Airport Express g to Extreme n, faster internet connection?

[Luba]

Ok, got an Airport Express g and have had it for about 5 years. Still works, but thinking of getting the Extreme with n since I now have an n card, and my roomie has g. I've reading getting the n with extend range but what about internet connection speed? The internet comes in at 10Mbps goes to cable modem then to Express router. Does it then to go our computers at g speed (54Mbps)?? If yes, then a Extreme n router would sent the internet to my computer at n speeds (300 Mbps). In real life would I feel a difference?

My other option would be to have the cable company re-wire the cable modem to where my Mac is located. In that case, would the internet connection leave the cable modem at 1Gbps speed via a CAT6 into my Mac?

BTWm how long does a typical Express router lasts? Perhaps I am better off waiting until it simply breaks down in getting a new Extreme n router.

Thanks in advance.

 

[r.j.s]

In real life bandwidth, you are probably almost maxing out the 10Mbps internet connection with 54Mbps wireless.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

In real life bandwidth, you are probably almost maxing out the 10Mbps internet connection with 54Mbps wireless.

Slight misunderstanding there. N routers will cover more area and transfer packets much quicker than a G router can due to the 2.4/5.0GHz frequencies. It's not a night/day difference, but it's noticeable.

To OP, the new Airport Extreme routers are dual-band, so you can simultaneously have a N and G connection. Your roommate will still be able to use G if that's what he/she wishes.

 

[CubeHacker]

Your internet connection running at 10mbps would be the bottleneck whether you are running at G or N speeds. The only task you would feel a difference in for speed would be when transferring large files between two computers on your home network wirelessly. Actually browsing the internet or downloading files from the internet will not get any faster.

 

[DoFoT9]

In real life bandwidth, you are probably almost maxing out the 10Mbps internet connection with 54Mbps wireless.

that depends...

its COMPLETELY false if his internet speed is 10megaBITS /ps. that is nowhere near using the full bandwidth.

its true if his internet is 10megaBYTES /ps. 802.11g can only get around 6megaBYTES /ps theoretical max. (a number much closer to 3megaBYTES /ps is experienced).

so OP, which one is it??

if its the latter, then yes, you will see a very nice improvement if the earier - its a waste.

 

[Signal-11]

Think about it, dude. If you stuck your garden hose into one end of a firehose, would the water at the other end come out any faster?

 

[Luba]

I am not sure now! How do the cable companies typically advertise their speeds? I am now not sure if the rep said I have 10 mega bits per second down or 10 mega bytes per second download. I do recall him saying it's 2 upload.

that depends...

its COMPLETELY false if his internet speed is 10megaBITS /ps. that is nowhere near using the full bandwidth.

its true if his internet is 10megaBYTES /ps. 802.11g can only get around 6megaBYTES /ps theoretical max. (a number much closer to 3megaBYTES /ps is experienced).

so OP, which one is it??

if its the latter, then yes, you will see a very nice improvement if the earier - its a waste.

 

[Luba]

firehose being the cable modem and the garden hose being the router??

Think about it, dude. If you stuck your garden hose into one end of a firehose, would the water at the other end come out any faster?

 

[Signal-11]

firehose being the cable modem and the garden hose being the router??

Garden hose being your modem and fire hose being your router.

At this point, I can assure you that you have a 10megabit connection. If you were paying for a 100Mb connection, you'd know it.

 

[DoFoT9]

I am not sure now! How do the cable companies typically advertise their speeds? I am now not sure if the rep said I have 10 mega bits per second down or 10 mega bytes per second download. I do recall him saying it's 2 upload.

speedtest.net is your friend post the link here and we can tell...
im fairly certain it will be megabit though, so the speed increase will be null.

 

[r.j.s]

im fairly certain it will be megabit though, so the speed increase will be null.

I don't know of any ISPs that advertise in MBytes ...

10Mbits/s = 1.3 MBytes/s

Which sounds faster in advertisement?

 

[DoFoT9]

I don't know of any ISPs that advertise in MBytes ...

10Mbits/s = 1.3 MBytes/s

Which sounds faster in advertisement?

yes neither do i, but i dont live in your country so i wasnt completely sure but i guess greed and appearing faster then you actually are applies to every country

 

[Signal-11]

yes neither do i, but i dont live in your country so i wasnt completely sure but i guess greed and appearing faster then you actually are applies to every country

When have you ever heard of network throughput popularly described, advertised or otherwise let it be known in anything other than bits?

 

[Freyqq]

do an internet connection speed test through ethernet and g wireless. If the results are roughly the same, then your bottleneck is the modem speed, not the wireless. If wireless is slower, the bottleneck is the g wireless. Very simple. A decent g wireless router is suppose to get at least 20mbps average at a reasonable range, so i don't think it will help you much to go N unless your wirelessly connecting a large area.

 

[DoFoT9]

When have you ever heard of network throughput popularly described, advertised or otherwise let it be known in anything other than bits?

i havent, but like i said - im only familiar with my own countries advertising's. i havent been outside the country. forgive a young n00b

 

[1ne]

Slight misunderstanding there. N routers will cover more area and transfer packets much quicker than a G router can due to the 2.4/5.0GHz frequencies. It's not a night/day difference, but it's noticeable.

Yes and no.

Wireless N on 5Ghz will have shorter range (shorter wave length)

2.4 GHz will have a longer ranger (longer wave length) but will need to use 40MHz channel to have max throughput.

 

[DoFoT9]

Yes and no.

Wireless N on 5Ghz will have shorter range (shorter wave length)

2.4 GHz will have a longer ranger (longer wave length) but will need to use 40MHz channel to have max throughput.

thats funny, i was always under the impression that 802.11n could go further then 802.11g.....

cant wait for 802.11y!!

 

[1ne]

thats funny, i was always under the impression that 802.11n could go further then 802.11g.....

cant wait for 802.11y!!

Because of higher frequencies will have shorter range.

Me either.. 802.11y. Will see how true is this 5KM range.

 

[Luba]

speedtest.net said i am getting 6.5 mbps down, and 5 mbps up. ping is 50ms. and i am on g now.

 

[r.j.s]

You won't see much benefit in upgrading ... unless you do a lot of intra-network transfers, or have a NAS drive.

 

[geoffreak]

Everything r.j.s has said is correct. You will not see any benefit in raw internet speed by getting a new router as your internet speed is slower than both wireless standards. You will see a difference in local network transfers (between your computers) though.

The newer hardware might give you an advantage of allowing for more connections, which could help when doing things like bittorrenting, but even then only slightly.

 

[madog]

The N would give you a better range, and like others have said, better transfers on your local network (overall). One great thing about the N routers from Apple, is that (with current software) they have IP reservations. So if you are always messing with port forwarding on computers for downloading, you can assign them an IP from the router that never changes.

 

[DoFoT9]

Because of higher frequencies will have shorter range.

Me either.. 802.11y. Will see how true is this 5KM range.

higher frequencies = less range i get that, but doesnt n normally have more output power associated with it meaning that it will evidently go further?

 

[Luba]

Thanks everybody for saving me money, I just returned the Extreme. I'll wait until something happens to the Express, and then get the Extreme.

The way I understand things going hard wire wouldn't increase internet speeds either, correct? Since the cable modem is the garden hose (bottleneck), and the CAT6 cable (capable of gigabit speed) going into my Mac would be the firehose. The advantage of hard wire would be stability, since all WiFi sometimes loses its signal??

 

[r.j.s]

The way I understand things going hard wire wouldn't increase internet speeds either, correct? Since the cable modem is the garden hose (bottleneck), and the CAT6 cable (capable of gigabit speed) going into my Mac would be the firehose. The advantage of hard wire would be stability, since all WiFi sometimes loses its signal??

You are generally correct.

Wired also has a security advantage, since there is no signal being broadcast that could be picked up by any other computers.