Should I upgrade my Airport Extreme 2nd gen?

[deyorew]

Okay, So I purchased an Airport Extreme Base Station in 2008. This makes it either a 2nd, or possible first generation model (after the round versions)

I am wondering what the current (5th gen) or Time Capsule (4th gen) would do for my network.

My current setup does not extend to my whole house so I had to purchase an Airport Express extender.

My question is: do the newer generations have substantially faster wifi access or do they have much greater range?

I am debating a new Time Capsule purchase for backup AND updated wifi base station over another hard drive only expansion option...

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I noticed in the specs that my base station has only SINGLE 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz. And it sets it at the lowest device, so I am probably running 2.4Ghz Radio.
The new ones do Dual Band (both radio frequencies) so I wonder if this would make a difference since I have:

Early 2009 Mac Mini, iPhone 5, iPhone 4s, iPad original, iPad 3rd, and a Dell Laptop PC all using my wireless network.

 

[deyorew]

I see lots of views, but no comments...does anyone have any insight?

 

[Weaselboy]

Yes... the new models would give you better reception and much better speeds, particularly in newer devices like the iP5 that support dual-band 802.11n.

Here is a good review of the new models with some speed and reception comparisons.

I have a Time Capsule and really like it for set and ignore it Time Machine backups.

 

[rkuo]

I see lots of views, but no comments...does anyone have any insight?

You did the right thing by buying the Express as an extender. The faster wi-fi from newer models will not be useful unless you are transferring large files from computer to computer. I doubt you will benefit much from upgrading unless you are experiencing interference or dropouts in the 2.4GHz band.