5th Gen Airport Extreme - Why is range so small?

[powerbook911]

I have had just about every generation of Airport Extreme.

My place is just under 1,000 square feet. In other words, it's small. Nevertheless, I can never get the Airport Extremes to get me a good signal to my living room with my Mac Mini and Apple TV.

Therefore, I upgraded to the newest, 5th generation Airport Extreme. It is said to be the greatest yet, with improved performance.

Well, still, not so great. I get about 1Mbps speedtest.net on my Mac Mini whereas my net connection in the rest of the house is 4.5Mbps.

Can an Airport Extreme really not work in such a small place? What do people do that actually have a large home?

Yes, I have tried using Expresses to extend it and whatnot too, with not much better results honestly and just more complication.

 

[flopticalcube]

My first gen gets at least 10MB/s just about anywhere in my house (2200sqft, two floors).

 

[mmomega]

My 3rd Gen is in the front right office and does just fine and I get full signal every room in the house and 2 bars in the backyard and house is just over 2400 sq ft.

 

[powerbook911]

I must have some insane walls in my place. Wi-Fi blocks. Too bad they don't keep the heat and cold out. ha.

 

[psxguru]

What channels are you using? How many other networks can you pick up from your place and what channels are they using?

 

[hafr]

I have had just about every generation of Airport Extreme.

My place is just under 1,000 square feet. In other words, it's small. Nevertheless, I can never get the Airport Extremes to get me a good signal to my living room with my Mac Mini and Apple TV.

Therefore, I upgraded to the newest, 5th generation Airport Extreme. It is said to be the greatest yet, with improved performance.

Well, still, not so great. I get about 1Mbps speedtest.net on my Mac Mini whereas my net connection in the rest of the house is 4.5Mbps.

Can an Airport Extreme really not work in such a small place? What do people do that actually have a large home?

Yes, I have tried using Expresses to extend it and whatnot too, with not much better results honestly and just more complication.

First thing to do is place it as high as possible (most sources of interference are from about your torso down because of how we place electrical outlets, microwaves and so on). If this doesn't help, try going through the channels one by one until you find the one that gives you the best results.

My place is about the same size as yours, and in the master bedroom I can barely stream a 720p XviD (sometimes it lags) because of the supporting wall that's blocking the signal (only one wall between the office and the bedroom), but in other rooms (further away from the router, with more but thinner walls interfering) I get great speeds.