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Looking to buy an Apple Airport Extreme but just realized something...

joelovesapple

joelovesapple

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 25, 2006
773
56
UK
I am fed up of the slowness of my G network at home. To rectify this, my dad bought a Belkin wireless N Modem router which turned out to be nothing but a pain in the ass; so I recommended getting the Airport Extreme as I had heard it is painless with both Macs and PC's.

I'm using our old G router to type this and we connect to our ISP via Telephone line... I am wondering if it is possible when we have got the Airport, to use the current G router as a modem, by plugging it in via Ethernet into the Airport, and the old router plugged in via the phone line as it is currently?


Sorry to be so complicated, it's just something I have only just noticed and I want to finally ensure we can get a router that does the job.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope I can get some replies soon. :)
 
You should be able to do that. Also, as a cheaper alternative, I use a couple of Linksys WRT54GL's with no problem on any system.
 
Not all routers can act as a simple modem. I had this problem with a Netgear integrated cable modem and wireless router in an old apartment—I couldn't make it be JUST a modem and use the Airport Extreme for my router/WiFi access point.

I ended up just switching to a "modem-only" solution from the cable company and everything has been perfect since.
 
Good point. Also, you're probably not going to notice a speed increase, except on the local network. For Internet speed, it could be a useless purchase.
 
Ok, so what if I was to bridge these two routers together; one for g devices only whilst getting the full benefits of N from the APE (airport extreme) ?

Thanks for the comments so far, I didn't expect such instant replies.:)
 
If you have an Ethernet jack out the back of that G router, sure, you can link them.
 
I do yes, and I need to know if I will get Internet access from my ISP if I do this... sorry to be such a n00b :( Thanks everyone, this place is superb for tech support.
 
belvdr said:
Good point. Also, you're probably not going to notice a speed increase, except on the local network. For Internet speed, it could be a useless purchase.
Click to expand...

It's specifically to improve the speed of my network, and the Internet speed is fine, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I'm just hoping that I can be all plain-sailing once we acquire the APE.:apple:
 
joelovesapple said:
I do yes, and I need to know if I will get Internet access from my ISP if I do this... sorry to be such a n00b :( Thanks everyone, this place is superb for tech support.
Click to expand...

Yes, let's say you connect the WAN port of the AEBS to a LAN port on your existing equipment. You should route straight out with no issue.
 
Thank you very much Belvdr. What about the firewall on my existing equipment, will that cause a problem?
:eek:
 
Yes, the AEBS will hide you behind it, so the G router doesn't know about the AEBS network.

Now, you will need to configure your G router to pass TCP 3389 to the AEBS, and you will configure the AEBS to forward TCP 3389 to the XP machine.
 
belvdr said:
Yes, the AEBS will hide you behind it, so the G router doesn't know about the AEBS network.

Now, you will need to configure your G router to pass TCP 3389 to the AEBS, and you will configure the AEBS to forward TCP 3389 to the XP machine.
Click to expand...
Why not put the AEBS in bridge mode and let the G router assign all IP addresses/do all of the routing?

That way any devices on the G network can talk directly to devices on the N network, and vice-versa. They'll all be on one happy TCP/IP subnet instead of two subnets with an extra router between them?

That's how I have it setup at my place and it works quite well. :)
 
aristobrat said:
Why not put the AEBS in bridge mode and let the G router assign all IP addresses/do all of the routing?

That way any devices on the G network can talk directly to devices on the N network, and vice-versa. They'll all be on one happy TCP/IP subnet instead of two subnets with an extra router between them?

That's how I have it setup at my place and it works quite well. :)
Click to expand...

Even better. I wasn't aware you could do that, as I've never configured an AEBS personally.
 
belvdr said:
Yes, the AEBS will hide you behind it, so the G router doesn't know about the AEBS network.

Now, you will need to configure your G router to pass TCP 3389 to the AEBS, and you will configure the AEBS to forward TCP 3389 to the XP machine.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips, but we haven't yet bought the AEBS. We have yet to take back the failed belkin router and then get the AEBS sometime soon.

I'm just hoping that the forwarding isn't going to be too difficult, as I've had problems with that before on the G router.

So you know, it's a Thomson Speedtouch 585 G router (do not know the specifics, sorry). I am used to the Web UI of it, it's just I've never seen anything to do with port-forwarding or anything like that you mention here.

So sorry for all this, I seem to be unstoppable with my questions. :eek::(

Also, we have got another router given to us by our ISP but I haven't looked at it... I do know that it's a basic BT G one.
 
aristobrat said:
Why not put the AEBS in bridge mode and let the G router assign all IP addresses/do all of the routing?

That way any devices on the G network can talk directly to devices on the N network, and vice-versa. They'll all be on one happy TCP/IP subnet instead of two subnets with an extra router between them?

That's how I have it setup at my place and it works quite well. :)
Click to expand...

This is something I initially considered - is it easy to set up?:)
 
belvdr said:
Even better. I wasn't aware you could do that, as I've never configured an AEBS personally.
Click to expand...
No worries. :)

joelovesapple said:
I'm just hoping that the forwarding isn't going to be too difficult, as I've had problems with that before on the G router.
Click to expand...
What ports are you forwarding?

joelovesapple said:
This is something I initially considered - is it easy to set up?:)
Click to expand...
I think so. You use the Airport Utility program to set it all up. On the Internet tab is an option to set the "Connection Sharing" to "Off (Bridge Mode)". That stops the AEBS from routing. It'll act as a bridge.

Remember to give this wireless network a name that's different from the G wireless network name. :)
 
Is your port-forwarding currently working? Adding an AEBS in bridge mode shouldn't affect it either way.
 
aristobrat said:
No worries. :)


What ports are you forwarding?


I think so. You use the Airport Utility program to set it all up. On the Internet tab is an option to set the "Connection Sharing" to "Off (Bridge Mode)". That stops the AEBS from routing. It'll act as a bridge.

Remember to give this wireless network a name that's different from the G wireless network name. :)
Click to expand...

You sir, are a godsend. I now know what to do when we get this little White Beauty:D. I was really worried before because it sounds like a really good product, from what Amazon tells me. I can't wait to try it out! Also, this is something new to me ( I have a huge interest in networking and security as well as IT) so it's something else to add to my repertoire!

Sorry to babber :eek:

And just one more thing... :p

Will bit-torrent be any faster, at the moment I get paltry speeds of less than 100kbps *if I'm lucky*. This is where I ran into the mapping ports problem.

I do purchase music as well ... I'd better shut up :p TV shows mainly.;)
 
aristobrat said:
Is your port-forwarding currently working? Adding an AEBS in bridge mode shouldn't affect it either way.
Click to expand...

I gave up on it, there seems to be no option to do it on the Speedtouch (Thomson).

It's not totally neccessary anyway.
 
To get torrent speeds up, you need to forward, on your router, your defined incoming port back to your IP. It also depends on how many other systems are sending.
 
joelovesapple said:
I gave up on it, there seems to be no option to do it on the Speedtouch (Thomson).
Click to expand...
I don't know if you've already seen this, but FWIW:
http://portforward.com/routers.htm

... it had a bunch of SpeedTouch devices listed, but not sure if your specific one was.

belvdr's spot on .. if there's any way to forward your port properly, your speed should really increase! Adding the AEBS will help you sling files around the inside of your network more quickly, but really shouldn't speed up anything Internet related stuff... :)
 
Yep, been there, done that and got the T shirt - to no avail. Nothing worked when I tried it with Transmission.app.

Attached is an image of my Speedtouch web UI:

Where do I go from here? Bear in mind that I do *not* yet have the AEBS but will do soon...
 

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What's under "Game and Application Sharing"? Also, once you port forward to your IP on the Thomson, it will work once you setup your AEBS under bridge mode, and a different SSID.

By the way, why isn't MacRumors in that list of tabs in Safari? ;)
 
It is - it has the title of this thread, if that is what you meant?

Yeah I tried Game and application sharing several times; maybe I just wasn't doing it right... I usually like to conduct experiments to see if they will work but I've never quite cracked port forwarding. Didn't do so on the belkin either.
 
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