Wirelessly Extend a Network?

I went to Apple and bought an Airport Extreme tower and the sales men there told me I would be able to connect to the network wirelessly and then extend the network

Unfortunately, the sales men did not tell you.....or more likely, they did not know.....that the AirPort Extreme can only wirelessly "extend" a network that is produced by another Apple router......since Apple uses proprietary settings for their "extend" feature.

In other words, you will need at least two Apple routers if you want to wirelessly "extend" the network.

If you don't want to buy another Apple router to set up in the main house, so the AirPort Extreme in the cottage can "extend" it, then take a look at a Netgear product.......since they claim to be able to "extend" or "repeat" virtually any network. Whether that is really true is something that no one can prove, but it might work well enough with the router in the main house.

Nice work!

Now the funny part.....Netgear claims to be able to extend virtually any network.....but I've never been able to make the repeater extend an Apple network. Maybe others have had better luck.

Thank you BOB!! Like NoInternetForME, I'm in a quandary about how to wirelessly "extend" my Comcast Network (X1 CISCO DPC3939 Gateway) with a Time Capsule setup in "Bridge" mode, so the Cisco is acting like a modem/wireless router. (I'm learning the lingo so please bear with me.)

If I understand your explanation correctly, the only way to wirelessly extend my wifi using Airport Express (and I'm assuming the same logic prevails for Airport Extreme) is if my modem/wifi network was Apple. Is that correct?

Thank you very much for your response.

p.s. It would be so simple for Apple to include a note to that effect in their literature... :-)

Hi - I have just connected the Netgear N300 extender using the Comcast Cisco Gateway as the wifi source. The setup was incredibly easy, and I'm not a heavy techie.

It basically creates an extended network and it adds "_EXT" to your existing name. I've got it located one level down and about 60 feet from the Cisco - the signal is very strong. (I wish I would have tried this before I tried in vane to use Airport Express as an extender.

Thanks.

the only way to wirelessly extend my wifi using Airport Express (and I'm assuming the same logic prevails for Airport Extreme) is if my modem/wifi network was Apple. Is that correct?

Correct. Another way of saying the same thing is that if an Apple product is involved, and you want to wirelessly extend the network, you will need two Apple routers.

If you want to wirelessly extend a Cisco network, then your best bet would be another Cisco "repeater" or "extender".

Bottom line.....always try to use routers or products from the same manufacturer on your network, and things will be a lot easier.

"It basically creates an extended network and it adds "_EXT" to your existing name."

The problem here.....or it may not be a problem for you......is that devices will need to "switch" networks when they move from an area near the Cisco router to the area near the other router....and then 'switch" back again.

The whole idea here with an extended network is that devices can move from one area to another and automatically stay on the same network while picking up the signal from the closest router.

Bob, thank you for your prompt response!