I have been using an AE for a couple of years, but it's recently started acting wonky. When we're using our iPhones (with wifi on) in the house we have continuous dropped calls (rarely a dropped call when on ATT network). The AE also seems to periodically drop signal - which may explain the dropped calls. We have a printer and external hard drive hooked up to the AE and are having no issues with those.

So, if I hook up another router, can I connect the AE to one of the LAN ports and continue to use it as a NAS & printer hub? If so, how do I set it up?

First off, I don't think that WiFi has anything to do with dropped calls? That is purely cellular. You would need something like Vonage or the like to make calls over the interweb.

As far as the AE, it might need restarting and resetting. Mine tends to wonk out 1 -2 times a year, and all I have to do is restart it and all is well. AE do not play well with other routers. As far as I know, you cannot extend an AE with another router brand or add an AE to another router brand. Apple begets apple begets apple.

This started happening with the latest iOS update and I assumed it had something to do with Handoff [www.imore.com]

Because we've been noticing some periodic dropped signals on the AE, I thought it was just a coincidence that the calls started dropping with the iOS update.

So, how do you restart/reset the AE? Does it restart/reset every time I unplug/replug it or when I change a setting in the Airport Utility and hit 'update?'

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rouderon
So, if I hook up another router, can I connect the AE to one of the LAN ports and continue to use it as a NAS & printer hub? If so, how do I set it up?

Yes.

Depending on your model, instructions are here:

[manuals.info.apple.com]
[manuals.info.apple.com]

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Spiff
As far as I know, you cannot extend an AE with another router brand or add an AE to another router brand.

Not true, Spiff.

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Apple begets apple begets apple.

That's true, but not for the reasons many think.

restart it from the Utility menu or pull the plug.

My AE is connected via LAN in bridge mode to the Comcast router on the other end of the house.

I never got a USB powered hard drive to work consistently with it . But making it work wasn't high on my to do list. I didn't put a lot of thought or effort into it.
Never tried a USB printer. My color laser printer is wireless and the only weird thing I ran into was getting Yosemite to use it despite being able to see it.


Just about every time my AE quits 'working' every Comcast (HOME-XXXX, xfinity) router in the neighborhood is gone from the list of available wi-fi .

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Spiff
As far as I know, you cannot extend an AE with another router brand or add an AE to another router brand.

Not true, Spiff.

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Apple begets apple begets apple.

That's true, but not for the reasons many think.

Interesting. About 5 years ago, this was not the case, because I researched it extensively. I was all ready to extend my extreme with net gear and was flummoxed as to why it was not working. Then found that I could not wirelessly extend my network with another router other than an apple product. Something must have changed that I am unaware of (big shocker, there). I have linked my AE via ethernet to other routers and gone from there. There was never an issue with that.

Here's a link to apple discussions on wirelessly extending an airport network
[discussions.apple.com]

Looks like it can be done, but you need older admin programs and workarounds.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2015 02:25PM by Spiff.

Oh, and you can also unplug to AE and let it sit for 30 sec to a min, and then plug in the power. That will also restart the AE.

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Spiff

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Spiff
As far as I know, you cannot extend an AE with another router brand or add an AE to another router brand.

Not true, Spiff.

Quote

Apple begets apple begets apple.

That's true, but not for the reasons many think.

Interesting. About 5 years ago, this was not the case, because I researched it extensively. I was all ready to extend my extreme with net gear and was flummoxed as to why it was not working. Then found that I could not wirelessly extend my network with another router other than an apple product. Something must have changed that I am unaware of (big shocker, there). I have linked my AE via ethernet to other routers and gone from there. There was never an issue with that.

Here's a link to apple discussions on wirelessly extending an airport network
[discussions.apple.com]

Looks like it can be done, but you need older admin programs and workarounds.

Spiff, I was referring to the method the OP mentioned, i.e. via an ethernet link, in other words a roaming network. I do that here with an AEX and the crap that my ISP provided. It works fine.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2015 08:23PM by Article Accelerator.

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Spiff

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Spiff
As far as I know, you cannot extend an AE with another router brand or add an AE to another router brand.

Not true, Spiff.

Quote

Apple begets apple begets apple.

That's true, but not for the reasons many think.

Interesting. About 5 years ago, this was not the case, because I researched it extensively. I was all ready to extend my extreme with net gear and was flummoxed as to why it was not working. Then found that I could not wirelessly extend my network with another router other than an apple product. Something must have changed that I am unaware of (big shocker, there). I have linked my AE via ethernet to other routers and gone from there. There was never an issue with that.

Here's a link to apple discussions on wirelessly extending an airport network
[discussions.apple.com]

Looks like it can be done, but you need older admin programs and workarounds.

Spiff, I was referring to the method the OP mentioned, i.e. via an ethernet link, in other words a roaming network. I do that here with an AEX and the crap that my ISP provided. It works fine.

Gotcha! Sorry for the confusion...

Yeah, the technique AA is suggesting works quite well.