Two wired router issue - Please help!

OK - here da' situation:

I have an airport extreme in one end of the house where the modem is. I have a long condo and wanted to boost the signal. I'm using an Airport Express wirelessly now but it doesn't really seem to do the trick....so...

I ran an ethernet from the Extreme (call it Port 1), under the basement and dropped a wall jack in the front room. This actually works well because I can use my Direct TV with Internet. I'm wanting to now plug in my Express to this jack to broadcast this signal, rather than use my Direct TV but it doesn't quite seem to work.

I can use the Ethernet straight in to my laptop and it connects. When I use the Extreme however - no go.

How do I get this to work? Essentially, it's an Express hard wired from an Extreme. Someone mentioned a crossover cable to plug in the Express but I haven't tried this yet. Any thoughts?

Rob

Need some details first...

Have you used the Airport Utility to actually setup the Airport Express?

Well yes. I set them up to be a wireless (WDS) network. It worked just fine with the Express as a wireless relay but when I then plugged it straight into the Extreme, I didn't change any settings. Suggestions on what to change?

I'm not really a network guru but it sounds like your express needs to be in "bridge mode". Here's what the current help file for the Airport Utility says

Setting up a bridge
You can turn off Internet sharing to allow bridging between the network’s wireless and wired computers. With bridging turned on, AirPort-enabled computers have access to all services on the Ethernet network. The wireless device doesn’t provide Internet sharing services.

Using the base station or a Time Capsule as a bridge can address incompatibilities between the wireless device’s Internet sharing features and your ISP’s connection method.

If you connect to the Internet using PPPoE, you can’t set it up as a bridge. When your base station is using PPPoE, it’s acting as a router and distributes IP addresses to clients on the network using DHCP and NAT.

To set up your wireless device as a bridge:

Open AirPort Utility, located in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder on a Mac, and in Start > All Programs > AirPort on a Windows computer.

Select your wireless device and click Manual Setup. Enter the password if necessary.

Click Internet in the toolbar, and then click Internet Connection.

Choose Off (Bridge Mode) from the Connection Sharing pop-up menu.

Click to expand...

I think SlyDudes nailed it. But to add to your earlier post... there's absolutely no need to use crossover cable.

But isn't that going to turn off the wireless capabilities of the Express?? I want it to still broadcast the signal, I just want it to be plugged in from the wall (which is hardwired to the Extreme.

I get it now I missed the point that you still wanted to broadcast the signal.You should be able to go into the Airport Section enter the Wireless tab and tell it to extend a wireless network. I had a little difficulty getting a series of settings that work so here is my current setup that works pretty well. I am using a Time Capsule and Belkin router but it should work with the gear you have. Currently the two are close together but until recently they were in a situation similar to yours.

1. Belkin router was primary (connected to the modem). It was broadcasting one wireless network with separate settings, name, etc.
2. Time capsule hard-wired to one of the Belkin router's ethernet ports. TC was then set to create a second network. I did this so that a few 802b/g devices I had didn't clog the rest of the network. The slower devices join one network segment the 802n devices join the other.

I think in your situation you could simply choose to extend an existing network and set the connection type to ethernet. it may take a bit of work to get settings so that both devices aren't generating conflicting addresses but I think it can be done.

But that seems to be the issue here. They do conflict and as soon as I hardwire the Express into the Extreme, it stops working correctly. Are they having conflicting address here or what? This is driving me nutso!!

OK I think they are both trying to assign IP numbers and you can't have that. I think I see a solution. In my case I am using a Belkin and Time Capsule but the same should be possible for you with the gear that you have.

1. The Extreme will behave as the router since that is where the modem is and will handle the DHCP services. It sounds like you have that working.

2. Before plugging in the Express launch Airport Utility and set the wireless network on the Extreme the way you want it. Set up your password etc. Let's assume that the Express has an IP of 192.168.2.1 and subnet of 255.155.155.0.

3. Plug the Extreme in and use Airport's Utility to set it up. To avoid an initial IP conflict you may need to plug it directly into your computer for a few minutes rather than into the wall jack. This will only be necessary during initial setup.

4.In the Internet Tab of the Extreme try setting the connection method to Ethernet with Connection sharing to Bridge mode. Then click the TCP/IP tab and set it to manual. Assign it a number similar to the first one where only the last digit is different. Say 192.168.2.2 for example with subnets set to 255.255.255.0

5. The router and DNS numbers will be the same as you entered in the Express. In this case 192.168.2.1

6. First try it set to extend an existing network and enter the password etc. for your wireless network. If that does not work try using the Express to create a second network. It sounds inconvenient but joining is easy.

Let me know how this works. I should be able to experiment more with my settings tomorrow.

I'm not really sure that this was the solution either If I turn the Extreme to bridge, then it won't be wireless.
I'm still wanting this: Extreme (one end of the house) to be wirelessly broadcasting.
Express (hardwired into Extreme through the house) to also be wirelessly broadcasting.

Any thoughts?