Should I get a Airport Extreme Base Station?

My linksys is giving me problems. But with the compatibility problems I've been reading about with the AEBS, should I get it? I currently have a 2 macbooks, one with tiger, one with leopard, a windows xp pc, and 1 macbook pro running leopard. This christmas I'll be adding another Macbook and an iMac running leopard. Thanks.

Hello Pozzi. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
But with the compatibility problems I've been reading about with the AEBS, should I get it?
I'm not quite sure which "compatibility problems" you are referring to. None of your Macs or the PC, running WinXP, should have any problems connecting with the 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn). For maximum security, using WPA2, just be sure that your PC's version of XP is at least at SP2 or greater and that it has WPA2-compliant wireless capability.

Similar Messages

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.

Airport Extreme Base Station Portscanning my System?

Bought the AEBS today and got it set-up in about five minutes; very nice. I then moved on to another (and completely different) problem, which involved opening system.log. What I discovered thousands of messages that read along the lines of:
"Aug 3 17:13:13 My-Computer kernel[0]: Stealth Mode connection attempt to UDP xx.xx.xx.3:51539 from xx.xx.xx.1:192"
where xx.xx.xx.3 is my G5 and xx.xx.xx.1 is the AEBS. I don't know which port number the AEBS started with (hopefully not 1), but it is clearly incrementing by one.
I was able to learn that 192 is used by the base station for PPP status or discovery, but could not find anything more. (If it is of help, I'm connected to the net via Verizon and a DSL modem. I set up the AEBS using the wizard, which defaulted to PPP over Ethernet.) My questions are:
- What exactly is it doing?
- Will it stop once it gets through the full range of port numbers?
- Can I make it stop? (I realize it's not really hurting anything, but it certainly seems like bad behavior to me.)
- Will it do this each time I boot my system?
Any other information is appreciated.
Thanks,
David
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Will the airport extreme base station work with WD my cloud 3 tb drive?
Yes it should work with your AirPort Extreme base station.
Would I connect it to the airport extreme or could I connect it to my imac ethernet connection.
You'll want to connect it to one of the available LAN (opposing arrows) ports on the AirPort Extreme.

Airport Extreme base station vs. Linksys router

Hi all -- I have a tech choice to make and I'm soliciting advice and war stories from those who have been in my place.
I have a DSL connection, G5 Mac and a Windows laptop. I've been connecting to the Internet via a Linksys WRT54G router -- the Mac is connected to the router via Ethernet, and the Windows machine connects wirelessly -- and I've been happy with this setup. I have it on good authority that I'll be getting an Airport Express in my stocking this year; I had done a little research and found that it is possible to make the WRT54G and the Airport Express work together, and was planning on doing some hacking and fiddling to make that happen in the new year.
However, last night my WRT54G seems to have died a horrible death -- all its lights started blinking at once, the Internet connection went away, then all the lights went out except for the "diagnostic" light, and now no lights come on at all. No idea what happened, but it seems pretty kaput.
So! I'm in need of a new wireless base station. I could get an Airport Extreme base station, or I could get another Linksys (or another off-the-shelf 802.11 router, but we'll just use "Linksys" as the catch-all phrase here to mean "not an Airport Extreme base station"). The most obvious difference is price -- the Airport Extreme station is $200, while the Linksys is more like $65. Another thing that irks me about the AE station is that it only has one LAN port. I do like being able to plug in my laptop to the wired network to do some diagnostics once in a while and it'd be a pain to have to disconnect my Mac to do so. And then there's nagging worries that the AE base station might not work as well with my Windows laptop.
On the other hand, I'm sure that setting up the Airport Express would be much, much easier with the AE base station. And I do like the idea of the base station being able to dial up if my DSL goes down (as it does from time to time). Basically, I am tempted by the AE base station feature-wise, but I'm kind of balking at paying three times the price and not getting even a second LAN port. Any advice, particularly from people who have used both types of routers in a mixed network, would be appreciated.

Replace your Linksys with another WRT54G. Then you can hook up your anticipated AX as either a client (connected like a computer), a wireless access point (connected using ethernet with DHCP disabled on the AX), or using WDS:
http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=-1&messageID=607414

How can I get Time Machine to back up an external hard drive (iPhotos) that is attached to airport extreme base station. Note: Time machine is usb to macbook pro and external drive with iphotos is usb to airport extreme base station. Help please. Thanks!

How can I get Time Machine to back up an external hard drive (iPhotos) that is attached to airport extreme base station. Note: Time machine is usb to macbook pro and external drive with iphotos is usb to airport extreme base station. Help please. Thanks!

Once you have the drive connected to your Mac, click System Preferences (gear icon) on the dock
Click Time Machine
Click Options
Be default, the hard drive will be Excluded from backups. Click the drive to highlight it, then click the "-" (minus) button at the bottom of the list to remove the drive from Excluded items.
The drive will be backed up on the next Time Machine pass
Everything above assumes that the hard drive has been formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as Time Machine will only backup drives in that format.

Can't get PC laptop to connect to Airport Extreme base station. Help!

I've spent a lot of quality time on the phone with support staff at Apple, Earthlink, and Netgear. Now I turn to you fine folks.
I have an Airport Extreme base station. My G4 is connected to the base station via ethernet, and that works fine. My problem is with the wireless networking with our Dell laptop running Windows XP SP2. Wireless card is a Netgear WG511 with updated firmware. I've configured the network on the PC end using the Netgear Smart Wizard, rather than Windows (I don't know if that makes any difference).
Smart Wizard says the PC is connected to the network, and says that signal strength is excellent. However, there is no connection. I've tried pinging, but get no reply.
The status bar in the Smart Wizard window switches every 2 seconds from "Connected" with excellent signal to "Searching" with virtually no signal. The log shows that it's constantly connecting to and disconnecting from the network.
I've gone over IP and MAC addresses and whatever other settings I could check with all of the respective phone support people. I'm using WPA/WPA2 Personal security, and have double-checked the 13-digit password on both ends. I'm connecting using PPPoE, per Earthlink's settings.
This is maddening! Any suggestions? I'd really appreciate it.
G4 Mac OS X (10.4.10)

See if iFelix's suggestions work for you.
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/1000.html
Remember all the smart wizard stuff is strickley for PC Hadrware and Software and does you no good at all with a Mac.
Don

I have a airport extreme base station and i reset it and now the wifi connection is open to everyone... so how do i get a password back on it so everyone cant use it

i have a airport extreme base station and i reset it and now the wifi connection is open to everyone... so how do i get a password back on it so everyone cant use it

Read the user guide:
http://support.apple.com/manuals/#airport

Configure TC and Airport Extreme Base Stations with different channels

I had to do some serious workarounds to use the Airport Extreme Base Stations as an access point with the same wireless network name primarily due to channel overlap. I thought I would post my results here since I didnt' find a good article online.
Also, I found the Snow Leopard verison (5.4.2) of the Airport Setup Utility far superior to Lion's Airport Utility (6.x) in terms of advanced setup.
Setup is a 3 flloor house where the 3 wired network locations have wireless overlap. The problem was that the access points would not hand off the wireless signal because the channels for each airport/TC were automatically set to the same channel. In non-apple setups, this is how you force a wireless client to switch access points (since the wireless software on your client/mac/windows can detect which access point is stronger and moves to the alternate channel.
Using apple's "Extend this wireless network" option removes any ability to manually configure wireless channels. I am writing this from memory, so feel free to ask questions and I will track this topic:
Procedure
Setup time capsule as your base station. Do all the setup for your wireless and guest networks. Manually configure the network and change the wireless channel to a specific channel for a/b/g networks (e.g., 3) and n networks (e.g, 167).
Plug your first airport extreme/access point into your wired network. Do not plug it into the "internet" ethernet plug, use one of the 3 ethernet switch locations
Use the airport utility to first configure it to "extend" your wired network.
Then, go in and reconfigure it manually in the airport utility. Choose the option to setup a "new network" and name the network the same as the TC wireless network name, security, etc.
Change the channel from "auto" to a different channel than the TC (e.g., 6 and 137).
Now go to the top tab and click on the "internet" icon
Go to the DHCP tab and change it to "bridge mode." This will tell the AE to not give out IP addresses (the TC will do this for you). If you get an error that the IP ranges conflict, you have not done this
Note that if you have a guest network setup, you will need to set this up on the AE as well.
Now test your airport setup. Take your client (macbook, iOS device) and connect to your network. Move to a spot near the TC and pull up a web page. Keep an eye on the signal strength and beginv moving toward the AE. Refresh the page as you move around. You should at some point see the signal strength increase. Refresh your page again. You should be now connected to to the AE. I have found that Macbooks do a better job than iOS devices because you get an extra signal bar to measure strength, and they have larger antennas which allows you to better measure problems with handoff
Another test you can do is to start backing up on your TC and then test the move. The handoff will truly show you that the TC is handling the process but the AE is relaying to the TC for backup.
If you need to setup another AE, simply follow setups 3-10.
I hope this helps others. I've done this setup 100 times on Linksys devices and although they are cumbersome, they at least allow me to do this setup much more quickly and easily than the apple products.

I had to do some serious workarounds to use the Airport Extreme Base Stations as an access point with the same wireless network name primarily due to channel overlap. I thought I would post my results here since I didnt' find a good article online.
Also, I found the Snow Leopard verison (5.4.2) of the Airport Setup Utility far superior to Lion's Airport Utility (6.x) in terms of advanced setup.
Setup is a 3 flloor house where the 3 wired network locations have wireless overlap. The problem was that the access points would not hand off the wireless signal because the channels for each airport/TC were automatically set to the same channel. In non-apple setups, this is how you force a wireless client to switch access points (since the wireless software on your client/mac/windows can detect which access point is stronger and moves to the alternate channel.
Using apple's "Extend this wireless network" option removes any ability to manually configure wireless channels. I am writing this from memory, so feel free to ask questions and I will track this topic:
Procedure
Setup time capsule as your base station. Do all the setup for your wireless and guest networks. Manually configure the network and change the wireless channel to a specific channel for a/b/g networks (e.g., 3) and n networks (e.g, 167).
Plug your first airport extreme/access point into your wired network. Do not plug it into the "internet" ethernet plug, use one of the 3 ethernet switch locations
Use the airport utility to first configure it to "extend" your wired network.
Then, go in and reconfigure it manually in the airport utility. Choose the option to setup a "new network" and name the network the same as the TC wireless network name, security, etc.
Change the channel from "auto" to a different channel than the TC (e.g., 6 and 137).
Now go to the top tab and click on the "internet" icon
Go to the DHCP tab and change it to "bridge mode." This will tell the AE to not give out IP addresses (the TC will do this for you). If you get an error that the IP ranges conflict, you have not done this
Note that if you have a guest network setup, you will need to set this up on the AE as well.
Now test your airport setup. Take your client (macbook, iOS device) and connect to your network. Move to a spot near the TC and pull up a web page. Keep an eye on the signal strength and beginv moving toward the AE. Refresh the page as you move around. You should at some point see the signal strength increase. Refresh your page again. You should be now connected to to the AE. I have found that Macbooks do a better job than iOS devices because you get an extra signal bar to measure strength, and they have larger antennas which allows you to better measure problems with handoff
Another test you can do is to start backing up on your TC and then test the move. The handoff will truly show you that the TC is handling the process but the AE is relaying to the TC for backup.
If you need to setup another AE, simply follow setups 3-10.
I hope this helps others. I've done this setup 100 times on Linksys devices and although they are cumbersome, they at least allow me to do this setup much more quickly and easily than the apple products.

Problem consistently printing via new (summer 2011) AIRPORT EXTREME BASE STATION and Brother wireless printer (model HL5370DW). What am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for any help you folks can offer. I'm a newb here and will try to offer as much detail as I can about the dilemma at hand.
Scenario: Home network has been recently set up for wireless internet access via NEW Airport Extreme Base Station (purchased September 2011). Units accessing the network include: 2011 Macbook Pro, 2011 Macbook Air, 2007 Macbook, 2009 Macbook Pro, 2 iPhone 3GSs, and a 1st-gen iPad (and a partridge in a pear tree AEBS is configured to run WPA2 encrypted network, as well as a WPA2 guest network. I am attempting to yoke a BROTHER HL5370DW wireless B or G/ ethernet / usb-capable printer to the main network such that any and all units can print wirelessly or its equivalent (i.e., via printer hooked to AEBS through USB hub)
Problem: Despite configuring the Brother printer to recognize the main WPA2 network I created, I am unable to get wireless printing to work. My workaround was to physically connect Brother printer to AEBS via USB, specifically using a Belkin USB hub (after all, I wanted access to usb drives, as well as the printer). This workaround works ONLY SOME OF THE TIME. Generally, after a fresh boot of any computer or after a restart of the AEBS, any given computer will be able to print (i.e., any computer wirelessly connected to the main WPA2 network recognizes the printer). HOWEVER, at random times, printer access is gone (as is access to USB drives connected to AEBS's usb hub). Wireless networks are still up and running when that happens. IS THERE A WAY TO GET THE USB HUB's devices (i.e., printer and usb drives) to ALWAYS REMAIN AVAILABLE AS LONG AS THEY STAY CONNECTED TO THE AEBS? In other words, what accounts for the intermittent loss of the usb peripherals?
Sometimes, I just shut the airport off on whatever computer is having this problem, and the problem goes away. Sometimes, the problem is present across all computers in the house, sometimes only a few are affected. I can ALWAYS see the AEBS in the Airport Utility if the AEBS is connected to the particular computer via ETHERNET CABLE.
My theories:
- true wireless printing (i.e., without usb hub workaround) doesn't work because the N network somehow isn't backwards compatible with the Brother printer, which, i believe, is B/G. Although...isn't Wireless N networking supposed to work with BG devices? I did find a thread (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2570774?start=0&tstart=0 ) that explains some of the particulars of WPA2 encryption and Wireless B/G issues, but it was beyond my level of comprehension (I'm a psychologist, but not an Apple Genius
- The usb workaround is only intermittently viable because of some flaw in the Airport or Airport Utility that causes dropouts to happen when a Macbook Pro or Air's lid gets closed or one gets opened after having been at a different network (e.g., at my office).
QUESTIONS:
- Should I try to use my old router (7 year old Linksys WRT54G) as an access point and connect the Brother printer to that G-router? How do I do that?
- I wouldn't mind just relying on the usb hub method if I could just insure more consistency (i.e., no random dropouts of peripherals). How could I do this?
Rule out:
- wireless printing works on my printer - it was being recognized back before the AEBS. I had the Linksys router running a WEP network and had the wireless printer talking with no cables to the router and the computers. (I just don't want to revert to using WEP encryption given its lack of security and my trying to protect HiPAA related health information on behalf of patients)
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

13 ASCII characters = 104 (aka 128)-bit WEP
encryption
If turning off WEP works, then you just need to
provide the cameras with the "Equivalent Network Password".
One of the problems with WEP is that the actual
standard relies on a 10 character HEX key for 40bit
WEP and a 26 character HEX key for 128bit WEP.
In order to make things easier, vendors use certain
algorithms to convert simple alphanumeric passwords
(or passphrases) into HEX keys, thus enabling the use
of simple easy to remember WEP password rather than
lengthy HEX keys. The problem is that different
vendors use different algorithms to generate the HEX
key and therefore a ASCII password on an AEBS will be
hashed differently on a non-Apple client and vice
versa.
You may find the following article helpful:
- Apple article, especially the part about
"Third-party client to Airport".
Brilliant idea about trying the system with No encryption on... that DID solve the problem... almost.. once I turned off the encryption option, and restarted the Airport, I got a dialog box showing that the "Base station needs attention" but it didn't indicate WHAT kind of "assistance" it needed. Nonetheless, I closed out of the Airport program only to find that the indicator light, which had been Green, was now, flashing Yellow and I could not connect anything, including my computer. I opened the Airport program again and found the ONLY way I could get the Green light on was to select some sort of encryption option... then the light would go Green again but my cameras would not hook up again, and when I went back in and ONLY changed the option to NO encryption, I got the yellow flashing light and the "this base unit needs attention" warning...
I think your suggestions are almost on the mark... is there any way of reconciling the WEP coding between the cameras and the Airport??? Or turning off the encryption option and STILL have Airport work?
Thanks again for your help and suggestions... I really appreciate it.
geoff

Solution to Airport Extreme Base Station + Airport Express networking probs

I've been investigating this for 3 straight days after inadvertently destabilizing my network. There are tons of posts discussing a variety of issues, all of which seem related. My goal here is to provide links to other relevant posts and explain what I ended up doing to get things to work.
First, the background. You can skip below to SOLUTION if you don't really care... However, I highly recommend you take the time to read everything, as you'll get other useful information in the BACKGROUND section. I'm guessing many of you have similar, related problems so BACKGROUND might help provide context (and solutions) to some things you are seeing...
MY SETUP:
AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS) of type b/g (round one, not square one), connects to the cable modem, and creates a WDS network that is then shared across two standard AirPort Express (AEX) units (100megabit, not the gigabit ones). One AEX serves as a relay unit that accepts clients, the other serves as a remote unit that also accepts clients. The intent is to show a single network throughout the house and let users log on to one network and move between networking units without having to switch from network to network.
I have a variety of networked devices throughout the house all running on the same network (2 Mac Pros, a Powerbook G4, a Mac Mini, an Apple TV, a Windows XP laptop, two iPhones, two wifi printers, and a 5-unit Sonos system, plus the AEBS and two AEXs). Yeah, I'm a geek.
The Mac Pros are both running 10.4.11, and the Powerbook is running 10.5.2.
AEBS is running firmware 5.7
AEXs are running firmware 6.3
All Macs were initially accessing configs via the recently released AirPort Utility 5.3.1. More on that later.
BACKGROUND:
I've had this network setup working for about a year now. Recently, I've been having poor network performance problems and came to the conclusion it was a LAN problem (ie. problem with my home network, as opposed to with my ISP). Upon initial investigation, I began by looking at my networking logs (via AirPort Utility 5.3.1). You get to those by selecting the unit in question, choosing "Manual Configuration", the selecting the "Advanced" tab up top with the "Logging and SNMP" sub-tab. Click the "Logs and Statistics" button therein for log details from that unit.
The first thing I noticed was "Administrative access denied to ff80::xxxxxxxxx" messages - a lot of them. I didn't recognize the ff80:: address in question, and so became concerned it was someone outside the network trying to hack one (or all) of the AEBS/AEX units. You can see threads discussing that investigation here:
"Hack or panic?" - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1438486
"Administrative access denied" - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1438865
Long and short of it is that the recent AirPort Utility 5.3.1 release (current as of March 13) seems to have problems (keychain) when attempting to access the AEBS and AEX units. The "Administrative access denied" logs actually refer to the client machine you are using when you try to read the logs. The ff80::xxxxxx address is simply the IPv6 address for the machine you are using; if you turn off IPv6 on your client machine, that address should switch over to begin showing a regular IP address instead (something like 10.0.1.xxx), which makes it easier to associate the IP to the machine. I explain how to deactivate IPv6 on both Tiger (10.4.x) and Leopard (1.5.x) here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6814978#6814978
Anyway, in the process of investigating the "Administrative access denied" problem, I began tinkering with my AEX settings. Specifically, I ended up performing a hard factory reset (unplug unit, plug back in while holding down the little button with paper click/pen for ~10-15 seconds until light flashes green 4x then reverts to amber/yellow/orange). I began reconfiguring my entire WDS network using the newly updated AirPort Utility 5.3.1, and that's when the trouble started.
(If you are having problems seeing either your AirPort Extreme Base Station or AirPort Express, read this:)
In short, each time I thought I had properly configured things and then confirmed settings (kicking off a reboot on the AEX unit) the unit would restart with new settings but not properly join the WDS and not show up in the AirPort Utility list of units. More specifically, I would start with a "wiped" AEX and see both the AEBS and the AEX in my AirPort Utility list, but upon confirm/reboot the AEX would disappear and the AEBS would remain. However, that's not 100% correct. It seems that sometimes I would end up with the AEX and NOT the AEBS. Because both the AEX and AEBS were theoretically "hosting" the same network name (remember, WDS shares the network name across units) my auto-login feature for my client computer's wifi seemed to "jump on" whichever unit it first saw hosting the default network name for my house. In other words, it seems what was really happening was that I was ending up with two separate networks in my house, both with the same name but not talking to each other (as opposed to two units sharing the same network name and internet connection). The AEX would continue to blink orange/amber/yellow (whichever color it is to your eyes ) because it could not grab an internet connection -- and if I was on the network through that AEX unit I would not get internet. But if i was connected through the AEBS I would continue to have internet access. As far as my client computer (my Mac Pro) was concerned, I was on the home wifi network even if I was on the AEX rather than the AEBS -- it would show the home wifi network name as the name of the network it had connected to. But when I opened the AirPort Utility 5.3.1 I would see only the AEX (if I was connected through it) or the AEBS (if connected through it) -- a clear indication that the units were not truly sharing the same network.
I tried rebooting and reconfiguring the AEBS and AEX about 50 times (literally). I even tracked down an older version of the AirPort Utility 5.2.1 via this thread (see Tesserax post):
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1067565
One interesting thing re: 5.2.1 is that the "Administrative access denied" errors summarized above disappeared. As explained in a post reference above, the going theory is that this a permissions/keychain problem new and unique to AirPort Utility 5.3.1. However, even though 5.2.1 does have a slightly different interface with different settings, I still couldn't get the WDS to work.
EVENTUALLY, I came across this post:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1422527
MuaddibOfArrakis walks through setting up a WDS from scratch, and the workflow is different than what is possible with either AirPort Utility 5.3.1 or 5.2.1. He's doing it with the old version of AirPort Admin Utility, which I fortunately saved a copy of many moons ago when I had somewhat-related problems with my WDS (since forgotten). In fact, it's a lot easier. What's nice about this older app is that it literally does the heavy lifting of "connecting" the AEBS and AEX units during the configuration -- it reboots both at the same time as the config is happening, and lets you choose from a list of available units to "add" to your WDS network. In short, it's a FAR SUPERIOR workflow even though some of the GUI isn't as intuitive as the newer AirPort Utilities that were designed to replace it.
SOLUTION:
If still have a copy of the AirPort Admin Utility follow the instructions from MuaddibOfArrakis here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1422527
If not, try setting up your WDS network using AirPort Utility (hereafter AU), with these configs (take from my now-working network), as viewed through AirPort Utility 5.3.1.
I. Configure your AEBS.
Select the AEBS from AU, and choose "Manual Setup"
1. Under the AirPort tab up top:
a. Under "Base Station" sub-tab:
i.) assign a name for that specific unit, so you can later identify the specific unit from the list of units -- this is the name that will show up beside the unit in the AU list of configurable units. You can name it something like "kitchen", or "office". I have mine numbered, so XXXXXv1, XXXXXv2 etc where the XXXXX is the name of the shared network and the numbers help me tell the units apart. Just be sure you name each uniquely, and if you have several you might write the name on the unit itself.
ii.) pick a password for logging into that unit. This is different from the network password, its a security check to get in and change the configs on this unit later. Be sure to remember it in your keychain for the sake of simplicity, and write it down somewhere secure.
iii.) if you choose to set time automatically, pick a location that you will use consistently across all your units. I use time.apple.com.
iv.) uncheck "Allow configuration over Ethernet WAN port" unless you want to be able to remotely mess with settings -- which you almost certainly do not need to do.
v.) I left the "Options" button alone - no settings there.
b. Under the "Wireless" sub-tab:
i.) Wireless Mode: "Participate in a WDS network"
ii.) Network Name: this will be the name of your wifi network shared by all units, so be sure to remember what you pick. If you are already connected to this AEBS via wifi while you are making these changes, then you can use the same wifi name you already have set up -- you don't have to change it. Note that if you DO change it, after reboot your will LOSE connection to the network and have to reset your wifi settings on your client machine to match the new network/password in order to be able to access the network.
iii.) pick a Radio Mode. I'm using b/g compatible. You'll want to do the same, unless you are on the new gigabit AEX. I'm pretty sure about this, but not 100% -- others post if I'm wrong.
iv.) choose a Channel. This can be a more complicated procedure, but for now just pick something consistent across all your units. If you get everything working and find that you're having intermittent network problems, you could later try changing your Channel -- it can pick up interference from phones, microwaves, etc and changing it can help.
v.) I have wireless security set to WPA/WPA2 Personal.
vi.) Wireless Password is the password for access to your wifi network (not your unit itself). If you are connecting to your AEBS via wifi while doing this config, then you can use the same password you have already set up. Pick a good one unless you want other folks jumping on your wifi and stealing your bandwidth and/or credit card numbers . Remember it in your keychain and write it down someplace secure, because you'll need it for the other units too. As noted above, note that if you DO change it, after reboot your will LOSE connection to the network and have to reset your wifi settings on your client machine to match the new network/password in order to be able to access the network.
vii.) Click the "Wireless Options" button. I have my multicast rate set to 2mbps, transmit at 100%, timeout at 1 hour, and i have checked the "Create a closed network". This last step keeps your network from advertising itself to the outside world. Users can only find it by explicitly typing the network name into their wifi settings (e.g. AirPort -> Other... then enter Network Name, Security and Password). I leave interference robustness unchecked.
c. Under the "WDS" sub-tab:
i.) the AEBS should have it's WDS Mode set to "WDS main".
ii.) Check the "allow wireless clients" box on the AEBS; this lets you connect client machines to it directly too.
iii.) hit the plus button to add the Remote system (AEX). There are two types of configs for the AEX's - "remote" and "relay". Assuming you have 3 units like me (2 AEX and 1 AEBS) the key question is whether you will place each AEX within direct reach of the AEBS (remotes), or if you will have one AEX in the middle connecting to an AEBS on one side and an AEX on the other -- where the furthest AEX is out of reach from the AEBS (remote) and connects only to the AEX in the middle (relay). I'm using a relay setup. If you are using relay, you can still set up the AEX relay to serve client computers too -- it doesnt have to JUST relay. More on that later. For now, you want to add only AEX units that will talk DIRECTLY to the AEBS. So if you have a setup like mine, just add one (the one in the middle - the relay). If you have two remotes connecting directly to the AEBS, you will add them both here. When you hit the '+' button it will ask for both an ID and description. For description I use the name I'm assigning to each unique unit (as above, "kitchen" or XXXXXv1 or whatever you use). For AirPort ID, use the number listed on the AEX unit itself (not the number for "Ethernet", also on the AEX unit).
d. Under the "Access" sub-tab:
i.) I have it set to "Not Enabled". I'd suggest you start that way too, and you can go change it later if you get everything working correctly.
2. Under the "Internet" tab up top:
a. Under the "Internet Connection" sub-tab:
i.) Connect Using: Ethernet
ii.) Configure IPv4: Using DHCP
iii.) Ethernet WAN Port: Automatic (Default)
iv.) Connection Sharing: Share a public IP address
b. Under the "DHCP" sub-tab:
i.) DHCP Beginning Address: 10.0 . 1 . 2
ii.) DHCP Ending Address: 10.0.1.200
DHCP Lease: 4 hours
c. Under the "NAT" sub-tab:
i.) nothing should be checked;
ii.) nothing under Port Mappings either
3. Under the "Printers and Advanced" tabs up top:
Nothing special needs to be configured there.
THAT'S IT.
=============
I. Configure your AEX(s)
Select the AEX from AU, and choose "Manual Setup"
1. Under the "AirPort" tab up top:
a. Under "Base Station" sub-tab:
i.) pick a unique name for this unit, same logic as for AEBS
ii.) pick a password specific for accessing this unit, same logic as for AEBS
iii.) Set time automatically: be sure to use the same settings used on your AEBS
iv.) Options: no need to set any
b. Under "Wireless" sub-tab:
i.) Wireless Mode: Participate in a WDS network
ii.) Network Name: same name used for AEBS, this is the name of your wifi network
iii.) Channel: same as AEBS
iv.) All settings here (those above, plus Security and Password & in Options button) should be the same as for AEBS settings on this tab
c. Under the "WDS" sub-tab:
...if AEX is "in the middle" (as described above):
i.) WDS Mode: WDS relay
ii.) Allow wireless clients: check (unless you only want to bridge between the edges without letting folks connect on this AEX in the middle)
iii.) WDS Main: set to the AirPort ID (aka MAC address) for the AEBS. You can find it on the bottom of the AEBS, either labeled as such or at the bottom beside the logo of a wireless signal (square logo, with semi-circles mimicing a radio signal).
iv.) WDS Remotes: click the '+' to add any AEX's that will connect to this relay rather than directly to the AEBS. Same deal as above, use the name in the description and use the AirPort ID from the side of the AEX (not the Ethernet ID).
.....if AEX is connecting to a relay ("on the end", as above) or if there is no relay and AEX connects directly to the AEBS:
i.) WDS Model: WDS remote
ii.) Allow wireless clients: checked
iii.) WDS Main: if connected to a relay, use the AirPort ID of the relay AEX. If connected to the AEBS directly, use the AirPort ID of the AEBS
d. Under the "Access" sub-tab:
i.) MAC Address Access Control: Not Enabled (for now, you can change later)
2. Under the "Internet" tab up top:
a. Under the "Internet Connection" sub-tab:
i.) Connect Using: AirPort (WDS) -- should be selected and gray'ed out.
ii.) Configure IPv4: Using DHCP
iii.) Ethernet WAN Port: Automatic (Default)
iv.) Connection Sharing: Off (Bridge Mode)
3. Under the Music, Printers and Advanced tabs up top:
Nothing special needs to be configured there. You can worry about AirTunes settings later...
That should be it. I'd recommend setting up the AEBS first, then the relay (if applicable), then the remotes. Initially, you can bring each unit in the same room with you for configuring. After configured and restarted the AEX should blink then turn solid green. If it turns green you should be good to go.
HOPE THIS HELPS. As noted above, I did not config through AirPort Utility 5.3.1 so I haven't tested this procedure through that app. However, after getting my network to work I went back and transposed all settings into this post to help others. Please provide feedback on whether or not this is working, so we can collectively try to move towards a setup procedure that works for everyone....
Good luck!
Message was edited by: b.byrd

I'm not convinced that the problem lies in Airport Utility. This same thing was happening to me, nearly exactly as you describe it. The thing is that with me, the problems clearly started when I updated the firmware in my Airport Express (n). That's when all the wacky stuff started happening. Sometimes it would show up in AU, sometimes it didn't and even if it didn't, I could still access the internet through it.
But as you said, the problems got really bad when another Express (b/g) was put on the network with it. Even when it did work, the (b/g) would make it impossibly slow.
You know more about this than me, and clearly have more patience if you've restarted the network fifty times. I gave up at about ten.
In any case, your solution is more of a work around and if you're still having that slow connection problem, I'm not sure you've got it. But thanks for your reporting of this. At least I know I'm not crazy.

HT4259 How do I set up an Airport Extreme Base Station (v. 7.6.1) to allow wireless network extension?

I have an Airport Extreme Base station (purchased in 2009) and an Airport Express base station (purchased in 2011 - the model that plugs directly into the electrical outlet) (both version 7.6.1 according to the Airport Utility info). I want to use the Airport Express to extend my wireless network. Using Airport utility setup I have a software option on the Airport Express to set it up to extend the network but I do not have an option on the Airport Extreme wireless setup screen that I can check to allow my wireless network to be extended.
All of the documentation I can find on Apple Support states that I should have an option I can check to allow the wireless network to be extended while in the wireles setup section for the Airport Extreme in Airport Utility; but, that check option isn't there. Is this a case of my Airport Extreme base station being too old to offer that option? Incidentally, when I try to select the extend wireless network option on the Airport Express from the Airport Utility wireless setup menu I get an error message (no details - just an error message). The same Airport Express sets up fine if I select join a network (not what I want to do). Am I just dealing with outdated equipment or does anyone have a suggestion? Thanks.

Close AirPort Utility if it is open.
Temporarily, move the Express to the same general area as your AirPort Extreme and power it up and wait a minute.
Hold in the reset button on the Express for 9-10 seconds and then release. Give the Express a full minute to restart to a slow, blinking amber light.
Click the AirPort icon at the top of the Mac's screen and wait a few seconds for a listing of New AirPort Base Station to appear
Click on AirPort Express just below that and AirPort Utility will automatically open
Wait a minute while AirPort Utility analyzes the network and announces that the Express will be configured to "Extend" the AirPort Extreme network.
Enter a device name for the AirPort Express and click Next
Wait another minute to allow the configuration to occur.
When you see the Setup Complete message, click Done.
Now move the Express to a location that is approximately half the distance from the AirPort Extreme and the general area that needs more wireless coverage
Power up the Express and you are all set. Trash those old instructions.

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.

How to add Ethernet ports to an Airport Extreme Base Station?

I have successfully connected an HP Office Jet 6310 to the Airport Extreme Base Station, after downloading the latest software from HP. It is printing wirelessly, and it is great so far.
The only problem is that the cable modem connected to ADSL has only one Ethernet port, and the Airport Extreme Base Station also has one Ethernet port. However, I need one more port to connect a phone (Vonage Telephone Adapter = VTA).
What is the easiest way to achieve this? I saw several other messages discussing hubs and routers, but the answer is not clear yet. If I purchase an additional router, should it be connected between the cable modem and the Airport Extreme Base Station, or the other way round?
Any help or advice would be appreciated!
Thank you in advance for your time.
MacBook Pro with 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.7)

One final vital piece of information, which should be my conclusion on this topic.
Following the advice received, I purchased a Switch from Linksys. Since the device didn't work for my purpose (dividing the Ethernet connexion into an Ethernet line for the HP printer and the Vonage phone), I called the Linksys support.
I was told that what I needed was not a switch, but a router. I thus had to get reimbursed for the switch and hunt for the proper router.
Finally, today, I have been able to find the item corresponding to my needs:
A Belkin Wireless G Router F5D7230-4
It costs less than 50 US$ and has all the necessary Ethernet ports. The setup is very simple, and I got it operational within a couple of minutes, despite some small problems getting the setup Wizard to work. It is Mac OS X compatible.
Thus, at the end, I have got the HP 6310 Office printer and the Vonage VTA phone working together, with a robust Wireless network including WPA security. I would recommend this type of setting.
The only trouble is that the AirMac Extreme Base Station has become completely useless! I will perhaps keep it as a souvenir, or as a decoration in the living room... This wouldn't have happened if the creators of this nice object, which is extremely expensive for what it provides, would have thought of including at least two Ethernet ports!
The unexpected reply to my query could thus be ironically formulated by saying: "replace the Airport Extreme Base Station with a cheaper an more efficient device." Sorry for that!
With my best regards to those who took the trouble to read this thread to the end.
Yours, Hotaru

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.

Airport Extreme base station no longer playing nice with Mac Pro

This is a strange problem...
I have an Airport Extreme base station (purchased in 2004) that I use with verizon DSL to get a wireless network going in my house, and I connect three computers wirelessly.
I have an ipod touch and toshiba PC laptop that are both able to connect to the network and run just fine. But lately (past 2 weeks or so) when I try to connect with my MacPro desktop I can go to a few sites, but after a few minutes the airport locks up. At that point none of my computers will connect and I have to unplug and then replug the airport. At that point the network will start up again and if I do not try to get on with Mac Pro then things run fine, but when I try to connect with desktop again, after another few minutes the same thing happens.
I know the problem is with the airport and my Mac Pro - I have done numerous connection experiments and have narrowed the problem down to that.
Is it possible that my MacPro might be drawing more power and causing the airport to overheat? (it is rather hot in the room with DSL connection)
Or should I accept that the current base it old, and bite the bullet and get a new base?
Any thoughts?

Could you post what you did in order to resolve the issue. I'm having a problem with the base station in that I cannot connect to the internet with my laptops (a mac and pc) while I can connect wirelessly to my network with my desktop (G4). The base station is not detected in the base statin admin utility or the aiport setup utility. If anyone else has a solution I would be much obliged to read it.
Thanks!

Should I get a Airport Extreme Base Station?

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