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revelated

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 30, 2010
994
2
Setup right now:

- Airport Extreme. It is currently in 802.11n mode (5GHz and 2.4GHz) only
- Belkin N+. It is currently in 802.11b/g mode only. Cat6'd over to the Airport Extreme as a bridge. Its only purpose is to give internet to the remaining devices that don't support 802.11n, which are basically the PSP and the PS3.
- Airport Express. It is an extender to the Extreme for another room. This is what I'm thinking I need to change.

I bought Time Capsule the other day. Getting ready to add it to my network as an extender to the Airport Extreme. I've considered using it to replace the Belkin N+ and just use it to serve the entire 2.4GHz band, 802.11b/g/n, with a different SSID. Have the Airport Extreme serving 5GHz only, and Cat6 them together for when I need to access Time Capsule but at the best wireless speeds. Hopefully that makes sense, what it is that I'm trying to do.

So basically it will be:

- Airport Extreme is the main device, serving 5GHz 802.11n ONLY to wireless clients that support it. It will also be the main Cat6 Ethernet connection point for devices that require it (Xbox 360, LED TV, and the Time Capsule), and will receive the internet signal from the cable modem. It will also be the DHCP server for every other device served. That should maximize throughput all the way around.

- Time Capsule will be the tertiary device, serving 802.11 b/g/n ONLY to wireless clients that don't support 5GHz 802.11n (basically, everything else except the three Macs). It will have its own SSID, its own security layer, and no Ethernet devices connected to it besides the bridge between it and the Extreme.


Now, the only unknown is the Airport Express and thus the reason for the thread. Right now I have four devices which require the 2.4GHz: my Samsung Fascinate, my PS3, my PSP and the Wii. It seems as though the 2.4GHz should be the greater range than the 5GHz, yet those four devices get terrible signal strength in an 800 square foot place, compared to the 5GHz devices which are always strong signal. Question is, if I use the Airport Express to extend the Time Capsule, and have the devices connect that way, does it in any way interfere with the Macs' ability to connect via the 5GHz connection to do the backups across the bridge? There shouldn't be any speed degradation given the last mile is Cat6, correct?
 
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