G+_Eddie Silva Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Have a question about wifi... First of all, I have all things Apple (router, computers, tablets, phones). I have a two story house and I am trying to increase our wifi speeds on wifi. The house is wired for ethernet but there is no ethernet connector at my desk and I cannot get one installed. My question/situation: I have my cable modem located in one of my upstairs bedrooms with an Apple Airport Extreme (gen 5 (non tower)) broadcasting a 5ghz "n" wireless signal. It is also broadcasting 2.4ghz "n" but my community is saturated with the 2.4ghz spectrum, which is why I am using the 5ghz band only. On my desk I have a new 6th gen Apple Airport Extreme EXTENDING my 5ghz connection. It is sending out from what I can tell the 5ghz via the "ac" spectrum or band (not sure the terminology on that). I'm sure its also sending out the "n" as well. Speeds are fast at about 80Mbps. The closer I get to my router connected to the modem the better the speeds. I was wondering if I either swap out the "ac" router for the "n" only extreme, will that increase my speeds on the "ac" devices? Is the "n" slowing down the internet to the "ac" router? Or should I just get another 6th gen Extreme so I have "ac" at the modem and at my desk? The devices connected via wifi include a mid 2014 MBP retina, ipad air (2), and iphone 5s (2). I know the new iphone 6 has "ac" and the new ipad might as well. Just trying to update my wifi network to better cover my house and be up to date for new devices. Thanks for the help! Eddie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Travis Hershberger Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Is the ac router hooked up via a network cable? The ac standard is faster than n, but backwards compatible. If it is really just "extending" the n signal, your max speed is cut in half. So if your network is already setup like follows I think you're fine for now: Modem -> N Router -> wire -> AC Router If it's: Modem -> N Router -> wireless -> AC Router then get the AC Router connected via a network cable instead of extending the wireless signal. I don't have AirPort devices handy to walk you through getting them setup to act like a single network you can walk back and forth with devices without a couple seconds spent reconnecting on the device. I'm sure someone will be around to help you out with that if needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Silva Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 The ac router is connected via wifi to extend the network. I was thinking of getting another ac router to connect to the modem to replace the n router. That would give me ac out of the modem and my other ac router would be extending an already fast ac network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Travis Hershberger Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Ok, easy thing to do as things stand currently is to switch the routers around. Use the AC model connected to the modem and the N router as the extender. The best thing to do is hooking the routers up via a wire, even if you have to move the "extender" out of the office. At this point I wouldn't be investing in another router just for the n to ac upgrade, but that's me. My wireless is still only g, but everything that can be wired is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Silva Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 Thanks Travis, I would wire things but the builder didn't wire the 1/2 loft and that is where my office and I cannot get a wire ran to it either. So im stuck with extending my wifi. I have been thinking of switching the routers around. I'm worried about ac because the houses in my subdivision are extremely close and the 2.4ghz channels are completely saturated. So far, I'm the only one on a 5ghz channel and running ac. That's also why I've been toying with the idea of going straight to ac and 5ghz n. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Silva Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 Sorry. I know ac is 5ghz only. In the last post I made it sound like I didn't know that. I'll try switching routers and if I need to. Get another ac and bridge it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Travis Smith Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Travis Hershberger, I'm having a similar problem with extending my wifi. I'm trying to a secondary wifi out in my barn. My current setup consists of a linksys cisco wireless n router at the far end of my house. What I'm trying to do is run a cat5e out to my barn to be able to connect it to another linksys cisco n router. The distance between the router and the barn is about 200-250ft ( running cable is not a problem). I'm hoping that you'll be able to possibly explain to me how to get the two router to work together to act as the same network. Thank you very much in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Travis Hershberger Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Travis Smith Generic way to do this is assign the same SSID on both wireless access points and make sure they use different channels. Also make sure to plug the cable into a lan port for the one in the barn, turn off the dhcp service on that one. To do it right you generally want something that includes a controller. Ubiquity, www.ubnt.com, is generally considered the best bang for your buck as they include the controller software for free and the equipment is very reasonably priced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Travis Smith Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Thank you! I'll try that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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