Can you set the airport extreme to have 3 networks?

[knux11]

I'm at work so i haven't had a chance to try it yet, but i was thinking:

one band for 802.11n 5ghz
one band for 802.11n (2.4)/b/g/a/whatever
one "guest" network

can you do all three separately at the same time?

 

[psxguru]

Yes, although in effect you have 4 networks as the guest network will appear in both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands (you can see this in istumbler)

I give my normal 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks different names to make it easier to keep my mac on the 5Ghz network when I'm moving around the house. If I enable the guest network, the guest name is the same for both bands as the utility won't let you assign different guest names.

 

[skorpien]

To clarify, you can set different SSIDs for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, but the network is still the same (with the exception of the guest network). Two separate computers each connecting to a different band will still be on the same network. So technically, it allows you two networks with three unique SSIDs, two of those SSIDs for one network and the other for the guest.

 

[knux11]

kewl. guess i cant use it anyway as I was gonna use:
5ghz (n only) for my n imac and macbook
2.4ghz (n only) for iphones
2.4ghz (b/g) for everything else.

but turns out iphone 3gs don't have n like i thought they did. and i'd need them all on the same network.

I have all kinds of dead spots in my house using 5ghz n only, and I only connect at g speeds (not even slightly higher) when using 2.4 b/g/n.

 

[skorpien]

Yeah, the only 802.11n iPhone is iPhone 4.

Also, the AEBS only allows two bands. For example, I've noticed that if I set both the 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands to n only, the guest network becomes n only as well. This would imply that the guest network "piggybacks" on whichever settings you have for your main network. I actually have a first gen Time Capsule in my setup broadcasting a 2.4GHz n only SSID while my AEBS has 5GHz n only and 2.4GHz b/g/n to allow my guest network to accept b/g clients.

 

[knux11]

ahhh ok i get it. makes sense. thanks guys!

 

[psxguru]

Also if you weren't aware, there are more radio mode options available than the default ones (depending on your model).

Hold down option while clicking on radio mode and all the other combinations will be shown.

 

[knux11]

Also if you weren't aware, there are more radio mode options available than the default ones (depending on your model).

Hold down option while clicking on radio mode and all the other combinations will be shown.

i was aware of this, but thanks.