Using three Airport devices.

Question

I have a very long apartment. The only active cable connection is in the very back bedroom. There, I have the cable modem connected to a 2011 Airport extreme. In the middle of the apartment, I have a 2013 Time Capsule. And near the front room, I have a 2011 Airport express.
I have the Extreme "creating" the wireless network, while the other two are "extending" the network. My question is how do I get the furthest device to "extend" off of the middle device, and not the source?
To make a rudimentary drawing, this is what I want:
1 > 2 > 3
but what I have is:
1 > 2
1 > 3

Answer 1

A couple of considerations:
If you're using the 'extend a network' option, I believe that it uses the WiFi itself to extend and as a result slows your network down due to overhead.
To get the configuration that you want, the simplest way is to extend via ethernet. Either connect cables directly (if you already have cable runs) or use something like a powerline network bridge that uses the electrical lines. You can get them in the 200Mbs range which is still faster than most internet connections.
I don't remember the actual brand name on them, but there are a few available from different companies
In my place, I have three floors and that's how I've extended. One powerline beside the main/control unit, one in an upstairs room that feeds into an airport express and one in the basement that feeds a second airport express.
I tried a lot of other options, and at the end of the day the $100 or so that I spent for the power bridge has been well worth it.