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I notice in the first pic the extreme has the same host name as the wireless network name, make these different.
Also the second pic has a different wireless network name
The important bit is that both extremes have the same wireless network name.

Matt

celtickiwi wrote:
I think this is what you are after
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=52002
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/DesigningAirPortNetworks0190271.pdf page 49
...

Matt

Thanks for the lookups. I already had one of those manuals and failed to understand it as applied to my situation. The other (p49) is leaving out big gaps of assumed knowledge. It also talks about items like "Click Network" where there is none. (We're not even on the same page

However the roaming concept is exactly what I need. Getting there between the acronyms and techtalk is another story.

It helps to bang your head against the desk when dealing with acronyms. Doesn't increase the understanding, but gives an explanation for the headache.

I thing the document is a little out of date. but the concepts don't change.

Ignore the WDS stuff

celtickiwi wrote:
I notice in the first pic the extreme has the same host name as the wireless network name, make these different.
Also the second pic has a different wireless network name
The important bit is that both extremes have the same wireless network name.

Matt

Unfortunately when I did those changes it completely knocked out the main base, and I also can't rescan both. A reboot looks necessary and after having reset them about a dozen times each now I am mightily discouraged. I will retire to bed and think about the fish shop job.

A reboot looks necessary
That's a good point. I remember needing to pull the power (Hard reset) on the airport after it saved and rebooted its self. Also I needed to reboot the Mac after any changes to the extreme as well. occasionally the main router as well.

Try this
Switch one off until the first one is working properly in bridge mode.
Then switch that one off.
Then configure the second one to work in bridge mode.
You may need to watch out for channels they are using.
If they both work independent of each other, they should be fine together, just like hot... (I'm sure Phil would delete that remark and tell me off if I left it in).

You should start with temporally disabling the use of security encryption etc. Add the security measures last. I've had a lot of trouble using WPA2 between my macbook and the extreme.

TIP
Holding the ALT/OPTION key when clicking on the Wireless ICON in menu bar, this will list the strongest signal from top to bottom, plus give the base station mac address, and force a scan of networks.

Matt

Apple may, believe it or not, be your friend here....

My guess, is you need to take the router out of the loop, remember the Airport Extreme is a very good router as well as just providing wireless...

I assume that your router is an ADSL modem/router? Or do you have cable with TelstraClear? Doesn't matter as it sounds like you have the internet bit sorted i.e. your router is happily piping the internet out.

You need to plug things in like this,

Internet/Router ---> WAN Port Airport 1.

PC ----> LAN Port Airport 1 (not your router, this is the bit that may be tripping you up).

If your router is supplying the internet then your Airport 1 can supply that on it's own DHCP server to all of the clients in your house. Anything else you had plugged into your router can instead be plugged into your Airport 1 LAN ports.

If you have things this way (i think) you will find that the Airport Utility will behave more as you expect.

So, steps to take.

1. Hard reset both Airports. Turn off Airport 2.
2. Plug things in as above.
3. Setup Airport 1 via Airport Utility to create wireless network and allow extending. I would recommend using the auto configuration (Apple is your friend)
This will ensure that your setup is vanilla and as expected by the next part of the process.

Despite the fact they are for the OS X version , follow the instructions from step 16 of this page (windows version will be the same, just not as pretty looking...)
http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=147

4. Check you have wireless internet with your iPhone.

If all is well then you can now try and setup the network extension stuff.

5. Turn on Airport 2.
6. Rescan with Airport Utility.
7. Hopefully you will now see your Airport 2.

Now at this point I am going on memory. Apple may allow you to have the option of "Join an existing wireless network" for the Extreme on their auto config screens, i.e if you just press continue.

If they do then follow the instructions from that point.

If not then you will have to dive into the manual setup again, but you should hopefully find things work this time.

If the autoconfig doesn't allow "join an existing network" then in the manual settings of Airport 2 you should double check your channels are the same and make sure you enter the network name of your Airport 1 network exactly right and any passwords exactly right.

9. Update settings.

10. Cross fingers. And toes. Wait for the green light of love on Airport 2.

Hopefully this info helps.

To be honest, the best option is to return the second Extreme and swap it for one of the Airport Express (n) versions. Not sure who told you it was appropriate to get a second extreme. For what you seem to be wanting to do it's probably overkill...

The utility is more designed to use the Expresses to extend an Extreme network and you will definitely find things go smoother.

Best of luck