Should I set Airport Express as client or extend the network?

[radiologyman]

I am adding Airport Express N (1st gen N) to the bedroom upstairs to AEBS (4th gen) wifi network that is downstairs about 60 feet and 1 wall apart. AE being added for Airplay to speakers in the bedroom. I set AE to extend the network and got impression that internet is slower even though the signal strength went up from fair to excellent. What is the best way to quantify network performance and decide if extending network is beneficial? I am running AEBS in dual channel mode with 5ghz network named same as 2.4 ghz one hoping that AE will extend the 5 ghz band.

 

[justperry]

I am adding Airport Express N (1st gen N) to the bedroom upstairs to AEBS (4th gen) wifi network that is downstairs about 60 feet and 1 wall apart. AE being added for Airplay to speakers in the bedroom. I set AE to extend the network and got impression that internet is slower even though the signal strength went up from fair to excellent. What is the best way to quantify network performance and decide if extending network is beneficial? I am running AEBS in dual channel mode with 5ghz network named same as 2.4 ghz one hoping that AE will extend the 5 ghz band.

The 5 Ghz A wireless network is slower than 2.4 Ghz N Wireless network, N is 150 Mb/s and 802.11A is only 54 Mb/s.
Go over to Wikipedia 802.11 Wireless Networks

Edit: Seems I was wrong, 802.11 also operates in 5Ghz.

 

[waw74]

extending will cut your network speed. Roughly in half, as the repeater has to talk to both the main base and your device at the same time.

the easiest way to judge speed is a file transfer, open activity monitor, then grab a large file from another computer on your network (hopefully that computer is wired). you can then see the actual network speeds.
Large being a few hundred MB, just so the transfer can settle in, and you have a chance to see the speed before it stops.

then compare the speeds with different network configurations.

file transfer is a better judge than an internet download, as there are several factors outside your control with the internet, and chances are your wireless network is faster than your internet connection.

 

[radiologyman]

I was afraid extending will add delay. I can not run Ethernet cable upstairs but I have 2 power net adapters that I can use to give Ethernet connection to AE and see if it helps.

Is 3 MBs (24 mbs) too slow for large file transfer from hardwired htpc downstairs to laptop upstairs using wifi from aebs in terms of speed expectations? I do get 10 MBs downstairs but streaming tv shows recorded in hd is not completely smooth when I'm upstairs

 

[waw74]

since you have the powerline already, i would plug the express into that. have the express create a wireless network, and give it the same settings, but different channel as your main network.

your devices will switch to the stronger of the bases as you move around.

if you have something upstairs you want to hardwire, you can put a network switch between the express and the powerline adapter, so you can plug more things in.

 

[radiologyman]

Thanks waw74, that's answer to my problems

 

[DaveTheRave]

extending will cut your network speed. Roughly in half, as the repeater has to talk to both the main base and your device at the same time.

Question about this. Will it slow the speed for the extending device (Express), or for any device connecting to the main router too?

I ask because I have an Express in client mode for use with airtunes. My iphone struggles to connect back to the main router to send music to the express. However my MacBook can do it with no problem. So I have to choose between only using my MacBook for airtunes or extending the network so that my iphone can have a better signal to stream music.
Yeah I know…first world problems.