Extending the network, need advice!
Help me solve a problem: I currently have an Airport Extreme Base Station (N) in my office, which is about 30 feet away from my television, Xbox 360, et al. The AEBS is currently serving wifi in mixed N/G/B mode, because everything in the entertainment center (save the Apple TV), and my iPhone, is only G capable. Of course, this creates a far slower network. I’d like to have everything in the living room, particularly the Xbox 360 and Apple TV, running as fast as they can because I play Xbox Live and I sync loads of content to the Apple TV (and imagine syncing more in the future with rentals and HD stuff).
Today, my Xbox wireless adapter died. It will cost $99 to replace. That made me realize that now is the time to either buck up and buy a replacement, or spend a little more and solve my problem.
I cannot run ethernet cable to the living room, unfortunately. That’d be my best option, but it’s out.
Here’s what I propose, but I don’t know if it will work: I switch my current AEBS to N-only mode and then I buy another AEBS and have it set to extend the current network and place it behind the TV. I plug the Xbox, TiVo and PS3 directly into the new AEBS. The base station only has three ethernet ports, so I wouldn’t be able to plug the Wii in. But, to be honest, I very rarely use the internet features of the Wii so I might be willing to sacrifice them.
Of course, this also means the iPhone won’t have wifi in the apartment. But at this point, if it’s the only thing holding me back from having a good, solid connection to Xbox live and such, I’m willing to use EDGE in the apartment.
I could also get a non-Apple wifi router and use that instead. My fear with that is that it won’t play nice, as I’ve experienced in the past. Does anyone out there have good advice?
Remember: The goal is to get all of the stuff in my living room hooked up to the fastest possible connection (in this case, ethernet on an N network).
Today, my Xbox wireless adapter died. It will cost $99 to replace. That made me realize that now is the time to either buck up and buy a replacement, or spend a little more and solve my problem.
I cannot run ethernet cable to the living room, unfortunately. That’d be my best option, but it’s out.
Here’s what I propose, but I don’t know if it will work: I switch my current AEBS to N-only mode and then I buy another AEBS and have it set to extend the current network and place it behind the TV. I plug the Xbox, TiVo and PS3 directly into the new AEBS. The base station only has three ethernet ports, so I wouldn’t be able to plug the Wii in. But, to be honest, I very rarely use the internet features of the Wii so I might be willing to sacrifice them.
Of course, this also means the iPhone won’t have wifi in the apartment. But at this point, if it’s the only thing holding me back from having a good, solid connection to Xbox live and such, I’m willing to use EDGE in the apartment.
I could also get a non-Apple wifi router and use that instead. My fear with that is that it won’t play nice, as I’ve experienced in the past. Does anyone out there have good advice?
Remember: The goal is to get all of the stuff in my living room hooked up to the fastest possible connection (in this case, ethernet on an N network).
24-inch iMac 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.5.1)
