Using an Airport Express to bridge Wi-Fi...

[mrjaja]

There is a wireless router (non Apple) on the second floor of my house (my dad's office), the only problem is that it cannot reach most of downstairs. For example it cannot reach my bedroom, only my parent's bedroom, which is directly below the router. This means I have to go to my parent's room if I want to go online on my Macbook. Bummer . And my sister is getting a laptop for her birthday, so something needs to be sorted.

So to try and solve the problem, my dad got an Airport Express (the 802.11n one) in order to try and bridge or extend the network downstairs. But neither of us know how to get it working. I tried setting it up with the Airport Utility but with no success. And a trip to the Apple Store didn't help either. The guy at the Genius Bar told us the router would work bridging/extending the network, but no joy either.

I've been told that it needs to be set up with the router's setting on a web page, but I've not been able to access them (admin privileges?).

In short, I need an Airport Express to bridge/extend a Wi-Fi network from a non-Apple Wi-Fi router. Any thoughts? Cheers

 

[waw74]

what make/model is your older router? sometimes extending a non-apple wireless can get a bit funky.

for the web page, once again depends on the make/model as far as default passwords. just google the model number, and "default password" should come up pretty quick.

if wirelessly extending doesn't work...
is there anyway to run an ethernet cable downstairs? If so, do the following

-set up the same wireless security type and password on both (hopefully you aren't running unsecured)
-same SSID (network name)

your computers will then automatically connect to the stronger base station.
including if you go from upstairs to downstairs, they will switch by themselves.

 

[OptyCT]

Yeah, it all depends on what make/model your current router is and whether it has WDS capabilities (or whether there is a third-party firmware for it that can enable WDS). I'm currently running a Linksys WRT54G (early version) w/ DD-WRT firmware in WDS with an Apple Airport Express. It runs beautifully! I was in the same situation as you. My router is located in the basement, and I would get frequent dropped signals when using my laptop in the upstairs. I hooked up an AE on the main floor (first floor) and haven't gotten a dropped signal since.