Hi! I'm fortunate enough to live in a country with widespread gigabit internet connectivity, and I have just applied to have fibre-optic gigabit internet installed in my two floor apartment.
However, my home's networking arrangement is a little odd. See the attached crude diagram for reference.
I understand that the 2nd gen Airport Express has full support for gigabit connections (although wi-fi speeds will hit a theoretical 54Mb/s at most). I have two different networks set up in my home— one upstairs, and one downstairs.
I am fine with having two different networks. That isn't the issue here. I know that if I want to maximize what I get out of the gigabit connection I need to use ethernet. I am planning to run a cable from one of the LAN ports on the first airport extreme in the diagram to the WAN port on the second airport extreme, which will then have a cable running from a free WAN port to a switch downstairs. These first two airport extremes manage the same network upstairs (the second airport extreme extends the network created by the first airport extreme).
What I need to know is if the second airport extreme can act as the final router in the network, as well as a switch. So far I only know that the router can act as both a router and a switch if it is the one creating the network (i.e creating it from the WAN port input).
Diagram of my current home network:
![8ec5882776.png]()
However, my home's networking arrangement is a little odd. See the attached crude diagram for reference.
I understand that the 2nd gen Airport Express has full support for gigabit connections (although wi-fi speeds will hit a theoretical 54Mb/s at most). I have two different networks set up in my home— one upstairs, and one downstairs.
I am fine with having two different networks. That isn't the issue here. I know that if I want to maximize what I get out of the gigabit connection I need to use ethernet. I am planning to run a cable from one of the LAN ports on the first airport extreme in the diagram to the WAN port on the second airport extreme, which will then have a cable running from a free WAN port to a switch downstairs. These first two airport extremes manage the same network upstairs (the second airport extreme extends the network created by the first airport extreme).
What I need to know is if the second airport extreme can act as the final router in the network, as well as a switch. So far I only know that the router can act as both a router and a switch if it is the one creating the network (i.e creating it from the WAN port input).
Diagram of my current home network:
