Wifi Network Help

[MarcB]

So I currently have an Apple Airport Extreme 5th Gen being used as my wifi router running all my apple devices.

My internet speed is fine around the house until I go up the stairs.
I pay for 100mbps and im usually around 110mbps.

When I go up the stairs in my house it drops to below 30mbps so I have extended my wifi network using another airport extreme but this is a 1st Gen, Even when doing this is only around 25/30mbps and its around 10feet from the airport extreme 1st Gen.

Now I know apple stopped supporting the AirPort Extreme around 2018 and there is no more help or support but im wondering if the speed is still so slow because im using a 5th Gen to a 1st Gen.

I have been thinking about buying a Apple airport extreme 6th Gen to place down the stairs and run the 5th Gen up the stairs and completely do away with the 1st Gen.

Otherwise im looking at getting two long distance routers that work with apple equipment -
Macbooks , Iphones , Apple TV, Ipads & Watches

 

[andybond]

1st gen supports 802.11G rating which is capped at 54mbps.
5th gen is 802.1n rated which is capped at 300mbps

That is the reason for the drastic speed drops. All caps are perfect world lab examples.

 

[MarcB]

1st gen supports 802.11G rating which is capped at 54mbps.
5th gen is 802.1n rated which is capped at 300mbps

That is the reason for the drastic speed drops. All caps are perfect world lab examples.

@andybond

Im confused as it states this for the 1st Gen

The 5th Gen states this

 

[N0ddie]

Stop pi$$ing around with Apple routers and get yerself a decent "enterprise" level one.

Just get a Ubiquiti Dream Machine.

 

[MarcB]

Stop pi$$ing around with Apple routers and get yerself a decent "enterprise" level one.

Just get a Ubiquiti Dream Machine.

And a Ubiquiti Dream Machine is what ?

I have always had the airport extreme since about 2010 and just never thought about changing or upgrading.

I was looking at serious range ones but some of them are £900 and im not paying that.

 

[boultonn]

As above, go UniFi, either the UDM or pick up a few access points and go from there.
Mesh or multi-AP setup is a must if you’ve got a big house or signal issues.

 

[andybond]

@andybond

Im confused as it states this for the 1st Gen

View attachment 1565507

The 5th Gen states this

View attachment 1565508

Take not of the word draft. The n rating wasnt really supported as it was just that a draft spec by the exteme gen1. Hence its max of 54mpbs and you seeing 30mbps. About what I would expect.

 

[MarcB]

Now looking at doing away with the apple Airports and getting something along the lines of Asus zenwifi ac ct8 ac3000

Product Identifiers
Brand	ASUS
MPN	90IG04T0-MO3R40
EAN	4718017585576
Model	ASUS ZenWiFi CT8
eBay Product ID (ePID)	17039224746
Product Key Features
Maximum Wireless Data Rate	3466 Mbps
Connectivity	Wireless-Wi-Fi 802.11a, Wireless-Wi-Fi 802.11b, Wireless-Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Wireless-Wi-Fi 802.11g
Maximum LAN Data Rate	1000 Mbps
Frequency Bands	2.4 GHz, 5 GHz
Colour	White
Modem Device Type	ADSL Modems & Routers
Features	Tri-Band
Ports	USB 3.1
Type	Wireless Router
Number of LAN Ports	4

 

[MarcB]

Im looking once again at some other Routers (Netgear Orbi) but some of them are only Dual-Band & not Tri-Band.

Is there much difference between them ?

 

[MarcB]

Just a small thread bump but bought myself the Netgeard Wifi 6 Orbi , AX1800 WiFi 6 Whole Home Mesh WiFi System (RBK353)

Was £350 but on sale for £224 direct from Netgear.

Got my 200+mbps all over the house, In the front and back garden and surrounding area.

Best jump I have made and its so good to have it all on the app also.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Hang on I recently got a set which I'm pretty happy, I'll dig the deets out

EDIT* I bought these last year:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0851D6MXY/?tag=cliospnet01-21

I bought them because at the time they had great reviews, and each unit has 2× Gigabit Ports which which was important for my office setup. I have one plugged into my BT router (the BT router has wifi switched off), then the other two dotted about the house. I get about 200Mb/s down, 80Mb/s up everywhere in the house.

They were unbelievably easy to setup and the app is fantastic, can set device priority, block specific websites for specific devices (great for keeping young kids off youtube), set guest wifi networks etcetc. I've been very impressed by them. Peak speed was better with the BT unit, but speed in other rooms is better with the mesh routers.

I get 40Mb/s at the bottom of my garden which is about 125 feet away from the first hub. For under £100 they take some beating.

EDIT
I see I did not read your reply above, or look at the dates... I am an idiot.

Good bye.

 

[MarcB]

So I have the router in the living room with 4 ports.
One satellite in the front bedroom and one satellite in the back bedroom so its all over.

The satellites both have 2 ports each which is handy in the bedrooms

The App for Netgear is amazing

 

[Robbie Corbett]

So I have the router in the living room with 4 ports.
One satellite in the front bedroom and one satellite in the back bedroom so its all over.

The satellites both have 2 ports each which is handy in the bedrooms

The App for Netgear is amazing

View attachment 1592867

View attachment 1592868

View attachment 1592869

Very similar on the TP Link one I have - 10 years ago this s**t would have been voodo to setup so smoothly.

 

[MarcB]

Yeah , took me a very long time to move away from the apple airports that I have but as always once the move was made it changed my whole wifi setup.

I now keep looking at wifi6E stuff which is mega overkill but would be amazing to have.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Yeah , took me a very long time to move away from the apple airports that I have but as always once the move was made it changed my whole wifi setup.

I now keep looking at wifi6E stuff which is mega overkill but would be amazing to have.

View attachment 1592872

What more would that give you? Range/speed?

For an office I think it would make a lot of sense.

 

[MarcB]

What more would that give you? Range/speed?

For an office I think it would make a lot of sense.

I pay for 100mbps from virgin but due to Volt and being with O2 it means I'm boosted up to 200Mbps free of charge.
To get the full speed of this I'm guessing you would need to be running the best speed virgin (In my case) could supply.

Its range is 7,500 sq. ft and up too 200+ devices (silly amount in a house IMO)

The fact its dual band & Wifi 6E it seems to be the quickest there is.

 

[Oggy997]

I have the rbk853

'tis awesome, don't even use the second satellite.
I upgraded from the RBK50 i think it was