How to get an Airport Express to wirelessly extend your Linksys WRT54GL

I have a Linksys WRT54GL wireless router running the latest Linksys firmware and an Airport Express (g, no n) running firmware 6.3

The Airport Express used to sit in my bedroom hooked up to some speakers, and the Linksys in my living room. By the time the Linksys’ signal reached my bedroom, it was spotty on my MacBook Pro, and streaming music dropped our frequently. (As did Skype, iChat video, etc.)

The Airport Express can be configured to extend a wireless connection (as opposed to joining it) using WDS, but there’s a lot of conflicting and outdated info on whether or how the it will work with non-Apple wireless routers.

After fiddling for a half hour or so, I got it to work. Here’s how…

1) Click on the Airport tab in the Airport Setup Utility

2) Select “Participate in a WDS Network” for your Wireless Mode

3) Type in the name of the network you want to extend, exactly

Things should look like this now:

Note: You can use WEP security (there are reports WPA doesn’t work when extending the network) but I encourage you not to. The dangers of opening up your wireless network are few (especially if you’re using a Mac) and completely overblown by the media. The benefits — letting guests online easily, not remembering another password, sharing your internet with others, etc. — outweigh them.

4) Get the MAC address of the wireless router you’re extending from its online configuration interface. With the Linksys, you’ll find it here:

5) Hop on over to the WDS tab in the Airport Setup Utility

6) Change your WDS Mode to “WDS remote”

7) Check “Allow Wireless Clients” and paste the router MAC address you just looked up into WDS Main

That’s it!

Update your settings, let your Airport Express restart, and once it reboots, it should be extending your Linksys network seamlessly. My connection’s no longer dropping in my bedroom and music is streaming wirelessly.

Amazon sells both the Airport Express and Linksys WRT54GL.