Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Ecofriend

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 31, 2012
43
0
I have a combined dsl router and 802.11b router at my house. My devices support 802.11g/n. should/can I get an airport express and plug the Ethernet out from my router into the airport. Is this possible, and will it be faster?
 
You'll definitely notice a speed improvement, especially if your modem/router is only 802.11b

It's quite easy to do this with the Express, and the way you described it is exact. There's just an additional step of disabling DHCP on the Express, which is done by setting Connection Sharing to Off (Bridge mode) in AirPort Utility.
 
You'll definitely notice a speed improvement, especially if your modem/router is only 802.11b

It's quite easy to do this with the Express, and the way you described it is exact. There's just an additional step of disabling DHCP on the Express, which is done by setting Connection Sharing to Off (Bridge mode) in AirPort Utility.

Why do I need to turn of dhcp?
 
To avoid a double NAT error. It should work fine for the most part if you don't disable DHCP, but there are programs that might not work when you are connected to the Express. That and any devices connected to your ISP modem/router will not be able to see and communicate with devices connected to the Express and vice versa.

DHCP means that it acts as a router, sharing one external IP address with multiple devices by giving each an internal IP address within a specified subnet. Since the modem/router is already acting as a DHCP server, you can disable DHCP on the Express (bridge mode) so that only the ISP provided modem/router is acting as a router and the Express acts as a secondary wireless access point for your network.

The alternative would be to disable the modem/router's routing ability (disable DHCP on the modem/router) and have it act purely as a modem with the Express acting as the router. Depending on your ISP and modem/router, this could be easy, difficult or downright impossible. The easier solution is to set your Express in bridge mode.
 
But not the best solution.

I never understood the point of posts like these. I'm not against being corrected (by all means, if it's wrong please tell me so that I may learn and prevent myself from giving the wrong information to others), but why make a statement like that and not provide any constructive counter argument to support your opinion? This benefits nobody and only serves to confuse the original author of this thread and subsequently anybody else reading it afterwards that may be looking for a solution to a problem.
 
I have no idea what he is talking about. The only issue is double NAT mentioned in post #2. And, that is easily avoided by putting either the AE or the DSL router into bridge mode.

I'm guessing (s)he means that putting the DSL router into bridge mode is better, since then you could use the undoubtedly fuller feature set of the AirPort Express router (e.g., port forwarding and whatnot). It will probably be more complicated in that you'll also have to configure PPoE (or something similar to "log on" to your ISP's DSL) on the AE, then, since your modem is probably doing this now but won't as a bridge.

But if you aren't planning on doing anything besides simply setting up a wireless network, putting the AE in bridge mode is certainly easier and effectively equivalent.
 
Just to join in on this conversation, am I right in thinking this setup will/should work:

- Router from ISP with Wireless Disabled.

- Apple Airport Express Plugged into ISPs Router via RJ45 Cable.

- DHCP Disabled on Airport Express.


Everything in my flat will be connected to the Airport Express Wireless and nothing connected to the ISPs Router apart from the Airport Express via Cable.

Is that the best way of doing things?
 
Just to join in on this conversation, am I right in thinking this setup will/should work:

- Router from ISP with Wireless Disabled.

- Apple Airport Express Plugged into ISPs Router via RJ45 Cable.

- DHCP Disabled on Airport Express.


Everything in my flat will be connected to the Airport Express Wireless and nothing connected to the ISPs Router apart from the Airport Express via Cable.

Is that the best way of doing things?

Probably the IDEAL setup would be to put the ISP's router in full bridge mode, then allow the Airport Express to handle all DHCP. The problem many run into is some ISP's make it rough to access their router and put it in bridge mode. If you cannot get your IPS's router into bridge mode, just putting the AE in bridge mode like you described will work fine also.
 
Thanks for all the advice, should be ordering my express in a couple weeks!
 
Sorry for not clarifying. I meant that putting the modem into bridge-mode is the better move, let the Airport handle all the work.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.