Airport Extreme Basestation Networking!

[jdaco6]

Hello. A few weeks ago I got an Airport Extreme Base Station for wirelessly enabling my current Gigabit Network.

The Current Network works something like this ADSL ROUTER-GIGABIT HUB (Routing Cat6 Cable all around the house) - Computers, XBOX'S, IP Printers, Airport Basestation.

My question is, is there any way I can put in another Airport extreme basestation in another room (Current one is upstairs and i really need another downstairs) but connect it via the Gigabit lan again. The only reason I am asking is that the only way advertised to link basestations is via wireless but it simply does not make sence for me to do that so would this work? Would i need to select a 'special' wireless channel?

Hope you can help. Jdaco6

 

[TEG]

Yes you can, just put the other base station in Bridge Mode. That said however, you should just get an AirPort Express, which is cheaper, still runs at N speeds, and doesn't have all that extra hardware that your have with your base station.

Infact, your setup is a bit convoluted as it is.

To be optimal, your setup should be something like this;

DSL - AirPort - HUB (if you need more than 3 Gigabit connections) - Computers, XBoxes, Printers
(This has the advantage of having all systems on the same subnet, and allowing you to control port forwarding and all IP setups)

Also, the wireless extention of the network is really easy, and actually just uses the existing wireless network and extends it using a process called WDS. I have "wired" my house exclusivly using it and it is very reliable.

TEG

 

[jdaco6]

Yes you can, just put the other base station in Bridge Mode. That said however, you should just get an AirPort Express, which is cheaper, still runs at N speeds, and doesn't have all that extra hardware that your have with your base station.

Infact, your setup is a bit convoluted as it is.

To be optimal, your setup should be something like this;

DSL - AirPort - HUB (if you need more than 3 Gigabit connections) - Computers, XBoxes, Printers

Also, the wireless extention of the network is really easy, and actually just uses the existing wireless network and extends it using a process called WDS. I have "wired" my house exclusivly using it and it is very reliable.

TEG

Thanks for your reply! I was thinking of maybe getting a Time Capsual for going between the HUB and ADSL but i still need my current base station upstairs as the signal is not strong enough to reach there! So what benifit would putting DSL-Airport-HUB make?

 

[TEG]

Thanks for your reply! I was thinking of maybe getting a Time Capsual for going between the HUB and ADSL but i still need my current base station upstairs as the signal is not strong enough to reach there! So what benifit would putting DSL-Airport-HUB make?

Your advantage would be everything being on the same subnet, so you can share files between computers easily and share iTunes libraries.

The TC is a base station, so you could just take your current one, reset it to factory settings, then add it to your wireless network as a remote station and it will extend your network.

TEG

 

[jdaco6]

Your advantage would be everything being on the same subnet, so you can share files between computers easily and share iTunes libraries.

The TC is a base station, so you could just take your current one, reset it to factory settings, then add it to your wireless network as a remote station and it will extend your network.

TEG

Thanks again! and that wont involve files being transferred from TC to basestation wirelessly as the range drops out before its gets to the basesation so if it was wireless it would A) be to slow and B) be out of range so that's the whole point in the Gigabit Ethernet! So that would work right? I.E make it a remote station but be connected via Gigabit Ethernet?

 

[TEG]

Thanks again! and that wont involve files being transferred from TC to basestation wirelessly as the range drops out before its gets to the basesation so if it was wireless it would A) be to slow and B) be out of range so that's the whole point in the Gigabit Ethernet! So that would work right? I.E make it a remote station but be connected via Gigabit Ethernet?

When you set it up, you will know whether or not it will work. The Base Station will be stationary and has better range than most laptops so drop outs should be minimal. The only drawback is that Wi-Fi networks operate at the speed of the slowest thing connected to it, so as long as you don't have any b level wi-fi systems or a Nintendo DS everything should be fine.

If it doesn't work out, you can always set it into bridge mode and connect it through the gigabit.

TEG

 

[jdaco6]

When you set it up, you will know whether or not it will work. The Base Station will be stationary and has better range than most laptops so drop outs should be minimal. The only drawback is that Wi-Fi networks operate at the speed of the slowest thing connected to it, so as long as you don't have any b level wi-fi systems or a Nintendo DS everything should be fine.

If it doesn't work out, you can always set it into bridge mode and connect it through the gigabit.

TEG

Ok, thanks its N only on 5ghz so i dont think that should be a problem!

Thanks again, great help. Jdaco6

 

[TEG]

N does have twice the range of G. I was a bit concerned if you were connecting iPhones or older MacBook(Pro)s to the network, without the N hardware.

TEG