Airport Extreme/Express Q

The AirPort Extreme does not have a built-in modem and one will still be required for Internet access. Typically the Extreme would be directly connected to the modem using an Ethernet cable.

If your current modem is actually a combination modem & wireless router, you could (potentially) disable the router portion.

If your overall goal is to make your current printer "wireless" and be able to print to it from anywhere in your house, you should also consider the AirPort Express base station.

In this case you would configure the Express to join the existing wireless network provided by your combination modem/router. In turn, the printer would be connected to the Express using a USB cable.

So does that mean I get the Airport Extreme and plug that in by ethernet cable to the Telstra Modem/Router, and then get the Airport Express and that will connect wirelessly (in another spot near my printer) and then connect the printer to the Airport Express - and then .... .. this will allow me to print wirelessly.

Yes. this would be one option. The other would be to just get the Express, place it near the printer, and configure it to join the wireless network provided by the Telstra.

So I get the express for printer and not the extreme ???

Correct! At least this is one way to resolve the printer sharing issue.

And this will make no difference to wifi? Correct?

Correct! You would configure the Express to join the existing wireless network as a wireless client. In this configuration, a printer attached to its USB port can be shared to any other client on your local network.

If I want to add two printers, do I but 2 expresses.

The Express can support only a single printer connected this way. The Extreme or Time Capsule can support multiple USB printers by attaching a USB hub to the base station's USB port, and then, connect multiple printers to the hub ... OR you can get a second Express for the second printer.

And I don't have to have express connected by cable to Telstra modem.

Correct! The connection between them would be wireless.

And to increase wifi range, u would need to add extreme by cable to modem.

( and find someone to connect it haha).

You got it! ... and I would suggest that you open a new post after you get your AirPort(s) and we can help you with the set up.

To make sure I don't lead you astray ... let's backtrack for a bit.

Do you already have the two printers? If so, what are their make & models? Right now I am assuming that you do and both normally connect to a computer using a USB cable only. Will these printers be physically located near each other or in separate rooms/floors?

In addition to your goal to share these printers over the network, did you also want to increase the Wi-Fi range? If so are these equal goals or is one more important to you than the other?

I also have a ext cd drive - can that be plugged into express or extreme.

Only if the external CD drive has an Ethernet interface. If it only uses USB, then no. None of the Apple base stations support an external CD drive. The AirPort Extreme and the Time Capsule both support multiple external USB hard drives and printers. On the other hand, the Express only supports a single USB printer.

Also re time capsule - does that back up your computer automatically or ?

The Time Capule works in conjuction with Time Machine (TM). It it TM that automatically backs up your Macs. TM comes standard on Apple computers. Similar software to TM does exist for PCs.

One is a canon pixma mg8250 which I'm hoping will work wirelessly ok.

Your Canon MG8250 printer is both network and AirPrint-ready. That means that it does NOT need to be connected to a router or computer via a wired (USB or Ethernet) connection. Instead it will connect to an existing Wi-Fi network just like any other wireless client. Therefore you really don't need any of the Apple base stations in order to get it to work on your current network.

AirPrint-ready means that you can print directly from an iOS device (iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad) to this printer over the Wi-Fi network.

However, if the Wi-Fi network is "too weak" for the printer to connect to at the location you want to place it, then this is where you would want to consider using two Apple base stations to extend the Wi-Fi network in order to be useable at the printer's location.

The other is a silhouette digital cutting printer which I'm not expecting to work

From what I can gather on the Internet, this "printer" only provides a USB interface and is designed to be connected directly to a PC or Mac. Unfortunately, the USB port on any of the Apple base stations (most likely) will not support this type of printing device as support is limited on this port to basically just printing.

Plus hubby has a windows desktop but unsure if we will be able to print from that as it's not apple.

Your husband's Windows-based PC should not have any issues printing to your Canon printer. Actually any operating system should work as the this printer will NOT be dependent on the print server function provided by the Apple base stations. Instead, the printer itself, will provide this feature. Just be sure to install the latest printer drivers for this printer on both your Macs and his PC.

So really u don't need anything for my printer which is good.

Correct!

So if I want to extend wifi what do I actually need.

You will need at least two AirPort base stations. Again these can be from any of the following: AirPort Extreme, Time Capsule, or AirPort Express.

I'm a bit confused re the external cd drive. I have got the apple one. You mentioned none of the apple base stations support external hard drive ... but then you mentuoned time capsule and extreme do

Just to make sure we are talking apples to apples (no pun intended), you mention an external CD drive. This would be a device that would read (& possibly write) to CDs. This would not be the same as an external hard drive. Although both are based on similar technology, they are completely different.

My comment is that none of the Apple networking products support attaching an external CD drive. However, both the AirPort Extreme & Time Capsule DO support an external USB hard drive.

is the base station a different thing.

Apple calls all of their networking routers, base stations ... thus the AirPort Extreme, AirPort Express, and the Time Capsule are all base stations. Sorry for any confusion.

If I get time capsule to back up data I presume that can connect as a client??? So I don't need to connect it to conputer.

The Time Capsule (TC) is basically an AirPort Extreme base station with an internal hard drive. It is primarily designed to operate as an Internet router, but can be reconfigured for other purposes. Any Mac on the same network as the TC can back up to it, either via a wired or wireless connection to that network.

My wifi is ok. Not overly strong so it would be good to extend it. Can the time capsule do both.

As mentioned earlier, if you want to extend the range of your network you will need at least two Apple base stations. A TC can be one of those two devices. What you will be setting up is called an "extended" network. Unfortunately, you cannot extend your non-Apple router with any of the base stations as they are not compatible. That is why you will need two of them.

In your case I would recommend the TC and the AirPort Express for the two base stations. The basic configuration would be that you would connect the TC directly to your existing Telstra device by Ethernet. The Express would be configured to extend the TC's wireless network per the link I provided earlier. You will also want to disable the Telstra's wireless network so that you won't be running two separate Wi-Fi networks ... unless you have a need to.

Im really sorry - like I said I'm new to apple and all these words but are keen to learn.

Don't be. We are all Apple product users, like you, here in the Apple Support Communities. We are all learning by helping others. Don't hesitate to post here and ask questions. To be more effective, just start a new post if the subject of your question changes so it will get the needed attention of other community members.