airport express connected to a switch?

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airport express connected to a switch?

I have a Airport Extreme and a Airport express which I havent used yet. I want to connect my QNAP nas and two mac pro desktops to eachother and the internet. What is the best way to do this?

I've currently networked the two macs together with a dlink dgl-4500 router which isnt connected to the net (ie wireless is off) and then just use the wireless cards inside to get outside the network. But I've just bought this NAS, so I have to make changes. I connnected the qnap to the router and I do get a IP and the macs can see it/share etc.

I have this Airport Express and a simple dlnk dgs-2205 5 port switch lying around. Can I connect the airport express to the swtich and share the connection via the switches ethernet ports? I guess I could just connect the airport to the QNAP but then all of my traffic is going over the wireless network and it will be a lot slower than a gigabit switch.

Thoughts?

Airport Express-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Dec 7, 2011 12:52 PM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

148,829 points

Dec 7, 2011 1:03 PM in response to Subw00er

Currently are both the Mac Pros, QNAP NAS, and the 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn) in the same room? Do you want all of them to have wired connections? As you are aware the AEBSn has three LAN ports which could accomodate the two Mac Pros and QNAP without using an additional Ethernet switch.

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Answer 2

Subw00er Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 8, 2011 6:24 AM in response to Tesserax

The mac pros and the qnap are in a different room than the extreme. I'd like the macs and qnap to have wired connections because I transfer large files and the gigabit network makes a huge difference compared to wireless N.

Yes it would be easy if the airport extreme was in the same room. I dont mind buying another one if that would help. Should I get buy one and then set it up as a bridge? If I do this, would network traffic still flow over the air, or is it smart enough to use the local wired connections?

I guess I was hoping the express and a simple 5 port switch would do the trick.

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Answer 3

Tesserax

Level 10

148,829 points

Dec 8, 2011 8:01 AM in response to Subw00er

If you can run Ethernet between rooms, that would be the best (performance-wise) solution. You can then run a single Ethernet cable from one of the available LAN ports on the AEBSn to the D-Link Ethernet switch to which you can connect the Mac Pros and QNAP to.

The other option that you suggested is using an 802.11n AirPort Express Base Station (AXn) in ProxySTA mode. This mode effectively converts the AXn to a wireless Ethernet bridge. In this case, the AXn would connect wirelessly to the AEBSn and its Ethernet port would be enabled for the D-Link switch.

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Answer 4

Subw00er Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 8, 2011 9:51 AM in response to Tesserax

I tried what you mention in the second paragraph. I think I have it on the right setting - what do I select in the settings?!

It said it was going to take an hour to transfer a 250meg file, so thats definitely still going over wifi.

I cant run ethernet unfortunately.

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Answer 5

Tesserax

Level 10

148,829 points

Dec 8, 2011 10:00 AM in response to Subw00er

I think I have it on the right setting - what do I select in the settings?!

To activate ProxySTA, you must set up the Express to join a wireless network and then enable the Allow Ethernet Clients setting; both settings are located in the Wireless tab of AirPort Utility.

It said it was going to take an hour to transfer a 250meg file, so thats definitely still going over wifi.

It still going over wireless is correct. Remember your Mac Pros are connecting to the network over a wireless connection. So, for example, when you send a file from one Mac Pro to the QNAP, that file must first travel to the AEBSn (by wireless), then to the AXn (by wireless), before it makes it to the QNAP by wire.

The other option, which theoretically, should improve the data transfer rate, would be to configure both base stations into an extended network. In this type of network, the AXn would be an extension of the AEBSn's wireless network and its Ethernet port would still be enabled for the Ethernet switch.

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