dan hatch

Q: Is the Xfinity X1 modem/router compatible with Airport Extreme? How should this be configured to maintain my wireless network?

I received an upgraded modem from Comcast/Xfinity. Is the Xfinity X1 modem/router compatible with Airport Extreme? How should this be configured to maintain my wireless network?

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012), iOS 9.1

Posted on Nov 27, 2015 9:32 AM

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Q: Is the Xfinity X1 modem/router compatible with Airport Extreme? How should this be configured to maintain my wireless network?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Bob Timmons,Helpful

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Nov 27, 2015 6:31 PM in response to dan hatch
    Level 10 (105,268 points)
    Wireless
    Nov 27, 2015 6:31 PM in response to dan hatch

    Whenever you change the modem or modem/router on a network, the AirPort Extreme will need to be reset back to default settings and then set up again to work correctly with the new modem. To do that you would.......

     

    Power up the AirPort Extreme for a few minutes.......if it is not already on

    Hold in the reset button on the back of the AirPort Extreme for 7 to 8 seconds, then release

    Allow a full minute for the AirPort Extreme to restart to a slow, blinking amber light status

     

    Insure that an Ethernet cable connects from one of the four LAN <--> Ethernet ports on the modem/router to the WAN "O" port on the AirPort Extreme


    To start the setup, click the WiFi icon at the top of your Mac's screen and look for a listing of New AirPort Base Station

    Just below that, click directly on AirPort Extreme and then follow the prompts of the setup "wizard"

     

    When you set up the AirPort Extreme again, you can use the same wireless network name and same password that you were using with the AirPort Extreme with the "old" modem if you wish, or use a new wireless network name and password

  • by Tesserax,

    Tesserax Tesserax Nov 27, 2015 9:52 AM in response to dan hatch
    Level 9 (54,684 points)
    Wireless
    Nov 27, 2015 9:52 AM in response to dan hatch

    Potentially you could still use your AirPort Extreme base station with the Infinity gateway in a roaming style network. This would require that both devices be interconnected by Ethernet in order to create a 'single' Wi-Fi network for wireless clients to access.

  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Nov 27, 2015 10:17 AM in response to dan hatch
    Level 10 (105,268 points)
    Wireless
    Nov 27, 2015 10:17 AM in response to dan hatch

    The suggestion from Tesserax is a good one if you plan to locate the AirPort Extreme several rooms away from the new modem/router and you want to have one "big" network where both the modem/router and AirPort Extreme use the same wireless network name and password.

     

    But, there would be no advantage to this type of setup if you plan to locate the AirPort Extreme in close proximity to the modem/router, since two wireless access points close to each other can potentially create wireless interference issues.

  • by dan hatch,

    dan hatch dan hatch Nov 27, 2015 6:43 PM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 27, 2015 6:43 PM in response to Bob Timmons

    Thanks, this allowed setting up the Extreme. However, the Mac devices were reduced to as low as% of the throughput that we had before with the old Comcast modem, or that we could get with the Xfinity wifi.

     

    We fixed that with the help and suggestions from Apple and Xfinity, by setting up the Bridge mode in the Xfinity (turning off it's wifi). This improved performance (e.g.60 to 100 Mbps). 

  • by dan hatch,

    dan hatch dan hatch Nov 27, 2015 6:57 PM in response to Tesserax
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 27, 2015 6:57 PM in response to Tesserax

    Thanks, I may experiment with that setup. For now I was able to use the bridge mode to shut down the Xfinity wifi, and achieve decent rates on some of our devices in the house. I want to speed test all devices tomorrow to measure the improvement (vs using the Xfinity wifi).