Which AirPort Extreme Should Be My Main One and Which Should Be the WiFi Extender? (A1408 & A1521) (Also, does A1521 have an HDD?)

[HappyDude20]

I feel it’s confusing distinguishing the AirPort Extreme models, especially the last ones that look so similar to the Apple Time Capsules, so figured I’d ask here if the A1521 has a build in HDD for Time Machine back ups.

I bought a model A1521 AirPort Extreme and am wanting to use it as a WiFi extender in my 3 story 3,000 sq. ft home.

The first two floors have great WiFi but the top most floor is super slow, to the point we usually use our phones LTE as a model hotspot.

The first two floors WiFi is powered by an AirPort Extreme model A1408 so am wondering which of the two I now own should be the main one and which should be the extender.

 

[Brian33]

The A1408 is a "5th generation" Airport Extreme.

The A1521 is a "6th generation" Airport Extreme (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPort_Extreme#6th_generation). It doesn't have a built-in HDD. However, you can connect an external USB 2.0 hard disk to it, and then use that external disk for Time Machine backups. (According to the page, you can do this with the 5th-gen also, if you've got the most up to date firmware.)

Looking at the above-referenced page, the real difference between the two is that the 6th-gen can use the 802.11ac WiFi standard, which can give significantly better throughput compared to 802.11n. However, the connecting device (e.g., Mac or smart phone) must also have 802.11ac capability to get that better throughput. Also, if your main measure of throughput is "how fast I can download a large file," then your ISP connection might already be the bottleneck and the faster WiFi speeds unnoticeable.

For what my family typically does with their phones and laptops (web browsing, email), I doubt "n" vs. "ac" makes much difference. Maybe for gaming it would. If you download large files/lots of data it would (again, assuming your ISP connection is faster than the WiFi connection).

Check your computers that are WiFi-connected -- if they have "ac" capability then you might consider using the newer Airport Extreme near them. OTOH, you'll save time by leaving your existing 5th-gen as primary router and just setting up the new one as extender.

Ideally, you'd connect the "WiFI extension" unit to the main router with an Ethernet cable and set it to "create a wireless network" with the exact same SSID, security settings, and password, as your main router.

If you can't connect by Ethernet cable, you can set the 2nd unit to "extend a wireless network" with all the same settings. However, your maximum thoughput will be cut in half as the radio acts as a relay station to the main router. This can be fine, though, depending upon your use.

Hope that helps!

 

[HappyDude20]

The A1408 is a "5th generation" Airport Extreme.

The A1521 is a "6th generation" Airport Extreme (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPort_Extreme#6th_generation). It doesn't have a built-in HDD. However, you can connect an external USB 2.0 hard disk to it, and then use that external disk for Time Machine backups. (According to the page, you can do this with the 5th-gen also, if you've got the most up to date firmware.)

Looking at the above-referenced page, the real difference between the two is that the 6th-gen can use the 802.11ac WiFi standard, which can give significantly better throughput compared to 802.11n. However, the connecting device (e.g., Mac or smart phone) must also have 802.11ac capability to get that better throughput. Also, if your main measure of throughput is "how fast I can download a large file," then your ISP connection might already be the bottleneck and the faster WiFi speeds unnoticeable.

For what my family typically does with their phones and laptops (web browsing, email), I doubt "n" vs. "ac" makes much difference. Maybe for gaming it would. If you download large files/lots of data it would (again, assuming your ISP connection is faster than the WiFi connection).

Check your computers that are WiFi-connected -- if they have "ac" capability then you might consider using the newer Airport Extreme near them. OTOH, you'll save time by leaving your existing 5th-gen as primary router and just setting up the new one as extender.

Ideally, you'd connect the "WiFI extension" unit to the main router with an Ethernet cable and set it to "create a wireless network" with the exact same SSID, security settings, and password, as your main router.

If you can't connect by Ethernet cable, you can set the 2nd unit to "extend a wireless network" with all the same settings. However, your maximum thoughput will be cut in half as the radio acts as a relay station to the main router. This can be fine, though, depending upon your use.

Hope that helps!

Dude thank you so much for your thorough response.

I ended up using the A1521 model as the extender. It was easier to just set up that way.

Using SpeedTest my WiFi is at about 150mbps; however i find that odd considering before when I was only using the A1408 my WiFi speeds were the same at around 150mbps.

I wish I could add an Ethernet cable but the new A1521 extender is a good 40 feet away and that would mean a cable right through the living room and kitchen and into the dining room.