Problems setting up a WDS

WDS operates only in "g" wireless mode, so right off the bat you loss any faster "n" speed capability of any new routers that you might have.

Worse, WDS will cause a 50% bandwidth loss for each relay or remote on the network. So, the "relay" cuts the bandwith in half....on the entire network....and the remote does so again....on the entire network.

The result is that you will have a "g" wireless network that is operating at only 25% of its capability. So instead of wireless "n" speeds at 130 Mbps, the WDS setup will run at about 13 Mbps. Might be OK for slow Internet browsing or light email, but that is about it.

Upsides to WDS....none really, except a bit more wireless coverage....but it will be excruciatingly slow.

If you can get by with a "main" and several "remotes", the "extend a wireless network" setup will deliver "n" speeds throughout. I don't understand what you mean when you say the devices work against each other. They work together....if the settings are correct.

It's unfortunate that you have so many challenges and things....like a nearby phone...working against you.

I'll offer a few thoughts but without knowing a lot more details, I can't give you definitive answers.

Your "main" router can be located anywhere an Ethernet cable can reach. If you can't run the Ethernet cable, then consider using Ethernet power line adapters (EPAs) to send the signal over the AC power lines in your home.

The "main" router needs to be located in a central location so the "remotes" are roughly equidistant from the "main" router. Think of it as the hub ans spokes of a wheel. Your "main" router is the hub and each of your extending remote devices resides at the end of a spoke. The devices at the end of spokes communicate directly to the hub, not to another remote at the end of another hub.

Whenever you try to extend using wireless to connect devices, there are going to be compromises. The 'best" way to extend is to connect each remote device back to the main router using an Ethernet connection. That way, devices can be located exactly where you need them.

Yes, I know that it is difficult to run the Ethernet cabling. Installing EPAs might be a compromise here, but they will not come close to delivering the bandwidth that the cable provides.

The best suggestion that I can offer is contacting an IT professional to come out and survey your home to advise you on what can and cannot be done. This will save you a lot of time and frustration in the future.

Good luck with your new network layout!

Unfortunately, iStumber can only display "visible" networks. If a user has enabled the option on his router to "hide" or "close" his network, the name of the network will not show up on a scan of nearby networks.

A lot of users make use of this feature, so if iStumber "sees" 10 networks, there are probably at least another 5-6 that are not showing up.

This means that you have a lot of networks around you, which can likely cause interference with your network.

Please try using "Atomatic" for the channel selection to allow the router to try to find a good channel. If you don't want to use "Automatic", it is going to be a guessing game to try to find the best channel. There's nothing wrong with this if you have the time.

It will likely help to locate the extending devices closer to the main hub router. Anything that you can do to mimimize distance and obstructions like walls and ceilings will help the signal strength.

Pick a time when you can turn all of the phones off for a few hours and then power down and restrart your network. If perfomance improves....you will know that the phones are part of the interference problem.

Based on your iStumbler findings, I would recommend that you switch to channel 6 for the 2.4 GHz radio, and if available to use the upper channels for 5 GHz. The lower channels use a transmitter power that is reduced by 95%.

Our building does have very strong, steel reinforced walls, though, which likely doesn't help. Is there any way to "boost" transmission power from the TCs/AEX?

If the walls between rooms do have steel reinforcement, they will (unfortunately) do an excellent job of blocking RF energy between your AirPorts. By default, both radios operate at 100% power. To "boost" their transmission, you would need to get a transceiver. An example of these is the products provided by QuickerTek.

Although next to Ethernet interconnectivity, you have just about the best possible placement for the routers physically to support an extended wireless network. The issue is inherant with the higher frequency 5 GHz band. This Wi-Fi band works "best" when the wireless access point is in the same room as the wireless clients. Since you are extending (I assume) across rooms this band will have more difficulty passing through solid objects ... especially metal ones which RF signals see as "mirrors." The lower band 2.4 GHz signal should theoretically work better in this situation ... unless there is a significant amount of RF noise in the same band ... like the wireless phones, microwave ovens, and your neighbors' Wi-Fis.

So you're saying "deep sixing" the 5 GHz band would help?

No, not necessarily. Since only your 3rd generation TC is simultaneous dual-band, the other TC & AXn can only extend either the 2.4 or 5 GHz radio. If you elect for each to extend the 3G TC's 5 GHz radio, the walls/distance may be preventing this from happening without significant loss in bandwidth and thus the problems you are seeing.

As such, you may want to consider using the base stations to extend the 3G TC's 2.4 GHz radio instead ... and just operate the 3G's 5 GHz network within the same room. To make it easier, I would suggest using the AirPort Utility to rename the 3G's 5 GHz network with a different Network Name (or SSID) to make setting up the extended network easier.