Use Airport Express as Wireless Adapter for DirecTv On Demand Service

Question

Use Airport Express as Wireless Adapter for DirecTv On Demand Service

Hi,

I don't know what's possible so here is what I was thinking. I do not have a wired ethernet port by my entertainment center and would like to connect my DirecTV HD DVR's ethernet port directly to my 802.11G Airport Express.

I would then like to have the Airport Express connect to my iMac's built-in Airport. My iMac is directly connected to my wired home network. Can I do this with Internet Sharing enabled?

Or, do I need to buy a base station and use it with my Airport Express? Or do I need 2 base stations and relay them? Or could I use an additional Airport Express and connect to my older Airport Express that is currently connected to my network? I currently use my Airport Express as a bridge to my network for my laptops as I don't have a wireless router.

I am so confused. I just want to get my DVR box connected for on demand. If worse comes to worse, I will just have an electrician run more cabling to my wiring closet but I thought I would look at doing it the wireless way.

Thanks for any suggestions 🙂

iMac 2.8 GHz 2GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.5), Powerbook 15 inch 1.5 GHz 2GB RAM (OS X 10.5)

Posted on Nov 28, 2008 5:17 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Tesserax

Level 10

148,345 points

Nov 28, 2008 9:44 PM in response to PatrickJenkins

I do not have a wired ethernet port by my entertainment center and would like to connect my DirecTV HD DVR's ethernet port directly to my 802.11G Airport Express.

I would then like to have the Airport Express connect to my iMac's built-in Airport. My iMac is directly connected to my wired home network. Can I do this with Internet Sharing enabled?

Sorry, but no. You cannot reconfigure the AirPort Express Base Station (AX) to be a substitute for a wireless adapter.

One option would be to use two AXs to form a Wireless Distribution System (WDS). One AX would be connected to your wired network and reconfigured as a bridge and the main base station in the WDS with the other AX configured as the remote base station. The remote AX's Ethernet port would now be enabled to allow the DVR to access the Internet.

Reply

Answer 2

Nov 29, 2008 5:49 AM in response to Tesserax

Okay, that sounds like a good plan. Thank you very much. One quick question, which wireless modes would be used? Would both AX be set to "Participate in a WDS Network" or would the AX that is connected to the DVR be set to "Join a Wireless Network"?

Are there any other options that I would need to configure?

Reply

Answer 3

Tesserax

Level 10

148,345 points

Nov 29, 2008 12:34 PM in response to PatrickJenkins

The AX performing as a base station would be configured to "Create a wireless network" & "Participate in a WDS network" as the main; the AX performing as the remote would be configured to "Participate in a WDS network" as the remote.

Reply

Answer 4

Dec 21, 2008 2:13 PM in response to Tesserax

I am trying to set this up. I can't get the airport extreme and express to be set up in a wds. Isn't this the same as extending the network? When I try to configure one for wds, I get the error that there are no wds nodes. I have seen a step by step online, but I need more details. thanking anyone in advance for their help. Don't have much hair left!!

Reply

Answer 5

gdalzell

Level 1

5 points

Mar 12, 2009 6:58 AM in response to Tesserax

I am unable to configure an Airport Extreme to WDS to permit adding an Express for Directv. How does one configure the Extreme in wireless mode for both "create a wireless network" and "participate in a WDS network"?

TIA

Gary

Reply

Answer 6

Mar 12, 2009 7:49 AM in response to PatrickJenkins

Here is a totally different option that works for me. I too did not have an Ethernet jack anywhere near my DirecTV DVR. I initially thought of trying the wireless route as my home is set up for wireless via my Time Capsule. But I was told that it wouldn't work. (I guess I'm just a trusting person. Plus I have two small children so time to "tinker" just isn't available.) So I just bought two (in one box) Ethernet through the home AC power adapters (from either Belkin or Linksys, I can't remember). It cost around $100 at Staples. Obviously both the Time Capsule and the DVR are near wall outlets. So one adapter is wired into an Ethernet port on the Time Capsule and the other adapter is wired to the Ethernet port on the DVR. Plugged in both adapters to empty wall sockets. Then I had the DVR auto-config. to find the IP, subnet, etc. Works like a charm. Download time for On-Demand is obviously slower than wireless might be, but it still works.

Hope this helps.

Reply

Answer 7

Apr 4, 2009 4:13 AM in response to Tim Hodge

I have been trying to figure this out for two months, but the problem was finally resolved. I have a HR-22 and found that the ethernet port was faulty. I had the unit replaced and was set up in a couple of minutes. I have the extreme as the base station, with allow the network to be extended, checked.
The express is set up to join a network with allow ethernet clients checked. No need to bother with wds with the newer models of routers. Also, I did not have to change my security settings to WEP as suggested in other posts. Hope this save a lot of headaches!

Reply