Linking airports together in an L-shaped building

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Linking airports together in an L-shaped building

Hi --

I've got an airport extreme base station. Seems to cover about 250 ft. (down a long hall) I've got another 750-1000 ft that I'd like to extend wireless coverage to (essentially another hall -- one floor and an open mezzanine) My understanding is that I can "chain" airport express stations that simply plug into a 120v outlet to extend coverage. Can anyone point me in the direct of a discussion or FAQ or the like on this? Maybe there's a less expensive way to do this. But I'd like to be able to have ipad and ipod touch and some iphone connected to my network. It's a warehouse type environment. My idea is to have little ipod touch's set up to take photos of product leaving the warehouse (for backup/insurance freight purposes) and it would seem efficient if I could take the photos and then have them upload to iCloud.

Thanks

PS. I've also got a separate setup in my house that the airport express is the main station. That works for a couple of rooms and I'd like to be able to "extend" it a couple of more, so am interested in this idea of airport "chaining" if indeed that's the correct term.

Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Apr 4, 2013 8:51 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Bob Timmons

Community+ 2024

Level 10

159,176 points

Apr 5, 2013 6:48 AM in response to Jaco_Crash

The bottom line before we even get into details here.....is that you can only "extend" the wireless signal one time from the main base station.

You can have more than one extender, but each extender communicates directly to the main base station.

Think of the set up like the hub and spokes of a wheel.

The main base station is the hub. An extender resides at the end of a spoke. It communicates directly to the hub. You can have additional extenders at the ends of other spokes, but they also communicate only to the main base station.

Main base station to an extender will work. Another extender that talks to the main base station will work.

Main base station to extender to another extender will not work.

In your setup, you will need to plan to run Ethernet cable to every location where you want to use an "extender" and wire everything back to the main base station.

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Answer 2

Jaco_Crash Author

Level 1

12 points

Apr 13, 2013 3:28 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks Bob. I appreciate you taking the time to write that detailed reply.

Do you reckon the set-up on Express airport linked to the Main Airport Extreme is a pretty easy one to do?

And:

1) Does it have to be Main Airport Extreme to Airport Express?

2) Or were I to go Airport Extreme to Airport Extreme would my wifi coverage be greater than if the second in the chain was an Express?

I suppose there are many factors that limit (or perhaps extend) coverage: building shape, materials, outside interference (I should read up on this), so perhaps this is not an easy quesiton to answer?

3) Can I start with an Airport Express and extend with an Airport Express? Or does one have to start with an Extreme? (I'm thinking of another location than the L-Shaped building in the original scenario.

PS. I'm off to read the rest of the airport forum questions and answers to get up on all this 🙂

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Answer 3

Apr 13, 2013 6:49 AM in response to Jaco_Crash

Do you reckon the set-up on Express airport linked to the Main Airport Extreme is a pretty easy one to do?

That will depend on how easy it might be run Ethernet cabling from each area where you want an AiPort back to the main AirPort device.

1) Does it have to be Main Airport Extreme to Airport Express?

Normally, the Express is used as an extender, but you could use another AirPort Extreme.

2) Or were I to go Airport Extreme to Airport Extreme would my wifi coverage be greater than if the second in the chain was an Express?

An AirPort Extreme will usually provide a bit better wireless coverage due to a bit better antenna design.

I suppose there are many factors that limit (or perhaps extend) coverage: building shape, materials, outside interference

Add cordless phones to the list, as well as other wireless networks.

3) Can I start with an Airport Express and extend with an Airport Express?

Yes, if you use the "new" AirPort Express which has two Ethernet ports.

My opinion would be that it would be smart investment to enlist the services of an IT professional who will come to survey your building(s) and present you with some options so you will know what to expect of the network before you buy.

This will likely not only save you money in the long run, but also eliminate a lot of potential headaches.

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