Combining Airport Express and other wireless
I have an existing Netgear wireless router, which I am very happy with. I would like to add Airport Express to use AirTunes and extend the range. I have two questions:
1. Does Airport Express extend any network or only 'official'Airport devices?
2. To use Airtunes, will I have to be in range of the Airport Express, or can I just be in range of my Netgear (which in turn would bridge to the Airport express)?
3. To cut a long story short, am I going to have to junk everything and go all-Airport?
Thanks!
1. Does Airport Express extend any network or only 'official'Airport devices?
2. To use Airtunes, will I have to be in range of the Airport Express, or can I just be in range of my Netgear (which in turn would bridge to the Airport express)?
3. To cut a long story short, am I going to have to junk everything and go all-Airport?
Thanks!
Comments
Then go to the WDS tab and tick "Enable this base station as a WDS" and select "Remote Base Station" from the drop down.
Then tick "Allow wireless clients on this base station" and click the "Select..." button to scan your network and add your Netgear router.
Should help! Then again both my routers at home are Airports, so I can't personally vouch for it... but I don't think there's anything inherently proprietary in the way they talk to one another.
EDIT: And you should be able to stream to Airtunes no matter where in the network you are - it's all one network.
My ADSL modem had a built-in WiFi router so I bought a AE to extend my network but to my disappointment, I discovered that my modem does not support WDS. So check first!
Originally posted by BeigeUser
Unfortunately, I think the Airport Express extends the range of the network only if the WiFi router supports WDS.
He is absolutely correct. I have installed at least a dozen or more AExpress. I use Airport Extreme first then XExpress to extend it everytime. Going all Airport is the way to go in my opnion. If you are in the wireless network and the EXpress is extended on the same network, then you can use Airtunes.
Can anyone recommend a wireless router for around £50 which has WDS? It will need a built-in ADSL modem and ethernet port.
Originally posted by BeigeUser
Unfortunately, I think the Airport Express extends the range of the network only if the WiFi router supports WDS.
My ADSL modem had a built-in WiFi router so I bought a AE to extend my network but to my disappointment, I discovered that my modem does not support WDS. So check first!
Yes - true. I didn't note that. See also this thread.
Originally posted by Mr Skills
The spec sheet on my Netgear DG834G makes no mention of WDS.
Can anyone recommend a wireless router for around £50 which has WDS? It will need a built-in ADSL modem and ethernet port.
Keep the Netgear as just an ADSL modem but add a cheap WDS capable wireless router such as the excellent Linksys WRT54G which does WDS and more with the SVEASoft firmware. Watch out for the version though as some of the newer boxes aren't supported.
There's other routers capable of WDS too. Buffalo do some. What the Apple, Linksys and Buffalo routers have in common is the same Broadcomm chipset so you end up with very similar features and compatibility.
It's cheaper than buying another AirportExpress and using it as a wireless access point attached to the netgear via ethernet. In fact, buying mutiple Linksys WRTs and using them as WDS extenders is cheaper than the Apple solution anyway except for Airtunes and printer support. Better aerials on the Linksys too.