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Wireless Router to Complement Airport Extreme

J

jason.siegel

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 15, 2011
448
48
I own an Airport Extreme, which I love (and is now discontinued, unfortunately), which I use for both a Time Machine hard drive, connected via USB, and as a router for ethernet devices. Due to the layout of my new apartment, I'd like to keep my Airport Extreme where it is but disconnect as many accessories as possible (Philips Hue Hub, hard drive if possible, etc.) and move them to the other side of the room.

What wireless router devices are available that will pick up my Airport wireless signal and provide ethernet and USB connections on the other side of the room?

[Edit] On second thought, I could also use my Verizon cable modem to broadcast the signal and then move my Airport Extreme to the other side of the room and broadcast a new network signal/name. Is that possible?
 
Yes but you wold have to put the Extreme in ‘Bridged Mode’ to turn of NAT if it sits behind another router! Don’t worry it will still act a wireless device!

Also consider the Synology RT2600ac. Yes it can act as Time Machine as well as a VPN server!

See this video on it:
 
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satcomer said:
Yes but you wold have to put the Extreme in ‘Bridged Mode’ to turn of NAT if it sits behind another router! Don’t worry it will still act a wireless device!
Click to expand...
Thanks. To make sure I follow, I can move my Airport Extreme to the other side of the room, connect it wirelessly to my Verizon router in bridge mode, and still broadcast a wireless signal with a different name and password?
 
satcomer said:
Yes but you wold have to put the Extreme in ‘Bridged Mode’ to turn of NAT if it sits behind another router! Don’t worry it will still act a wireless device!...
Click to expand...

What's the situation if you turn your Extreme into a bridged mode router but it seems to not be giving max wifi speeds? I'm asking because I did recent speed testing on my Airport Extreme and on wifi it's going to 135Mbps, while off ethernet it's hitting the full speeds of 300Mbps+ that I'm paying for. I saw the specs say the router should be able to do 1gb+ off wifi so not sure what's going on. It does have an overheating issue right now so maybe in fixing that, this issue would get fixed? I haven't tested the wireless speeds until recently.

So assuming it's a limitation of the router itself, I may be looking into a replacement or using a service provided router like Verizon FIOS's (a service I'm considering for gigabit internet). But I'm wondering what I should do with this current router in that situation. Maybe turn off Wifi so I can still keep it on network for Time Machine purposes?

satcomer said:
Yes but you wold have to put the Extreme in ‘Bridged Mode’ to turn of NAT if it sits behind another router! Don’t worry it will still act a wireless device!

Also consider the Synology RT2600ac. Yes it can act as Time Machine as well as a VPN server!

See this video on it:
Click to expand...

I also saw this same router mentioned in a different thread. Seems a good option to either have as my main router if I stick with Xfinity or have as an extender if I go with FIOS (who make you use their router, though w/ their gigabit plan its at least included). 101 question - but what's a VPN server?
 
Rizvi1 said:
What's the situation if you turn your Extreme into a bridged mode router but it seems to not be giving max wifi speeds? I'm asking because I did recent speed testing on my Airport Extreme and on wifi it's going to 135Mbps, while off ethernet it's hitting the full speeds of 300Mbps+ that I'm paying for. I saw the specs say the router should be able to do 1gb+ off wifi so not sure what's going on. It does have an overheating issue right now so maybe in fixing that, this issue would get fixed? I haven't tested the wireless speeds until recently.

So assuming it's a limitation of the router itself, I may be looking into a replacement or using a service provided router like Verizon FIOS's (a service I'm considering for gigabit internet). But I'm wondering what I should do with this current router in that situation. Maybe turn off Wifi so I can still keep it on network for Time Machine purposes?



I also saw this same router mentioned in a different thread. Seems a good option to either have as my main router if I stick with Xfinity or have as an extender if I go with FIOS (who make you use their router, though w/ their gigabit plan its at least included). 101 question - but what's a VPN server?
Click to expand...

A VPN= Virtual Private Network is an encryption process that most people use to securely connect to VPN Server!

You can use a ‘Client’ piece of software natively (Built into Mac OS) by going to System Preferences->Network pane and clicking the + button to add a VPN client connection to a open VPN server!

Now some people decided most people will pay for a service to connect VPN to their service in different country! However some like to make their own VPN server if you a coding monkey in Mac OS Or Mac OS Sever! Plus even a VPN Server for Mac OS to make your Mac and make it become a VPN server And keep your Mac on all the time!

So some severs require you to use their software to connect to thier sevice(stay away from those)!

Hope this helps!
 
satcomer said:
A VPN= Virtual Private Network is an encryption process that most people use to securely connect to VPN Server!

You can use a ‘Client’ piece of software natively (Built into Mac OS) by going to System Preferences->Network pane and clicking the + button to add a VPN client connection to a open VPN server!

Now some people decided most people will pay for a service to connect VPN to their service in different country! However some like to make their own VPN server if you a coding monkey in Mac OS Or Mac OS Sever! Plus even a VPN Server for Mac OS to make your Mac and make it become a VPN server And keep your Mac on all the time!

So some severs require you to use their software to connect to thier sevice(stay away from those)!

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Thanks for replying. This sounds interest. I was interested in starting to use VPN and was planning to just buy one of those lifetime VPN services (here's a deal that caught my eye), but it seems like what you're saying is an alternative. I'll look into this some more.
 
The router from Synology has an App Store where you could put a VPN Sever on it and use a smart phone to connect back to your VPN Sever in your router. To be safe though stop that sever from severing when you are home to save cycles and keep web crawling trying to break into your router!

This way when you are on a resultant Wi-Fi or something you could VPN from your phone back to your network! That would be the best of keeping your web traffic safe when on someone’s Wi-Fi!


Here is video on the VPN sever in a Synology Router:
 
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And this is all something that you can't do on other routers? I'm looking at the Velop right now. I broke down why the Velop stood out to me over the Synology and the Orbi in this post.
 
Rizvi1 said:
Update: went with the synology router and so far so great, but I haven't dived into the features, especially the VPN thing.

Seems there's some promotion related to VPN right now? https://slickdeals.net/f/13963151-f...site-licenses-will-be-free?v=1&src=SiteSearch

I'm not sure what it means though.
Click to expand...

Looks like a scam!
[automerge]1589851166[/automerge]
Well depends! If you connect to VPN Service Loki at this video:

The VPN Server App is if you want to setup your own service to VPN back into your home network!
 
satcomer said:
Looks like a scam!
[automerge]1589851166[/automerge]
Well depends! If you connect to VPN Service Loki at this video:

The VPN Server App is if you want to setup your own service to VPN back into your home network!
Click to expand...

It's not a scam. It's posted on Slickdeals and Synology, both are extremely trustworthy. Synology is offering free licenses because of COVID.
 
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