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lordshaq · May 20, 2005, 10:22 AM

Is it possible to use a wireless linksys router as an access point to pick up a signal from an airport extreme base?

ghporter · May 20, 2005, 02:11 PM

AirPort is Apple's name for their IEEE 802.11 (WiFi) wireless networking products. They will interoperate with ANY WiFi compliant product. My wife's iBook is connected to our home network through her AirPort Extreme card and our Linksys access point-it will work.

fulmer · May 20, 2005, 07:30 PM

I think he might be asking about bridging.

ghporter · May 21, 2005, 10:45 AM

Good point fulmer-I was sort of reading it the other way around for some reason.

The WRT-54G does have a bridge mode-but it isn't the only Linksys wireless router out there. Lordshag, how about more info?

lordshaq · May 21, 2005, 06:57 PM

Sorry about that, yes its actually the WRT-54G Linksys router. This thing has a bridge mode? I couldn't find any good information in the manual.

fulmer · May 21, 2005, 09:15 PM

Originally Posted by lordshaq

Sorry about that, yes its actually the WRT-54G Linksys router. This thing has a bridge mode? I couldn't find any good information in the manual.

so to clarify...
are you talking about your wireless linksys router picking up the signal from your airport extreme in order to rebroadcast/extend the signal?

ghporter · 09:30 PM

With third-party firmware the WRT-54G WILL act as a bridge. Unlike other products, the current GPL-based Linksys products handle firmware upgrades well, and it should be no trouble to move to the appropriate version. Sveasoft's package gets good marks for its "client mode" support. Go to LinksysInfo.org to read all about the various offerings, and download the one you want. You have to register to download, but it's free.

This is the page you'll want for WRT-54G firmware. Here is where you'll find the firmware I mentioned-it's called the Satori project.

lordshaq · May 22, 2005, 10:36 PM

Great! thank you for the information I will read up on it.

lordshaq · May 25, 2005, 12:31 AM

Oops, I made a mistake with my model number on the linksys router. Its actually a Linksys - WRT - 54GX router. On the linksys product page, it claims that it can also be an access point. I just can't seem to get this working and setup to properly communicate with the airport base. What other Linksys products can be used to bridge the connection over to a PC? I can return this WRT 54GX router still.

ghporter · May 25, 2005, 08:08 AM

The WET54G is a dedicated wireless bridge. It probably costs a bit more than the WRT54G, though maybe not much more than the GX.

lordshaq · May 25, 2005, 08:39 AM

Thanks ghporter, with a WET54 is it possible to connect it to a PC and then go online from the signal being broadcast by the airport extreme base? I'm making the assumption that I only need to plug in the Airport's SSID into the WET to access it...

ghporter · May 25, 2005, 10:28 AM

That's exactly what a wireless bridge does-converts the wireless signal to an ethernet signal that any computer can use to join the network.

The WET has a browser interface, so you'll just plug it in to the PC, fire up a browser and configure it. It will probably offer to connect to your AirPort network right away.