panthera-uncia
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: can I use an airport extreme to extend the range of my wireless modem

Can I use an Airport Extreme to extend the range of my wireless modem?

 

At one end of my house I have a dual band wireless ADSL modem which provides my internet connection and I want to extend (improve) the wireless coverage to the other of the hosue where my Apple TV (2nd gen) is located. I have being trying to extend my wireless network with an Airport Extreme but so far without success. I can get the Airport to join the wireless network, but I suspect that it is only acting as another client and not actually extending the wireless range. There is a setting in the Airport configuration to "extend and existing network", however when I choose this option the Airport no longer connects to my existing wireless network and I am beginning to suspect that this fuction only works with another Apple device (Airport Extreme or Express).

 

Has anyone been able to extend the range of a third party wireless router / modem with an AirPort Extreme? If so, any advice that you can offer wold be appreciated.

 

Regards

 

Michael

Airport Extreme (6th generation), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Sep 30, 2013 6:57 AM

by Tesserax,Solvedanswer
Tesserax Tesserax
Level 9 (54,901 points)
Wireless
A:

Has anyone been able to extend the range of a third party wireless router / modem with an AirPort Extreme? If so, any advice that you can offer wold be appreciated.

Sorry, but the answer is no. That is because they are not compatible with the AirPort's "extend" feature. Your only options to extend the network is: 1) Configure both routers for a roaming network. Note that this would require the connection between them to be wired, or 2) Get another manufacturers product that is compatible with your ADSL modem.

Posted on Sep 30, 2013 9:52 AM

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Q: can I use an airport extreme to extend the range of my wireless modem

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  • by Tesserax,Solvedanswer

    Tesserax Tesserax Sep 30, 2013 9:52 AM in response to panthera-uncia
    Level 9 (54,901 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 30, 2013 9:52 AM in response to panthera-uncia

    Has anyone been able to extend the range of a third party wireless router / modem with an AirPort Extreme? If so, any advice that you can offer wold be appreciated.

    Sorry, but the answer is no. That is because they are not compatible with the AirPort's "extend" feature. Your only options to extend the network is: 1) Configure both routers for a roaming network. Note that this would require the connection between them to be wired, or 2) Get another manufacturers product that is compatible with your ADSL modem.

  • by panthera-uncia,

    panthera-uncia panthera-uncia Oct 7, 2013 8:00 AM in response to Tesserax
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 7, 2013 8:00 AM in response to Tesserax

    Thanks Tesserax,

     

    Your answer has confirmed my suspicions.

     

    Option 1 from your suggested solutions is not a goer because the modem and Airport Extreme are in different parts of the house making it impractical to run a cable between the two devices. 

     

    I did try option 2 and bought a Netgear range extender, which according to Netgear it would work with my D-Link modem - not.

     

    However I have managed to work around the problem (sort of) by using the Airport Extreme to create a wireless network between my iMac 27 and my Apple TV. The idea is that the iMac will act as a router between ethernet connected ADSL modem and the wirelessly connected Apple TV.

     

    The good news is that I am now able to play the content from my iTunes library on my Apple TV without interruptions due to a poor wireless connection . Although the connection from the Apple TV to the internet is not working I think this is most likely just a configuration issue and for me it is not really a show stopper.