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Trouble1

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 18, 2007
132
21
Thailand
I currently own an iphone 4S and will be buying a ipad mini for mostly internet consumption.
I'm buying the newest MBP 13" for internet productivity and other hobbies that require it.

I live in Chiang Mai, Thailand. My condo room 50/sqmeters only has LAN Ethernet connection in the rooms, WiFi in the lobby.
I want a WiFi network for my room/porch. It's mostly for internet surfing, video watching and online TV (with the iphone/ipad devices) and nothing too demanding with the MBP for internet use.
Using a friends Window's laptop connected to my room's LAN connected via ethernet cable, I did a speed test using the standard Ookla site.
It registered 25Mbps DL and 30Mbps UL.
I've seen YT videos of speeds elsewhere in Thailand of 40Mbps.

SO... my question is regarding connecting to the internet.
Obviously no ethernet on the MBP.

The Airport Express does not have the latest WiFi rated .11ac, but it seems suited to small apt/condo and for all of my needs.
The data rate is 300Mbps and the Extreme is 1.3Gbps.

*Ok, here is the dumb question. IF the internet speed tests show under 300Mbps, is there any reason to pay up for the higher speed of the Extreme?
The MBP is the only .11ac device and if I ever get access to or need that speed I will purchase the TB/ethernet dongle... speaking of the dongle, I will probably buy one anyway if and when needed.

With the dongle, I could probably get around the room with my long ethernet cable, but I have read that keeping the dongle attached to the MBP it will eventually create a less than ideal connection (becoming loose)... and I would have to have my MBP on to use the network feature while using the ipad/iphone.

I don't have the luxury of buying a refurbed device here (and the Singapore store almost never has them) so buying a refurbed Extreme is not available.
The cost of buying both the dongle and the Express is not an issue either.

SO, back to the question*.
 

inscrewtable

macrumors 68000
Oct 9, 2010
1,656
402
The current Airport express is perfect for you and you will not get faster speeds with the extreme.
 
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