WDS with 2 Express and 2 Extreme

[marknicholls]

Hey

I have a WDS network running with an Extreme (Main) and an Express (Remote) I have just got a new express to run another set of speakers and a printer wirelessly in another part of the house, but i just cant get the 2nd express to work (im using windows xp)

Does anyone have any guides on setting up a WDS with 2 express's and 2 extreme? Are there any rules i need to follow which are easily missable?

Aldo, what is the main difference between a remote and a relay? Ideally i would also like the 2nd express to extend the range of my net connection even further

Many Thanks

 

[mad jew]

Hopefully, Apple's Support Page will answer most of your questions.

 

[marknicholls]

Hopefully, Apple's Support Page will answer most of your questions.

First thing i tried!

I think i need it explaining in childrens language, i still couldnt get it working!!

Can anyone help?

Many Thanks

 

[mad jew]

Okay then.

A remote base station shares the main base station’s Internet connection.
A relay base station shares the main base station’s Internet connection and transfers the connection to other remote or relay base stations.

So, you want one base station connected to your internet as normal. Then, a second base station connects from the WDS menu in your AirPort Admin Utility (I'm working from OSX and not sure if it's exactly the same, but it should be similar) as a relay unit and then you can connect a third to that second as a remote unit. This is as far as WDS will take you AFAIK. There cannot be multiple relay stations. Also note that each additional station halves the bandwidth (54Mbps to 27Mbps and so on). The fourth station can either be connected to the first or second station, depending on what suits your set up best.

This is all done in the Admin Utility under the WDS tag. Is it possible to use a Mac to configure it because it's easier.

If it helps:

To set up a main base station and remote base stations in a WDS:
Use the AirPort status menu in the menu bar to join the wireless network created by the base station you want to set up as the main base station.
Open AirPort Admin Utility, located in Applications/Utilities.
Select your base station and click Configure.
Enter the base station password if necessary.
Click WDS.
Select the “Enable this base station as a WDS” checkbox, and choose “main base station” from the pop-up menu. By default, the "Allow wireless clients on this base station" checkbox is selected. If you deselect the "Allow wireless clients on this base station" checkbox, and later want to change the settings on the base station, you must connect to the base station's LAN port with an Ethernet cable. You will not be able to connect to the base station wirelessly.
Click the Add (+) button to scan for base stations in range of your computer. Select the base stations you want to set up as remote base stations. Deselect the “Auto configure as a WDS remote base station” checkbox if you want to set up the remote base station manually. Click Rescan if a base station doesn’t appear in the list. Click the Delete (–) button to remove base stations from the list.
Click Update to send the new settings to the base stations in the WDS.
As part of the automatic setup process, you can give each base station a name and password, and choose how the base stations receive IP addresses.

 

[marknicholls]

Many Thanks

So, a main is connected to a relay? and the remote is connected to the relay? is that right? if so, how do i configure the remote to the relay? I have tried for hours!

 

[mad jew]

You can have a remote or a relay connected to your main, the only difference being that another remote can connect to the first relay or the main.

It should be a matter of being in range of the relay with your remote and selecting it from that page I attached earlier. For set up purposes, it's recommended you have them all very close to each other.

 

[marknicholls]

Thanks guys - all sorted

On a seperate note, my friend has 2 apple express routers and is having problems, 2 express's should be ok as a main and a relay shouldnt it? you dont need an extreme do you? Thanks

 

[mad jew]

I have two Expresses set up with WDS but I have a main and a remote (not a relay). Both types of set up should work though.