setting up multiple MicroCells in one house with one router

It's easy to suggest how other people should spend their money to chase down a problem.  My suggestion would be to ditch the other Apple ACs and get a high-power range extender to cover the rest of the house with a WiFi signal and centrally locate it so perhaps just one Mcell, connected to it by Ethernet cable, would cover the house instead of using two Mcells.

I've done it with a four-level, 4000 sq. ft. house.  It works.

If the second MicroCell has been assigned an IP address then that means that your router is seeing it because the signal is reaching your router. You could try to assign a static IP address to the second MicroCell and maybe even port assign it. That "locks" MicroCell #2 to the same IP address and it will have the necessary ports assigned to it all of the time.

Or, you can try Avedis's suggestion on a range extender but you say it won't work because of plaster walls. I basically live in a Faraday cage and I have no problem using my MicroCell inside my house or outside.

A high-power range extender is a different animal than your typical router.  It can cover a lot more ground than your Apple ACs because it has a lot more transmitting power than they do.

Before you dismiss it by saying it won't work, you should at least try it.  Amped Wireless makes a 700 mW dual-band AC range extender (REA 20) that will cover at least 10,000 sq. ft. (one review said it was closer to 14,000 sq. ft.).

You could maintain your original Apple AC as a base station with its connected Mcell and add the range extender.  Some trial and error testing to find the optimum location for it would most likely be necessary as you have to balance it getting a good signal from your router to gaining the additional Mcell coverage for the rest of your house.  The REA 20 has ports so you can plug the second Mcell into it.

There are professional solutions that require more expensive equipment and perhaps a technician to properly design and install it, but I'd certainly try a range extender before going down that road.

Yes. As I mentioned, Apple now calls the MAC address the Ethernet ID but whether that is a wired connection or a WiFi connection is the question. Airport Utility 5.x would list all connected devices by their MAC address whether they were wired or not under Logs and Statistics. You could check that by disconnecting all of your network devices and just have MicroCell #1 wired to the primary Base Station. Then check to see if the Ethernet ID matched the MAC address of the MicroCell which is listed on a stickeer on the bottom of the unit.

Just so I'm straight on your equipment, when you refer to AC is that the new Apple Extreme (the cubed router)? If so, have you tried different channels and/or frequencies?

Hi,

  I read all of this, but my question is somewhat different. We have Uverse in the house, and a micro cell as we live in a rural area where cell service is sketchy. Both phones work well in the house, but we want to put a micro cell in the barn. I have a Netgear 1210 wifi extender so that internet works out there.

Can I plug a 2nd micro-cell into the range extender in the hope that it will work, of do I need to run a new CAT5 line to the barn and expect that it will work that way?

Thanks in advance!

Jay

@JJCSTN - Some have had success with access points and the MicroCell. However, a direct physical connection is always preferred. If you do run a CAT-5 cable, I'd use a solid core CAT-5 cable terminated with punchdown keystone jacks instead of just using a CAT-5 patch cable (what I call an ethernet cable). It makes for a more robust connection especially if you're running the cable outside and possibly underground.

What kind of distance are we talking about?