92 MACWORLD SEPTEMBER 2020
WORKINGMAC REPLACE AN APPLE AIRPORT NETWORKWi-Fi network setup, but can cost two to
four times comparable old-style Wi-Fi
routers.
I increasingly get email from readers
who have failing or kaput AirPort base
station equipment and want to set up a
network with the same simplicity, but at a
lower cost than mesh options. Such
readers are in the same situation I am in:
we have some ethernet wiring or have
strung some ethernet cables in the house
to connect base stations and just want to
swap out what we have for the latest.
Mesh may sound great, but why not use
the wiring we have?
Readers ask for what was a breeze
with AirPort configurations: a single
network that allows devices to roam
seamlessly without awkward handoffs
between base stations. Any device that
has a Wi-Fi adapter that lets it connect to a
network—whether an iPad, laptop,
Nintendo Switch, Android phone, or smart
fridge—automatically roams among base
stations that share the same network
name and encryption setup, including
password. Apple made it easy to set up a
series of base stations that could have
unique individual names (to identify them
for configuration), but could be set to
share the same network name to allow
devices to roam.
(Because this roaming is dependent
on individual devices, you can see
different performance among them.
Roaming devices should switch
automatically from a weak signal to a
stronger one, but iPhones in particular
seem to sometimes stick to a weak signal
even when it provides a very slow link
and much closer routers are available.)
The tricks to setting up an ethernet-
connected AirPort replacement network
are straightforward:
> One of your Wi-Fi gateways needs to
act as the “main” unit. It connects via its
WAN (Wide Area Networking) port to your
broadband modem.
> The main network takes the Internet
Protocol (IP) address handed off by the
broadband modem and creates a private
network range and passes out addresses
to Wi-Fi- and ethernet-connected devices.
(This is the combination known as NAT and
DHCP: NAT manages the private network
range; DHCP hands out addresses.)
> Connect each additional router via
ethernet to the LAN ports on the main
router. You can also insert ethernet
switches for convenience or to span
greater distances between the main router
and additional ones.
> Configure each additional router as a
bridge or access point. The terminology
varies by Wi-Fi device maker. You want
these routers to neither create a private
network nor pass out addresses. Instead,
they pass through the NAT/DHCP combo