[maxx9photo]

Okay, I know that this would work with airport extreme base station but will it work with any other non apple router? thanks in advance!.

[Cold Warrior]

No, it doesn't work with non-Apple products. I had considered the same thing with my WRT54G as the main router and extending it with my AP Express.

[Macfreak7]

This does work! I set up wireless networking a year ago at my place of work. Main router was a linksys, and we used two Airport Express routers to extended the wireless network. Also attached a printer to one of them to print wirelessly.

[snackhound]

Macfreak is correct, i have my Airport Express extending my Netgear wireless routers range and have airtunes working over the network.

[ghporter]

Your success is "undocumented." That means "you are lucky enough to have hardware that works together" whether by design (the hardware's design or your own planning) or chance. Apple does not guarantee that AirTunes will work with anything but Apple hardware-and it's likely that there are some settings that require attention to make this work in any case.

With that said, I've seen numerous reports of Linksys hardware working with AirPort Espresses to stream AirTunes. How, I don't know. It would be very helpful if both Macfreak7 and snackhound would post which model Linksys and Netgear routers they're using, so we can sort of map out what works and what doesn't at this point in time.

[Cold Warrior]

Yes, please post your hardware and your firmware versions if known.

If I have to look like a dumbass, at least some knowledge should come from it.

[maxx9photo]

Wow, great news and mine is netgear as well but wait, what model is yours? thanks!.

[Macfreak7]

Hello. Sorry I don't remember what linksys model it was. I didn't have a look at it too many times cause it was located in a different room.

As much as I remember, the key is to make sure the SSID and the channel being used are the same for all the routers that are going extend the range. Do a google search, that's how I found out how to make this work. Or I'll look up if I saved the instructions and post as soon as I can.

Also for the record and to avoid confusion, I was specifically talking about extending the range of the linksys router, NOT using it to stream music. Streaming music should be possible regardless, since you have to be connected to the router that is connected to the stereo (i.e. the AP Express).

[dn15]

The important point is whether your router supports WDS. This is the technology that the AirPort Express and AirPort Extreme use for extending networks.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Macfreak7 

As much as I remember, the key is to make sure the SSID and the channel being used are the same for all the routers that are going extend the range.

A typical "roaming" setup uses all routers with the same SSID, but DIFFERENT channels. Using the same channel with the same ID is "bad" in a lot of ways. With different channels, the user's card sees that one channel has a better signal than another, and switches to that, while staying associated with the same, overall network.

Originally Posted by Macfreak7 

Also for the record and to avoid confusion, I was specifically talking about extending the range of the linksys router, NOT using it to stream music. Streaming music should be possible regardless, since you have to be connected to the router that is connected to the stereo (i.e. the AP Express).

I agree that this SHOULD work. But not all manufacturers agree-they want their own media devices used, and they somehow manage to not be workable with other makers' units. This may be a thing of the past, but any change is not something that made headlines-we'll probably have to figure it out instead of depending on some resource to tell us about it.

[dn15]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

A typical "roaming" setup uses all routers with the same SSID, but DIFFERENT channels. Using the same channel with the same ID is "bad" in a lot of ways. With different channels, the user's card sees that one channel has a better signal than another, and switches to that, while staying associated with the same, overall network.

I take it that you are not talking about WDS then -- because the different devices must be on the same channel for that to work. If they're on different channels then they can't talk to each other and must have a different way to access the Internet (like each one being hardwired and creating its own separate network that just happens to have the same name.) Unless there are devices that essentially have two network interfaces so they can connect to one channel and rebroadcast on another...

[snackhound]

Right then, I have a Netgear DG834GT wireless router and the Airport Express is set up to share a printer and use airtunes.

You set it up using the Airport utility, AU will ask you if you want to join an existing network or create a new one. select join an existing network, select the network you want to join and follow the commmands for passwords etc.

In all it takes about five minutes to set up and start streaming music.

[dn15]

Originally Posted by snackhound 

You set it up using the Airport utility, AU will ask you if you want to join an existing network or create a new one. select join an existing network, select the network you want to join and follow the commmands for passwords etc.

In this configuration, the AirPort base is just a client to your existing network to share the printer and speakers. It is not extending the network unless you have explicitly enabled and configured WDS on both devices. This entails finding the MAC address of each and entering it in the configuration of the other.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by dn15 

I take it that you are not talking about WDS then -- because the different devices must be on the same channel for that to work. If they're on different channels then they can't talk to each other and must have a different way to access the Internet (like each one being hardwired and creating its own separate network that just happens to have the same name.) Unless there are devices that essentially have two network interfaces so they can connect to one channel and rebroadcast on another...

No, I'm not talking about WDS. WDS is different from roaming and takes equipment that all supports WDS, while roaming can be done with any equipment, though all that equipment must be wired back to a common router.

[dn15]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

No, I'm not talking about WDS. WDS is different from roaming and takes equipment that all supports WDS, while roaming can be done with any equipment, though all that equipment must be wired back to a common router.

OK, that's what I thought you were talking about. But for the sake of clarity, need to ensure that we were not both talking about the same thing and getting ourselves really confused.

[Macfreak7]

So far I've only managed to find this, but I'm quite sure i've used simpler instructions in the past.
AirPort Express extending Linksys WRT54G � Torsten’s weblog

:edit:
The above method requires you to install a 3rd party firmware for your router. That wasn't necessary when I did it at work a year ago. Now I wish I had backed up those instructions!

[abbaZaba]

right now, my mini is sharing my ethernet connection with it's airport card and my macbook is using the network my mini creates.

can my express extend the range of the wireless network that is shared by the mini?