Airport Networking

Summary
Comments (10)
Magazine

Tutorial Description

Setting up a WiFi network and connecting it to the Internet is something we do very infrequently. In this episode, I take a high level look at setting up an Airport Extreme to create a brand new Wifi Network, as well as extending it wirelessly with an Airport Express.

I also take a look at my current network configuration and using an Airport Express to create some remote Airport Speakers, and configuring a standard USB printer to share via an Airport Express.

The full tutorial covers:

Introduction
Airport Utility
Speedtest
Setting Up
Exploring My Hub
Setting Up an Airport Extreme
Setting up an Airport Express
Setting up AirPlay Speakers
Setting up a USB Printer

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Video Tutorial Comments

(10 comments posted)

Mike Harahan

Don…
I have heard WiFI routers issued by Internet Service Providers are not as good as the Apple Router called Airport Extreme. As a result, unlike the setup you describe in this ScreenCast, I have my ISP device in Bridge Mode and deliver WiFi via my Airport Extreme. Any thoughts?

Hi Mike, it depends on the router. The more modern ones can be a match or deliver better performance than the Airport Extreme. But I too have my main network using Apple devices to provide WiFi. There are some new WifI extenders - eero - that Katie reported on in this months ScreenCastsOnline Magazine but I've no personal experience of them.

Ian Hendrie

Don,
I think this tutorial opens up an area that, frankly, I need to be covered. Discussions of which router should handle DHCP and which DHCP addresses are acceptable for private networks, how to change dns servers from your isp, why you moght want to use routers on bridge mode, turning on and off wifi, a discussion of acceptable channels and why you don't want to use automatic, expanding wireless using a net, and my latest - adding a client bridge (Engenius in my case) to carry the wifi to another building and connect it to an access point.

You might see this as all too much, but it's amazing how we can get drawn in to helping local groups and organizations because we are seen to have some computer savy. It's not just the big corporations that have to implement these ideas.
Love the work you do.
Ian

Hi Ian! I agree fully but it's really difficult to cover all aspects. Plus there's the danger of going too deep or too specific. Perhaps there is some scope for a more advanced networking show in the future.

Allison Sheridan

Don - The 2.4GHz band has a really important role beyond legacy devices. In my experience, Internet of Things devices require that band. In addition, during setup, they require the 2.4GHz band to be a different name. This is accomplished (oddly) by giving the 5GHz band a different name. After the IoT device is set up, the two bands can have the same name again and it will negotiate properly. This is true with my Belkin WeMo switches, Nest smoke detector, and Ring Video Doorbell.

Hi Allison, ioT devices will soon be proliferating so that's a very good point! We'll most likely see 2.4Ghz supported for a long time to come.

Jason Pinkett

Hello Don

Is there an app or process you could recommend that would allow me to measure the speed of my LAN? I have 2 macs on my network plus other network devices (tv, streaming boxes, etc) and I would like to know I'm truly getting gigabit speeds internally between devices. Thanks

Farid Showghi

Hello Don,

At around 03:55 in this screencast, you show your network's map in Airport Utility. How do you get 4 devices connected by ethernet to your Airport Extreme when it only has three ports plus the Wan port?

Hi Farid, Although there are 4 devices logically connected, they are not directly attached to the AirPort Extreme. They are dotted around the house and there are various hubs that connect the network together. In fact the Airport Extreme only has two connections - 1 to the incoming ethernet connection from the ISP router and one connecting it to a 24 port ethernet hub.

Arno Schlosser

Hi Don,
I recently tried to setup the guest network on my Airports (concrete walls, so I need 3 for the house) after hours of configuration I finally found out the guest network works only if at least 1 Airport is in router mode. My service provider does not have a bridge setting for the DSL modem/router, so no luck on using the Airport as router.

Any thoughts how to use an router behind an router?

Arno Schlosser

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