To Bob TIMMONS, chaining 3 AirPort Express

Question

To Bob TIMMONS, chaining 3 AirPort Express

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your message. Here is the picture I tried to send on my former post:

You stated that "each extending devices communicates directly to the main router, not to another device on the network". Talking with the Apple Store in France, they tell me that up to THREE AirPort Express devices can be chained, the latter extending the former, which is true for my two AirPort Express devices.

So how can I solve this problem ?

Speaking about rating your message, I cannot use any of the options, neither "This solved my problem", nor "This helped me".

But I really would like to extend my WLAN at home. Any other idea from is welcome.

Best regrads

Dr Gérard de BOTTON

pages-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Apr 15, 2012 2:16 AM

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Answer 1

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,990 points

Apr 15, 2012 5:30 AM in response to gérardfromprunay-le-gillon

GDB1 is "extending" the Time Capsule wireless network.

But GDB2 is not "extending" the signal from GDB1. It is either extending the Time Capsule...or it is "Joining" the wireless network, not "extending" it. If GDB2 is close enough to the Time Capsule, then it is extending the Time Capsule.

It is unfortunate that things do not really display correctly on the graphic in AirPort Utility.

Here is an excerpt from Apple's support document on this. Unfortunately again, the people at the Apple Store did not provide you with correct information.

If GDB2 is too far from the Time Capsule to "extend" the network, then your only option is to connect an Ethernet cable from the Time Capsule to GDB2. Or, you could connect an Ethernet cable from GDB1 to GDB2 if that is easier.

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Answer 2

Apr 15, 2012 9:32 AM in response to Bob Timmons

You mention an "Apple support document" on the subject. Could you please provide the link to it?

I intend to extend the signal from my Airport Extreme base station using an Airport Express device. The ".pdf" document I downloaded on the subject is very weak on details, refering to the Airport Utility, which doesn't provide any real help itself.

Thanks,

John Corcoran

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Answer 3

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,990 points

Apr 15, 2012 10:03 AM in response to corcoraniii

The "master" document is here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4145

The specific link to setup the "Extend" configuration is here:

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

You will need to download and install AirPort Utility 5.6 for Mac OS X Lion to be able to track the instructions, since they were published before AirPort Utility 6.0 appeared.

You can keep both 5.6 and 6.0 on your Mac. As you can see, 5.6 is much more functional than 6.0.

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