AirPort Extreme Base Station with other routers?

[akbc]

Hello, I just have a very newbie question;

I currently use a Linksys WRT300N (802.11n) Router.

And I've recently purchased an AEBS to link my External USB HDD and Printer to it, in order to use those two peripherals with any computers in the house that's currently in my Home network.

Is there anyways for me to use this kind of setup? :

DSL Modem ------ Linksys ----- AEBS -- USB HUB -- Printer/USB HDD

so my DSL modem is directly connected with the Linksys router via Ethernet cable, and from Linksys to AEBS - with another Ethernet cable, then USB Hub for the Printer/USB HDD from the AEBS.

I just can't get it to work, and I've heard that bridging two routers are possible, and I've also heard that I can use an USB Hub with the AEBS.

but the AirPort Utility is a little too confusing for me

By the way, the computers in the houses are:

2 PC's with Windows XP Pro, 1 Laptop with Windows XP Pro, 1 Mac mini and 1 Macbook.

I've tried setting it up from my Laptop with the Windows XP Pro, since my Mac Mini's monitor is kind of messed up and my mom took MacBook with her to a business trip.

Should I just go with DSL modem to AEBS directly? That'd be so much easier but my Linksys is a little faster and more reliable when it comes to home networking..

If anyone has tried any of these set ups, please HELP!

Thanks in advance!

 

[mgclayton]

I have a very similar setup.
I have a LinkSys WRT350N as the main router, and the AEBS acting as a Bridge. The WRT350N has an IP of 192.168.1.1, so I just gave the AEBS an IP of 192.168.1.10.
It all works very well.
The WRT350N has a USB drive too, but I find the AEBS one works better, giving me twice the disk write speed, even from Windows clients.

 

[BlackMax]

The setup you mentioned:

DSL Modem ------ Linksys ----- AEBS -- USB HUB -- Printer/USB HDD

can be done, but it helps if you have a little networking experience to make it easier. Basically, you want to setup your Linksys (configuration may vary depending on model) with a static IP address (instead of the DHCP server which is probably running on it now). On the AEBS, point to the static IP address of your Linksys and then setup DHCP from your AEBS and everything *should* work as it did before you added the AEBS to the mix.

But to be honest, the easiest method would be what you've already suggested:

DSL Modem ------ AEBS -- USB HUB -- Printer/USB HDD

What do you mean when you say your Linksys is a little faster? Doesn't the AEBS you have support gigabit? Reliability is another topic which I can't really speak to since I don't own an AEBS myself. I wonder if there is anything you can do to make your AEBS more reliable? Firmware upgrade perhaps?

 

[akbc]

I have a very similar setup.
I have a LinkSys WRT350N as the main router, and the AEBS acting as a Bridge. The WRT350N has an IP of 192.168.1.1, so I just gave the AEBS an IP of 192.168.1.10.
It all works very well.
The WRT350N has a USB drive too, but I find the AEBS one works better, giving me twice the disk write speed, even from Windows clients.

So I just give the same IP address to the AEBS upto 192.168.1.x ? can the "x" be anything, or does it have to have a "0" at the end as well?

Actually, my Linksys is 192.168.1.1 as well, so I'll try the exact same set up as yours when I get home from work!

Thanks guys!! Very helpful, I'll post again if I have any more questions!

 

[mgclayton]

So I just give the same IP address to the AEBS upto 192.168.1.x ? can the "x" be anything, or does it have to have a "0" at the end as well?

Actually, my Linksys is 192.168.1.1 as well, so I'll try the exact same set up as yours when I get home from work!

Thanks guys!! Very helpful, I'll post again if I have any more questions!

192.168.1.1 is the default address that a LinkSys will give itself internally.
The DHCP server will allocate addresses from 192.168.1.100 and up.
I give some of my machines static addresses internally, so I can run various services (not relevant here). I think you can choose pretty much any address you like between [192.168.1.]2 and 99, I just went for 10.

Make sure you set up the AEBS as a Bridge.
The Airport Utility is a bit confusing at first, I agree, but persevere. Also, make sure you create at least one profile, then you can experiment and revert to a safe profile if need be. There's a profile dropdown box at the bottom of the utility.

The only thing different between our setups is that I'm on cable, not DSL, but I don't think that should matter.
Good luck!

 

[gsahli]

If I remember correctly, for the AEBS you need to turn off (uncheck) Distribute IP addresses - to put it in bridge mode.

 

[akbc]

Thanks a lot guys! It works now, (at least the HDD)

Still trying to figure out how to get the dang Printer set up.. Maybe It'd be easier if I do it with my Mac Mini or something

Thanks again!