Force extending Airport to connect to a certain Basestation

Question

Force extending Airport to connect to a certain Basestation

I have a TimeCapsule 3rd G, 802.11n (#1) connected to the modem of the cable internet

An Airport Extreme 5th G, 802.11n (#2) is connected to it, extending the network

I want to extend the network with a third Airport Station (#3) , but want to force that it connects to the TC as well and not to the AE.

How?

BTW Question:

- if the Airport t#3 would connect to the AE #2 is my statement correct, that clients connected to #3 would have a reduced bandwith?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Feb 3, 2013 4:31 AM

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Answer 1

Bob Timmons

Level 10

187,280 points

Feb 3, 2013 7:46 AM in response to Urs Gruetzner

I want to extend the network with a third Airport Station (#3) , but want to force that it connects to the TC as well and not to the AE.

All that you can do is move the AirPort Station (#3) closer to the TC. It must pick up a stronger signal from the TC than from the AE. That means that (#3) must probably be closer to the TC than it is to the AE.

- if the Airport t#3 would connect to the AE #2 is my statement correct, that clients connected to #3 would have a reduced bandwith?

If (#3) connects to (#2)......(#3) does not "extend" the signal at all. Clients would only receive a wireless signal from the TC or (#2).

The reason is that Apple's "extend" only works if each "extender" connects directly to the main router. An "extender" cannot extend a signal from a device that is already extending. It can only extend the signal if it connects to the main wireless router, which is the TC in your case.

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Answer 2

Feb 3, 2013 2:30 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks for your answer. Its a pity that its not possible to force the connection, e.g. by using the MAC address.

A workaround could be to extend stations by use of a powerline connection between the Airports.

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Answer 3

Mar 30, 2013 1:40 AM in response to Bob Timmons

I have an additional idea, but which I cannot test now, beeing far from home.

Could it be possible to exclude the MAC address of AE#3 in the Access List of AE#2 in order that AE#3 is forced to connect to the TC, even when its signal strength is lower than of AE#2? Or is this list only for clients?

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Answer 4

Bob Timmons

Level 10

187,280 points

Mar 30, 2013 6:36 AM in response to Urs Gruetzner

The problem is that Access Control applies to both AirPorts. If you make a change for a device that connects to one AirPort, the change automatically poplulates to the other AirPort.

In other words, you cannot set up Access Control separately for each AirPort.

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Answer 5

Jul 31, 2013 1:39 AM in response to Bob Timmons

What was weird: I had a good connection (3of 4 segments) from the Mac in the garden to the extending Airport #2. This AP #2 is close enough (10m) and in direct sight of the TC Basestation, so this connection should be good as well. However the bandwith on my Mac in the garden was terribly and unusably low.

I finally get an acceptable set up of my in house LAN by using Devolo powerline devices to make a Ethernet connection (over the electrical wires) between the Airports.

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