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| Airport Express |
We have a 2005-era apple G5 which is blindingly fast for offline gaming but suffers from wifi inadequacies. This weekend, mom gave me an old Airport Extreme she wasn't using anymore (one that I gave her as a holiday gift in 2008, natch) and I undertook to get the G5 a better connection speed. Even I was surprised at how much better it turned out.
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| Speedtest.net results after the changes |
The following instructions assume you have a healthy, secure wireless network already in place.
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| Airport Utility |
- Factory Default Reset on the Airport Express as noted here http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3728
- Launch the Airport Utility. Wireless networks in range will appear - your existing network and the Airport Express.
- Update the firmware on the Airport Express
(if needed)
- On your main wireless unit base station (in my case an Airport extreme), select Manual Setup then go to the Wireless tab. Check the box next to "Allow this network to be extended" then click Update to apply the change.
- On your airport extreme wireless unit, select Manual Setup then go to the Wireless tab. Change the Wireless Mode drop down to "Extend a wireless network." Select the Wireless Network Name corresponding to your existing network. Select your existing network's Wireless Security from the drop down menu. Finally, enter your Wireless Password for your existing network and Verify Password also. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1731 has more details, and an explanation for how to do this with the Airport Setup Assistant.
This didn't take long at all, but as it is a simple
alternative to a wireless distribution system I thought it was worth sharing. It demonstrates that even 3 and 6 years out, Apple equipment retains a lot of value and ease of use.
