Wanted to use Airport Express to extend range of my Linksys router so I can use Powerbook in more remote areas of my house.

Airport setup assistant would not work - unable to recognize Linksys base station (yes, I did turn off all security on the base station to make sure).

Finally got AirPort Admin utility to get into Express settings, and configuring it, it will recognize my local network and the Mac address of the wireless part of the router, but will not connect to the internet through it. Have played with settings no end, but with no success.

Apple wont give tech support because it's a Linksys router, even though their AppleStore page lists numerous comments from customers that they have gotten the Express to work as WDSW to extend range with their Linksys router. My router is WRT54GX2.

Suggestions?

Because WDS is not a standard, it doesn't work with all routers, or between manufacturers. Did any of those comments mention your specific model and revision number working with the Express?

None mentioned specific models. Linksys discussion boards seem to indicate that WDS is supported in all models, however.

In the Airport Admin Utility, when I click on the WDS tab, the MAC address of the router shows up, but I still cannot get any internet connection through it, and the light on the Express will not turn green.

Apple support website states this about airport express:

Networking

Question: Can AirPort Express wirelessly extend ("repeat" or "rebroadcast") the network of a third-party access point?
Answer: No. But it can wirelessly extend the range of a WDS network that is being hosted by an AirPort Extreme Base Station or another AirPort Express.

check out this link:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108038

But under customer reviews, you see comments like "Have had it for over a year and a half, used for streaming tunes, as well a a bridge to extend the range of my Linksys.", and "I've now got 3 of these in the house, serving as boosters of my main wireless signal (which comes from a Linksys wireless router)", so despite the company line, some people have gotten it to work.

I can't though, so I'm going to have to return it.

I would note that for the heck of it, I just configured it as my main router and hooked the cable modem to it. It's range was noticeably worse than the Linksys.

The airport express with airtunes is not designed to be a full router and only has a limited range in my experience with using this product.

let me ask this are you using the latest airport utility program? Version 5.0

Jerry,

The Express is advertised as having less range than an Airport Extreme or 3rd party wireless routers.

I'm sure someone is using a Linksys router with the Express the way you hope to use yours. Posts on the Apple discussion boards unfortunately seem to dwell on the negative rather than people explaining how they were successful.

As far as Apple Support explaining how to set this up to work for you, consider this: Would you expect a Ford dealer to explain how to make a Dodge engine fit in your Ford? I do realize that this is far fetched comparision but think about it. It can work but it may take a while to make it happen.

I'm very curious... What you were told by Linksys when you called Customer Support?

The simple answer is I didn't try. As noted in MacInTouch forums, although Linksys routers are excellent, they do not officially support Mac and give no Mac support. I'm trying a Linksys repeater which should self configure with the Linksys router.

Interestingly, all of Linksys's router software has supported MAC (no pun intended) address filtering for security, while this seems to be missing in the Apple routers and some other manufacturer's routers as well. While hackers can get through this, they can get through WEP and other measures as well, and it is good enough to keep unwanted others off of your network without the hassle of WEP protocol passwords, etc. Haven't had a problem using it since we started a few years back after the Secret Service called us to tell us someone had been war driving and using our unsecured network for some illegal activity.

MAC filtering is available in both my Airport Express and my older Airport Extreme. You must have just missed it.

MAC filtering won't keep anyone off for long if you don't use at least WEP. Otherwise, I'll just sniff some valid MAC addresses and spoof them.

Where in the software is the MAC address filtering. I haven't returned the Express yet, so I can still play around with it in case I decide to go all Apple later.

It is a toss-up about whether the scariest part of the incident with the Secret Service is that there are people war driving that can access your connection, or that the Secret Service is watching that closely.

Their general take was that a real hacker could easily defeat MAC filtering or WEP if they really wanted to get on, but that just like putting a burglar alarm sticker on your house, there are so many other houses, or in this case networks, to access, they will just go on to the next one. In our case, it just keeps others in the area from using our connection, and we never leave file sharing on. If we did, obviously greater protection would be critical.

quote:

Where in the software is the MAC address filtering

Try the Access Control tab.

quote:

Interestingly, all of Linksys's router software has supported MAC (no pun intended) address filtering for security, while this seems to be missing in the Apple routers and some other manufacturer's routers as well. While hackers can get through this, they can get through WEP and other measures as well, and it is good enough to keep unwanted others off of your network without the hassle of WEP protocol passwords, etc.

Although I can't claim to have experience with ALL routers, I have had some with a lot of different brands. I've yet to find a Router/WAP that doesn't support MAC address filtering.