Airport Extreme as network extender?

[JAWWC]

My home network is using a Netgear wireless router, which is just used for sharing the internet. I was wondering if Airport Extremes could be placed in another room to connect to a USB hard drive and share it, as well as extending the internet from my Netgear wireless?

Thanks

 

[JAWWC]

Anyone have any idea?

I've had a search and read the online manuals but can't quite work it out.

 

[dborja]

Anyone have any idea?

I've had a search and read the online manuals but can't quite work it out.

On paper, some of the Netgear models support WDS (Wireless Distribution System). I wasn't able to make mine (DG834GT) work with my AEBS but I do have WDS running between my Linksys WRT54G and AEBS...

 

[JAWWC]

On paper, some of the Netgear models support WDS (Wireless Distribution System). I wasn't able to make mine (DG834GT) work with my AEBS but I do have WDS running between my Linksys WRT54G and AEBS...

Ah... mines a cheap Netgear that came free from my ISP. I guess I'll have to re-think my set-up.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[akchang]

In the airport utility there is a setting under wireless where you choose what type of network you want to create. Try selecting "Join an existing network" it will ask you for SSID and what type of security and a password.

That should turn your AEBS into a network extender. Now the only question is whether or not the Netgear will allow it. You need to make sure your Netgear security is set up to allow the AEBS to connect like any other device, computer, xbox, etc.

 

[dborja]

In the airport utility there is a setting under wireless where you choose what type of network you want to create. Try selecting "Join an existing network" it will ask you for SSID and what type of security and a password.

That should turn your AEBS into a network extender. Now the only question is whether or not the Netgear will allow it. You need to make sure your Netgear security is set up to allow the AEBS to connect like any other device, computer, xbox, etc.

I tried that on my DG834GT and it was also a No-Go. BTW, if you can make it work on your Netgear model, the AEBS becomes a network extender only insofar as providing Ethernet (wired) access to the network. In other words, it will not relay the wireless signal...

 

[TEG]

Odds are NO! You would be better replacing your wireless network AP with the Extreme, then getting an Express to extend the network.

TEG

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

If you want to extend a network, try the airport express, as this is what it was built for, extension. the airport extreme BASE station is to serve as the BASE, therefor the head of all the wireless comms. Just replace the netgear router, i find that they tend to degrade after a year or two.. my last 4 netgears did.

 

[akchang]

I tried that on my DG834GT and it was also a No-Go. BTW, if you can make it work on your Netgear model, the AEBS becomes a network extender only insofar as providing Ethernet (wired) access to the network. In other words, it will not relay the wireless signal...

There is a setting in the Airport Utility to "Allow Wireless Clients", but maybe that doesn't work with the netgears.

But I agree with SnowLeopard and would go with the Express as an AP with an AEBS as the main router. When I first got mine step up was easy and only required a few clicks.

 

[JAWWC]

New Question

Would I be able to use my netgear wireless router/modem as the modem for AEBS via one of the ethernet ports? Sorry if this is a stupid question just new to the whole modem and router separate thing.

Thanks

 

[akchang]

You could just connect it using bridge mode and set it to "create a wireless network"

 

[dborja]

Would I be able to use my netgear wireless router/modem as the modem for AEBS via one of the ethernet ports? Sorry if this is a stupid question just new to the whole modem and router separate thing.

Thanks

If you mean using your Netgear as modem-only then your AEBS to do PPPoE then go to http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?next_file=mode.htm (assuming your Netgear is at 192.168.0.1) then change to "Modem only" and save settings. Next connect Ethernet port 1 of your Netgear to your AEBS WAN input and configure the AEBS to provide PPPoE login.

Check this link: http://forum1.netgear.com/showthread.php?t=6073 Where it talks about a Prosafe router, substitute the AEBS.

 

[ELoche]

I want to do the same thing, but I can't use the Extreme as the base. For some reason one of my favorite games (Command and conquer 3) has horrific lag when I use the Extreme, but not when I use the NetGear. Can't figure out why. I'm building onto my house soon anyway and will need an extender - I thought the Extreme might pull that task off nicely.

 

[gonenutsbrb]

I want to do the same thing, but I can't use the Extreme as the base. For some reason one of my favorite games (Command and conquer 3) has horrific lag when I use the Extreme, but not when I use the NetGear. Can't figure out why. I'm building onto my house soon anyway and will need an extender - I thought the Extreme might pull that task off nicely.

The AEBS really should be used as your AP, the game problem can probably be fixed by some port forwarding through the AEBS's NAT options. Try that method first.

 

[zepfhyr]

The AEBS really should be used as your AP, the game problem can probably be fixed by some port forwarding through the AEBS's NAT options. Try that method first.

I currently have a similar issue to ELoche, that recently began. I switched ISPs to Road Runner (which I hate, but the price was right). Upon doing so, when I play Halo: Reach online in either Firefight or Cooperative mode I suffer horrendous lag. I can play competitively without issue. If I put my AEBS away and use a Linksys router with dd-wrt installed, I don't have any issues at all.

I'm not entirely convinced it's not because my AEBS is in WDS mode with an AirPort Express in another room, but haven't done conclusive testing. In every other situation, my AEBS has been far superior to all other routers I've used, but in this one situation, my options are to swap out routers whenever I want to play Xbox Live or kludge together a network using my Linksys and AirPort Express, leaving the AEBS to gather dust.

 

[gonenutsbrb]

I currently have a similar issue to ELoche, that recently began. I switched ISPs to Road Runner (which I hate, but the price was right). Upon doing so, when I play Halo: Reach online in either Firefight or Cooperative mode I suffer horrendous lag. I can play competitively without issue. If I put my AEBS away and use a Linksys router with dd-wrt installed, I don't have any issues at all.

I'm not entirely convinced it's not because my AEBS is in WDS mode with an AirPort Express in another room, but haven't done conclusive testing. In every other situation, my AEBS has been far superior to all other routers I've used, but in this one situation, my options are to swap out routers whenever I want to play Xbox Live or kludge together a network using my Linksys and AirPort Express, leaving the AEBS to gather dust.

Sorry for the long delayed and probably now useless post, but, are you using WDS or the built in "Extend wireless network" option? The built in option has considerably less lag then WDS, but requires Apple routers down the line to use. Try that with port forwarding set to the end IP address being your Xbox (which you can set as a static local address through the DHCP reservation table).