Three Dual AEX won't use the same channels.

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Level 2

389 points

Three Dual AEX won't use the same channels.

I looked around and did about ten different searches so if this has already been answered I apologize. I had a third generation AEX connected to a fourth generation AEX without any problems. I have several Macbooks, AppleTv's, iMacs, Mac Miini, iPhone's, iPad, Directv box, and Vizio all connected. Every onec in a while the network would be slow on the iMac which is sort of off to the side of my house. So I bought another third generation AEX to extend my network. Easier said than done. I moved the new AEX all around my house and came upon a place that is line of site of my extended AEX and iMac. I have reset and restarted and every other possible thing I could do. The new AEX will do one of two things every time. It will either have only one channel that is correct or it will have both running at the slower 2.4GHz speed. So I uplugged the original extended AEX and bingo the new one sets up fine. I then plugged the original AEX back in and starts doing the same thing 1 channel is wrong or it runs at the 2.4GHz speed. For whatever reason it will not allow me to have two extended AEX units that work properly at the same time. Everthing has the latest firmware and I even reset the main AEX. There is no way to select channels on the extended units. I have used both the new airport utility and the airport utility 5.6. Any ideas

Posted on Feb 26, 2012 11:15 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 26, 2012 11:57 AM in response to mp24

That is probably correct...

If you are trying to extend them in the same direction, this will not work....

See this Apple doc:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4259

Also see this:

Wirelessly Extended Network (802.11n)

If you are unable to build the recommended Roaming network, then a Wirelessly Extended Network is the next best option.

To create a Wireless Extended Network you must place the extended Wi-Fi base station within range of the primary Wi-Fi base station.

Extended network range considerations

In the above example the primary Wi-Fi base station ➊ is out of wireless range of the extended Wi-Fi base station ➋, therefore the extended Wi-Fi base station cannot join or extend the wireless network. The extended Wi-Fi base station must be moved to a location that is within Wi-Fi range of the primary Wi-Fi base station.

Important Note

If another extended Wi-Fi base station ➋ is placed between the primary Wi-Fi base station ➊ and the extended Wi-Fi base station ➌, the extended Wi-Fi base station ➌ will not allow clients to join it. All extended Wi-Fi base stations must be in direct range of the primary Wi-Fi base station

Please read the last Important Note above...........

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Answer 2

mp24 Author

Level 2

389 points

Feb 26, 2012 12:24 PM in response to Joseph Kriz

I didn't know that the base stations had to directly join the main AEX. However both are within range since they will both work properly when one is unplugged. So the question is how would you get either of the AEX to ignore the one that is set up first. Obviously if you unplug one or restart it does the same thing and one doesn't work properly. If I were able to somehow block the signal and I got them both working properly would they just revert to orginal problem.

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Answer 3

Feb 26, 2012 12:46 PM in response to mp24

Not sure how big your house is or how far you are trying to extend the signal....

AE = Airport Extreme

AX = Airport Express

TC = Time Capsule

So, you can only extend it so far in one direction using wireless....

Main Base Station ---------> Extended Base Station -----------> Back rooms

That's all you can go in one direction using wireless.....

The distance varies due to building material, how many walls, etc.....

Do you really need the 2nd Airport Express?

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Answer 4

mp24 Author

Level 2

389 points

Feb 26, 2012 1:41 PM in response to Joseph Kriz

Sorry all three units are Airport Exreme Dual band. One is a fourth generation that is the main AE and the other two are third generation AE. Right know I have both of the extended AE's hooked to the main which is supposed to work yet the 2.5GHz channel on one AE is wrong and thats with a 200MBs connection which is strong. Go figure. 😕

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Answer 5

Feb 26, 2012 1:54 PM in response to mp24

If you can run an ethernet cable between the devices you could create the best wireless network avaialble.

That would be a "Roaming" network...

Roaming Network (Ethernet-connected Wi-Fi base stations)

For 802.11n Wi-Fi base stations, creating a roaming network is by far the best choice. This will provide the best throughput between the base stations and your Wi-Fi devices.

This set up requires that your Wi-Fi base stations are connected via Ethernet.

The primary base station provides DHCP Services, while the extended base station will be configured to use bridge mode.

All Wi-Fi base stations within the roaming network should use the same passwords, security type (Open/WEP/WPA), and network name (SSID).

In this setup, they are all setup using "Create a wireless network" and all have the same password, security, network name, etc........

Otherwise, you are stuck with one main base station, one extended station, and one that "Joins" the rest of the network but you can't connect wireless devices to it....

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Answer 6

mp24 Author

Level 2

389 points

Feb 26, 2012 2:22 PM in response to Joseph Kriz

The roaming network really won't work for me. The cable router is in the bedroom and all the other cable hook ups are Directv. The bedroom is at one corner and the only thing that has speed problems is an iMac at the opposite corner of the house. Apples own documentation states you can extend with additional base stations as long as they connect directly to the main AE. Both units are getting 200MBs and they both connect to the main AE yet one out of the two AE's will always have a wrong channel. Sometimes 2.5GHz and other 5GHz. I do have an extra AE that is not dual which I am going to hook up via ethernet and bridge it off the main AE and see if that speeds anything up.

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Answer 7

Feb 26, 2012 2:33 PM in response to mp24

2.4 and 5 are GHz.... are frequency bands, not channels.....

These are dual band... Let them connect how they want to connect... That is how they are desinged...

You could force everything to connect via 5GHz by creating that 5GHz band and then selecting the other units to join that 5GHz network...

But then you run the risk of the iPad, iPhones, iPod Touches not being able to connect to a 5GHz band....

These can only connect on a 2.4GHz band.....

If a base station is further away from a siganl, it will choose the 2.4GHz band to join in on... That is the way it was designed...

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Answer 8

mp24 Author

Level 2

389 points

Feb 26, 2012 2:58 PM in response to Joseph Kriz

"2.4 and 5 are GHz.... are frequency bands, not channels....." My point is that the channel is not correct for one of the two bands on one of the two extended AE's. If it doesn't match the main base station then whatever band has the wrong channel won't work. In fact sometimes I will get an error message and have to reset the AE. I used to have a seperate 5GHz network but the dual base station that is extended would create yet another network with the 5GHz band name yet it was the 2.5 GHz band. I have in a box all of the hardware that I use to use which included several AX's with N and AE single band with N and these dual units give me better speed than the old stuff even with one of them messing up right now. I already figured out that if the AE is two far away it will only use the 2.4 GHz band. Currently bothe extended AE's are getting 200mbs or more and the 2.4 GHz has the wrong channel on one of the units. If I reset them both whichever AE gets set up last has the wrong channel.

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Answer 9

Feb 26, 2012 3:06 PM in response to mp24

OK...

Do you have the main base station set to "Automatic" in the "Radio Channel Selection" ???

Or do you have it set for "Manual"...?

You could try setting them all up as "Automatic" and see if they all get the same channel then which they should..

Or, you could select a specific channel and try that....

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Answer 10

mp24 Author

Level 2

389 points

Feb 26, 2012 3:15 PM in response to Joseph Kriz

I have tried automatic and maual with the same results. It's unfortunate you don't have the ability to set the channels for the extended AE's. Like you said "which they should". I am tempted to move the fourth generation out of my bedroom and using a third generation for the maine AE and seeing if two different generations might work together. Who knows? The reset buttons on the AE's are going to wear out if I can't figure this out pretty soon.😕

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Answer 11

mp24 Author

Level 2

389 points

Feb 26, 2012 5:19 PM in response to mp24

Not quite sure how but I got it all working. The channels don't matter as they are the ones going out of the AE. But all of this trouble has me using what I thought would be a irelevent AE first gen n. I have two duel AE's linked together creating a roaming network. I have another Duel AE that is extending as well as the old AE. Link speeds to my roaming network are 240MBs or higher which is an increase. The imac that sometimes would only have 50-60MBs now has 300MBs so it's maxed out. Thanks for your help.

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