airport extreme wifi extender

Apple's "extend a wireless network" option is a proprietary setting that Apple designed to only work with other Apple routers. It is not compatible with a 3rd party router using only a wireless connection.

If you are able to connect the AirPort Extreme back to the Netgear router using a permanent, wired Ethernet cable connection, the AirPort can be set up to extend the Netgear network in that manner.

Set up the AirPort to create a wireless network that uses the exact same wireless network name and exact same wireless network password as the Netgear network. The setup utility "wizard" will automatically configure the AirPort in the correct Bridge Mode setting for this type of setup.

Keep in mind that the Apple router is not an exact match for the Netgear, so devices may or may not automatically switch from the wireless signal of one router to the other router when they move about the house. Macs will usually do this pretty well. iPhones and iPads not so much.

I'm sorry, but we never suggested that you make any changes to the Netgear modem/router.

We told you that you could connect an AirPort Extreme to the Netgear modem/router using a permanent wired Ethernet cable connection and set up the AirPort to provide a WiFi network. This will work fine, and no changes at all to the Netgear modem/router are required.

We also mentioned that you could connect a second AirPort to the first AirPort using a wired Ethernet cable connection if you needed more WiFi signal coverage in another part of the house.

Just ignore the WiFi signal of the Netgear modem/router, or use it as a "guest network".

If you don't want the Netgear modem/router to provide a WiFi signal, most modem/routers will allow the WiFi to be turned off. The product still operates as a wired modem/router when you do this. An Apple router can do this. I assume that the Netgear......which is a lot more sophisticated than the Apple.....can do so as well.

In other words, turning off the WiFi does not turn off the routing functions of the product. Nothing changes, the Netgear just stops broadcasting a WiFi signal.

It sounds like you were trying to configure the Netgear modem/router to operate only as a modem.....not a router. There is really no need to do this, even if it might be possible.

It is your call as far as any changes or modifications to the Netgear modem/router. We will not be able to help on that.

I would be shutting off the wireless in the Netgear and using the Airport as the primary router, than I could add more Airports to the network around the house to create a mesh???

Yes, but it won't be a "mesh" network though since Apple never offered products in that category. It will be an "extended" network.

would I get decent speeds if I were to hardwire a computer on another floor to one of the Airports, better than using WiFi??

Yes and no. Yes, if the computer is hardwired back to the "main" AirPort and not one of the extending AirPorts. No, if you will be connecting the computer to one of the extending AirPorts. It won't hurt to do this if you want and it is convenient, but it won't really help either.

Remember in an "extended" network when the remote AirPorts connect using only wireless, that you will lose at least half of the potential speed on the entire network. That's why you would always want to wire the extender(s) back to the main AirPort whenever possible.....because there is zero loss of speed through the Ethernet cable. So, the extenders get a full speed signal to extend.

Hard wire the AirPort where you need the fastest high quality signal.

If you are planning to pull cable to the far end of the house though, it should not be much more difficult or expensive to pull a second cable to the middle part of the house for another AirPort there.

The bottom line is that you want to hard wire AirPorts......or any other router for that matter....... as much as possible if you are interested in the best performance.