Airport Extreme Base Station Dual Band

I just bought this base station to replace my old router. I downloaded and installed the airport utility on my vista laptop and ran the software and everything set up fine except a double NAT error which I ignored.
My laptop connects wirelessy just fine to the airport but no other devices can connect. I am using WPA and also tried without any security and no dice.
I am trying to connect 2 iphone 4s, xbox360, ps3, wii and none of them can connect. I have DHCP turned on and connection sharing set to share a single ip address.
The three game systems tell me that they cannot obtain an ip address and the iphone just say unable to cconnect. I have tried the WPA password I created and the HEX equivalent and no luck. I have also tried MAC filtering and added the MAC addresses of the devices and still no luck.
I am sure there a simple solution or sime box that is not clicked but I can not seem to find out what the problem is.
This is driving me crazy paying almost $200 for a router that gets nothing but great reviews and I cannot connect to it. Please help!

Bob: I am so happy to see you on this forum -- you recommended someone else come here for Airpor/Windows issues and so I did.
I have read all of your postings about setting up AX in client mode with my new Airport Extreme router. I did a factory reset on the AX, and the latest version of Airport Utility (OS= XP) can see it after the reset as well as the Extreme. I wrote down the network name and password type just like you recommended from the appropriate screen "Wireless" tab on the Extreme. But then when I login to the AX (right next to the router) the Extreme disappears from the Utility program side window. I put the appropriate info into the AX and it wrote to the unit and then said it would restart, just like you said it would.
BUT then it scans and can't find the AX only the Extreme. The Extreme is happily sitting there in the Utility side screen but no amount of scans will produce the AX. Which is also happily sitting there plugged in to the wall with its amber light flashing. I have done this over and again. I also checked to see if I had set up access control on the Extreme by mistake but it isn't turned on.
So I think I have ruled out interference, and I think since the AX works the first time before it disappears on the restart that the unit works. I have gone into the Windows firewall and added every possible relevant port including itunes in both the UDS and the N mode (those three letter acronymns). In any case the firewall is not alerting me to a block and it is set to tell me if it does block something.
I usually visit the genius bar but i can't really take in the Extreme as it wouldn't be connected to the DSL at my home. Plus I kind of like reading the forums as I learn so much.
And even if you don't answer this I want to say how much I appreciate your conscientious posts. If you set up as a consultant let me know.

Similar Messages

Airport Extreme Base Station Dual Band has WiFi problems.

I can only connect my Droid X to the wifi network of my Apple Airport Extreme? I have an Ipad and another computer with a wifi dongle but none of them will connect. Only ethernet connected computers and my DroidX works. Any suggestions?

Hello garydicksonuk. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
I have the Airport set up to "connect via ethernet" and "share a public ip address"? (I don't understand what this means, share public ip as not computer literate).
This would be the AirPort's default setting and what you will want 99.99% of the time. The "Share a public IP address" is referring to the fact that your AirPort provides a service that allow multiple clients on the local network to be able to access the Internet at the same time. This service is known as Network Address Translation or just NAT. Without NAT, only one computer could access the Internet and would be exactly what you would find if you connected the computer directly to the modem instead of the AirPort.
Anyway, all is working OK with the internet and wireless etc, playstation 3 connects to the PS network with an open NAT which is what I wanted, but I am worried I have no firewall or security?
Your AirPort's NAT service is one form of protection. The other is to enable wireless encryption (WEP, WPA, or WPA2) to prevent "uninvited guests" from accessing your wireless network ... and Internet connection.
Should the Airport extreme not be set to "distribute a range of ip addresses", it seems to be doing this anyways, who is giving out the ip addresses then?
No, you don't want to change the setting to "Distribute a range of IP addresses." This is intended for those unique situations where your ISP is providing you with one or more static IP addresses. This is typical with businesses, not consumers. In addition to NAT, your AirPort also provides another service: DHCP. This is how it provides IP addresses to clients on the local network.

AirPort Extreme Base Station (Dual Band) vs Apple TV

I recently "Upgraded" my WiFi network from the original single band AEBS (802.11n) to the new Dual Band model. Since doing so, my TV cannot connect to the wireless network. The TV can "See" the network, asks for a password, but shows "Failed to connect" error message. I have tried changing the radio channels (using the "option" key and running through all possibilities). I have turned off "Security" and tried to connect as an "Open" network. It will not connect. iTune does not "see" the TV nor does WiFi utility AirRadar. I wonder if the 802.11n card in the TV is toast? Anyone have any ideas?

As suggested, I reset the AEBS to factory defaults. On the TV, I went to >Settings>General>Network>Configure Wireless>Wireless Networks. I could then see the generic "Apple Network xxxxx" on the TV. From my MacBookPro, I verified that I could connect to the TV by launching iTunes and noting that the TV was now visible in the "Devices" menu. Went back to the AEBS and ran through the "Setup" routine. I did NOT use the "Previous Settings" but instead, saved the old settings profile, created a new wireless network and new settings profile and enabled WPA2 Personal encryption. I then went back to the TV and went through the "Settings" routine again (as noted above). This time, after entering my WPA2 password, the TV connected to the network and problem was solved. Thanks.
Message was edited by: Mac MD

Airport Extreme Base Station Dual Band MC340LL/A will not create a Wi-Fi network.

It will allow access to the internet only through the ethernet but not Wi-Fi. I downloaded the airport utility to set up the device and the yellow light keeps blinking. I use an ethernet DSL modem. This is the first Apple product i have bought and i got it off of Ebay as refurbished. Hopefully i don't have to return it because the router is the problem I don't know much else. Thx

FYI, i have reset the router many times with no new results.

Time capsule to extend airport extreme base station

I have an airport extreme base station dual band that I use to create a wireless network. I use a first generation time capsule single band to extend the wireless network. In the area of my home where the time capsule is my ipad and macbook the signal strength of the wifi is great and works great however my iphone 4 works horribly on wifi in the same room where the time capsule is located. Why is this? And is there a better configuration that would work better?

The AirPorts are all designed to try to extend the 5 GHz signal because that is the fastest connection. But, because 5 GHz signals are not as strong as 2.4 GHz signals, it's usually the 2.4 GHz network actually that winds up being extended because it's the stronger signal of the two bands and the extending device is usually located at some distance from the main router.
If your Time Capsule is extending the 5 GHz band, that's impressive. The AirPort Express would also probably extend the 5 GHz band if you placed it in the same area. Unfortunately, the iPhone cannot connect to that signal and must get it's connection from the main router. If you set things up so that the Time Capsule extends 2.4 GHz, then the iPad and your Mac will be running at significantly lower speeds.
It can be done by assigning a different name to the 5 GHz network and I can give you the steps. Is that what you want to do?
If you reversed the Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme, you'll have to set the Time Capsule up at 2.4 GHz and the AirPort Extreme will only extend 2.4 GHz. It cannot extend both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz since it won't "see" that signal from the Time Capsule. No reason to do this really.

AirPort Extreme Base Station and Windows Vista and Windows 7

I currently have a Belkin N+ Wireless Router and Belkin N+ USB Adapter Part # F5D8055. If I purchase the Airport Extreme Base Station dual band and replace my current router, will my current usb adapters connect and work with the apple extreme?

Yes.

Why does the new Dual-Band AirPort Extreme Base Station act as a proxy?

The previous thread
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1531675
has been archived and nothing came of it, but after testing, I'm certain that their findings are true.
The Dual-Band AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS) with firmware 7.4.1 acts as a proxy for TCP ports 21, 554, and 7070 when NAT is turned on. This can be verified by using Nmap on any external server known to NOT have the ports open and having Nmap return that the ports are open. You can telnet to these ports to verify that they're "open," even though they are not on the server.
This functionality appears to be undocumented and as far as I can tell, the only way to turn it off is to put the AEBS into bridge mode and having some other device do NAT further upstream.
As a computer professional, this functionality extremely undesirable, particularly since it is not documented and doesn't have an "off switch." I wasted a bunch of time with one of my network engineers because of this, thinking that some network router was spoofing our server. I also wasted a bunch of my time trying to detect whatever "stealthy rootkit" had opened a FTP server and some other botnet related ports on our server, when in reality, it was simply my AEBS tricking me.
Disabling NAT-PMP ("Enable NAT port mapping protocol") does not affect this.
Is it too much to ask to have a checkbox in the "Advanced" section of the AirPort Utility to turn this feature off?

Welcome to the discussions forum Michael Bennett2.
Thanks for investigating this odd behavior.
If you want your work to be noticed by those who can effect change, you'll have to tell Apple via their feedback link. It won't do any good to post it here.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/

AirPort Extreme Base Station (New one) Dual band problem

Hey, I just got an AirPort Extreme Base Station, simultaneous dual-band today.
Anyone else having some problems with the 5GHz network? Seems my Transmit rate is very unstable. It changes between 7-54. It's 802.11n (5GHz) profile setting.
My 2.4GHz is staying at 54 (Since I set it for b/g).
As well, my MacBook Pro keeps connecting every time i update the airport base station, to the 2.4GHz one.

Welcome to the discussions, dwig365!
With a good connection, the Transmit Rate at 5 GHz should be in the 200-270 range. One of the perplexing issues with 5 GHz is that the much higher frequencies used in this band are absorbed by walls, ceilings and any obstructions much more quickly that 2.4 GHz signals. In other words, there is much less "power" with 5 GHz signals.
I've found that unless I almost have line-of-sight between the router and my laptop a few rooms away, the 2.4 GHz signal is stronger and more stable...hence faster. Taking it another step further, although it is not as "fast" as "n", "g" level signals penetrate and saturate much more effectively. It's a question of trade offs as in return for speed, you must give up penetration power.
It is not likely that you are encountering interference in the 5 GHz band, but it might help to experiment with some different channel settings. Make sure "use wide channels" is enabled under the options button on the Wireless page in AirPort Utility as well.

Apple TV vs Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station (Simultaneous Dual-Band)

I have an original 40 GB TV that connects to my new ( (latest model)) Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station (Simultaneous Dual-Band) (MC340LL/A). Since upgrading to this new AEBS, my TV will not connect via its internal Airport card. The TV will "see" my "Home-LAN" but always gives the error message, "Connection Failed".
I have tried to Reset and Restore the TV, even the "Restore to Factory Defaults"! I have changed the security settings on my AEBS from an Open Network (no security) to WPA/WPA Personal, WPA Personal. I have changed the "Radio Mode" from "802.11a/n - 802.11b/g" to "802.11a - 802.11b/g". The TV will not connect! I now have it connected to my "Home_LAN" via Ethernet, and it works fine.
Anyone with a similar problem and a suggestion or solution? Do you think the internal Airport Card is the problem? Thanks

As suggested in another discussion area, (AirPort), I reset the AEBS to factory defaults. On the TV, I went to >Settings>General>Network>Configure Wireless>Wireless Networks. I could then see the generic "Apple Network xxxxx" on the TV. From my MacBookPro, I verified that I could connect to the TV by launching iTunes and noting that the TV was now visible in the "Devices" menu. Went back to the AEBS and ran through the "Setup" routine. I did NOT use the "Previous Settings" but instead, saved the old settings profile, created a new wireless network and new settings profile and enabled WPA2 Personal encryption. I then went back to the TV and went through the "Settings" routine again (as noted above). This time, after entering my WPA2 password, the TV connected to the network and problem was solved. Thanks.

How can I extend a wireless network with my AirPort Extreme Base Station?

Today I purchased a brand new, dual-band base station to replace my Belkin N router, as I have had a handful of firewall, coverage, and other networking problems in my house lately. First off, I really like this router and it was very easy to setup. My MacBook Pro could use both bands and established a 300 Mbit/s link very quickly. After tweaking various settings to my liking, I was also able to maximize the connections on many of my non-Apple machines and devices. I noticed that the range of its network was better than my Belkin's, but unfortunately, it failed to completely saturate the area sufficiently. Since the Belkin still works well enough, I was hoping I could bridge them together one way or the other.
The Belkin router does not support any bridge mode that I know of, but the AirPort Extreme should be able to join a wireless network and then extend that over WiFi and Ethernet, correct? I would like to place them at opposite ends of my home so I can get strong WiFi signals everywhere inside. However, when I try to get the base station to connect to my preexisting WiFi connection, it tells me that I can't extend the network and fails to join.
So is this possible? And if it is, how would I go about setting it up? I know it would probably be easier if I had a simple range booster such as an AirPort Express, but I didn't buy one while I was at Fry's since I hoped I could make use of the older Belkin. This is its product page, if needed. Thanks for any suggestions.
-MacUser

The Belkin router does not support any bridge mode that I know of, but the AirPort Extreme should be able to join a wireless network and then extend that over WiFi and Ethernet, correct?
Sorry, but no. The AirPort Extreme Base Station cannot "join" a network like the AirPort Express or Time Capsule, but you wouldn't want to do this anyway because in this configuration these devices will only perform as wireless clients ... not routers.
Instead, the AirPort Extreme can either be extended or can extend another 802.11g or 802.11n AirPort ... or a very very few non-AirPort devices.
One option for your Belkin would be to connect it to the AirPort Extreme by Ethernet but this may not meet your requirements or be a desirable situation. Otherwise, you would need to get another AirPort to extend your current one.

Multipmultiple Airport Extreme Base Stations: WDS Or "Extend Wireless Network" To Have Wired -- Wireless Bridge?

Hello there!
I've been looking for this info, but have as yet been unable to find it. Here's my scenario:
I have two Airport Extreme Base Stations (both are dual band) and 3 airport expresses. The main internet connection in my house is in one room, where I have an AEBS as the main wireless router. In another room, I have a bunch of ethernet-only devices. I'd like to use the 2nd AEBS in this room, plug the ethernet devices into it and have the 2nd AEBS act as a wired <--> wireless bridge (connected to the same wireless network as the 1st AEBS). I've attempted this via "extend a wireless network," but the ethernet devices don't get past the AEBS they're plugged into. Should I instead be implementing WDS?
I mention the airport expresses as I'd like to have airtunes & wireless signal in other areas, but would like to keep the set-up as simple as possible (i.e., not config the AXes for WDS unless it's required).
Thanks in advance for any help!

Unlike the 802.11n AirPort Express Base Station (AXn), the 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn) cannot be configured as a wireless Ethernet bridge.
However, there are at least two ways to configure it to provide wired clients access:
Connect the second AEBSn back to the first by Ethernet; reconfigure the second AEBSn as a bridge and disable its wireless radios, or
Reconfigure both AEBSns into an extended wireless network. For 802.11n AirPorts, this would be called a dynamic WDS. The AEBSn, connected to the Internet would be the "main" base station and it would only require that you enable the "Allow this network to be extended" option in the AirPort Utility. The extending AEBSn would need to be configured with the option, Wireless Mode = Extend a wireless network, enabled.
In both configurations, the second AEBSn's Ethernet ports would be enabled for wired clients.

Airport Extreme Base Station as Extender to Airport Extreme Time Machine

I have tried this a few times, but to no avail: Tonight I purchased an Airport Extreme Base Station (AE) to set up as an extender to my Airport Extreme Time Capsule (AETC). The Airport Utility finds the router and goes through set-up seemingly fine, with green lights on both. Then shortly after (within a minute) the AE reboots on it's own, followed by the AETC rebooting (again, on it's own) and this occurs repeatedly. I reset the AE completely and run through the set-up and the same thing occurs. I've also done soft resets to the AETC. Long and short of it - the restarting discontinues once I unplug the power cord from the AE. Then the AETC resumes as it has - providing fine wifi and speed. It appears the AE rebooting on its own makes the AETC reboot. Any ideas? Thanks!

howto - extending airport 802.11n networks
Pre-Requistites
1) Ensure all have most recent firmware - 7.7.3 for AC devices, 7.6.4 for 802.11n devices
2) Have most recent Airport Utility (OS X 10.7 thru 10.9, use 6.3.2, IOS6/7 use 1.3.3)
3) Only have the Primary Airport/TimeCapsule powered on for now
Set up the Primary/Anchor Airport Base Station
1) Do this over ethernet - ensure that the Modem and TimeCapsule/Airport is connected on the WAN port
2) You'll be prompted by Airport Utility to name the Network and the Base Station
Network is the SSID of the Wireless LAN
BaseStation is the name of the Airport/TimeCapsule
3) You'll be prompted for a password - this will be for both the WLAN and the Base Station on initial setup
Note here - there are at least three passwords to worry about post setup
a) BaseStation Management - in this how-to, this will be carried thru to the extended basestations
b) WLAN Access
c) Disk Access for TimeCapsule and AirDisk
They can be same or unique, up to you...
Configure the Airport/TimeCapsule for WiFi/Network
4) Select the named BS in Airport Utility - click the 'edit' button
5) Review 'Base Station' Tab
5a) BaseStation Name
5b) BaseStation Password - you can change this now if desired, this does not affect WLAN password
6) Review Internet Tab
6a) set as appropriate for your network - e.g DHCP or other depending on needs
6aa) focus here is getting the primary BS set up first
6b) Click Internet Options - this is IPV6 setup - for now...
6ba) Set to Link-Local Only, click save, you can go back and change this later if needed
7) Go to Wireless Tab
7a) Set Network Mode to "Create a wireless network"
7b) Check Wireless Network Name
7c) Wireless Security - recommend WPA2 Personal - this is important as you'll need this later
7d) Wireless Password - the password entered in step 5b above is what is used here, feel free to modify or not - if so, note this
7e) disregard Enable Guest Network for now
7f) Click Wireless Options
7g) ensure 5Ghz network name is unselected
7h) Country as appropriate - since I'm in California, I choose United States
7i) Leave 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz Channels as "Automatic" for now, click save if needed
8) Click Network Tab
8a) if this is your primary router - use DHCP and NAT
8b) Click Network Options
8c) DHCP Lease - I use 12 hours
8d) IPv4 DHCP Range - every here is a bit different, but my recommendation for most folks
192.168.1.100 to 150
Use what works for you, keeping in mind that the AP Extreme, TimeCapsule, and 2012 Airport Express can handle 50 clients, max
8e) Ensure that Enable NAT Port Mapping Protocol is selected
8f) can worry about Enable default host at: [] later, this is the DMZ'ed host
8g) can choose to enable IGMP Snooping or not - doesn't affect the primary setup
8h) click save
TimeCapsule Only - for Airport Extreme, worry about AirDisk later
This is TimeMachine support, along with FileShares
9) Select Disks - you should see a partitiion named "Data"
9a) ensure that Enable file sharing is selected
9b) ensure that Share disks over WAN is unchecked for now
9c) Secure Shared Disks:
Choices here -
device password - noted in step 5b above
disk password - this will be for all LAN clients that can see the Data Partitiion
accounts - you can set up separate users and passwords - this is beyond scope of this how-to
Recommendation if using as TimeMachine only, use a disk password - note this as you'll need it for timemachine on the clients
Save Settings to the Airport/TimeCapsule
10) Click the "update' button
The Airport/TimeCapsule will restart
Everything now should show green and shiny - open a web browser and attempt to go to Apple/Google/Yahoo, to ensure that you've got network connectivity
Reviewing things in the Airport 6.3 utility, you should see your base station and the Internet - both with green status
Once done here, let's extend the Wireless Network
Note - again, it helps to be connected to the primary base station on ethernet, wireless makes things, erm, challenging
11) with another decive - Mac/iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch or PC, ensure that Wireless LAN is working on the primary AP/Basestation
Once this is done, then proceed to the next step
Enable the "Extended" Airport - can be another TimeCapsule, Airport Express or Airport Extreme
For purposes of this discussion - assume all ore 802.11n capable at a minimum, so this applies towards more recent gear
a) Airport Extreme AC (2013)
b) Airport TimeCapsule AC (2013)
c) Airport Express 2012 Dual-Band (Looks like AppleTV)
d) Airport Extreme 802.11n 5th Gen, TimeCapsule 4th Gen
e) Airport Express 802.11n - similar to the 802.11g variant, looks like a MacBook Pro power adapter
Assumptions here is that the extended airport is factory defaults - see link below for more info:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3728
Once this is done, plug in the Airport that is intended for extending the wireless network
after about a minute or so, you should see a blinking orange light, this is normal...
In Airport Utility, you should see in the upper left hand, "Other Wi-Fi Devices (1)" - click this, if you don't see this, exit and restart Airport Utility
12) clicking on the button, you should see an entry menu as "Airport Extreme xxxxxx", select this
13) Once selected, you'll see "This Airport Extreme/Express/TimeCapsule will be set up to extend "Primary Base Station"
14) Enter the name for this base station - it should be unique from the name of the Primary noted in step 5a
15) Click "next"
16) Should see "setting up this base station to wirelessly extend..."
you'll see some progress messages.. this is the two basestations handshaking....
If successful, you'll see the BaseStation named in step 14 as "is now wireless extending "base station named in (step 5a)"
STOP - the Airport is now extended, repeat steps 11 thru 16 for each addtional Airport
For advanced features - such as port forwarding, DMZ, IPv6 Tunnels, Back to my Mac, etc - perform this only on the Primary Base station outlined in steps 1 thru 8h
Good Luck!

Airport Extreme Base station and speedtouch modem router

hi
i was wondering will my speedtouch(THOMSON ST585v6sl) modem router (wireless) work with the Airport extreme base station? or do i need a modem only?
thanks in advance

Welcome to the discussions, dood!
The Thompson ST585 appears to be a combination modem and router, so you could use one of the LAN ports on that device to connect an ethernet cable to the WAN port on the Airport Extreme. In this configuration, the Extreme would act as a "bridge" to the Thompson, which would function as the main router and supply the IP addresses for the network. You would be able to create a wireless network with the Extreme in this setup, but only the "main" network would be active. In effect, you have two routers in this setup.
If you connected the Extreme directly to a modem only, then it would serve as the main router for your network and you would be able to make use of the "dual band" wireless capability of the Extreme to create a "main" and "guest" wireless network. There are 3 LAN ports on the Extreme that you can use for ethernet devices.

Airport Extreme Base Station Wireless Woes

Hi,
I just bought this dual band Airport Extreme Base Station on 3/10/2010. After I setup the Airport, I have difficulties connecting my iphone 3GS to the base station. My iphone 3GS is able to see the wireless network but not able to join it. Only my macbook pro is able to connect wirelessly. My windows PC and iphone 3GS could not.
I wonder whats could be the problem?
Some logs from the base station:
Oct 06 23:00:04 Severity:5 Associated with station <mac address of iphone 3GS>
Oct 06 23:00:04 Severity:5 Installed unicast CCMP key for supplicant <mac address of iphone 3GS>
Oct 06 23:00:04 Severity:5 Disassociated with station <mac address of iphone 3GS>
Oct 06 23:00:04 Severity:5 Rotated TKIP group key.
Setting of Airport Extreme Base Station:
Wireless Security: WPA/WPA2
Wireless Channel: Auto
Creating a new network
Things I have tried:
1) Changing the wireless channel
2) Removing the wireless security
Thanks

I think I manage to find the problem on why my airport extreme keep on dropping connection.
This is my connection.
Cable Modem -> Airport Extreme -> Aztech Gigabit Homeplug 1-> Aztech Gigabit Homeplug 2 -> Dlink DIR-825.
When I plug out the conenction from Airport Extreme to Aztech Gigabit Homeplug 1, I am able to connect to the wireless using iPhone 3GS. Once I plug back the connection and do a refresh the iPhone 3GS wifi connection, I am not able to connect the wireless.
Hmm, anyone faces the same problem?

Airport Extreme Base Station as an wireless Extender to new Airport time capsule

After many months of time machine back up problems. (verify back up failing) I am considering biting the bullet and getting a new 2TB Airport extreme time capsule. Can I use the old (late 2013 801.11ac) airport extreme to extend wifi network?
A few other questions.
1.Does extending reduce wifi performance?
2. If using extreme as extender can I still plug in hard drive or hard drive to it?
3.
currently using imac 21.5 (late 2013) 1TB backing up to 6TB WD mybook live duo (connected to Extreme using ethernet), via airport extreme base station (ac wireless band to mac)
Any guidance appreciated.

Is it possible to quantify how much faster USB back up is compared to 802.11ac between mac and AirPort time capsule?
600GB should take 10 hours by ethernet. And it will be somewhat faster by USB3.. exactly how fast is difficult to predict as the first TM backup itself is slow due to many small files. In terms of raw speed maybe twice but it will depend on the disk used. USB you can use an SSD and get super huge speed. (not that I think you will be buying a 1TB SSD anytime soon).
In terms of raw speed it is cheese and chalk. The max speed of real world file transfer on AC wireless is around 430Mbps and that is using ideal world.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/bar/113-5-ghz-dn-c?see=MAX
This has nothing to do with link speed.. this is how fast a file actually transfers. And that is assuming the iMac and the TC are in the same room. And everything is perfect with nothing else using connection.
The real world speed of USB3 is around 100MB/s to a spinning hard disk..
http://www.macworld.com/article/2039427/how-fast-is-usb-3-0-really-.html
which may indicate the limit is the actual disk speed. In bits per second you x 8.. so the USB3 is 800Mbps. The advantage of USB direct connection is that speed is available at all time. Not when your close or the load on wireless is low.
Further to your comments when extending. Is it only the area covered by extending that has reduced performance or all the wifi signal?
The speed will depend on hops..
So if the computer is using resources on a local router.. and only one wireless hop then it is fast.
If it is using resources via a second router so wireless goes.. computer--- router2----router1-- resource.
Your speed drops 50% at best.. at worst it is really bad.
For example.. computer 1 on router 1 accesses computer 2 hard disk on router2 with everything wireless.
Count the hops. C1-R1, R1-R2, R2-C2
That gives 3 hops. So each packet is transmitted.. along that chain.. each transmission can only begin after it is received in full. Now add some other computers using resources.. say C3 is using internet via R1.. that has to be time sliced. So you get 50% of 50% of 50% of 50%. It is obvious that wireless networks have a huge handicap.. they cannot transmit and receive at the same time.. nor can they talk to more than one client at a time.. so add time slicing to wireless hopping.
Now ethernet is entirely different. It can transmit and receive at the same time.. ie is duplex. And in a switch it can talk to several computers at the same time. That is why we say.. as much as you can ethernet.. and use wireless as the last single hop to a client that needs it.. ie iphone or ipad.. or laptop if you cannot plug in ethernet.
Can the ac wifi format be extended using AirPort Extreme and time capsule.
Over very short range yes. AC wireless is only on 5ghz and is poor penetration of solids.. so this will work but maybe only to the next room.

Airport Extreme Base Station Dual Band

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