Extend Extreme g with Express n and airtunes

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Extend Extreme g with Express n and airtunes

I feel like my head is spinning after reading everything on here about the above topic and I still can't do what i want to do, so here goes:

I have an older (mushroom) Extreme g and just purchased a new Express n. My Extreme g is connected to my router and a remote printer. I would like to maintain my Extreme as my gateway to the internet as well as remote printing.

I would also like to accomplish two things with the Express n: 1) Play airtunes and 2) extend my network. I was successful in "Joining" the current Extreme network, and airtunes works well. To get this to work without signal dropouts on the airtunes, On the Extreme g I needed to change my channel to '11', deselect deselect the interference option and set the multicast rate to the highest (11, I believe). The Extreme g and Express n are only about 30 feet from each other. The Express n is in a wide open space, the Extreme g is in a closet and I get two bars on my iPad when standing next to the Express n.....not too bad, but it drops to 1 bar or loses signal internittantly if I get much further away from the Extreme g.

I received the "Cannot extend network" message when setting up the Express n, which makes sense since I learned that the Extreme g will not allow this. So I decided on trying out a WDS network.

Question 1: Is a WDS optimal for what I'm looking to do (extend range a little, airtunes and skype)? I'm OK with losing some distance on the Express n, since I only really want another 20 line of sight feet to the Express n. Would it impact airtunes much?

Question 2: I followed the instructions on here in setting up the WDS network with names and PW's all matching exactly, ID's in properly, but when the Express n restarts after changing settings, Airport Config Utility can't find it....even when using an ethernet cable tied directly to the computer. Any thoughts?

Question 3: I may just scrap my Extreme g and get another Express n.....can I use another Express n in the way I am currently using the Extreme g above, with remote printing as well as my internet gateway via my router?

Thanks for the help,

Kevin

Posted on Sep 27, 2011 8:38 AM

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Answer 1

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Tesserax

Level 10

148,279 points

Sep 27, 2011 8:47 AM in response to kevlandry

Question 1: Is a WDS optimal for what I'm looking to do (extend range a little, airtunes and skype)? I'm OK with losing some distance on the Express n, since I only really want another 20 line of sight feet to the Express n. Would it impact airtunes much?

The original "static" WDS is the ONLY option for extending "mixed" AirPorts wirelessly. This type of WDS has two major drawbacks: 1) It can only operate in the 802.11g Radio Mode, thus negating your new 802.11n AirPort Express Base Station (AXn), and 2) For every base station added, the overall bandwidth is cut in half ... so starting with 802.11g's 54 Mbps, you be getting something closer to 25-27 Mbps ... plenty still for audio streaming.

Question 2: I followed the instructions on here in setting up the WDS network with names and PW's all matching exactly, ID's in properly, but when the Express n restarts after changing settings, Airport Config Utility can't find it....even when using an ethernet cable tied directly to the computer. Any thoughts?

As you have experienced, setting up a WDS can be somewhat tricky. I would suggest starting over and use these Apple Support instructions as a guideline. I would also recommend that you perform a "factory default" reset on both base stations before starting the WDS configuration.

Question 3: I may just scrap my Extreme g and get another Express n.....can I use another Express n in the way I am currently using the Extreme g above, with remote printing as well as my internet gateway via my router?

Yes, you can use another AXn to replace the older Extreme. With both "n" base stations, configuring an extended network is much simpler and performs much better.

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Answer 2

kevlandry Author

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Sep 27, 2011 9:14 AM in response to Tesserax

Thanks very much for that. I think it's time to upgrade. For a hundred bucks, it seems like I'll get a lot more functionality.

Will my network "name" be stored anywhere, or am I starting from scratch with the new Express n? I guess it doesn't really matter, but I'm wondering if I need to do anything special.

Thanks again,

Kevin

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Answer 3

Tesserax

Level 10

148,279 points

Sep 27, 2011 10:14 AM in response to kevlandry

Will my network "name" be stored anywhere, or am I starting from scratch with the new Express n? I guess it doesn't really matter, but I'm wondering if I need to do anything special.

It is a part of the one of five configuration profiles available to the AXn. Using the AirPort Utility you can save these profiles, and then, restore them later as required. However, you already got it that it would be better to start from scratch.

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