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Resolved! Moved to a new home, internet speed is very slow.

biscuitsxluv

biscuitsxluv

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 4, 2010
1,289
291
California
We moved to a new home. The modem is downstairs inside a closet because that's where all the wirings are at. Comcast told me that their modem/connection goes about 30 feet or so. We moved into a 2900 square foot home. When we are upstairs the internet speed is very slow and many times won't load a page. Downstairs is where my den/office is. I upgraded to 150mbps costing me 50.00 more a month. To be honest, I don't want to keep paying for it if I can't have that provision.

They told me to purchase a Time Capsule. I have no problem doing that but are there any other options? We have an Extreme (older version) and it's not working quite as well. At our old home, it worked great!
 
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For network using cables, I personally won't recommend the Airport Express, it only has 100Mbps port, which may be good enough for a normal internet connection, but not that good for high speed internet connection or intranet.

Since you already have a 150mbps internet connection. Use Airport Express will limit your connection speed to 100Mbps, which is not ideal. The Airport Express may be good to work as a repeater wirelessly, but not that great with cable.

Screen Shot 2015-08-08 at 21.36.17.jpg
 
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Do you have ethernet access to other parts of the house?
I wouldn't want any wifi modem "in a closet".

I'd connect from the ISP modem/gateway via ethernet to an Airport Extreme (or other 3rd party Wifi router), with the router located in a good location downstairs, perhaps with ANOTHER Wifi router upstairs. I'd let the ISP modem handle the NAT if it's equipped to do so, and set up ALL my additional Wifi units in "bridge mode".

It may be necessary to experiment with the Airport Extreme "location-wise", to find the right place where reception works out the best...
 
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The newest AirPort Extremes and Time Capsules are a bit stronger than the older models but you likely will need more than one AP for a house of that size depending on construction. Our house is about 2600 sq. ft. and was built in 1989 and one AirPort Extreme covers it all provided it is in a central location.
 
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Thanks for all the suggestions!
I don't want the modem in the utility closet, but there isn't any other place unless we bring it upstairs but no one is up there during the day. And the modem will be in the bedroom, don't think that will help.
The utility closet is actually central. That's where all the wirings are at. The ADT technicians came over to install an alarm, they said that the closet walls are solid wood. :confused:

After reading the link that was given to me, I decided to purchase a refurb Airport Extreme (latest model). I will use that as the main hub, bring the older extreme upstairs, and set it up in bridge mode. I think it'll work. It's coming today, I'll update. :D
 
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MacGurl111 said:
After reading the link that was given to me, I decided to purchase a refurb Airport Extreme (latest model). I will use that as the main hub, bring the older extreme upstairs, and set it up in bridge mode. I think it'll work. It's coming today, I'll update. :D
Click to expand...
I'm interested to see how it goes. We're building a 3-level house and we've been told the cable entry point will be in the basement.
 
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AllergyDoc said:
I'm interested to see how it goes. We're building a 3-level house and we've been told the cable entry point will be in the basement.
Click to expand...
Who will be your cable provider? That'll be an interesting setup especially with a big home like that!
We have Comcast. We do have Verizon here but don't want them digging up our yard for fios! They did it at the old house and husband was not pleased!
 
MacGurl111 said:
Who will be your cable provider? That'll be an interesting setup especially with a big home like that!
We have Comcast. We do have Verizon here but don't want them digging up our yard for fios! They did it at the old house and husband was not pleased!
Click to expand...
I'm not sure who our internet provider will be, I haven't decided. I hate to say it will be Comcast, but our choices are limited. It's a small rural farm town. We won't have cable, we're planning on using an HDTV antenna and, hopefully, Apple's TV streaming service.
 
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@AllergyDoc, thank you so much for the tutorial link! Got my Extreme at 3pm, took me awhile to set it up because I was having trouble with the blinking lights on both. Now, all is well! :D The internet upstairs works really good! The internet downstairs works great! I'm happy.
Really grateful for to the person who wrote that tutorial. I will donate as a gratitude gift.
 
This is my first time purchasing refurb from Apple. The package came like it was a brand new item. You can't tell it was a refurb. Sealed packaged, brand new wires, the Extreme looks to be in mint condition as well. I'm really satisfied.
 
MacGurl111 said:
This is my first time purchasing refurb from Apple. The package came like it was a brand new item. You can't tell it was a refurb. Sealed packaged, brand new wires, the Extreme looks to be in mint condition as well. I'm really satisfied.
Click to expand...

The best part is the same warranty. The only difference is a plain white box!
 
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Altemose said:
In fact, if you have AppleCare on any of your Macs, iPads, or Apple TVs or purchase one in the next two years and add AppleCare the AirPort is automatically covered!
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This is neat. I didn't know. So it's worth getting AppleCare, because it'll cover two equipment? :D
 
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