Airport Express Wi-Fi speeds

Hello
I bought my Airport express for 1,5 year ago. However im getting rather frustrated regarding the Wi-Fi speeds!
As for now, my internet connection is equal to 100/100 Mbit. However im getting it upgraded to 250/100 Mbit in this month.
I started running some tests on my airport, but unfortunately im not able to get above 70mbit!! No matter how much i tweek my settings, thats the max juice i can get from it..
- The express is placed around 6 meters away from my imac. I have done channel scans in order to avoid interferance! But no luck!
Now the only thing i can do is to ask how fast the actual wi-fi is in my router? - I know that the ports can support 100mbit, and there is no problem when i connect my LAN cable in the express..
What is there left to do. the support didnt know the wi-fi speed on it?!
IF i buy the extreme base station, will it be able to support my coming connection? i know its wierd to ask for, but what are my opportunities? is it even possible to get wi-fi units that supports these kind of speeds?

However im getting it upgraded to 250/100 Mbit in this month.
On a very good day, the AirPort Express could handle 100 Mbps, but no more.
I started running some tests on my airport, but unfortunately im not able to get above 70mbit!
It is normal to have some loss when the signal is converted to wireless, then broadcast, then received by the computer and then converted back to a wired signal. 30% loss is a bit high, but 10-15% would be normal and expected.
Unless you are lucky enough to live in a very isolated area with no other wireless network around you, it is likely that your network will pick up some interference from other networks around you, cordless phones, and any number of other devices.....all of which can and will slow down the wireless signal.
IF you have a new Express.....the one with both a WAN port and LAN port, connect your Mac directly to the LAN port, turn off the wireless on the computer, and check to see what speeds that you get that way.
IF i buy the extreme base station, will it be able to support my coming connection?
The WAN and LAN ports on the AirPort Extreme support up to 1,000 Mbps, or Gigabit speeds.
i know its wierd to ask for, but what are my opportunities?
It is never possible to predict wireless performance, since there are so many variables involved....including interference from other networks in your neighborhood.
Buy from Apple, and you have 14 days to return the product....no questions asked....if you are not happy.

Similar Messages

Airport Express 802.11n - speed, throughput, bandwidth problems only 1MB/s

Hi there,
I got a brand new Airport Express with 802.11n. But I'm really disappointed with the speed in a draft-n-only environment.
Before I used as a router my 54Mbit/s Linksys WRT54GL with DD-WRT v23, which gave me on its g-Standard network a throughput of 3 MB/s when copying something via finder to my Ubuntu server.
But with the new AE I got only 1 MB/s as transfer rate for the same job. I tried already various configuration setups, but nothing helped. It seems to me if there is a bandwidth limitation thing in the AE.
Can someone help me to find the reason for my problem or give me some advice after what I have to look at?
Many Thanks,
Jan.

Welcome to the discussions, Tiggar!
A few suggestions from here, where my AirPort Express far outperforms my older "g" router.
1) Try to position the AirPort Express as high as possible and away from any other electronic gear. The general design of the product unfortunately encourages users to position the device low on a wall, often behind a desk and close to other electronic devices that sometimes can interfere with the wireless signal. Use an extension cable to get the Express up high and give it as much free air as you can.
2) You need to remember that higher frequency "n" signals...although faster...do not penetrate walls and other obstructions as well as lower frequency "g" signals. Try to establish a line of sight situation between your computer and the Express if possible and mimimize obstructions in the signal path.
3) Your Linksys may have been using a different wireless channel than the Express. Try different channel settings on the Express to see if you can find a good channel that is free of interference. To do this, open AirPort Utility, click Manual Setup and click the Wireless tab below the row of icons to get to the Wireless settings page.
4) Turn off any cordless phones that you may have there for an hour or so to see if you notice any improvement in performance. If you do, try to position the cordless phone as far away as possible from the AirPort Express.
Let us know if things improve when you can.

AirPort Express SLOW Wifi speed-Fast with Ethernet?

I am having troubles getting the speeds I’m paying for through Comcast. I am paying to get 105Mbps, but only receiving 61Mbps on average. I don’t expect to get 105, but 90 would make me feel better about what I am paying for.
Here’s my problem:
I attached my Ethernet cord and receive downloads of 125Mbps. Off the charts! Though, when I disconnect it and use Wifi it drops to 61Mbps. The highest I have receive was 71Mbps.
I pulled up my Wireless Diagnostics and found my rate (of transfer?) is 300 Mbps. On occasion, it does drop to about 220Mbps., but usually sits at 300. My dBm (signal-to-noise ratio) is between 35-40 average. Interference is not the issue as I have moved the computer within 1 foot of the Airport Express and received these stats.
I feel the answer lies within the AirPort Express settings. I feel as if the AirPort Express is limiting the transfer rate somehow. I do know If anyone has any ideas or needs more info to solve this crime, please respond. Thanks for the help ahead of time!
Adam S.
iMac (27-inch, Late 2012) running Yosemite 10.10.3
AirPort Express 802.11n (2nd generation) Model No. A1392
Motorola SURFboard®/ARRIS DOCSIS 3.0 SB6121 Channel bonding of up to four downstream  channels and four upstream channels increasing data rates to well over 100 Mbps in each direction  
Supports IPv4 and IPv6 to expand  network addressing capabilities  
Four times the current maximum user data throughput approximating 172 Mbps.

I don’t expect to get 105, but 90 would make me feel better about what I am paying for.
90 would be miraculous for an Internet connection through the WAN port on the Express for a wireless broadcast, even if the wireless device was close to the Express. Take a look at recents tests of the Express:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/charts/router/bar/113-5-ghz-dn-c
40 Mbps was top speed for 2.4 GHz
42 Mbps was top speed for 5 GHz
If you are getting 60, you are doing very well indeed.....quite a bit above average for an Express
I checked my 2nd Gen Express again and on a 100 Mbps Internet connection, I got 44 Mbps at 2.4 GHz and 45 Mbps at 5 GHz with the laptop located a few feet from the AirPort Express.
If you are doing better than that, I would call it a day.

AirPort Express - Slow connection speed

Hi!
I just setup my AirPort Express station in my dorm room. I use a Acer Aspire 2010 laptop(Might add I've never had any issues connecting to wireless network, infact I use one every day at home and at school with flawless speeds). I started by having the AirPort on the floor under a wooden desk surrounded by wires and other plugs. I installed the newest Firmware updates for it, 5.7 I think, and installed the Setup Assistant and downloaded a Windows XP update for the WEP access. I setup the AE and connected to it using a 128bit encrypted password, 13 characters in length. Put my computer 3 feet away from the AirPort.
All worked perfectly and I had Excellent connection at 54mbps, for about 2 minutes, then it dropped to 1mpbs but stayed at Excellent connection signal. After a about 45 seconds it went back to 54mpbs but only for about 10 seconds, then dropped straight to 1mpbs. It goes up and down like this every 4 minutes or so, but the speed never really changes.
Everything was sluggish, from loading website, having conversation on MSN Messenger to downloading files, nothing was as it should. Websites took everything from 20 - 60 seconds to load, or just not load at all.
So I thought something must be interrupting the signal strenght, either the surrounding wires or concrete wall.
So I moved the AirPort to a higher ground. Now it sits about 6' from the floor on the wooden desk, nothing is near it, connects to the router and speakers and is at least a feet away from anything (except the desk, of course).
But same thing happends again. Plummets from 54mpbs to 1mpbs and then up to 54mpbs for a few seconds. No matter what the signal strength says its always the same sluggish feel.
I have a 4mbit connection, has always been stable using ethernet and has never failed sofar. Good speeds. I use a Micronet SP3350A Ethernet Router I was supplied by my ISP.
If anyone has any idea or any thought on this matter please elaborate.
Many thanks in advance,
Yours truly,
Trausti
Windows XP Pro
Windows XP Pro

Hi Trausti:
If all of your componets are 802.11G, try putting your AE in 802.11G only mode. That will prevent other slow 802.11B clients by joining your network.
You may also be hit with some interference. Do you have a cordless phone? If so, that may be your issue.
Give that a try.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58543

Airport Extreme + Airport Express and Max Speed. Does my solution work?

So, I am setting up a new network, with these parameters
1) Extreme - main station, broadcasting dualband 2.4Ghz 802.11b/g/n and 5 Ghz 802.11n
2) Express - to extend network
3) Max Speed!
So from what I've read, I could "simply" do this
On the Extreme set to broadcast SSID "XYZ" on both 2.4/5
On the Express set it to Extend "XYZ" on either 2.4 OR 5, not both.
And then presto, network. However, I'm thinking this is way to simple
So my question is
1) Does the Exteme only broadcasts one network on both bands? I have seen that some posters have suggested to broadcast "XYZ" on 2.4 and then call another "XYZ 5 Ghz". If I want to maximize throughput for all devices, what should I do? Range is not an issue, both signals are perfect.
Cheers

First, there is no assurance that 5 GHz will provide you with higher throughput if the signal has deteriorated due to distance or obstructions. It is not unusual to see the 2.4 GHz band providing better throughput if the signal must pass through a few walls to reach the Express.
The point is this....the Express will choose the best signal quality based a complex formula of speed and noise. If it "sees" a better signal at 2.4 GHz, that is where it will connect. If the 5 GHz signal is of high quality, the Express will connect at 5 GHz.
Your computer will do exactly the same thing. If you are in the same room as the main router, it will connect to 5 GHz. Walk the laptop down the hall past a few rooms and around the corner and it will most likely connect to 2.4 GHz.
If you have a Mac laptop handy, move it very close to the area where you plan to install the AirPort Express. Hold down the option key on the Mac while you click on the fan shaped AirPort icon at the top of the screen. Look at the Channel information to find out whether the laptop is connected at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz.
That will be a good indication of the band that the Express will connect to. What are your results when you try this?

Does Airport Express decrease internet speed?

Right now I use wireless DSL in the home & the speed is very poor - 1.5 Mbps is the fastest available in my area. I have purchased an AE for airtunes and also want to extend the range in my house. Will using AE reduce my wireless internet speed when I connect to it? This would make a big difference to 1.5 mpbs.
Thanks,
J

Thanks for the info.
You will be able to configure your AirPort Express to "join" the wireless network created by the 2-wire for airtunes.
Unfortunately, the Express will only "extend" a wireless network that has been created by another Apple base station, so it is not compatible for this use with the 2-wire.

Will airport express increase internet speed?

I currently uses the net wirelessly with a 802.11b wireless router.
I was wondering if purchasing an airport express which uses 802.11g would increase my internet speed or if i'll just be wasting my money lol

Thanks for the response... I have to say i'm stlightly confused...you say that the internet will not become any faster, and I understand why from your explanion...but what then is the difference between my "wireless transfer" being sped up and the speed of my intenet?....in other words what do you mean by "wireless transfer" and what is the advantage of it being sped up?

How to fix Airport Express slow wifi speeds

I have cable internet advertised as 20 - 30 Mbps, and a Surfboard SB6120 modem. When I plug directly into the modem, I get around 28 Mbps and am very happy with that. When I go into the Airport Express however, it slows to around 8 Mbps. The airport express is from 2009. I have tried changing it to only 802.11n (have trieed both 2.4 and 5 ghz options), and have tried changing the channel, but nothing seems to help. Is there a way to get it back up to around 28 Mbps, or do I need a new router? Thanks!

I tried the hard reset, but that didn't help. Here is what my network settings are:
The RSSI goes from -73 to -90 depending on when I check. I am about 20 feet from the router, with perfect line of sight.
Any other thoughts would be appriciated...

Airport express reduces download speed by over 50%, any ideas on how to improve

My ISP provides 15MBPS download speed, which when I hook my PC direct to the modem, I get about 14-15 MBPS download speed. When I run the speed test again using the airport wireless network, the download speed drops to between 3-5MBPS. Any ideas on what I could do to improve the speed with my wireless

I actually have two Airports, one is located in our bedroom which is hooked to my modem and the other is an extention which is located in our family room. The total distance between the modem and our family room is no more than about 60 feet and there are a couple of walls between the two.
If the main AirPort is located in the bedroom and family room is approximately 60 feet away...then the "extending" AirPort should be located at an approximate mid point between the two rooms.
The way that you have things configured now, the signal from the "main" AirPort must travel all the way to the family room. It has lost a great deal of strength and speed by that point.
The AirPort in the family room can only "extend" the speed that it receives. It can make the signal go further, but it cannot make the speed go faster. Think of it as a repeater, not a booster. As it stands now, you are receiving little to no benefit from the extending AirPort in the family room.
Experiment with the location of the extending AirPort at maybe 1/2 to 2/3 the distance from the bedroom to the family room. Minimize any obstructions in the signal path as much as possible. A typical sheetrock wall will absorb 10-15% of the signal (and speed), just to give you a quick example.
Get the AirPorts up as high as possible. They should not be down low on the wall or behind anything. They need a free look into the room.
There may likely be other things that we need to do to help things along, but locating the extending device correctly will be a start. Give that a try and report on your results.

Intermittent internet connection via airport express

I've got a MacBook Core Duo and a MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo...both with airport express. My internet connection is via a DLink DI-624 to Motorola cable modem. The DI-624 is setup with WPA security...which has been working fine for my windows laptop and PDA.
I've been getting random problems with web surfing even though the airport express icon shows full bars. During those problem times, safari reports no internet connection.
I've noticed that I can sometimes bring internet connection back by turning off the airport (via the icon at the top) and then turning it back on. Don't like this, as wireless connection should just work...and this doesn't always fix it.
Suggestions?
Thank you.
MacBook Core Duo and MacBook Core 2 Duo Mac OS X (10.4.8)

raxx wrote:
I am currently using the 802.11n Airport Express (firmware 7.4.2) as a wireless router to serve 2 802.11g Windows PCs. However, our internet connection seems to have slowed significantly recently.
When I connect directly via a LAN cable, my download speed is 25+ mbps. However, the download speed slows to only 6-7 mbps when connected wirelessly via the Airport Express. The speed remains this slow even when only one computer is connected wirelessly.
In general an Ethernet connection will be faster than a Wi-Fi connection.
In AirPort Utility for Mac (which ought to be similar for the same program for Windows) you can enter "manual setup" mode, then select the "Advanced" panel, click the "Logs and Statistics" button, then click the "Wireless Clients" tab. If you can do that, what values do you see in the lower part of the window for "SIgnal" and "Noise"?

AirPort Express - slow internet

Hi!
I bought an AirPort Express and conected it with my MacBook. My internet conection speed was very good before I did it (conected AirPort). Now, internet speed dropped very much.
What is wrong , where can i find some help?

I had a similar problem. My Airport Extreme takes internet signals from a cable modem and distributes over a wifi network extended by two Airport Expresses. I noticed a big slowdown when loading web pages on my iMac. My wife's iMac was downloading at better than 6 mps. When I bypassed the wifi and connected my iMac directly to the modem, I got 6 mps. I unplugged the two Airport Expresses and got 6 mps on my iMac. When I plugged in one of the Airport Expresses, my download speed fell to 100 kps. I moved my iMac into the same room as my wife's iMac. I got 150 kbs on my machine and 6 mps on my wife's. Then I changed the channel from 1 to 6 on the Airport Extreme and the Airport Expresses. That solved the problem. I conclude that I was getting some radio interference on channel 1, probably from the numerous wireless appliances around our house (telephone, weather station, solar power inverter data logging). I don't know why the presence of an active Airport Express caused the problem.

Airport express needs restarting daily

hello, i've recently got a new router to which my airport express is connected. since getting it, i find that in the evening, my broadband speed dips to about 20% of what it should be. restarting the airport express makes the speed go back to normal.
any ideas why this might be? i'm not sure anything in particular happens to cause it - it just dips every evening and a restart makes it happy again.
thanks.

i just went out and bought a brand new router to see if that resolves the issue - and it doesn't. i started, having installed the new router, by going to speedtest.net and testing the speed, it was about 15mb. four hours later it was down to about 1; restarting the airport express made it go back up to about 10.
any suggestion?

Poor network speed with 1st generation time capsule and multiple airport express 5Ghz. My network speed slows to a crawl when not close to the time capsule. I get the range that I need, but the speed is painfully slow.

Hello,
I have a first generation time capsule running 802.11n (b/g compatable) and the airport expresse's are the newer 5ghz models. I have 3 airport express's and I have the range that I need. I can run the time capsule using 802.11n 5ghz, but I loose the range and can't connect to all of the airport express's. My computers and mobile devices run 802.11n. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to increase the network speed. Would the new airport extreme fix the problem?
Thank you

Unfortunately, you are experiencing one of the downsides to 5 GHz. That's because the higher frequency 5 GHz signals are much weaker than 2.4 GHz signals.
After all, you always have to give up something to gain something else. In the case of 5 GHz, you gain potential speed but in return, you must give up penetration power and distance capability.
In order to work well, 5 GHz signals need to almost have a line-of-sight relationship between devices. Unless you can achieve this, you will do much better to leave the Time Capsule running at the 802.11n (b/g compatible) 2.4 GHz Radio Mode and allow the Express devices to "extend" that network.
As for the location of the AirPort Express devices in an exended network, that is critical for best performance. That's because the Express can only "extend" the quality and bandwidth of the signal that it receives. Post back if you need a few more tips on how to find the best location for the AirPort Express devices.
Would the new airport extreme fix the problem?
Unfortunately, no.

Does Airport Express really communicate the same speed to both Mac and non-Mac devices?

Okay, so to fully understand my situation, here's a briefing: Our old Netgear router was not pushing nearly the speeds we were paying for (we pay for 30 and were getting 10-15 max, usually much less). I recently got an iMac which means that all of my devices are now Apple made, so I decided to get an Airport Express to hopefully improve our wireless speeds. I set it up with the modem going in the WAN port and the old router attached to the LAN port so that it could still act as an ethernet hub for the few hard-wired devices knocking around. I set up both a network and a guest network, with our original one still active through the Netgear router.
I get 45 Mbps from the new network on my iMac, but my roommate is only getting around 9. If he connects to the old one, he caps out at about 25. Is the wireless card in his PC just not capable of receiving more than that? He insists that since it's an Apple router it is not as compatable with non-Apple products. Interestingly, I get faster speeds on my iPhone from the guest network than I can from either the new or old main networks in our house.
I know this is a really long question, but has anyone had this same problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Also: isn't the wireless speed of the old Netgear router still basically being pushed through the Airport Express, as it's the only thing connected directly to the modem? Are there any settings I can change to make everything run smoothly? If the PC, Android phones, etc can connect to the new network at the same speed as my Apple products, then we can eliminate the old network altogether if that will help.

I think I answered my own question. I found this on the web:
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?fat32format.htm
Seems to suggest that using this third party exe to format it instead of windows inbuilt one will allow for partitions greater than 32GB. So this looks the way to go. And the 2GB limit per file is just for FAT16 not FAT32 apparently, but even if it is I only have a few iso/video files bigger than 2 gig so will just use a splitter on them.
Hope this is useful to someone else

Is Wi Fi speed limited by old iMac and old Airport Express?

I got my sister an Apple TV for Christmas. Download times for movies or TV rentals is really slow.
She has Time Warner Road Runner Cable modem at their standard speed (not upgraded to "Turbo". My question is whether a new Airport Express or Extreme running at 802.11n would either speed up downloads or transfers from her newer MacBook to the Apple TV.
I guess my question is whether the desktop - an old Power PC and it's old Airport Card hinder the performance of either the rental or purchase downloads or connectivity between her MacBook, Apple TV & iPad. When I visit, I also get a pretty weak signal from the den in the back of the house to the family room up front. Could the "n" upgrade improve on any of these limitations? Not sure if the slow main computer is part of the problem.
Sorry I don't have more details on the internet speed or specifics on the system.

I guess my question is whether the desktop - an old Power PC and it's old Airport Card hinder the performance of either the rental or purchase downloads or connectivity between her MacBook, Apple TV & iPad.
Yes, the do. When you have non-"n" wireless clients on an "n" network, there will be bandwidth performance degradation anytime those non-"n" clients are active on the network. Typically, "n" clients only get around 70% of maximum bandwidth when non-"n" clients (computers, printers, Internet-ready TVs, or routers) are connected.
When I visit, I also get a pretty weak signal from the den in the back of the house to the family room up front. Could the "n" upgrade improve on any of these limitations?
Possibly. The newer "n" AirPorts do provide better range than the older models. Regardless, this will would only have minimum improvement over download speed. It should; however, improve streaming speed between the MacBook/iPad and the Apple TV.

Airport Express Wi-Fi speeds

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