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tuneman07

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 25, 2007
146
0
I just set up an Airport extreme network and am wanting to run in 5ghz mode as I have two N laptops and an Xbox 360 (using the Airport Express in client mode to connect). One laptop is a Macbook pro which is arriving in a few hours so I assume thats good with the 5ghz band but the other laptop is an older PC with a brand new N wireless card. Basically my question is whether or not this new model N card should be compatible with 5ghz and can the Express as a client utilize 5ghz? I have been doing some trial and error but no success yet and just want to be sure this is possible before I dedicate some real troubleshooting time.
 
If both your laptops are using N then there should be no problem. The macbook pro is definitely N so thats perfect. The only problem there I can see is the XBox being on the network.

I dont really know anything about them but if the XBox wireless is only G compatible the whole network will drop down to G speed on every device when it is connected. This wont cause any problems but you wont be getting your full N network capacity.
 
The Xbox isn't necessarily limited to G I don't think- I simply have it hooked into the express with an ethernet cable so as far as the xbox knows it is just getting whatever the express is putting out. I guess my main question is does the express utilize 5ghz in client mode.
 
The Xbox isn't necessarily limited to G I don't think- I simply have it hooked into the express with an ethernet cable so as far as the xbox knows it is just getting whatever the express is putting out. I guess my main question is does the express utilize 5ghz in client mode.

If it's a new Airport Express N, then yes, if it is the original one, then no.

Also, if you want things running at full N speeds make sure you go into manual setup in the Airport Utility and change it to 802.11 N only (5Ghz) - that is, if you have the new Airport Express, as mentioned above. Otherwise you'd need to run it in N/G compatibility mode, which will slow down the whole network.
 
Thanks for the responses- I finally got it working fine in N mode with everything. Interestingly though the PC doesn't work in 5ghz mode. Is it possible the card is not 5ghz compatible? Its brand new I figured all N cards worked on 5ghz.
 
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