pomme4moi's profile

Teacher

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36 Messages

Sunday, July 13th, 2014 1:06 PM

AT&T Uverse router with Apple Airport Extreme?

CURRENT SET-UP

I have an AT&T Uverse 2WIRE225 3801HGV gateway that operates on the 802.11g wireless protocol. I have two devices cabled into the LAN ports on the gateway: a network-attached storage (NAS) device and a Sonos Bridge.  All other devices in the house (e.g., Mac computers, iOS devices) connect wirelessly to the gateway.

 

I want to move to an 802.11n wireless network.  I have a spare Apple Airport Exteme (AE) that I can use for this.  From reading articles on the web, I think there are two general ways to do this.

 

OPTION 1 - Set Up AE As My Only Router

Continue to use the 2WIRE225 gateway as the modem, but turn off its ability to be a router.  Run an ethernet cable from a LAN port on the gateway into the WAN port on the AE.  Now the AE will be the only working router in the house.  (I know I have to make configuration changes on the gateway and on the AE, but I won't go into that here.)

 

OPTION 2: Use 2WIRE225 As My Cabled Router, Use AE As My Wirelss Router

Continue to use the 2WIRE225 gateway as the modem, and disable only its wireless capability.  As above, run an ethernet cable from a LAN port on the gateway into the WAN port on the AE.  Now, the 2WIRE225 is still acting as the router for devices that are cabled into the gateway LAN ports, but the AE is acting as the router for all devices that connect wirelessly.

 

Is my above understanding correct?  What are the advantages of going with Option 1 versus Option 2?  Thx

 

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

Master

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4.2K Messages

10 years ago

Option 2 you can see everything on your LAN including your STB's and it will give you the least amount of trouble if you are talking Bridge Mode on the Airport.

Option 1 will put you behing the RG isolating you from it sort of since you can't truly put the RG in a DMZ.

Teacher

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36 Messages

10 years ago

Thanks oz_1, very helpful. So if I install the AE as a bridge to the 2WIRE225 gateway, the 2WIRE225 still will be my one-and-only router, and wireless devices will connect via the AE. I guess the other option is to completely disable the 2WIRE225 as a router, and to use the AE as my one-and-only router, connecting both cables and wireless devices to the AE. Does this latter option, using AE as my only router, offer any advantages? Thanks again

Master

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4.2K Messages

10 years ago

Unless you have specific need to use the AE in any other mode than bridge then the answer is no.

I have been running my Time Capsule in bridge mode for a year now its trouble free and the wireless is turned off in the RG.

Teacher

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36 Messages

10 years ago

I turned wiress off on the RG as suggested.  Airport Extreme has been working for a week now in bridge mode without problem.  Thanks!

Contributor

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1 Message

10 years ago

I have a similar situation, but I would also like to connect another computer to the Airport Extreme via Ethernet. Should it be configured as DHCP, or should it bridge the Airport Extreme to make use of the dynamic addresses that the 2wire is already providing? (I couldn't get either to work.)

Contributor

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3 Messages

9 years ago

I appreciate the above information, does this mean I can't use my AE to extend the range of my WiFi network?

Teacher

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6 Messages

8 years ago

I was working fine with my uverse gigapower service and my Apple Airport Extreme in bridge mode as described by Bob. However, now I want to extend my Apple's wireless network to improve coverage in our front bedroom. If I extend the network wirelessly everything works and the 2nd Extreme in my bedroom is able to extend the wireless coverage. However, if I try to connect the 2nd Apple Airport Extreme in my bedroom via an ethernet cable to the 1st AE it kills my Internet connection. Both AE's are in bridge mode.

Why would the 2nd AE work if it extends wirelessly, but if I connect it via Ethernet it kills my Internet.


Update: well I ended up setting my second AE to create a wireless network. I used the same SSID name and wifi password as what was used on my primary AE. My internet is now working again after this setup.
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