Samuel Free
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Is it possible to connect two airport extremes?

I have a large house and I have been trying for months to figure out how to create a large wirless network to no avail.  Originally I was using an Airport Extreme base station with a smaller airport express to wirelessly extend the network.  For some reason the ATT Microcell I recently purchased was interfering with that connection and it boots off my airport express constantly (I have already tried changing the channels).  So now I bought the newest Airport Extreme Base Station.  I would like to plug it in via ethernet cable to another airport base station on the opposite side of the house.  Is this possible?  How do I configure it?  Everytime I try to set it up it tells me It is not receiving internet even though I know the cable is good because when I plug it directly into the computer it works.  Please help!!

Airport Extreme 802.11ac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Aug 18, 2013 12:40 PM

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Samuel Free

Q: Is it possible to connect two airport extremes?

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  • by Tesserax,

    Tesserax Tesserax Aug 18, 2013 12:48 PM in response to Samuel Free
    Level 9 (54,906 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 18, 2013 12:48 PM in response to Samuel Free

    So now I bought the newest Airport Extreme Base Station.  I would like to plug it in via ethernet cable to another airport base station on the opposite side of the house.  Is this possible?  How do I configure it?

    This would be the foundation of a "roaming" network. To start please check out the following Apple Support article for details about this network and its basic setup.

     

    As far as the AT&T Microcell, I have one of these and have not experienced the same issue that you are seeing. Mine is connected, by Ethernet, to my Time Capsule. The cable goes to the yellow Ethernet port on the Microcell.

  • by Samuel Free,

    Samuel Free Samuel Free Aug 18, 2013 6:00 PM in response to Tesserax
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 18, 2013 6:00 PM in response to Tesserax

    How do I get to that screen in that article you sent above? My airport utility does not look like that or have those options as I am using OS 10.8.  My airport utility is a grey screen which shows graphics of my connected devices.  If I click on a device I can edit the settings but even so, the settings screen does not look like what that article describes.

  • by Tesserax,

    Tesserax Tesserax Aug 19, 2013 9:35 AM in response to Samuel Free
    Level 9 (54,906 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 19, 2013 9:35 AM in response to Samuel Free

    Sorry, it appears Apple has not updated there support article for the new AirPort Utility.

     

    Basically, what you want to do is perform a "factory default" reset on both AirPorts. In its default mode, both AirPorts will broadcast an unsecured wireless network with a network name of something like: Apple Network NNNNNN.

     

    Once both AirPorts have been reset, just power-up the new Extreme. Leave the others powered-off but connected to their respective Ethernet locations.

     

    Connect your Mac to the new AirPort. Use the AirPort Utility to configure it for Internet access as your main router. Once that is completed allow the new Extreme to restart. Power-up one of the other AirPorts. Wait a few minutes and your Mac should "see" a new network. Open the AirPort Utility and allow it to take you through the steps to set it up to extend your network with a wired connection. Once that is completed, do the same for any additional AirPorts that you will have connected by Ethernet.