Can I copy an Airport Extreme configuration to a second one use both on the same network

[JohnWB]

I have 2 Airport Extremes, one is acting as my network router and wifi, and the other is connected to the first by ethernet and acting as a wifi extension.

i would like to add a third Airport Extreme to fill in a wifi dead zone and was wondering if i could just copy the configuration from the second Airport Extreme and would I have to change any settings on the new one

 

[techwarrior]

You probably wouldn't want to do this, even if you could.

The second will have several different settings, about the only common setting is SSID and network password.

The important settings are:

• Base Station Name -Make it different than the router
• Internet - Connect Using: DHCP
• Network - Router Mode: Off (Bridged Mode)
• Wireless - Create a Wireless Network then use the same SSID and WiFi password as the router.

Edit - sorry, forgot you were looking to copy settings from the second one... ok, so on the second unit, File > Export Configuration File, the on the third, File > Import Configuration File, then change the Base Station Name.

 

[JohnWB]

Thanks for that, just what I needed to know

 

[A4orce84]

Just curios, how is the speed with 2? I have read that using 2 Apple routers while increasing coverage can reduce WiFi speeds. Are you seeing some slowdowns after you started using 2 Apple Routers?

 

[techwarrior]

Just curios, how is the speed with 2? I have read that using 2 Apple routers while increasing coverage can reduce WiFi speeds. Are you seeing some slowdowns after you started using 2 Apple Routers?

I have used multiple Airports in the past, no speed loss if done right. There are two ways to do it, one is to wire the second to the first, which is preferred.

Alternately, the second can wirelessly connect to the first, that is where you will lose bandwidth (and perhaps speed). Airports share the radio(s) for client and uplink connections, so the throughput can be limited by wireless inter-connections.

Speed and bandwidth are often confused. Data travels just as fast in both setups, but large amounts of data will suffer from limited bandwidth, leaving an impression of slower speeds to complete a task.

 

[pstmac]

You probably wouldn't want to do this, even if you could.

The second will have several different settings, about the only common setting is SSID and network password.

The important settings are:

• Base Station Name -Make it different than the router
• Internet - Connect Using: DHCP
• Network - Router Mode: Off (Bridged Mode)
• Wireless - Create a Wireless Network then use the same SSID and WiFi password as the router.

Edit - sorry, forgot you were looking to copy settings from the second one... ok, so on the second unit, File > Export Configuration File, the on the third, File > Import Configuration File, then change the Base Station Name.

thank you @techwarrior your post helped me