Slashdot Mirror
Matching AirPort Express to Third Party Routers
An anonymous reader submits "After purchasing AirPort Express yesterday, I found out that my existing Netgear router didn't work with it in WDS mode. After a lot of searching, I found scattered bits of information about what routers worked and which ones didn't. I decided to start a site that hopefully will become a definitive list of routers that work with AirPort Express. It's not big yet, which is why I am submitting this here. If you have attempted successfully or unsuccessfully to set up AirPort Express in WDS mode with a non-Apple router, please let me know so that future users can find the information more readily."
The buffalo line of routers would probably work with it since they support the WDS mode but I don't have one so I can't tell you definitively.
Here's a much more detailed O'Reilly article (err... an O'Reilly link to other articles) concerning Airport Express compatibility.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/5024
Follow this link for the full analysis.
Like Teddy with an elephant gun.
This setup has worked for me:
- Netgear WGT624 and Airport Express w/same name,
- Latest update for Netgear firmware (V4.1.11_1.0.1 worked for me)
- *might* need to set channel to something other than 11. I found problems when working on 11, so I switched it, and it's been fine since.
- Also, I found that making sure I had the Airport Card Update 2004-08-31 worked wonders as far as sound quality went...it was choppy before the update, and fine afterwards.
I don't know if the Airport Express would need something different than the Airport Extreme card.
The AE works in WDS mode with the 2Wire HomePortal HW1000. This is a wireless router / ADSL modem distributed with SBC Southwestern Bell's Expert Plus DSL package.
considering the apple airport express website *specifically* says "AirPort Express can extend the range only of an AirPort Extreme or AirPort Express wireless network." its really not surprising it didnt like your netgear router
ok so maybe you want it to work anyway. if you had read this previous slashdot article you would have had some idea why - from the article
"Sure, Apple says the Express will only do bridging with AirPort Base Stations. That's because WDS is not a standardized part of the 802.11g spec. " (not to mention as posted somewhere in this discussion netgear has some spec-meeting issues)
never the less, it seems it is possible (again from the article)
"We can report that it will work with the Linksys WRT54G 802.11g router. The procedure for getting it working involves using the open source firmware and is fairly straightforward. But it's not for the faint of heart: keep in mind that if you do update using the open source firmware, you will find your router outside the tender embrace of Linksys customer support."
i do think its a good idea to have a list of (ideally) cheaper routers that work with AE - but I still think ill save up for a perdy apple base station instead.
PS - again, from the ars article, you should note that there are some security issues
"One note: when using the AirPort Express as a WDS, you are limited to either using 128-bit WEP or turning off security altogether. This was not mentioned on the AirPort Express pages on apple.com, although it is addressed in the manual. WPA is generally not supported over bridged connections on WiFi products due to the fact that WPA encrypts the MAC addresses which WDS relies on for communication. Keep this limitation in mind when using the Express as a bridge."