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New Airport Extreme? Worth It? ...turns out Oh Yes!
- Thread starter MacGuru100
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new AE vs Netgear R6300
I'm also considering getting two of these if the performance is better with Apple devices compared to the Netgear R6300. I have a large-ish house that is old and has god knows what metal in the walls and floors, so getting fast wifi throughout is a challenge. I currently have 2 R6300s, one downstairs where the internet comes in and one upstairs in bridge mode.
Main interest is in beamforming to get better signal upstairs; if I can put them in the same layout and have the main AE sending a strong AC signal to the upstairs AE, which then gets repeated to my many non-AC Apple devices up there (where we actually spend most of our time), then maybe the wife would finally stop complaining about wireless signal! Current routers not getting the job done at all-- signal is really unreliable and almost nonexistent at the corners of the house. Anybody upgrading from an R6300 or other AC router let us know how it goes.
I'm also considering getting two of these if the performance is better with Apple devices compared to the Netgear R6300. I have a large-ish house that is old and has god knows what metal in the walls and floors, so getting fast wifi throughout is a challenge. I currently have 2 R6300s, one downstairs where the internet comes in and one upstairs in bridge mode.
Main interest is in beamforming to get better signal upstairs; if I can put them in the same layout and have the main AE sending a strong AC signal to the upstairs AE, which then gets repeated to my many non-AC Apple devices up there (where we actually spend most of our time), then maybe the wife would finally stop complaining about wireless signal! Current routers not getting the job done at all-- signal is really unreliable and almost nonexistent at the corners of the house. Anybody upgrading from an R6300 or other AC router let us know how it goes.
As I stated earlier I have a R6300 in my 2nd flr office centered within the house. Tried the new 802.11ac AE along with a 2012 airport express connected ethernet to the extreme. Signals/coverage was good but the extreme crashed twice within a day. Once when copying files to the USB attached HD and another without any significant traffic. When it crashed both wireless networks were connected but no traffic to/from the internet or local LAN.
I recently downgraded the firmware in the 6300 because the latest one had latency issues (pings between 7-28ms) to the FiOS router connected cat6. Pings now <1ms which has returned the great performance originally experienced when I first got it.
When the extreme was working I got the same wireless coverage/signal strength. Throughput was comparable to the R6300.
FYI - beamforming only applies to AC devices so no advantage unless the client has the capability.
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Interesting, thanks. Yeah I was kind of hoping if I had two of the new ac Extremes they could beamform/talk to each other with the speed of ac wireless just to get the signal upstairs; then non-ac devices could have an easier time connecting via that upstairs AE in bridge mode. Wish I could run ethernet but very impractical for this house.
I also read something in Netgear support where they mentioned that somehow iOS6 didn't play well with the R6300, so I guess I was hoping that having all-Apple products would produce better results...
I do not have an ATV. I have a pile of other stuff, any one of which might not be playing "nice" with the AE.
Thanks. My ATV3 was not playing nice with my new TC and was causing my devices to lose internet on a few occasions, but not disconnecting from TC. I haven't had a problem since I took my ATV3 off wifi and connected via ethernet.
Good thought regarding beam forming between extremes.... try it out and see how it works. As far as iOS devices haven't noticed any issues with 2 IP5s and one iPad, along with my MBP. But since reverting back to an earlier firmware on the R6300 made a huge difference.
Some interesting reviews here 
Just a question in regards to how it should sit, would it affect performance if you had it sitting horizontally ? i.e. not upright ?
Just a question in regards to how it should sit, would it affect performance if you had it sitting horizontally ? i.e. not upright ?
Just got back from the Apple store -- returned my Airport TC Extreme (newest version). Decided to stick with my trusty Dlink 655 as my router and will get a portable drive devoted to the MBA backups. My other network computers are all Windows PCs. The fruit stand employee seemed a bit nonplussed by my lackluster reception of the AP/TC Extreme. Dude, don't take it personally. I'm not calling your baby ugly or anything. It simply isn't the right solution for *me*.
Well, for the second time in as many weeks the wi-fi on my 6th generation AC simply stopped working. Everything on the wired side was working fine. I was able to go in on a wired Mac and using the Airport utility I could see the settings, and the AC thought it had wireless clients connected, but refused to route any traffic to or from them.
At this point I think there's a good chance I will return it. I really need the speed of the AC wireless for my wife's new AC equipped MB Air, but at this point it is seeming like more trouble than it is worth. I don't have to reboot or restart things on my four year old Netgear N router.
Interestingly we have a second one of these (Time Capsule actually) at my wife's office, and the only wireless client there is her MBA. That one has not had this problem.... so my suspicion is that the AE is not playing well with one of the many many wireless devices in my home.
At this point I think there's a good chance I will return it. I really need the speed of the AC wireless for my wife's new AC equipped MB Air, but at this point it is seeming like more trouble than it is worth. I don't have to reboot or restart things on my four year old Netgear N router.
Interestingly we have a second one of these (Time Capsule actually) at my wife's office, and the only wireless client there is her MBA. That one has not had this problem.... so my suspicion is that the AE is not playing well with one of the many many wireless devices in my home.
I just got this myself. The wifi actually works great now in my living room, since the router was on the opposite side of the house. Very impressed. I got this before my MBA 13 got in, so I had to set it up on my Windows 7 desktop. Supposedly you can only use a OSX or iOS to set this router up. I downloaded the Airport Utility v5.5.3 for Windows and had no issue setting this up thankfully. Otherwise it would of been in the box another week till my Air came in.
Would it be worth it for me?
I work from home so more speed is always handy especially keeping large files sync'd with co-workers. I've got an Timecapsule at one end of the house and an extreme at the other both are at least 4 years old. Would a I see any improvement in local wifi performance? I've got fios and I'm getting 80down/40up pretty consistently.
Would the new airport actually improve that or not much given the short relatively unobstructed ranges I'm covering? Or is it really geared more for folks in noisy/obstructed/less than optimal environments?
I work from home so more speed is always handy especially keeping large files sync'd with co-workers. I've got an Timecapsule at one end of the house and an extreme at the other both are at least 4 years old. Would a I see any improvement in local wifi performance? I've got fios and I'm getting 80down/40up pretty consistently.
Would the new airport actually improve that or not much given the short relatively unobstructed ranges I'm covering? Or is it really geared more for folks in noisy/obstructed/less than optimal environments?
Yes, there is a hidden network option in the wireless settings.
That said, if you are using WPA2 encryption, it is pretty safe and hiding the SSID is not much of a deterrent if someone is targeting you.
Yes, there is a hidden network option in the wireless settings.
That said, if you are using WPA2 encryption, it is pretty safe and hiding the SSID is not much of a deterrent if someone is targeting you.
Even then WPA2 is not immune to being hacked (but is streets ahead of the security of WEP) - see http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-howto/31914-how-to-crack-wpa-wpa2-2012.
SSID hiding is only secure against kiddies. (But I do use it)
Better Range in House most definitely
I received my new Airport Extreme today.
This is a nice router, has much better range that previous generation Airport Extreme - 2011. Has sleek design and artistic form that most Apple products possess.
A little snappier too, plus range outside of house is improved. Bedroom on far side of house now gets decent signal, previously nothing from 2011 Airport Extreme.
Definitely worth the $$$ and a good upgrade for me IMHO...even though I don't have any devices capable of utilizing the 802.11ac technology...yet.
I received my new Airport Extreme today.
This is a nice router, has much better range that previous generation Airport Extreme - 2011. Has sleek design and artistic form that most Apple products possess.
A little snappier too, plus range outside of house is improved. Bedroom on far side of house now gets decent signal, previously nothing from 2011 Airport Extreme.
Definitely worth the $$$ and a good upgrade for me IMHO...even though I don't have any devices capable of utilizing the 802.11ac technology...yet.
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This is a little irrelevant. I don't know what kind of modem you have, but have you considered a new DOCSIS 3.0 modem with bonded channels? My wifi speed used to fluctuate horribly until I upgraded. The bonded channels can help with a more consistent connection.