Problems with setting up network

Question

Hello,
I recently bought an AirPort Extreme, but have had difficutly setting the device up. I guess part (or most) of the difficutly is confusion on my part. When I plugged the router in, it showed up in AirPort Utility, so I double-clicked on it to configure it. I set the network name and password just fine, but when I was trying to configure IP settings I ran into trouble. I wanted to assign a range of IP addresses to clients who connect to the router wirelessly, so under the 'Connection Sharing' drop-down menu I chose 'Distribute a Range of IP addresses'. When I set it up, it seemed like the right thing to do, but after downloading the 'Designing AirPort Networks' guide off the Support site, it seems as if it's not the right choice. So my first question is: "Which setting should I set this to if I want to assign IP addresses that fall in a certain range to clients who connect to the router wirelessly? I should note that I would like to assign my own IP addresses (preferably the ones in the range 10.0.x.x), not ones that are in the range of the IP address assigned to my router by my ISP (Comcast).
Then... I was confused as to which field was which under the 'Internet Connection' tab of the 'Internet' section in the window. Now, in order to achieve what I described in the previous paragraph, I need to 'Manually' configure IPv4. First off: What is IPv4, and what's the difference between IPv4 and IPv6? After switching the drop-down menu to 'Manual', I didn't know what to enter in some of the fields. I knew what to enter for 'Subnet Mask', because I had seen it before on other routers as the default: 255.255.255.0. But then there were the 'IP address' and 'Router Address' fields. Before I get into this, I had a pretty good idea that these had to do with my router's WAN IP address and it's LAN IP address. Before the AirPort Extreme, I had a Linksys wireless router and from what I understand, the IP addresses assigned to clients are usually extentions of what the Router's LAN IP address is. For example: If the router has an LAN IP address of 192.168.1.1, you would generally set the range of client IP addresses to 192.168.1.100 through 192.168.1.1xx. So my next question is: Which field is the routers LAN IP address, and which field is the routers WAN IP address? I know that the router's WAN IP address is assigned by my ISP, and I assume that I assign the router my own LAN IP address; one that would correspond with the range of IP addresses the clients would be assigned. Just to note: If I'm completely wrong about any (or all) or this, someone please correct me.
I bought an AirPort Express about 9 months ago, and it was super easy to set up and use (just what I would expect from Apple). Back then I used the combination of 'AirPort Admin Utility' and 'AirPort Setup Assistant' to set up and reconfigure my AirPort express. With those two programs, it was a breeze, but with this new 'AirPort Utility', I have had more problems that I could ever imagine. If someone could please set me straight on all of this, I would really appreciate it.
Thank you in advance,
Trevor

Answer 1

I wanted to assign a range of IP addresses to clients who connect to the router wirelessly, so under the 'Connection Sharing' drop-down menu I chose 'Distribute a Range of IP addresses'.
This would be the correct choice if your ISP had provided you with a range of static IP addresses, instead, for what you want to do, you want to select "Share a public IP address."
Which setting should I set this to if I want to assign IP addresses that fall in a certain range to clients who connect to the router wirelessly? I should note that I would like to assign my own IP addresses (preferably the ones in the range 10.0.x.x), not ones that are in the range of the IP address assigned to my router by my ISP (Comcast).
Using the AirPort Utility, click on Internet, and then, click on the DHCP tab to select it. In the "DHCP Beginning Address" & "DHCP Ending Address" fields, enter the desired private LAN IP address range.
Now, in order to achieve what I described in the previous paragraph, I need to 'Manually' configure IPv4.
Unless you want to provide static IP addresses to the devices connected to your wireless network, it would be easier to let them get assigned dynamic IP address via the AEBSn's DHCP service.
First off: What is IPv4, and what's the difference between IPv4 and IPv6?
How about I just let Wikipedia provide the explanation.
Which field is the routers LAN IP address, and which field is the routers WAN IP address?
The IP Address, Subnet Mask, Router Address, DNS Server(s), and Domain Name fields are, typically populated by your ISP when "Configure IPv4: Using DHCP" is set...and represent the "WAN" side of the AEBSn.
I bought an AirPort Express about 9 months ago, and it was super easy to set up and use (just what I would expect from Apple). Back then I used the combination of 'AirPort Admin Utility' and 'AirPort Setup Assistant' to set up and reconfigure my AirPort express. With those two programs, it was a breeze, but with this new 'AirPort Utility', I have had more problems that I could ever imagine. If someone could please set me straight on all of this, I would really appreciate it.
Any particular reason you didn't just use the "Assist Me Setup" mode of the AirPort Utility? It works pretty much like the old "AirPort Setup Assistant" version.