Airport Extreme and 5GHz (again)

[HumDoon]

Hello everyone, hope all is well today. I am a fairly new Apple convert and I am not the most technically savvy individual (hence why I stayed with PC for so long).

I was combing through other forums on the topic of issues with Airport Extreme when running on 5ghz. To make a long story short, I purchased my AE, had it on 2.4ghz, and noticed I was losing connection on two Macbooks whenever anyone would use a cordless phone in the home. I AM technically savvy enough to figure that the two were mixing signals and I changed the AE settings to 802.11n only (5 GHz). Since then, not only have we not had the dropout from phone usage, but the internet has been flying and very crisp.

Until today... Neither Macbook is able to establish connection, but that problem only seems to happen in one particular room of the house. I haven't tried every room, but I am fairly certain it is just this one room. This is odd because for the past few days that we have been running at 5GHz, we have not had a problem in that room. I have a few suspicions for what might be going on, and through my time spent on this forum, I have more faith in many of you here than I do in some of the Apple support. Now that I have kissed your butts, please offer me some advice/suggestions/input!!

Blessings and thanks in advance.

 

[spaceballl]

Well,

First off, it was a good move going from 2.4ghz to 5ghz. I can't in my house, as we still have a bunch of computers / iPhones / devices that rely on the 802.11g 2.4 ghz standard.

One issue with higher frequencies, though, is that they have a tougher time penetrating walls. I'm guessing this is why you have the weakened signal in that one room. As for why it was working and it's no longer anymore... who knows - could be that a neighbor bought a 5ghz phone or something like that. As long as your macbook can connect when it's close to the router, then you know it's not a configuration issue, it's just a distance issue.

The easiest / not-cheapest way to fix this problem is to buy an Airport Express (make sure to get the most recently updated version with 802.11N support). Just plug it into a socket about halfway between the "dead" room and your router. Configure it to extend your current network and you'll be golden.

 

[HumDoon]

Ah.. Good to know and thank you very much for taking time to respond to my post. That makes complete sense when you point out that 5GHz has difficulty getting through walls.

I'll see if we can avoid that room for the time being. Its resident is going off to college in two months.

Thanks again!

 

[spaceballl]

You can hook up an airport express after the resident leaves - will be a nice surprise when he or she comes home for the holidays