Extending a Network with AirPort Express
Here’s an idea I’m toying with, and I’d love to hear what readers may have to say about it…
I run a closed AirPort Extreme (G) WiFi network here at JMO headquarters. It’s cool and all, but there are a couple of problems with my situation; First, I don’t have a real dedicated office space to work from — aside from the dining room table, which is in the middle of everything going on in the house and isn’t the most comfortable place to sit for hours at a time writing code. Second, my work area can get pretty cluttered with books & such when I’m in high gear. I know it drives the wife crazy that I have my crap scattered all over the table — though she’s really good about not saying anything. Heck, it even bugs me when I walk in the front door and see my own mess.
So, to make life a little better all around, I’ve been thinking about creating some working space in the garage and setting up a desktop machine I have sitting around for Subversion and Wordpress development purposes. The two obstacles keeping me from doing so are; My AirPort signal is not strong enough in the corner of the garage I have to set up in, and the desktop machine needs to be hard-wired to a network.
So, here’s where you come in. I’d like to know if any readers have attempted using an AirPort Express as a network bridge to “extend” their signal and/or add a machine that’s Ethernet only to a wireless network? It seems like it should work, and would be the perfect solution for me if it does.
So, if you’ve pulled it off — or know someone who has — let me know via comments.
6 Responses to “Extending a Network with AirPort Express”
Faisal - 07.06.07
I haven’t done exactly that, but I’ve done things like it (e.g. I’ve set that up with an AirPort Extreme (g) at both ends instead of one Extreme and one Express). The big downside is that AP->AP relaying puts a speed hit into the connection. For most people the net speed is still a multiple of the WAN connection, though.
James - 07.06.07
One of the AirPort Express’ flagship features is its ability to expand your existing wireless network, so that’s covered. As for the desktop, you might want to consider purchasing either a USB Wi-Fi adapter or an AirPort card if it’s a Mac (the pre-extreme cards can still be purchased from various outlets).
Jim - 07.06.07
Thanks Faisal & James.
I thought the Express could extend the network - thanks for setting me 100% straight on that. My real concern is/was whether or not the Ethernet port will work properly for the hardwired machine, and allow it to show up on the network.
From what I’ve read in Apple Discussions, setting up a WDS network with the Express as a client of the main Extreme base station *should* do what I’m looking for. I’m trying to avoid buying an older Airport (b) card (or USB solution), since the only ones I find (eBay) cost more than the Express itself!
I think I’m going to go pick one up tomorrow and give it a shot. Once I get it working, it’ll make for a nice tutorial. Heck, if it doesn’t work, I can still hook it up to my home system to stream iTunes. So either way, it’s not a total bust.
Thanks again both for the input.
Jules - 10.03.07
well, did it work?
Jim - 10.04.07
Jules - I’ve not gotten around to setting up the new space (it means TOTALLY cleaning out the garage, which is icky), so I haven’t picked up the Express unit yet. Once I do, it’ll happen.
Matijs - 11.27.07
Did you now ? I First had airport express running fine. Than i decided i want to share my hard disk with airport extreme … It seems that i didnt succeed to make ONE network. Airport express and extreme are now two different networks, i dont get it to work … any suggestions ?
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