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conversations Help: setting up AirPort Extreme & Express with WDS

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      CommentAuthorchicken
    • CommentTimeAug 11th 2008 edited
     
    I can't for the life of me get it to work.

    To extend the range of an 802.11n network:

    1. Open AirPort Utility and select the base station that will connect to the Internet.
    2. Choose Manual Setup from the Base Station menu, or double-click the base station to open the configuration in a separate window. Enter the base station password if necessary.
    3. Click AirPort in the toolbar, and then click Wireless.
    4. Choose “Create a wireless network” from the Wireless Mode pop-up menu, and then select the “Allow this network to be extended” checkbox.
    5. Next, select the base station that will extend this network, and choose Manual Setup from the Base Station menu, or double-click the base station to open its configuration in a separate window. Enter the base station password if necessary.
    6. Choose “Extend a wireless network” from the Wireless Mode pop-up menu, and then choose the network you want to extend from the Network Name pop-up menu.
    7. Enter the network name and wireless password if necessary.
    8. Click Update to update the base station with new network settings.

    I've set the Extreme to “Allow this network to be extended” and am trying to set up the AirPort Express to extend my network but I'm searching like a right twat for “Extend a wireless network” in AirPort Utilities in my Express Setup but I can't find it.

    So far no luck.

    Help. Please.

    We've moved into a new flat and I'm only getting 25% signal strength from my Extreme and want to extend my network with my Express.

    Cheers for any help.
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      CommentAuthorflak
    • CommentTimeAug 11th 2008
     
    Do you have encryption enabled? I don't have an Airport router, but I did set up WDS with two Linksys routers. Apparently, only WPA and WEP are supported with WDS - WPA2 will not work. I wonder if Apple removes the option for WDS if you've already got WPA2 enabled.

    If you've got encryption or MAC filtering enabled, I'd disable those until you've got WDS configured properly.

    I found some good results here, if you see something that looks like it might be related to your setup.
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      CommentAuthorchicken
    • CommentTimeAug 11th 2008 edited
     
    flak said...Do you have encryption enabled? I don't have an Airport router, but I did set up WDS with two Linksys routers. Apparently, only WPA and WEP are supported with WDS - WPA2 will not work. I wonder if Apple removes the option for WDS if you've already got WPA2 enabled..

    Yeah, I'm using WPA2 :/ Crap. Thanks for tip, flak. It's great that Apple don'tmention this in the help files I've been searching through.
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      CommentAuthorchicken
    • CommentTimeAug 11th 2008 edited
     
    I was struggling with the same issues you describe: The AE base station disappearing, various of the remote Apple express items disappearing, not recognizing each other. My approach requires static IP for the apple express adapter(s) (network access points (NAP)), e.g., 192.168.1.2 (assume 192.168.1.1 is your router/gateway/cablemodem), 192.168.1.3, and so forth

    1. Do a complete reset on the apple express adapters and then unplug them, set aside.
    2. Configure your Apple Extreme as a WDS main.
    -Wireless should be on g b/a compatible
    -Configure static IP, e.g., 198.162.1.2
    -Wireless clients: add the airport MAC address of each of your WDS remotes
    - If you need it, add in DHCP but these will only be for client computers, not the WDS remote(s).
    - Make a note of the wireless network name you have assigned - IMPORTANT
    - Also note the Airport MAC address of the AE Base station - IMPORTANT
    3. Make sure you can connect to your AE base station by both wireless and via the ethernet connection. Ping the IP.
    4. Now plug in your first Apple express adapter. Select it from Airport Utility for manual set up. I highly recommend that you connect it via ethernet to the AE Base station.
    5. On wireless tab: enter the wireless network name, exactly as it appears in the base station config.
    6. On the WDS tab, select WDS remote and then add the AE Base station airport MAC address in the field for that purpose.
    7. Now go back to the Internet tab. You see that it has automatically selected DHCP and indicates this is part of an Airport WDS network.
    -Change this to "manual"
    -Enter a static IP for this node, e.g., 198.168.1.3
    - Make sure the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 because it is probably defaulting to 255.255.255.255 (which can be one cause of failure to recognize this device).
    - Enter the gateway/router IP (this is not the same as your AE Base Station)
    8. Give the device a unique name (can't remember which tab that is on - maybe under the "options" button)
    9. Update
    10. After updating you MAY need to remove power to the Airport express NAP, then restore it.
    11. Via your connection to the AE Base station (try both wireless and wired), ping the IP of the new WDS remote.
    12. Remove the ethernet connection between the AE base station and the new WDS remote. The light should stay green. Once again, ping it.
    13. Connect via wireless/ethernet to the WDS remote and ping your gateway or try to access the internet if the gateway is already connected. It should work. If not, then you might have a bad airport express adapter. (That is one problem I discovered today).
    14. Repeat as needed for other WDS remotes.

    I hope this works for you! The key points are to reset the airport express adapters to factory defaults, configure the Airport extreme base station first, then the WDS remotes, and be sure you can ping the IPs via wireless and wired connections as complete configuration of each item.

    Linkage ››


    My config :
    - one Airport Extreme "n" (w/ Gigabit ports) as a base station
    - two Airport Express "g" as WDS remote

    I was able to make WDS work with WPA2 Personnal following danger359 instructions.
    I would like to add that wifi channels must be the same to be able to make WDS works.

    Linkage ››
    I'll give it a shot I suppose =/
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      CommentAuthorflak
    • CommentTimeAug 11th 2008
     
    Cool, sounds interesting. If it works for you, I'd appreciate if you'd report back! :)

    Otherwise, just switch encryption to regular WPA, that should work.

    The two routers I've got here both have static IP addresses - 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2. The first one has DHCP and the firewall enabled, and the second one has those disabled (since it's already in the LAN, and it's essentially just extending the signal). Also, both wireless networks have the same name (and the same WPA password, with AES encryption). All I had to do besides that is put each router's MAC address in the WDS section of each router, and both networks joined together.

    Haven't really played around with Apple's Airport hardware before though, good luck!

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