Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Upgrade from Express to Extreme as Wireless Extender?

J

jdag

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 15, 2012
837
213
I have a current generation Time Capsule in my upstairs office, along with a current generation AirPort Express extending the network down in my basement. The Express extends the Time Capsule wirelessly as I cannot (easily) run an ethernet cable between the locations.

Hanging off of the Express is an 8 port switch, with 7 ethernet connections to various devices (AppleTV, Denon AVR, TiVo, etc.).

Generally, the connection between the Time Capsule and the basement Express is reported as "Excellent" by the AirPort Utility, with connection speed normally above 200 and up to the max of 300 Mb/s.

Would I see any benefit in replacing the Express with an AirPort Extreme with AC capability?

I do have several newer devices that use AC (iPhone 6, rMBP, iPad Air 2).
 
6

65535

macrumors member
Jul 20, 2011
63
0
You aren't using up your entire bandwidth as it is even with multiple HD streams, latency is the only issue I could imagine and only wired will improve that.
 
J

jdag

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 15, 2012
837
213
Thanks for the prompt responses. I will try again to run a cable...I've tried a bit in the past, but may be able to find another route.
 
6

65535

macrumors member
Jul 20, 2011
63
0
Are you experiencing actual issues with the current connection or are you just looking for overall better performance?

Having a dedicated run of cat 6 (buy a 1000' box and lay a few runs while you're going through the motions) is the most optimal solution but as you note it's a ton of work in some houses.

If your performance is okay I'd say leave it until there is more HD content available such as 4K and high bitrate streams of 1080p60 or 1440p.
 
mmomega

mmomega

macrumors demi-god
Dec 30, 2009
3,879
2,089
DFW, TX
Connecting with ethernet will be far and away the best thing to do to improve your network and once you do and see the benefits you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

I tried various solutions like powerline extending, wireless extending. Finally installing CAT6 throughout the house was a good and bad day, only bad because I was upset I had spent so much time and money trying to get away from running the cable when it only took half a weekend to wire my whole house and I don't have to worry about it again. And I end up with a better product.
 
J

jdag

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 15, 2012
837
213
Thanks again. I will try running the cabling this w/e.

I am really not having any trouble...was just wondering if a modest investment in moving from the Express to the AC Extreme would be worth the $100 or so (since I'd sell the Express or use it at a family member's house).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom