RADIUS WiFi with multiple Airports

[Lauwie]

Hey guys hope you can help me out on this one

I want to have an airport extreme (the ac model) and a time capsule (I think 2009, and I've removed the HDD but that probably doesn't matter) to extend each other as one network.
I know this is easy to do when they are both configured via WPA2 but due to specific reasons I need WPA2 Enterprise aka Radius WiFi.

As you can see in the attached screenshot the "Main Switch" is connected to the modem and the "WALVE" is connected to the "Main Switch".
The problem is though that only the "Main Switch" shows up in the OS X server app.

Settings on "Main Switch":
- RADIUS configured
- Create new network
- DHCP and NAT

Settings on "WALVE":
- RADIUS configured also
- Bridge Mode
- Same Network name as "Main Switch" and also configured to create a new network.

With this configuration the "WALVE" airport shows a green light but no clients will connect to it, clients will only connect to "Main Switch" if they are in proximity of the base station.

I hope I've explained well enough and that you guys can help me out

 

[Altemose]

I would switch it so the newer Extreme is at the head of the network. Sometimes you need to configure the secondary base station in DHCP & NAT mode and switch back to bridge mode when done.

 

[Lauwie]

Thanks for answering !

So I've changed the newer Airport to be the main router.


Then when I try to put the older router into DHCP and NAT Mode I get the following error:


What do you advise on setting as range or configuring ?

 

[Altemose]

Thanks for answering !

So I've changed the newer Airport to be the main router.
View attachment 527860

Then when I try to put the older router into DHCP and NAT Mode I get the following error:
View attachment 527859

What do you advise on setting as range or configuring ?

Try putting it into WPA2 Enterprise without changing it first.

 

[Lauwie]

Try putting it into WPA2 Enterprise without changing it first.

I've made some sort of progress, I can now successfully put the "Main Switch" router into Radius & Bridge mode, although after an hour the clients closest to that router suddenly can't connect anymore Oo

 

[Altemose]

I've made some sort of progress, I can now successfully put the "Main Switch" router into Radius & Bridge mode, although after an hour the clients closest to that router suddenly can't connect anymore Oo

Try going to firmware 7.6.1.

 

[Lauwie]

Try going to firmware 7.6.1.

The newest Airport is on 7.7.3 and the oldest on 7.6.4, so I guess that's ok ?

 

[Altemose]

The newest Airport is on 7.7.3 and the oldest on 7.6.4, so I guess that's ok ?

Try downgrading the older one to 7.6.1 if possible for testing purposes unless you have a guest network as well. The newer one can stay at the latest firmware. For some reason, I found WPA 2 Enterprise and overall reliability in certain configurations to be better in 7.6.1 rather than 7.6.3/7.6.4.

 

[Lauwie]

Try downgrading the older one to 7.6.1 if possible for testing purposes unless you have a guest network as well. The newer one can stay at the latest firmware. For some reason, I found WPA 2 Enterprise and overall reliability in certain configurations to be better in 7.6.1 rather than 7.6.3/7.6.4.

I've tried a lot of different settings on the 7.6.1 firmware like only using 5GHz, N only etc,...

Guess I'm just going to contact apple support and post my findings here

 

[Altemose]

I've tried a lot of different settings on the 7.6.1 firmware like only using 5GHz, N only etc,...

Guess I'm just going to contact apple support and post my findings here

Definitely report back with what you find out.

 

[unplugme71]

I believe they need to be on the same firmware.

Set it up first so that the two Airports are bridged, then use OS X server to switch to RADIUS.