Setup an Air Port Extreme Roaming Network?

We assume that you have already tested the Ethernet cable to make sure that it is working correctly.

Connect the Ethernet cable from one of the three LAN <--> Ethernet ports on the "main" AirPort to the WAN "O" port on the second AirPort.

Power up the second AirPort for a minute or two, then hold in the reset button on the back of the AirPort for 7-8 seconds and release. Allow a full minute for the AirPort to restart to a slow, blinking amber light status.

Click the WiFi menu at the top of your Mac and look for a listing of New AirPort Base Station. Just under that listing, click directly on AirPort Extreme.

When you click on AirPort Extreme, that will open up the AirPort Utility setup "wizard". It will take a few seconds to analyze the network, then display the correct setup for the second AirPort. Your screen will look similar to the example below, except that you will see your devices and network displayed.

Type in a device name that you want to call the second AirPort

Click Next

Watch the next screen to verify that the AirPort is being set up to extend using Ethernet. This will confirm that the setup wizard has picked up the Ethernet connection between the two AirPorts and the correct settings will automatically be applied to the second AirPort.

When you see the message of Setup Complete, click Done.......and you are done. The AirPorts are set up in a roaming configuration.

Other than resetting the second AirPort to start over from scratch and connecting the Ethernet cable, all that you really have to do is name the second AirPort. The "wizard" takes care of everything else automatically.

No one knows why Apple has been so secretive about AirPort Utility 6.3.x for 7+ years.

I'm not sure if it would have worked had I done it on each AirPort individually.

It would have, but since the setup "wizard" will automatically and correctly "extend" the main AirPort using Ethernet, you really don't have to do anything on the setup of the second AirPort except name it as a base station device.

In other words, however the first AirPort is setup....with or without the Guest Network.....that is how the second AirPort will be set up as well.

The same is true if you have assigned a different name to the 5 GHz network on the "main" AirPort. The extended AirPort will be set up the same way to mirror the settings of the main AirPort.

It is really a shame that so many users have had problems trying to extend their AirPort network with another AirPort device because Apple never published any documentation on how easy and effective the setup "wizard" handles things in AirPort Utility 6.x versions.

The bad news is that Apple never saw fit to update their ancient support document with new information.

The good news is that the setup "wizard" built into AirPort Utility 6.x for Mac or the iPhone / iPad makes things very simple.......almost automatic.......if you are trying to add an additional AirPort to form a roaming network. Just to be different, Apple calls a roaming setup "extend using Ethernet".

Is your "main" AirPort Extreme already set up and you need to add another?

What device......a Mac or iPhone / iPad......will you be using to set up additional AirPorts in a roaming configuration?

Best to assume that we know nothing about your current setup, so we will only know as much as you can tell us.

As you might have already guessed.........if you do NOT have an Ethernet connection established between the two AirPorts.......before......you run the setup "wizard", the utility will assume that you are planning to connect the second AirPort using a wireless connection, (not Ethernet) and the second AirPort will be set up to wirelessly extend the main AirPort.

This is a different type of setup than extending using Ethernet.

Unfortunately, some users run this type of setup and then later connect an Ethernet cable to the second AirPort and wonder why the network crashes when they do this.