TangoWillie

Q: Can I control all airport expresses in my network via the AirPort Extr

I was recently asked to setup a wifi network for my church on a limited budget. I selected an AirPort Extreme as the main router and three 3rd gen expresses to complete coverage throughout the small campus. Everything is hard wired via cat 6.

 

I setup the AirPort Extreme with DHCP/NAT as the main router and then added three 3rd gen Airport Expresses all on bridge mode. Only problem I had was getting the 3rd express to pull an IP off the LAN port of the extreme. It would not do it, and I had to plug it directly onto the cable modem LAN PORT. Wondering if there is a limit to the number of expresses you can run off an extreme? The first two are running off thr extreme LAN ports with no issues.


ALso is there a way I can control the guest network on all 4 devices ( 1 extreme and 3 expresses) using just the extreme? Meaning can I configure the extreme for guest network and it activates across all the expresses via my LAN? Or do I HAVE to activate the gueat network on each device separately?

Posted on Aug 15, 2015 7:50 PM

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Q: Can I control all airport expresses in my network via the AirPort Extr

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  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Aug 16, 2015 12:07 AM in response to TangoWillie
    Level 9 (52,825 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 16, 2015 12:07 AM in response to TangoWillie

    I setup the AirPort Extreme with DHCP/NAT as the main router and then added three 3rd gen Airport Expresses all on bridge mode. Only problem I had was getting the 3rd express to pull an IP off the LAN port of the extreme.

    Is it really the main router though or is the cable modem actually the main router and you are doing double NAT??

     

    What you said here..

    I had to plug it directly onto the cable modem LAN PORT.

    is impossible if the cable modem is bridged..

     

    There is no limit to the number of addresses you can assign lan clients.. 50 is the wireless limit.. 199 is the limit the airport sets via dhcp range for all clients.. but that is able to be changed to 254 of which you should never attain in the real world.

     

    However what you are saying is not unusual.. people seem to often hit this limit.. 2 is enough.. at least of express and the third is the odd man out..

     

    I have no idea why it should be so.. as a test plug one of the express into another express.. does it work ok then.. ??

     

    Did you make them all completely different names. Remember you cannot duplicate names on a network. Setup the third express in network isolation then plug it in and see what happens.. Any screenshot you can show me of the problem can help..

     

    If you happen to have a switch available.. can you please try that.. so you have extreme--switch---expresses.. so all the express connect via one ethernet port on the extreme.. that will work perfectly fine since extreme is gigabit and express are 10/100.. so use a gigabit switch.

     

    ALso is there a way I can control the guest network on all 4 devices ( 1 extreme and 3 expresses) using just the extreme? Meaning can I configure the extreme for guest network and it activates across all the expresses via my LAN?

    Guest across multiple express will all only work if the extreme is setup in full router mode.. and you are using guest on express that is therefore controlled by the extreme.. that is how it always works.. shut off guest in the extreme and guest will fail on all the express units.

     

    AirPort base stations: About the Guest network feature - Apple Support

     

    BUT.. some ugly sin in camp of the Israelites..

     

    The airport guest wireless is SLOW .. like I don't mean SLOW.. I mean 40 years crawling around the wilderness with poisonous snakes.. and earth opening pits before you get to the promised land.

    Google slow guest airport wireless.

    See http://rkuo.com/2014/09/02/airport-extreme-bugs-and-guest-network-performance-pr oblems/

     

    There is no solution.. it is just badly engineered.

     

    This guy is VMWare engineer..

     

    http://www.chriscolotti.us/technology/apple-airports-dirty-little-secret/

     

    Dirty little secret.. Indeed.

     

    If you had asked before buying I would have said buy Ubiquiti wireless products. Apple are purely domestic. Ubiquiti is almost the same price. And is much closer to pro level. No silly the third unit won't install.. proper wireless management tools.

  • by TangoWillie,

    TangoWillie TangoWillie Aug 18, 2015 8:17 PM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 18, 2015 8:17 PM in response to LaPastenague

    This was a fantastic reply and I appreciate you answering all the questions. The links were very helpful and cleared up some other questions I had.

     

    AFter looking at my network deeper here is what I have.

     

    Comcast Business Cable Modem (DHCP/NAT) - AirPort Extreme (Bridge) - 24 port GIG-E switch - 2nd Gen Airport Express (Bridge). I go LAN port off the modem to WAN port of Extreme, theN go LAN of extreme to switch, and switch out to 3 different expresses.

    I found out I have a bad cable going to my 3rd express and have fixed that issue. Now I need to re-configure modem to be in bridge mode so I can reconfigure extreme to control all the expresses. According to your last article this will theoretically work per Apple.

     

    How do I set up the cable modem for bridge mode? Do I do that first and then do extreme for DHCP/NAT? Does it matter which I do first?

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Aug 19, 2015 2:00 AM in response to TangoWillie
    Level 9 (52,825 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 19, 2015 2:00 AM in response to TangoWillie
    How do I set up the cable modem for bridge mode?

    Some are easy.. our standard ISP cable modems here.. we go into the advanced and turn off NAT.. voila done.

     

    But the ISP may have full control.. if there is no bridge or NAT controls in the modem .. then the ISP remotely controls it.. ring your ISP and ask .. sometimes they will refuse.. it is part of the agreement that you have a modem router.. with others you can return the ISP modem.. and buy your own pure cable modem.. check your ISP if they allow you to bring your own modem and register it..

     

    Let me add immediately a warning.. apple airports and SB model modems do not get along.. please look at other brands..

     

    Do I do that first and then do extreme for DHCP/NAT?

    You can use the Extreme in double NAT mode.. so try it out.. that leads to other issues but you can then test if guest wireless works and well enough to bother about.

     

    Double NAT however is not a final result you want.. so either cable modem is bridged or the Airport.. otherwise you will have issues down the track.

     

    I often test in double NAT though.. as long as each unit is on a different IP subnet you can do it.. and if you have a default client or DMZ in the main router then that often fixes a lot of the problems.