Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
I have a Cisco router handling DHCP and NAT to the internet with a Cisco switch attached behind it with a number of wired devices.
Can I add two Airport Extremes to the switch, both in "bridge mode", and set them up with same SSID and
security to create a roaming wireless network? Everything I read says to set one of the AE for DHCP and attach the other
AE directly to it.
Yes, this is exactly what I am doing in my network. In my case, I have a Cisco RVS4000 as the main Internet router and I have two 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Stations (AEBSn) connected back to the Cisco by Ethernet.
Both AEBSns are configured as bridges; both have unique base station names, but use the same Network Name (SSID) and security type/password to form a roaming network.
Yes, this is exactly what I am doing in my network. In my case, I have a Cisco RVS4000 as the main Internet router and I have two 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Stations (AEBSn) connected back to the Cisco by Ethernet.
Both AEBSns are configured as bridges; both have unique base station names, but use the same Network Name (SSID) and security type/password to form a roaming network.
Thanks for your quick reply. So is it just one network connection from each AE bridge back to the switch? Which port (WAN or LAN) do I use?
Yes, one network connection (each) from each AirPort back to your Cisco. Since the AirPorts will be in bridge mode, all of their ports will be Ethernet ports (neither acting as WAN or LAN ports) so it really doesn't matter which you connect to. However, for consistency, I would recommend that you connect the Ethernet link to their WAN ports.
Thank you sooo much, although more questions pop into my head!
I read conflicting info about channels....same, spread apart, or automatic?
Also, do all bands roam?
Thank you!
In my case, I have both AEBSns configured for Automatic for their Radio Channels. Yes, both bands will roam, but remember that which band your wireless device will connect to will tend to be the one with the strongest signal at the particular point where it is trying to connect from.
What you can expect, and what I have experienced, is that a wireless device will connect to the 5 GHz radio when it's in the same room and connect to the 2.4 GHz radio from other locations.
Two bridges as roaming network?
