Old AirPort base stations to extend 3rd party Wi-Fi via Roaming Network Ethernet
A question from a pack-rat trying to avoid getting yet another new hardware ;-]
Sorry for a long post. Questions marked with ->
I currently have Huawei B593s-22 mobile 4G as my Internet (old rust unreliable DSL copper maybe replaced with optical fibre "real soon now" (5G too pricey and maybe not too reliable) but I digress...).
The Huawei mobile Internet has performed OK (after I switched provider with better coverage) minus some occasional Wi-Fi blackouts cured by rebooting it (while my main Mac mini 2018 connected to it via household Cat6 Ethernet was still OK).
-> Lately my old 2010 Apple Magic Mouse bluetooth quite often disconnects from Mac mini 2018 and it was recommended to switch Wi-Fi to 5 GHz -only to avoid interference. But the old Huawei supports only 2.4 GHz.
I was ready to buy and try a new Magic Mouse but then I remembered that I had an old 2011 AirPort Extreme 802.11n 5th Generation and an even older 2004 AirPort Extreme 802.11g Snow Dual Ethernet Base Station in the erm... basement with the Mac Plus.
So before buying YA new gear I tried old gear:
First I dug out the 2011 AirPort Extreme 802.11n 5th Generation and updated its firmware ... only to then google that new FW versions have disabled the "5 GHz -only" feature (maybe because too many people then complained that old 2.4 GHz-only gear could not connect anymore?).
-> Question: I noticed that AirPort Utility iOS 15.4.1 lists FW versions 7.5.2-7.8.1. Is it really possible to downgrade the AirPort base station and do those versions have 5 GHz-only option?? (It seems my other gear does not support 5 GHz so this might be a futile exercise anyway...).
With 2011 AirPort Extreme 802.11n 5th Generation -only (Huawei Wi-Fi switched OFF the bluetooth mouse still occasionally disconnects but maybe less frequently. I now switched also Huawei's Wi-Fi ON to cover all household and it seems to work OK.
"Roaming Network (Ethernet-connected Wi-Fi base stations) is by far the best choice for 802.11n Wi-Fi base stations."
Great!
-> ...but is it counter-productive and asking for trouble to use many Ethernet-connected (and old!) base stations to extend Wi-Fi also to the backyard? Is the 2004 AirPort Extreme 802.11g Snow Dual Ethernet Base Station too old for that?
I noticed that even my MacBook Mid 2010 running High Sierra does not support that ancient base station. AFAIR there was a Mojave app that could launch an older AirPort Utility and configure it. And my 2004 PowerBook G4 running Leopard does indeed seem to support both oldish AirPort base stations.
-> Question: 2004 AirPort Extreme 802.11g Snow Dual Ethernet Base Station does still seem to work but would it produce unexpected glitches with more current gear?!
thanks,
- Matti