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

802.11ac Ethernet Bridge

nosnhojm

nosnhojm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 16, 2011
192
226
I have an 802.11ac Timecapsule and am looking for a corresponding 802.11ac bridge that I can use to connect to my PS4's Ethernet port. I would purchase another Airport Extreme to use for this purpose, but I don't want to "extend" the network via WiFi (i.e., I don't want to enable the repeater/access point functionality since that will half my throughput); I just want it to act as an Ethernet client bridge (i.e., ProxySTA). I've read that only the Airport Express can do ProxySTA; not the Extreme.

So what other options do I have (if anything)? I believe that non-Apple bridges will not work (no WDS support on Airport), and I'm not a fan of Ethernet powerline adapters.
 
Well there's always a MOCA adapter. I've had bad luck with power line adapters, but in the right situation they can work. Otherwise you need to run CAT6.

Your PS4 is probably going to do better with a stable wired connection than wireless. For online gaming, consistency of pings is important.

One thing you could do is buy *two* more airport extreme's, then set up a dedicated wireless bridge over a separate SSID between your gateway and the PS4 using those two access points. Since none of your devices will be connecting to that SSID over wireless, there won't be any halving of throughput.
 
Last edited:
I think your best bet is to go on amazon and look at ac wireless bridges and the reviews. Find the model you want locally (to make returns easy, if necessary) and try it to see if it works well in your situation.

Wireless ac equipment should all be compatible, regardless of brand. Of course, real world may not be 100%, but it mostly is.

Wireless can be a funny thing, so it is always good to buy from a place with a good return policy.
 
nosnhojm said:
I have an 802.11ac Timecapsule and am looking for a corresponding 802.11ac bridge that I can use to connect to my PS4's Ethernet port. I would purchase another Airport Extreme to use for this purpose, but I don't want to "extend" the network via WiFi (i.e., I don't want to enable the repeater/access point functionality since that will half my throughput); I just want it to act as an Ethernet client bridge (i.e., ProxySTA). I've read that only the Airport Express can do ProxySTA; not the Extreme.



So what other options do I have (if anything)? I believe that non-Apple bridges will not work (no WDS support on Airport), and I'm not a fan of Ethernet powerline adapters.
Click to expand...


If you get another Extreme and tell it to "Join" the network it will be an Ethernet bridge.
 
nosnhojm said:
This is only available on the Express (i.e., ProxySTA); the Extreme only has "Extend a wireless network".

AirPort Express: What is client mode?

AirPort Express: How to join an existing Wi-Fi network in client mode

I guess I'll just wait and hope that an updated Express comes out that supports 802.11ac (and ProxySTA); although I do think this is unlikely anytime soon.
Click to expand...

While I know that you don't want to use the Extreme in repeater mode, provided that you get ample bandwidth going in, meaning the placement is correct, you are not going to see any bottlenecks. As for 3rd party repeaters, they will work so long as you can manually edit the settings. That being said, most of them have a power line or Ethernet reliance.
 
Altemose said:
While I know that you don't want to use the Extreme in repeater mode, provided that you get ample bandwidth going in, meaning the placement is correct, you are not going to see any bottlenecks. As for 3rd party repeaters, they will work so long as you can manually edit the settings. That being said, most of them have a power line or Ethernet reliance.
Click to expand...

Using the Extreme to extend the network will half the bandwidth (as you also stated here). Since the Extreme is rated for 1300 Mbps, that would bring the bandwidth down to 650 Mbps for all devices that connect to it. That isn't really much benefit over just using the Express in ProxySTA mode, which would provide 450 Mbps using 802.11n. Of course, these are all theoretical numbers; the actual bandwidth will likely be less than half of those numbers.

But I guess you could also ask what benefit does 802.11ac provide to a PS4 when the bottleneck is your ISP connection (mine is 50 Mbps)? I was hoping for lower latency and less signal interference (the PS4 by itself does not support 5GHz). I'm not sure if 802.11ac has lower latency than 802.11n, and using an Express is ProxySTA mode would provide me with the 5 GHz.
 
nosnhojm said:
Using the Extreme to extend the network will half the bandwidth (as you also stated here). Since the Extreme is rated for 1300 Mbps, that would bring the bandwidth down to 650 Mbps for all devices that connect to it. That isn't really much benefit over just using the Express in ProxySTA mode, which would provide 450 Mbps using 802.11n. Of course, these are all theoretical numbers; the actual bandwidth will likely be less than half of those numbers.

But I guess you could also ask what benefit does 802.11ac provide to a PS4 when the bottleneck is your ISP connection (mine is 50 Mbps)? I was hoping for lower latency and less signal interference (the PS4 by itself does not support 5GHz). I'm not sure if 802.11ac has lower latency than 802.11n, and using an Express is ProxySTA mode would provide me with the 5 GHz.
Click to expand...

In this case, Ethernet would be the best method obviously. In regards to the bandwidth being halved, it probably won't be even close to causing an issue with latency or even coming close to slowing down your Internet connection.

Walk around the house with your Mac if you have one and download iStumbler. Find where the Signal to Noise Ratio is about 30 and the signal is still adequate and your repeater goes there.

Buying the Express seems like a counterintuitive measure. All that "Join" mode would get you a slightly more powerful wireless adapter and a wallet that is $100 lighter. The Extreme set to Extend between the PS4 and the original Extreme is probably the best method? How bad is the signal currently where the PS4 is located?
 
Fixating on the bandwidth is really not that relevant to what you are trying to do. Any solid 5 GHz connection will get the job done. The key being a solid connection. Wired is still best.

Wiring the PS4 into the extender should not halve the maximum throughput. That only happens when the extender has to repeat a wireless signal from a client.
 
nosnhojm said:
I have an 802.11ac Timecapsule and am looking for a corresponding 802.11ac bridge that I can use to connect to my PS4's Ethernet port. I would purchase another Airport Extreme to use for this purpose, but I don't want to "extend" the network via WiFi (i.e., I don't want to enable the repeater/access point functionality since that will half my throughput); I just want it to act as an Ethernet client bridge (i.e., ProxySTA). I've read that only the Airport Express can do ProxySTA; not the Extreme.

So what other options do I have (if anything)? I believe that non-Apple bridges will not work (no WDS support on Airport), and I'm not a fan of Ethernet powerline adapters.
Click to expand...


I have a new Airport Extreme and use a Trendnet AC1200 ac wireless bridge. I also have a older model Trendnet bridge (480n) connected. They both work fine. You do have to connect to the Trendnet via ethernet cable to a pc type device to configure the WI-FI connection because as you have stated the Airport Extreme has no WPS button. The Trendnet has 4 Gigabit ports. I have never used a Timecapsule so I am not aware of it Wi-Fi capabilities vs a Airport Extreme but if you can connect a device to Timecapsule using the SID Name and password the Trendnet should work.

The Trendnet setup is browser based and slightly confusing at first but once connected it hasn't dropped a connection since.
 
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
Back