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JimBanville

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 18, 2014
86
17
Bought used extreme. Factory reset twice. Held reset button as I plugged it in. Set up and connects great at first. It's centrally located in single story home. If I get far away from the router (stay connected to wifi) or leave and come back, it will only reconnect at N. Not AC. This is based on Airport Utility app on phone. I can get AC connection again if I toggle wifi off/on on phone or restart either extreme or phone. Normal? Thanks.
 
Last edited:

PsyOpWarlord

macrumors 6502
Nov 11, 2010
334
26
Colorado Springs, CO
Sounds like it's automatically connecting to the better signal. 2.4Ghz usually has a little better range than the 5Ghz

Set up the AirPort with different SSID for the 2.4 and 5Ghz bands (i.e. Name, and Name 5Ghz) .. In the Airport Utility under Wireless options you can just check the 5GHz network name box to do this.

Then on your iPhone, forgot the network(s) for your home network. Then rejoin connecting to the 5GHz SSID only.

That should keep you on the AC.
 

JimBanville

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 18, 2014
86
17
Thanks but I've read u shouldn't do this. U should let router do its thing automatically. Shouldn't the AC be sending out a more robust/longer distance signal than N?
 

Altemose

macrumors G3
Mar 26, 2013
9,189
487
Elkton, Maryland
Thanks but I've read u shouldn't do this. U should let router do its thing automatically. Shouldn't the AC be sending out a more robust/longer distance signal than N?

No. Wireless N is carried on both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. AC is limited to the 5 GHz band. The standards of Wi-Fi negotiation is that the stronger the signal will take priority over bandwidth. So if you can get a 450 Mbps 2.4 GHz N connection with a good signal, it will take priority over a 600 Mbps 5 GHz AC weaker signal. A way to work with this is to separate the bands with individual SSIDs. When separated, a client is not negotiating which band but only speed and will freely roam from N to AC speeds as needed.

I am sitting in my bedroom with my MacBook Pro and it is connected at 450 Mbps on channel 149 to my AirPort Extreme. If I was downstairs it may still reach those high transmit rates, but it would jump to the 2.4 GHz signal automatically which is stronger since I have the names set to automatic mode.
 
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