extending wireless network with Airport Express

marktronics said:

Click the Wireless tab below the icons

Wireless Mode = Create a wireless network

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Not saying it's wrong, but why would you "Create a wireless Network"?

Seems like you should choose "Join" or "Extend" Wireless Network. IDK, hopefully someone with more experience will hop in.

marktronics said:

I have a D-Link DIR-655. I have a power-over-ethernet set up to get a wired connection to my Airport Express. I want to extend the wireless network from my D-Link.

I followed the instructions posted here: https://discussions.apple.com/message/12007114?messageID=12007114

The main instructions are as follows:

Click the Base Station tab below the icons to name your device, assign a device password and adjust Time Zone settings.

Click the Wireless tab below the icons
Wireless Mode = Create a wireless network
Wireless Network Name = Exact name of your Netgear network
Radio Mode = 802.11n (802.11b/g compatible)
Channel = Automatic
Wireless Security = Exact setting of your Netgear router
Wireless Password = Same password as the Netgear

Click the Internet icon
Connect Using = Ethernet
Connection Sharing = Off (Bridge Mode)

In the end, I do have only one wireless network, since the SSID, is the same.

The issue is - I will sit in front of the Airport Express and get horrible signal including high latency, dropped packets.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

You have two options for setting up your network.

You can extend the existing network by selecting Extend a wireless network instead of create a wireless network. In this case you do not need to use the
Ethernet connector extension. The Express will pick up the wireless signal and extend it.

The alternative is to do what you are doing and connect over Ethernet and use create a wireless network but you should give it a different name that the existing network.

Marktronics, did you ever resolve this issue? I am also trying to extend a non-Apple network using Airport Express. This seems to be the only question in the history of the universe that cannot be answered by some genius on the internet.

Does anyone know whether this has been solved?

These wonderful people posted solutions to older routers (FIVE years ago!) but the dialogs aren't really the same. It's all very messy and I couldn't make it work:

Linksys WRT54G, Airport Express, and WDS
http://rgbdream.com/?p=44

and
Extend a Linksys WRT54G network via AirPort Express http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060609053254368

FYI, here is my info:

I have a Linksys WRT150N router and Airport Express 802.11n (AX)

I bought the AX new about a year ago and never got around to tackling the setup... when I plugged in the AX lastnight, I allowed a firmware upgrade, which was probably the last nail in the coffin of making this work.

Current setup:

The ROUTER is in an office that's detached from the house. (The buildings are about 10 feet apart.)

THE PROBLEM: The wireless signal in the house is weak and I want to improve it by extending the network using the AX.

An ethernet cable is hard-wired to the house (in the location where I want to improve wireless signal). That cable is connected to an AppleTV device for the television.

THE PLAN:

Part 1. Extend wired network using workgroup HUB in the house: Plug ethernet cable to UPLINK port on hub (other end is connected to router in other building). Come OUT of the hub with another ethernet cable to the AppleTV device. After doing this, the AppleTV device is working fine.

Part 2 of the Plan Which Should Be Easy But Doesn't Work: Connect ethernet cable OUT of the hub INTO the AX; then enable a wireless signal from the AX.

I cannot enable WDS for the AX because Apple prevents WDS to be activated unless it detects an Apple device to extend from. (They've become Grade-A control-freak jerks.)

Any help out there? Thank you.

Victoria

Set the Express in bridge mode. This allows your current router to handle DHCP and only uses the Express as a wireless access point. Then you can name the SSID on the Express anything you want, set up any encryption you want, and any devices connected to that SSID should be able to see all devices connected to your other router/SSID.