Wireless network extender/print server that connects over Ethernet?

March 6, 2011 4:20 PM

I have a home network created by a dual-band Airport Extreme router. I have Cat 6 running from the Airport Extreme to a faraway printer where the wireless signal does not reach. Can I use this cable and an older Airport Express to act as a print server and extend my wireless network? If not, is there another device that would provide this function?

Recently I moved my router (reasonably new Airport Extreme, dual band b/g/n) to a corner of the house in the basement. This location is about as far away as you can get from the room with my printer in it, and wireless signal is essentially zero at the printer. This is a problem because I access the printer using an older Airport Express, which acts as a print server for the USB printer. No wireless signal at the printer = no printing.

But! In a rare moment of foresight, I ran Cat 6 up to that room a while back. I'd like to connect the Airport Extreme and the Airport Express directly over Ethernet, and have the Airport Express act as a dumb access point, extending the wireless network created by the Airport Extreme. Printing (and wireless coverage) would be available house-wide. Win! Here's what that network would look like in ASCII world:

Internet
|
Airport Extreme . . . . wireless clients
|
| Ethernet
|
Airport Express . . . . wireless clients
|
USB printer

Everything all on the same subnet (10.0.1.x)


Except ... I can't figure out how to make the Airport Express extend the network created by the Airport Extreme when the two are connected over a wired connection. I can figure out how to set up the Airport Express to extend the network using WDS, but no wireless signal at the printer means no connectivity. Obviously I'd like to use my existing equipment to make this work, but if it's impossible I'm not opposed to buying another piece of hardware. So, the questions:

1. Is it possible to use an Airport Express to extend a network without using WDS? If so, how?

2. If not, is there another device that would connect over Ethernet, extend a wireless network created by an Airport Extreme, and act as a print server for a USB printer?

Thanks!

posted by harkin banks to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Well, it's not exactly what you're asking, but it would save you needing to buy more expensive hardware: Get a USB-over-cat5 adapter and use it and your existing cat6 cable run to plug your printer into the USB port of your Airport Extreme. The downside is that your wireless network isn't extended into the room with your printer. You can get around that by plugging the Airport Express in somewhere in between, where the wireless reaches, and would extend the network from the Extreme.

The solution you propose may be possible, but I've never attempted it. Apple forums might be able to help.
posted by supercres at 5:02 PM on March 6, 2011

Best answer: Yes, you can do this with Apple's Airport access points. You want to set up a wireless roaming network. Leave your Airport Extreme as it currently configured. Run the Ethernet cable to your Airport Express. Configure the Airport Express with the same Wireless Network Name, Wireless Security, and Wireless Password. However, two things should be configured differently on the Airport Express: the Channel and the Connection Sharing. Set the Channel to be at least 5 channels apart so if your Airport Extreme is set to 1 then set the second one to 6 or higher and so on. This is to prevent the two wireless signals interfering with each other. More importantly, on the Airport Express the Connection Sharing option (under the Internet tab) has to be set to "Off (Bridge Mode)". This is because your Airport Extreme is acting as your internet access router.

Now you can take your laptop and "Roam" from one end of the house to the other and it will work just fine.
posted by RichardP at 5:04 PM on March 6, 2011

I'm not sure but I believe what you want to do is set the 2nd airport extreme (the one for the printer) to Bridge Mode. This will turn off the routing but leave the wireless intact.
posted by sharkfu at 5:07 PM on March 6, 2011

Response by poster: It looks like RichardP's suggestion (and the linked Apple KB doc) works. (I was most of the way there, but what confused me was setting the Airport Express by the printer to "Create a wireless network". I didn't want it to create its own network, but that setting makes sense in conjunction with bridge mode.) I say "looks like" because if you're on the move, switching from one access point to another seems to be hit-or-miss based on my limited testing. If that occurs often, that will present a problem, but for now I think we're good. Thanks!
posted by harkin banks at 7:15 PM on March 6, 2011

RichardP has it right for the classic and correct way to do it. However, if you're having trouble roaming between the two, another option is to give the express a different wireless network name (you can still use the same password). You then login to both and save both connections on your clients, i.e. laptop s etc.

It sounds counter intuitive, but having two different wireless network names saved on the laptop means the wireless client knows they are different; and when signal drops too low on one it will auto magically and silently connect to the other one and start a new connection properly.

The printer should work, and all will be the same on the network internally, as long as you keep the
express in bridge mode.

I found that setup to work better at home for me, anyway.
posted by ArkhanJG at 8:52 AM on March 7, 2011