needed...and there will be no loss of signal through the Ethernet cable.
    A wireless connection will result in a significant drop in performance, but it might be OK for your uses, if you want to try it that way first to see if the performance is acceptable.
    It is really important that the AirPort Extreme be located where it can receive a strong wireless signal from the Time Capsule.
    A line-of-sight relationship between the Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme would be the goal, with the AirPort Extreme located about half way between the Time Capsule and the general area where you need more wireless signal coverage.

  • Airport Extreme wired AND extend network - Need Input

    I just bought 2 Air Port Extreme units (the latest 5th generation).  I'd like to use them in the following configuration:
    1.  Unit 1 connected to my cable modem, providing wireless service and wired to a switch which distributes the connectivity to a few other places in my house via ethernet cable.
    2.  Unit 2 on the opposite side of the house, extending the wireless signal from Unit 1, and hardwired to the ethernet in the house.  Then several other items plugged into Unit 2 for connectivity.
    Problem is, I seem to have 1 of 2 choices:
    1.  Configure Unit 2 in bridge mode.  Hardwire to network works and connectivity works, but there is no wireless turned on, hence no wireless extension.
    2.  Configure Unit 2 to Extend Network.  Wireless is extended, and works fine.  Items can be plugged into Unit 2 and get connectivity, but I cannot connect Unit 2 to the wired network.
    Am I right that I can't get what I want - Unit 2 wired into the internal ethernet network AND extending the wireless network from Unit 1?

    Connect them in a "Roaming" network which is the best wireless network available.
    Roaming Network (Ethernet-connected Wi-Fi base stations)
    For 802.11n Wi-Fi base stations, creating a roaming network is by far the best choice. This will provide the best throughput between the base stations and your Wi-Fi devices.
    This set up requires that your Wi-Fi base stations are connected via Ethernet.
    The primary base station provides DHCP Services, while the extended base station will be configured to use bridge mode.
    All Wi-Fi base stations within the roaming network should use the same passwords, security type (Open/WEP/WPA), and network name (SSID).
    These would all use the same "Create a wireless network", same password, same network name, same security, etc.....
    Sounds like you can do this with all the cables you have througout the house....
    You would not use "Join", "Extend", or "Bridge"..... You would choose "Create a wireless network" on all the base stations.......

  • Large House Setup

    I live in a large house and I am trying to configure a home network from a cable modem connection. The people that lived here before me left an 8 port hub and a 4 port wired router in the basement that are connected to an ethernet port in each bedroom (We have 9). I have my own linksys WRT54G wireless router that I want to put in my centrally located bedroom (instead of the basement) so the whole house can have wireless internet. When I connected everything, I could not access the internet. What would be the proper setup between the cable modem, hub, wired router, and wireless router? Thank you so much, this has been driving me crazy.
    Kenton

    Hi…
    You  network should be  Cable Modem -> Wired Router ( Internet / WAN Port) -> HUB -> Bedrooms -> WRT54G ( EthernetPort). First make sure that the wired router is configured and you are able to go online thru  the wired router. Then connect the HUB to any one of the Ethernet ports of the wired router, connect all the cables from all the rooms to the HUB. Connect a computer to the Ethernet port of the bedroom and make sure that you are able to access the internet.
    Now the important thing is that you need to know what’s the IP address of your wired router. Let’s assume IP address of the wired router to be 192.168.2.1. We need to make sure that the wired router and the linksys wireless router are both  in the same network range. To get both the routers in the same network, connect a computer to the Ethernet port of the wireless router. Reset the router using a pointer object for 30 seconds. Unplug the power…wait for 30 seconds and then reconnect the power to the router. When all the lights on the router are steady, open Internet explorer ……in the address bar type http://192.168.1.1 (default IP address). Leave the username field blank  and in the password type “admin” ( Default Password). When the configuration page loads up fully…..first make all the wireless setting of the router. Save setting. Goto the setup page…Disable the DHCP server of the router. Also change the Local IP Address of the router to 192.168.2.2 (Assuming wired router to be 192.168.2.1). Save settings. Connect the Ethernet port of the bedroom to the Ethernet port of the wireless router. Powercycle the whole network

  • Using router "transparently" to extend network?

    Hi, all... this is probably an ethernet networking question, rather than strictly a Snow Leopard question, but I'm hoping someone might know the answer...
    I have a Cable Modem delivering the internet to my Time Capsule, which is providing a wireless network downstairs in my house. It doesn't reach well to the loft upstairs, where my kids have their computers, so I have used a pair of "powerline ethernet" plugs to carry the network upstairs, One is wired into the time capsule, and the one in the loft is connected to the "WAN" socket on my old Belkin 4-port wireless router. I've turned off the wireless, so it's just acting as an ethernet router.
    If I plug the two computers in the loft into the router with its default settings, they can connect to the internet with no problem.
    However, they can't see the printer, which is wirelessly connected to the network downstairs, nor can they share iTunes or anything like that.
    The router upstairs is set up by default to have the IP address 192.168.2.1, with DHCP running, NAT and so on. The Time Capsule assigns IP addresses in the 10.0.0.x range.
    I wonder whether the problem with the printer and iTunes shares is that the router and two machines upstairs are effectively on a separate small network.
    Is it possible to set up the router so that it connects the two machines upstairs "transparently", so that the IP addresses are assigned by the Time Capsule, and they are both effectively on the SAME network as downstairs? If so, what modes/settings do I need to change on the router upstairs? If I turn off DHCP on the upstairs router, will the Time Capsule DHCP the upstairs computers, or will they just not get IP addresses and fail to be on any network at all? Do I leave DHCP on the router upstairs ON, but change the router's base IP address and assignment range to be within the range of the Time Capsule network?
    As you can tell, I really don't know enough about Ethernet to solve this one myself - can any of you fine folk help me out?
    best regards,
    Matt

    I believe what you may need to try is to configure the loft router for bridged networking rather than using it as a separate router. Your upstairs network, if I understand your setup properly, is no on the same network as the one downstairs. But if the loft router is using bridged networking then it should simply be on whatever is brought upstairs by the Powerline Ethernet device. But I'm still not sure this will work since I'm not knowledgeable of the possible limitations of powerline ethernet devices. You still may not be able to connect to the printer from the loft.
    What you might try is to use the TC downstairs and the router upstairs both with their wireless transceivers turned on. Configure the TC to allow its network to be extended. Configure the loft router to extend or join an existing network. If the two routers can establish and maintain a wireless connection then you can omit the powerline devices altogether.
    For additional information: What happens if you connect the loft computer directly to the powerline device? Can you then connect to the downstairs printer? If so, then you know that how you are using the loft router is the problem. If you can't connect to the printer then you know the problem is with the powerline devices.

  • Question about extending network

    I just ordered the brand new Airport Extreme. My current Airport Extreme is about 6 years old so I upgraded to take advantage of the better WiFi speeds. What I'm wondering is what I can do with my old Airport Extreme, which still works fine. Does it make sense to set it up somewhere else in the house to extend my wireless signal further away from my new one, and if so, how do I ensure that I'm not connecting to the slower Extreme signal than the newer one if it is extending the network.

    Which old model AirPort Extreme do you have?
    Round shaped?  Square shaped?
    If it's the square version, it can be set up to "extend a wireless network", but the extending AirPort will of course not run at 802.11ac speeds.
    how do I ensure that I'm not connecting to the slower Extreme signal than the newer one if it is extending the network.
    Wireless devices will connect to the AirPort with the strongest signal, which is also going to be the closest AirPort at the time. No way to avoid that.
    If you want to maintain 802.11ac speeds throughout an extended network, you will need two new AirPort Extremes.

  • Using Second Telstra Gateway Max in Bridge Mode to Extend Network Coverage

    Hi all I'm about to connect my new BigPond Cable service and have been supplied the new Telstra Gateway Max (Netgear C6300).  I need to extend the network coverage out to a free standing double garage/man cave.  Rather than buying a seperate range extender or access point I was thinking of running ethernet cable from the primary Telstra Gateway Max in the house to the double garage and then attach to a second Telstra Gateway Max (which a friend has given me) in bridge mode.  Can anyone advise is this will be possible and how I go about it?

    It doesn't work that way with bridging.  If you bridge your existing Gateway, then the wireless function on that one switches off. You need to connect the 2nd Router tothe existing with ethernet cable and then disable the DHCP function on the second router so that you don't get conflicting addresses being assigned on your network. I'm not sure that the Gateway Max will let you do this.  You would be better off buying a new Router (not one modem/router), and hooking up that way.

Maybe you are looking for