ett2

Q: Where in my house should I locate new AE 6?

I am looking for advice setting up a Airport Extreme 6.

 

With this set up below, where should I place the AE 6? What should happen to the AE 1?

I have read that the wireless router should not be far from the cable modem, but it seems like the AE 6 would be better placed in the center of the house.

 

The cable modem and desktop computer are in a side bedroom. The AE Gen1 used to be there. A few years ago, when we started using laptops more and an ATV,  I moved the AE 1  to the center of the house, on a high shelf, about 40 feet away. The ATV is in the other direction ~40’.

The Ethernet runs from the Cable modem to the AE Gen1 and then runs back to the desktop computer.

 

I currently have:

  • iMac 27" Late 2012, MB Air A1465 (thanks @LaPastenague for where to locate Model #), iPhone 6s, 5s, 4s, iPads, ATV 4
  • Airport Extreme N Gen1
  • Motorola SB6141 Cable modem (just updated from SB5100 last week)
  • Cox Cable 50 Mbps (usually w/ ~32 Mbps) (we dropped our cable TV last week also, after testing for few weeks)

 

Any help, would be greatly appreciated!

null, AE 6

Posted on Feb 19, 2016 8:08 AM

Close

Q: Where in my house should I locate new AE 6?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Tesserax,Solvedanswer

    Tesserax Tesserax Feb 19, 2016 11:33 AM in response to ett2
    Level 9 (54,684 points)
    Wireless
    Feb 19, 2016 11:33 AM in response to ett2

    With this set up below, where should I place the AE 6? What should happen to the AE 1?

    I have read that the wireless router should not be far from the cable modem, but it seems like the AE 6 would be better placed in the center of the house.

    A wireless router does NOT have to be in close proximity of the cable modem, so what you read is misleading you ... and you are correct in that placing the wireless router in the center of your house would be best; better still place in nearer the ceiling, if practical, would be even better.

    What should happen to the AE 1?

    Unless you really need it, I would suggest that you leave it out of your network configuration for a couple of reasons:

    1. Its Ethernet ports only support 100 Mbps; the ones on your AE 6 support 1 Gbps. This would have greater impact if you use the AE 1 in a roaming network configuration with the AE 6. Note: This configuration would be preferable to an extended one where the connection between them is wireless, but, again, due to the limited bandwidth of the Ethernet ports, you won't be gaining much.
    2. The AE 1 could not be used to extend the 802.11ac radio mode of your AE 6 model.
    • Motorola SB6141 Cable modem (just updated from SB5100 last week)

    Unfortunately, the Motorola SB6141 is known to be incompatible with the AirPort base stations. Not that either are bad; they just don't "play nice" together. We get numerous posts here at the ASC and most describe the problem as intermittent loss of Internet connectivity when these two are paired.

  • by ett2,

    ett2 ett2 Feb 19, 2016 11:36 AM in response to Tesserax
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 19, 2016 11:36 AM in response to Tesserax

    @tesserax - thanks!

     

    Do you have a recommendation for a more suitable cable modem?

  • by Tesserax,

    Tesserax Tesserax Feb 19, 2016 12:16 PM in response to ett2
    Level 9 (54,684 points)
    Wireless
    Feb 19, 2016 12:16 PM in response to ett2

    I would first suggest that you contact Cox to find out which they support, and then, you can provide them here so we can offer some recommendations. Be sure to ask them for modem-only devices, not combination modem/router or gateway ones.

  • by Tesserax,Helpful

    Tesserax Tesserax Feb 20, 2016 6:03 PM in response to ett2
    Level 9 (54,684 points)
    Wireless
    Feb 20, 2016 6:03 PM in response to ett2

    I see you posted a link to Çox-approved modems/gateway devices list on another post. Thanks! Based on that list I would recommend Cisco equipment where possible. Of the three that are listed, I would suggest the Cisco DPC3008. The DPC3010 is newer, but the download data transfer rates are not as good as the earlier model (300 vs 340 Mbps) ... albeit if you are only getting 50 Mbps service (I'm still jealous) that won't matter much.

  • by ett2,

    ett2 ett2 Feb 20, 2016 6:20 PM in response to Tesserax
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 20, 2016 6:20 PM in response to Tesserax

    Thanks @Tesserax!
    Do you know if I need anything special (Cable Modem wise) to add voip? I am considering dropping Cox phone service also.

  • by Tesserax,

    Tesserax Tesserax Feb 21, 2016 8:57 AM in response to ett2
    Level 9 (54,684 points)
    Wireless
    Feb 21, 2016 8:57 AM in response to ett2

    I'm sure you know that Cox's phone offering is VoIP.

     

    Regardless, there are a number of modems with built-in digital voice adapters for VoIP service. One example would be the Cisco DPC3216. With this type of modem, you can connect your home's land-line telephone circuit so that you can use standard land-line phones to connect to your VoIP service. FWIW, when I was with Cox (have since moved to an area where they don't provide service) this was the modem they provided me and I didn't have any issues with it working with my other Cisco & Apple networking devices.

     

    If you're not staying with Cox, you will have to check with each potential VoIP service provider to see if this type of setup will work with their service.

  • by ett2,

    ett2 ett2 Feb 22, 2016 10:03 AM in response to Tesserax
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 22, 2016 10:03 AM in response to Tesserax

    I ordered the DCP3008 from Amazon. I'll keep the 3216 in mind for future options. Thanks again!