Airport Base Station vs. Airport Extreme

[jennysbelly]

Hello,
What is the difference between these two products? If I have a DSL modem with a built-in wireless router, can I use an airport extreme to extend the connection? How does it work?

 

[redeye be]

Airport Extreme is the successor of the Airport Base Station, offering higher wireless speed.

These are the base stations currently offered by Apple:
Airport Extreme (50 wireless computers + printing)
Airport Express (10 wireless computers + printing + Airtunes)

You can buy either, depending on your need.
WDS Is used to enlarge your network, but it might not work with your modem/router.
Cheers

 

[jennysbelly]

Well my problem is that my new iMac can't connect to my wireless network with my Westell Versalink. I didn't know if I needed to buy an airport.

 

[redeye be]

they should be able to work together.
You could try to connect the iMac to the modem with the cable (just for staters).
Then go to the configuration page, as described in the manual. And make sure the wireless is enabled.
If you have another computer already connected to the modem with a cable, you can evidently use that computer to check the configuration.

Some remarks on wifi config.
If you see 'closed network' or 'disable SSID broadcast' or something like that enabled, you will not find your network in the airport menu, you will have to manually input the network name.

What does your wireless config say?
What does the mac say when you try to connect wirelessly?

Cheers

 

[jennysbelly]

It connects fine with the cable.

Go to what configuration from the manual of what? I'm sorry, I'm not very technical.

How do I check the configuration?

How do I manually enter it?

I go to the airport icon on the upper right corner, and several options are there. The only one that doesn't need a password is called "linksys" and when I connect to that I don't have internet.

I'm sorry to have so many questions, but I am new to Macs, and I'm not the one who set up either of the PCs.

 

[hayduke]

Wrong router?

It connects fine with the cable.
I go to the airport icon on the upper right corner, and several options are there. The only one that doesn't need a password is called "linksys" and when I connect to that I don't have internet.

"linksys" might not be you're wireless router, it might be the neighbors. An easy test is to unplug your wireless router and see which wireless network disappears.

 

[redeye be]

Connect your iMac with cable.
Check if internet works, it should, as you mentioned.

Open 'system preferences' on the mac and go to 'network'.
Double click 'built in ethernet'
You should now see 'TCP/IP' in bleu, next to PPoE,...
If TCP/IP is not blue, click on it.
One of the things you can find in the list is:

Router: 1.1.1.1

The numbers will definitely be different. Take a note of these numbers. It's the address of your modem.

Open Safari,
In the address bar (where you normally would type http://www.macrumors.com) type the address of your modem.

This is the configuration page of your modem.
You will have to look for enabling your wireless, give it a name and use a password (probably something like wireless security).

If it's to hard (but please do try, you'll manage, just stay focused ), you should contact your ISP.
Or ask more questions here, you'll be a WiFi pro in no time.
You could provide us with screenshots of the pages where you think the config should be made.


Good luck

EDIT: Oh and Linksys is definitely NOT your network.

 

[jennysbelly]

"linksys" might not be you're wireless router, it might be the neighbors. An easy test is to unplug your wireless router and see which wireless network disappears.

I have determined that Linksys is not my router, as our DSL went down and Linksys was still available when my modem was unplugged.

Problem is, nothing seemed to disappear? How do I do the initial set up?

 

[jennysbelly]

Connect your iMac with cable.
Check if internet works, it should, as you mentioned.

Open 'system preferences' on the mac and go to 'network'.
Double click 'built in ethernet'
You should now see 'TCP/IP' in bleu, next to PPoE,...
If TCP/IP is not blue, click on it.
One of the things you can find in the list is:

Router: 1.1.1.1

The numbers will definitely be different. Take a note of these numbers. It's the address of your modem.

Open Safari,
In the address bar (where you normally would type http://www.macrumors.com) type the address of your modem.

This is the configuration page of your modem.
You will have to look for enabling your wireless, give it a name and use a password (probably something like wireless security).

If it's to hard (but please do try, you'll manage, just stay focused ), you should contact your ISP.
Or ask more questions here, you'll be a WiFi pro in no time.
You could provide us with screenshots of the pages where you think the config should be made.


Good luck

EDIT: Oh and Linksys is definitely NOT your network.

Thanks, I'll try this tonight. The DSL went down completely yesterday, so I wasn't able to work on it. How do I take a screen shot? I'd be happy to include them. I'm sorry i'm so slow on this. I usually have a fast learning curve for new things! My dad is involved with IT on the PC side, my boyfriend works on a Unix box, and I'm trying to learn all the ins and outs of Macs. Someday I want to be one of the people giving advice!

Jenny

 

[liquidh2o]

note: you can try the following steps below even if your DSL is down.

(with the computer connected to the westell versalink via ethernet)

try typing http://192.168.1.1 into your web browser

this is the ip for your wifi router.

(note: If you click on anything that asks for a username/password it will be the username/password for your account when you signed up (most often the same as your username and password for email)).

First I'd check to see if your wifi is enabled by choosing the "configuration" tab and clicking on "wireless".

There will be an option to enable/disable wireless, make sure it's enabled

The next option is labled "Network Name (SSID)"

Make a note of what is in this block, if it is blank, put in something you can remember. This will be the name that shows up for your router when your airport card scans for wifi.

(the other options and what you should change them to)

Mode: mixed

4x: enabled

for now we want to reduce the security settings just to make sure you can connect via wireless (make sure to set these up again when you get everything working).

Authentication type: Open system

Wep security: disabled

Hide SSID: disabled

MAC Address filtering: disabled

after all of your settings look like the ones above click save.

There should be a pop up that comes up, click on "oK"

Your router should reconfigure and reboot.

Once that's done you should be able to physically disconnect the computer from the router and access it via wifi. To do this I'd recommend disabling the airport card, then enable it again, it should do a scan for any wifi spots that are available. If everything worked right, whatever was in your "Network Name (SSID)" box should show up as available to connect to and you should be able to select it.

I'll stop here, and wait to see if that works or not.

 

[jennysbelly]

note: you can try the following steps below even if your DSL is down.

(with the computer connected to the westell versalink via ethernet)

try typing http://192.168.1.1 into your web browser

this is the ip for your wifi router.

(note: If you click on anything that asks for a username/password it will be the username/password for your account when you signed up (most often the same as your username and password for email)).

First I'd check to see if your wifi is enabled by choosing the "configuration" tab and clicking on "wireless".

There will be an option to enable/disable wireless, make sure it's enabled

The next option is labled "Network Name (SSID)"

Make a note of what is in this block, if it is blank, put in something you can remember. This will be the name that shows up for your router when your airport card scans for wifi.

(the other options and what you should change them to)

Mode: mixed

4x: enabled

for now we want to reduce the security settings just to make sure you can connect via wireless (make sure to set these up again when you get everything working).

Authentication type: Open system

Wep security: disabled

Hide SSID: disabled

MAC Address filtering: disabled

after all of your settings look like the ones above click save.

There should be a pop up that comes up, click on "oK"

Your router should reconfigure and reboot.

Once that's done you should be able to physically disconnect the computer from the router and access it via wifi. To do this I'd recommend disabling the airport card, then enable it again, it should do a scan for any wifi spots that are available. If everything worked right, whatever was in your "Network Name (SSID)" box should show up as available to connect to and you should be able to select it.

I'll stop here, and wait to see if that works or not.

I'll let you know how this goes when I get home. Thanks so much!