airport extreme throttling speed

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Level 1

17 points

airport extreme throttling speed

I just had new internet service installed at my home today that is (confirmed) 200Mbps for both up and down. I have my home hardwired and in my office I have a 2nd generation Airport Extreme which connects to the network via a hardwired connection and then from the Airport to my Mac mini.

Below is a snapshot of what I get from a Speedtest.

Note that after I take the Airport Extreme out of the path and just plug the Mac Mini straight into the modem I get marked improvement, but still nowhere near 200Mbps for the upload. But that's a separate discussion. What I want to know is why the Airport is cutting both the upload and download almost in half. The Airport Utility gives little to no knobs to tweek when it comes to QoS. I've attached the relevant model information below.

Airport Extreme Info:

Model: AirPort Extreme 802.11n (2nd Generation)

FW Version: 7.8.1

Mac mini, macOS 10.15

Posted on Dec 26, 2019 12:40 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 26, 2019 1:06 PM in response to milnuts

I have a 2nd generation Airport Extreme which connects to the network via a hardwired connection and then from the Airport to my Mac mini.

Just to confirm the Mini is connected to the Extreme with ethernet?

I suspect the Extreme which is now 10 years old.. is just not connecting at gigabit and has dropped back to 100Mbps. That would perfectly explain the speed for download. Upload not sure.. but there is some issue there.

Or as Kappy has pointed out the first Gen has 10/100 ports and the second has gigabit but they use the same model number.. just the part number changed.

Do you have any other routers or switches involved in this setup?

I have my home hardwired

What model is the cable modem router you have and what other equipment if any on the network?

Have you tested directly into the modem.. just with a patch cable and nothing else connected? Wireless in the computer off as it can have an effect.

IMHO it well past time to replace the Extreme. Long past its' useby date.

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Answer 2

milnuts Author

Level 1

17 points

Dec 27, 2019 7:11 AM in response to LaPastenague

I agree, its long past time to replace that Airport Extreme. It was still useful with my old service provider since they never gave me anything over 20Mbps. But now that I have a decent ISP, its headed for the garbage bin.

I have on several occasions physically connected my MacBook directly to the fiber ONT via ethernet cable. When I do that, I am getting the 200Mbps down and up, which matches my service contract. From the fiber ONT I have a brand new Netgear Nighthawk AC2600 which I bought less than a month ago. When I connect the ONT to the Nighthawk, then physically connect the Nighthawk to my Mac mini (bypassing the old Airport Extreme) I can get the full 200Mbps for the download, but I'm only at around 30Mbps for the upload. So clearly the upload problem lies with the Netgear router. I've been in contact with the support team there, as well as the communities forums, and so far, no one seems to know what the problem is.

For now, I think Kappy's answer is probably good enough for me to just take the Airport Extreme to the graveyard where it belongs.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Dec 26, 2019 12:57 PM in response to milnuts

I think you will find that the AEBS you have is 10/100 Mbps. It is running at its maximum speed. If you have speed problems I suggest you ask your cable company to diagnose your network, and to confirm what service speed to which you are subscribed.

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airport extreme throttling speed

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