I have an old Airport Extreme model no. A1143. I am a subscriber to Spectrum internet and using only their modem, that's connected to Google wifi. Because Google wifi has only one ethernet port, I am trying to use my old Airport Extreme that's sitting in the closet as the switch rather than having to buy one. The operating system on my Mac mini is High Sierra 10.13.3. Help, anyone?
Mac mini
Thanks for your response. The Spectrum speed I'm subscribed to is 100Mbps and the Airport Express version I have is the 2nd one which is the gigabit. So what I hear you saying is that I'm turning off the wifi capability on the AE and turning it into a router, and then running the Google wifi off of the router? Fyi, I'm doing this because I wanted to hardware some connections such as the Roku, Ooma phone, and Xbox. I didn't want to have all these wifi connections floating around. Does that make sense? What are your thoughts about that? Thanks again!
what I hear you saying is that I'm turning off the wifi capability on the AE and turning it into a router, and then running the Google wifi off of the router?
Yes.. the 1st gen AE has almost no wifi capability worth speaking of.. so it should be off.
Google wifi will then take over as a simple Wireless Access Point. (WAP).
I'm doing this because I wanted to hardware some connections such as the Roku, Ooma phone, and Xbox. I didn't want to have all these wifi connections floating around. Does that make sense?
Surely does.. Ethernet is reliable.. wireless is NOT. Wire everything you have that doesn't move.
The google wifi was the wrong device to buy. If you wanted ethernet you need a proper router .. and a 10 year old AE does not fit the bill in any network today. Setting up mesh wireless is the big new thing.. but you still need a decent functional router in front of it. And if you have a decent amount of ethernet wiring already in the house you don't need mesh systems at all. Wired AP are far superior. Just not the current fad.
What speed do you have on your Spectrum service.. because you MUST use a router here. You cannot use a switch between the modem (assuming it is not a router.. ie it will have a single ethernet port) and google wifi which you probably now have setup as main router.
This ancient airport is really inadequate for faster connections than about 200Mbps.
Note the A1143 has two versions.. original one with 100mbit and later one with gigabit ports. Don't even bother if it is the 100mbit.
So if your A1143 is gigabit.. plug it in WAN port to the modem.. LAN port to the mini.
Open the airport utility on your Mac.
1. Reset the airport to factory.
You can do this via the airport utility.. click the icon of the airport in the utility.. and click edit button on the summary page. Go to the top menu and select.. Restore Default Settings
Or do it manually.
Hold in the reset button on the AE and then plug in power.. keep holding in reset for about 10sec until the front led flashes rapidly.. release the button.. wait for the AE to come back up and you will see in the airport utility the white box will have Other Wi-Fi Devices (1)
Click it to do the setup.
2. The setup wizard will start and you can give the AE a suitable name.. eg AE and turn off the wireless.
Everything else should be fine.
Update the AE.
3. Power cycle the modem.. and AE.
At this point you will need to shut down the cable modem for about 15min .. Then power up again. This is required because you are changing routers.
4. Plug the google wifi into AE and reconfigure it to WAP only.
How to make old Airport Extreme a switch?
