Hide NAS and printer with second Airport Extreme or Express?

[JonUK]

Hello all,

Situation:
Moving into a new place and signing up to Virgin Broadband (VM). Like most of the UK - this means a forced location for your router to be beside the TV in the living room at the front of the house. I am putting the router into modem only mode and attaching my Airport Extreme to handle routing and wifi throughout. I have two older Airport Express stations that will put airplay functionality in two other rooms but my NAS (Synology 410) and printer are large and cannot go in the living room. My iMac is going in to the living room and will run Plex Media Centre (PMS) - pushing media to my jailbroken ATV2 and iPhones when out and about.

Questions:
One idea is to put the printer and NAS into a cupboard under the stairs.

(a) Would the latest Airport Express handle the two devices (NAS via ethernet, Printer via USB)? I have concerns about throughput for the Airport Express to my Airport Extreme when handling 1080p streaming. If the iMac, which is running PMS, is also connected via Wifi would the wifi network handle the 1080p stream from the NAS via Airport Express to the iMac AND the 1080p feed from the iMac to the ATV2? Is this how it works or does it send the single feed from the NAS directly to the ATV2?

(b) If the answer to the above is no, it will not handle the bandwidth then would a second Airport Extreme handle the throughput more effectively? I could justify the cost because of the extra ethernet ports for another NAS in the future.

(c) A long shot but would the rumoured updated Airport Express be the real winner in this situation and, therefore, I should wait?

 

[hafr]

Hello all,

Situation:
Moving into a new place and signing up to Virgin Broadband (VM). Like most of the UK - this means a forced location for your router to be beside the TV in the living room at the front of the house. I am putting the router into modem only mode and attaching my Airport Extreme to handle routing and wifi throughout. I have two older Airport Express stations that will put airplay functionality in two other rooms but my NAS (Synology 410) and printer are large and cannot go in the living room. My iMac is going in to the living room and will run Plex Media Centre (PMS) - pushing media to my jailbroken ATV2 and iPhones when out and about.

Questions:
One idea is to put the printer and NAS into a cupboard under the stairs.

(a) Would the latest Airport Express handle the two devices (NAS via ethernet, Printer via USB)? I have concerns about throughput for the Airport Express to my Airport Extreme when handling 1080p streaming. If the iMac, which is running PMS, is also connected via Wifi would the wifi network handle the 1080p stream from the NAS via Airport Express to the iMac AND the 1080p feed from the iMac to the ATV2? Is this how it works or does it send the single feed from the NAS directly to the ATV2?

(b) If the answer to the above is no, it will not handle the bandwidth then would a second Airport Extreme handle the throughput more effectively? I could justify the cost because of the extra ethernet ports for another NAS in the future.

(c) A long shot but would the rumoured updated Airport Express be the real winner in this situation and, therefore, I should wait?

Yes, it would. But I would recommend you to use PLC adapters instead, that way you can put an additional AEBS next to the printer and NAS to extend your wireless network, and still have the NAS wired

 

[JonUK]

Yes, it would. But I would recommend you to use PLC adapters instead, that way you can put an additional AEBS next to the printer and NAS to extend your wireless network, and still have the NAS wired

I like your thinking! I never thought of those as a solution. What kind of throughput can you get off them? Any that you recommend?

 

[hafr]

I like your thinking! I never thought of those as a solution. What kind of throughput can you get off them? Any that you recommend?

The ones I've got are 200 Mbps, but I only use them to be able to have a cable TV box in the bedroom, so never really tested them properly. But at least there are no problems watching HD content, and I see no difference in any way from the TV that's connected straight to the modem

I don't know if it's very important to get the right brand or anything...

 

[Dark Fiber]

signing up to Virgin Broadband - this means a forced location for your router to be beside the TV in the living room at the front of the house.

No it doesn't- you get a coax splitter and could elect to have one coax cable run anywhere you ask to the "Hub".
Other considerations, e.g. cosmetic, may make it preferable to keep the hub near the cableTV box, but you're not forced to do so

 

[Unrealtechno]

The ones I've got are 200 Mbps, but I only use them to be able to have a cable TV box in the bedroom, so never really tested them properly. But at least there are no problems watching HD content, and I see no difference in any way from the TV that's connected straight to the modem

I don't know if it's very important to get the right brand or anything...

My experience with PLC has been quite poor, even in a house with relatively new wiring. Recently I got a current gen AEBS and haven't looked back so my recommendation would be to get one of those because three-stream has been huge and the range and throughput over the last gen for older devices are greatly improved. Until I got it, I had a 4th gen and WNDR3700 splitting the wireless load but the 5th gen has been nothing short of phenomenal. I'd say, make that your backbone and keep your old one as a bridge for the nas and printer.

With that said, can an AEBS act as a wireless to wired bridge? I can't find an answer anywhere...

 

[mfram]

Yes, the current AP Express can act as a wired/wireless bridge. But it won't be super fast.

 

[Unrealtechno]

Yes, the current AP Express can act as a wired/wireless bridge. But it won't be super fast.

How is this done? Do you set it to extend the wireless network and then just plug in?

Also, why isn't is fast?