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New Airport Extreme? Worth It? ...turns out Oh Yes!

MacGuru100

MacGuru100

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 8, 2013
25
0
lexington ky, and Ft Myers Fl
Was planning on being unimpressed, but just the opposite. Great!

I have an airport extreme only 5 months only (5th generation), but when I picked up this new Airport Extreme with the redesigned antenna geometry, and the Ultrafast 802.11ac Wi-Fi; I KNEW I'd get better bi-di communication on my brand new 2013 macbook air, which I do, but what turned out a real shocker is Im getting around 30% faster www cruising on my Ipad 4th gen and my Ipad mini! Why didn't apple Inc. advertise "Hey, not ONLY will you get blazing better speeds with the new Ultrafast 802.11ac Wi-Fi,...but ALSO you'll notice faster speeds on your Ipads and other devices"

My wifi on my 2012 Macbook Pro is about 20% or more faster on downloads and MUCH faster refresh on known sites.

I was planning on getting faster speeds on ONLY my new Macbook Air, and FURTHER stronger signal strength. But additionally a HUGE PLUS is my now-faster Ipad communications and home networking speeds.

Was it worth the $200 considering I had a basically a new (older model) airport extreme? Absolutely YES. WORTH IT!

picture of it with my tattooed hand in foreground

23wl72c.jpg
 
Last edited:
Sodner

Sodner

macrumors 68020
Jan 12, 2011
2,112
78
Pittsburgh, PA
MacGuru100 said:
Was planning on being unimpressed, but just the opposite. Great!

I have an airport extreme only 5 months only (5th generation), but when I picked up this new Airport Extreme with the redesigned antenna geometry, and the Ultrafast 802.11ac Wi-Fi; I KNEW I'd get better bi-di communication on my brand new 2013 macbook air, which I do, but what turned out a real shocker is Im getting around 30% faster www cruising on my Ipad 4th gen and my Ipad mini! Why didn't apple Inc. advertise "Hey, not ONLY will you get blazing better speeds with the new Ultrafast 802.11ac Wi-Fi,...but ALSO you'll notice faster speeds on your Ipads and other devices"

My wifi on my 2012 Macbook Pro is about 20% or more faster on downloads and MUCH faster refresh on known sites.

I was planning on getting faster speeds on ONLY my new Macbook Air, and FURTHER stronger signal strength. But additionally a HUGE PLUS is my now-faster Ipad communications and home networking speeds.

Was it worth the $200 considering I had a basically a new (older model) airport extreme? Absolutely YES. WORTH IT!
Click to expand...

[Grabs car keys to head to Apple Store.]
 
MacGuru100

MacGuru100

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 8, 2013
25
0
lexington ky, and Ft Myers Fl
bought the new macbook AIR 13" few days ago.

I said yesterday, what the hell, ill get the "super magical" new airport extreme.


i did NOT FIGURE out that it would make my ipads peel rubber on www cruising too!!


I wasnt expecting much, and i hate everything (sourpuss),.....but it impressed me a LOT

Even better,...... last extreme was a Bit** to setup..............THIS ONE, Helen Keller could have set it up.
 
Outrigger

Outrigger

macrumors 68000
Dec 22, 2008
1,765
96
MacGuru100 said:
Was planning on being unimpressed, but just the opposite. Great!

I have an airport extreme only 5 months only (5th generation), but when I picked up this new Airport Extreme with the redesigned antenna geometry, and the Ultrafast 802.11ac Wi-Fi; I KNEW I'd get better bi-di communication on my brand new 2013 macbook air, which I do, but what turned out a real shocker is Im getting around 30% faster www cruising on my Ipad 4th gen and my Ipad mini! Why didn't apple Inc. advertise "Hey, not ONLY will you get blazing better speeds with the new Ultrafast 802.11ac Wi-Fi,...but ALSO you'll notice faster speeds on your Ipads and other devices"

My wifi on my 2012 Macbook Pro is about 20% or more faster on downloads and MUCH faster refresh on known sites.

I was planning on getting faster speeds on ONLY my new Macbook Air, and FURTHER stronger signal strength. But additionally a HUGE PLUS is my now-faster Ipad communications and home networking speeds.

Was it worth the $200 considering I had a basically a new (older model) airport extreme? Absolutely YES. WORTH IT!
Click to expand...

so that is what placebo effect means....
 
C

crisg

macrumors member
Jun 17, 2009
76
0
Browsing is significantly improved with my AE 6th gen too. I'm on nothing but N devices and most definitely saw a great improvement. Very happy.
 
nuckinfutz

nuckinfutz

macrumors 603
Jul 3, 2002
5,539
399
Middle Earth
Sounds legit.

The teardowns that i've seen haven't mentioned the processor yet. I believe the 5th Gen use a Marvell ARM processor. These new processors have to be a good deal faster so even 11n stuff should improve.
 
wesk702

wesk702

macrumors 68000
Jul 7, 2007
1,809
368
The hood
Just bought one today. Very happy with the speed improvements to my wireless N devices.

I was getting 22MB/s on the last gen

Now I'm getting 30+ MB/s on the new gen
 

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whsbuss

whsbuss

macrumors 601
May 4, 2010
4,183
1,043
SE Penna.
Well I'm gonna wait till SmallNetBuilder does their review in the next few weeks. Running a Netgear R6300 802.11ac now and its wifi range is very good - throughput just OK.
 
Outrigger

Outrigger

macrumors 68000
Dec 22, 2008
1,765
96
MacGuru100 said:
Yes, well, if your ROUTER input from you ISP is running on hamsters in a wheel..., ....even the new Extreme isnt going to improve speeds.


I suspect thats your glitch. sic :p
Click to expand...

I like your humor... ;)
 

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Giuly

Giuly

macrumors 68040
Oct 16, 2009
3,348
4
That depends whether you ask for timezone, state o
CaptHenryMorgan said:
So much kool-aid in this thread. I've had AC gear for months. Bought the new extreme, compared it to my 5th Gen. No difference. Just sayin.
Click to expand...

For the 4th-gen iPad and iPad Mini to be faster without looking at WAN-WiFi throughput, the only explanation is that the old router didn't support channel bonding/dual-band/wide channels so it stuck to 65MBit/s instead of 150MBit/s. Your 5th-gen AirPort Extreme does those already.
 
jbachandouris

jbachandouris

macrumors 603
Aug 18, 2009
5,778
2,905
Upstate NY
I bought an open box 5th gen extreme since it was a good deal, but I may upgrade to the 6th gen this weekend when they show up at my local Best Buy.

I'm getting around 22MB, but my Netgear N-300 was getting around 27MB (wanted a USB port as this didn't have one).
 
W

waw74

macrumors 601
May 27, 2008
4,682
949
wesk702 said:
Just bought one today. Very happy with the speed improvements to my wireless N devices.

I was getting 22MB/s on the last gen

Now I'm getting 30+ MB/s on the new gen
Click to expand...

That's your internet speed, more determined by your modem and the ISP.
not your network speed which is determined by your router

you're getting 30Mb/s (big difference, 30MB = 240Mb or 30Mb = 3.75 MB) (color to separate numbers visually)
capitalization makes a huge ammount of difference here.
8 megabit (Mb) = 1 megabyte (MB)

I get just over 200 Mb/s with my 5GHz wireless N cisco router. (internal link speed)
I got about 30Mb/s on speedtest.net

wireless N is far faster than most home internet connections.

the only time you'll see speed increase is on internal file transfers.

to get the link speed either launch network utility in the applications/utility folder, or alt-click the wifi icon in your menu bar.
untill people post these numbers, and don't use the internet for speed testing, it's all koolaid.
 
wesk702

wesk702

macrumors 68000
Jul 7, 2007
1,809
368
The hood
waw74 said:
That's your internet speed, more determined by your modem and the ISP.
not your network speed which is determined by your router

you're getting 30Mb/s (big difference, 30MB = 240Mb or 30Mb = 3.75 MB) (color to separate numbers visually)
capitalization makes a huge ammount of difference here.
8 megabit (Mb) = 1 megabyte (MB)

I get just over 200 Mb/s with my 5GHz wireless N cisco router. (internal link speed)
I got about 30Mb/s on speedtest.net

wireless N is far faster than most home internet connections.

the only time you'll see speed increase is on internal file transfers.

to get the link speed either launch network utility in the applications/utility folder, or alt-click the wifi icon in your menu bar.
untill people post these numbers, and don't use the internet for speed testing, it's all koolaid.
Click to expand...
Yeah I know, typing on an iphone. Mb/s! but my speeds are faster with the new router. What else is there to say. Glad your here to let everyone know routers don't make a difference even though I'm getting 30Mb/s opposed to 20Mb/s.
 
T

techn0lady

macrumors regular
Apr 10, 2010
105
0
MacGuru100 said:
bought the new macbook AIR 13" few days ago.

I said yesterday, what the hell, ill get the "super magical" new airport extreme.


i did NOT FIGURE out that it would make my ipads peel rubber on www cruising too!!


I wasn't expecting much, and i hate everything (sourpuss),.....but it impressed me a LOT

Even better,...... last extreme was a Bit** to setup..............THIS ONE, Helen Keller could have set it up.
Click to expand...

OK , firstly the old airport extreme and this new one (which I actually have) use the exact same user interface and setup.

Secondly, the new airport extreme won't make your ipad run any faster because the iPad used N wireless protocol on both the old and new extremes.

I sincerely doubt that you actually have purchased the Extreme. Your other also see to dwell in imaginative exaggeration.
 
MacGuru100

MacGuru100

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 8, 2013
25
0
lexington ky, and Ft Myers Fl
techn0lady said:
OK , firstly the old airport extreme and this new one (which I actually have) use the exact same user interface and setup.

Secondly, the new airport extreme won't make your ipad run any faster because the iPad used N wireless protocol on both the old and new extremes.

I sincerely doubt that you actually have purchased the Extreme. Your other also see to dwell in imaginative exaggeration.
Click to expand...

In fact i purchased it yesterday at best buy , and price matched it with macmall for $194

Since i mentioned im tattooed, heres a pic i just took with the EXTREME you said I "lied about buying" with my tattooed hand in the foreground.... apology accepted now.

23wl72c.jpg



dont go around calling strangers (myself) liars, ok.

Very pathetic.



......and dear, ive already read 5 others posters mentioning faster speeds on reception on their Ipads.

So, I reject your doxophilia premise based upon empirical consensus reports ive already stated.
 
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MCAsan

MCAsan

macrumors 601
Jul 9, 2012
4,587
442
Atlanta
I replaced older TC with express extender with a new TC and new Extreme as extender on the opposite side of the house. We now get full 3 bars on Ipads where we previously only received 2 bars. Very glad we upgraded.
 
E

ecosse011172

macrumors member
Feb 28, 2005
34
0
waw74 said:
That's your internet speed, more determined by your modem and the ISP.
not your network speed which is determined by your router

you're getting 30Mb/s (big difference, 30MB = 240Mb or 30Mb = 3.75 MB) (color to separate numbers visually)
capitalization makes a huge ammount of difference here.
8 megabit (Mb) = 1 megabyte (MB)

I get just over 200 Mb/s with my 5GHz wireless N cisco router. (internal link speed)
I got about 30Mb/s on speedtest.net

wireless N is far faster than most home internet connections.

the only time you'll see speed increase is on internal file transfers.

to get the link speed either launch network utility in the applications/utility folder, or alt-click the wifi icon in your menu bar.
untill people post these numbers, and don't use the internet for speed testing, it's all koolaid.
Click to expand...


That's not true, the new AE could have an improved signal and range enabling far faster internet. YOu're making the assumtion that 'n' is running at full speed everywhere in the home, it most definitely is not.

Right next to my router I get 150MBit/s on speedtest, only 8MBit/s on my iMac 12m away.
 
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