Airport Extreme question

[utazdevl]

First off, apologies if this is already a discussed topic or this is posted in the wrong forum.

Lately, I have been having some issues with my AppleTV and home network. I will go to play something that is stored on my computer in the AppleTV and there is a massive delay before it will load up and start. It is worse with my HD content than my SD encodes. I believe this is a "known issue" with the latest AppleTV software, but this leads to my real question.

I am currently using an old version of the Airport Extreme. I think it is the mid-2009 model. My Internet download speeds are fine but I wonder if my "old" router is creating an internal network that is too slow for the size of my encode collection (about 4tb). Could this be the case? And if so, would buying the latest airport Extreme solve this issue? Do home networks even have a speed, other that the whole Wireless g, n and a?

In the last few years I have added a lot of new wireless connections (used to be the computer, an AppleTV and 2 phones, but now it has 2 more iPads, 2 more phones, another AppleTV, the TV itself, a Slingbox and maybe more things) so I keep thinking my 2009 router might not be able to handle that much connectivity.

Any advice on this would be appreciated. I'd hate to go spend $200 and not solve the problem.

Thanks.

 

[Weaselboy]

Your 2009 Extreme handles 802.11n and simultaneous dual band wifi. The only thing the newer tower Extreme adds to the party is 802.11ac wifi, but the Apple TV does not have ac wifi yet anyway, so it would likely not help you.

Tests have shown the new tower models have a bit better antenna design, so you might see some improvement even with 802.11n.

If you go to Settings > General > Network on the Apple TV how does the wifi signal look? If that looks pretty good, I really doubt a new router would help at all.

 

[utazdevl]

So, I dug even deeper and found my original box for the Airport Extreme, and it turns out it is the 2007(!!!!) model, not mid-2009. Based on that age, I went and bought the new one, and after some hiccups hooking it up, I tested my AppleTV and every encode launched and played right away.

I suppose a router upgrade every 6+ years is to be expected.

Thanks for the help, though.