Connect Airport Extreme to another router

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Level 2

166 points

Connect Airport Extreme to another router

Hi. I searched this forum to see if my question is already answered. I couldn't find any postings that answer it. If it has already been answered, please point me to the topic. Otherwise, here is my question:

I need to extend Internet coverage in my house. Here is the configuration that I would like to set up:

• Cable modem (at one end of my house) connected to a non-Apple WiFi router.

• Run an Ethernet cable from this router, through my attic, to an Airport Extreme at the other end of the house

• I would like to run one Ethernet cable from the Airport Extreme to my television, and another Ethernet cable to an AppleTV

This would give WiFi coverage to the whole house, and hard-wired Internet to the television and the AppleTV.

I would like some advise on how best to set this up. Here are a few questions (although I don't know if I'm asking everything I need to ask):

• Should the Airport Extreme be configured with DCHP or with a static IP address?

• Should the Airport Extreme and the other router have the same SSID and password? Or does that matter?

• Do I need to do any configuring to make the Ethernet connection work seamlessly from the Airport Extreme to the other router to the cable modem?

• I assume I can configure the other router (connected to the cable modem) to DCHP. Is that correct?

Thank you in advance for any/all advice. If all goes well, I plan to spend this Saturday morning crawling around in the attic, and this Saturday evening enjoying whole-house Internet.

Posted on Jan 21, 2016 10:55 AM

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Answer 1

Clinto Author

Level 2

166 points

Jan 21, 2016 11:36 AM in response to Bob Timmons

D'oh! Sorry about getting your name wrong.

The Airport Extreme is already up and running. I've been using it for 3 years. Now I just want to get better Internet coverage at the other end of the house, so I plan to put the AE at the far end of the chain. If it's already up and running, can I assume that I don't need to do anything else to it - except to connect it to the Ethernet cable that I run through the attic?

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Answer 2

Clinto Author

Level 2

166 points

Jan 21, 2016 11:53 AM in response to Bob Timmons

I just poked around Airport Utility and found where to put the AE into Bridge Mode.

On Saturday, before I crawl around in the attic, I'll set everything up in the room where the cable modem is, using a short Ethernet cable between the AE and the TP-Link router. If everything works, then I'll do the cable run through the attic. If everything works after that, I'll report back here and mark this as Solved.

If, for some reason, it isn't working, I'll come back here and report on what is going on.

Thanks again for your help on this topic and for your contributions to this forum and community.

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Answer 3

Bob Timmons

Level 10

184,970 points

Jan 21, 2016 11:12 AM in response to Clinto

Should the Airport Extreme be configured with DCHP or with a static IP address?

DHCP, unless you have a preference for a static IP address.

Should the Airport Extreme and the other router have the same SSID and password?

Yes, if you want both of your routers to behave as if they were providing one single "big" network. No, if you want to require users to log on to the wireless provided by each router separately.

Do I need to do any configuring to make the Ethernet connection work seamlessly from the Airport Extreme to the other router to the cable modem?

Just run Apple's configuration "wizard" and it will take care of assigning the correct settings to the AirPort Extreme.

I assume I can configure the other router (connected to the cable modem) to DCHP. Is that correct?

This is not clear, since we don't know what other router you might have. Do you mean that the other router will be connecting to the modem using DHCP......or......do you mean the other router will be providing DHCP and NAT services for the entire network?

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Answer 4

Clinto Author

Level 2

166 points

Jan 21, 2016 11:18 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks for replying so quickly Bill. Very helpful. A couple of follow up questions:

What is Apple's configuration wizard? Is that Airport Utility? If not, what is it, and where/how would I find it?

Regarding DHCP on the modem that is connected to the cable modem: It's a TP-Link Archer C2600. (I wasn't sure if it's bad form to name non-Apple products in these forums.)

When I set it up, it asks me to select the "WAN Connection Type". There is a list of available options, starting with Dynamic IP, then Static IP, then PPPoE, then L2TP and finally PPTP.

I assume Dynamic IP is the same as DHCP - which is the only setting I've used since sometime around the Eisenhower administration. 😁

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Answer 5

Bob Timmons

Level 10

184,970 points

Jan 21, 2016 11:35 AM in response to Clinto

Thanks for replying so quickly Bill.

Not a big deal, but the name is Bob.

What is Apple's configuration wizard? Is that Airport Utility? If not, what is it, and where/how would I find it?

It's configuration software that is built into AirPort Utility. The Setup Guide that comes with the AirPort Extreme tells you how to get it started. It won't do much good to tell you how to find it though, unless you have a new AirPort Extreme there and you are ready to set it up.

Regarding DHCP on the modem that is connected to the cable modem: It's a TP-Link Archer C2600. (I wasn't sure if it's bad form to name non-Apple products in these forums.)

When I set it up, it asks me to select the "WAN Connection Type". There is a list of available options, starting with Dynamic IP, then Static IP, then PPPoE, then L2TP and finally PPTP

None of this would have anything to do with setting up the AirPort Extreme.

I assume Dynamic IP is the same as DHCP

Correct, the "D" in DHCP stands for Dynamic.

Post back when you are ready to set up the AirPort Extreme. If you have it there now, and you have a spare Ethernet cable handy.....any length will do....you can get the AirPort Extreme set up and working. Then, when the long Ethernet cable through the house is ready, all you need to do is plug it into the AirPort Extreme.

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Answer 6

Bob Timmons

Level 10

184,970 points

Jan 21, 2016 11:47 AM in response to Clinto

The AirPort Extreme will provide a wireless network using the current wireless network name and password that you have already programmed it to use. If you want everything to act like one "big" network, then the name of the wireless network and password for the wireless network on your other router must be the same as the AirPort Extreme.

The AirPort Extreme must be set up in a Router Mode of "Off (Bridge Mode)" when it connects to another router on the network. It may or may not already be set up that way depending on how you have things set up now.

You can check the setting in AirPort Utility to see what it looks like now. If you are not sure how to do this, post back to let us know what version of AirPort Utility that you are using.

If you are not sure about that, open AirPort Utility and click on the AirPort Utility menu in the upper left corner of the screen, then click About AirPort Utility and post back with the version number that you see there.

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Answer 7

Clinto Author

Level 2

166 points

Jan 23, 2016 12:20 PM in response to Clinto

Hooray! The new router is up and running. The Airport Extreme is connected to it via an Ethernet cable. The AE is in bridge mode. I confirmed that Ethernet cables connected to the AE transfer data all the way back to the cable modem. It all works - on the floor of my home office.

Now it's time to crawl around in the attic, drill a few holes, do some cable fishing, and then replicate this set-up with the AE in my living room.

Thanks for the help Bob. I clicked on the "This solved my problem" link, but didn't see any change that indicated that the click get recognized.

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Answer 8

Bob Timmons

Level 10

184,970 points

Jan 23, 2016 12:56 PM in response to Clinto

I clicked on the "This solved my problem" link, but didn't see any change that indicated that the click get recognized.

Not a big deal, but it appears as if you clicked on your own "thanks" post and marked that as the solution to your question. That might confuse a few users who have similar questions, but we'll manage.

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