Airport Extreme Dual Band

[wearmaize]

I set up my new airport extreme today, but I have a concern. Obviously it supports dual band, but how do you set that up? I don't think I'm transmitting in wireless n because my iPod touch works fine on the network. I only see one wireless network. Does this mean I'm not transmitting in wireless n, or am I?

 

[oculus42]

The first band is 2.4 GHz, which your iPod can see. The second band is 5.8 GHz, which your iPod cannot see. You need a computer with 802.11n support to be sure the second band is up and running at 802.1n speeds.

Also, an 802.11 access point will slow down to accept slower clients if it is configured to do so (which is the default in this case) so your iPod would connect unless you specifically configured the access point to prevent it from doing so.

 

[wearmaize]

In other words, a brand new mbp should pick up 2 different wireless networks?

 

[-tWv-]

I'm pretty sure the n band of the router is backward compatible with g. I can connect my ipod touch to my belkin wireless n router. So I think you should be able to see two networks on both ipod touch and a MBP. But I would choose the g one for the ipod so you don't have a slowdown with the MBP. The n speeds will optimize the MBP's connection.

 

[wearmaize]

I only see 1 network. Is the second (g) network supposed to be the guest network?

 

[JerryB]

802.11 b, g, & n does not define separate networks. The 'b', 'g', & 'n' define the speed used for accessing whatever network is attached to the WiFi. If you have all three (b, g & n) enabled, the device accessing the WiFi will operate at highest speed it is capable of.

In my case, I have a 'n' capable WiFi router that also allows access at 'b' and 'g' speeds. My G4 Powerbook accesses it at 'g' speed, while my MacBook accesses it at 'n' speed. They both access the same network.

 

[wearmaize]

Is there any way to make sure the dual band is working? I have multiple macs and iPods available.