AirPort Express A1264 as 5Ghz bridge issues

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rutteger Author

Level 1

8 points

AirPort Express A1264 as 5Ghz bridge issues

Slightly odd issue, wonder if anyone has noted similar or has any suggestions / workarounds.

Setup

-Main router AirPort Extreme 6th A1521 with 7.9.1 firmware

-2.4GHz wifi with SSID wifi2

-5GHz wifi with SSID wifi5

The 2.4GHz is somewhat congested due to neighbours etc, 5Ghz is generally good. Have a number of older 2.4GHz devices needed a more reliable / faster connection. As such picked up a couple of Airport Express A1264 with the idea of using as wifi bridge.

Issue is thus

-When 'join' network is selected - and force the express to connect to 'wifi5' the speed available at the ethernet port is somewhat slow. A fairly non-scientific test which involved ftp-ing a file over the LAN showed max speed of around 0.8MB/s. Switched to 'wifi4' and noted similar speeds.

-When extend is selected - again targeting 'wifi5' - the speed at the ethernet port is much improved, around 8-10MB/s.

Ideally don't want the express to extend the network given with this setup numerous clients connect via the Express rather than Extreme, simply join but without the seeming speed penalty.

Both A1264 tested are on the latest firmware, however have rolled back to various 3.6 and 2.5 versions.

Any suggestions??

Posted on Jan 11, 2020 7:23 AM

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Answer 1

Bob Timmons

Level 10

188,962 points

Jan 12, 2020 6:27 AM in response to rutteger

Can you confirm you were connected via 5GHz.

No, the connection was not only stronger but faster using 2.4 GHz. This was due to the fact that there were 4-5 walls for the Wi-Fi to pass through from the AirPort Extreme to the AirPort Express.

Tesserax and I have both commented on the fact that 5 GHz does not work all that well unless you are lucky enough to have line-of-sight between the AirPorts, or the remote area is located close to the main AirPort.

I'd expect the speed when connected to the express ethernet port to be identical.

No, it won't be, at least in the "join" mode of the Express. I goofed on the speed measurements and picked up a reading when the Express was set to "extend" the network. When the Express was set up to "join" the network on another test a few minutes ago, the resulting speed at the Ethernet port is much less.....about 35-40% of the speed in the "extend" setting.

Tesserax has also mentioned that a number of users have noted the there is a significant loss of bandwidth when the Express is set up in "join", also known as "client mode".

If you have only one internal wall between your AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express, you might consider simply running an Ethernet cable from the AirPort Extreme to the Express by drilling hole in the wall. That would provide by far the best performance. Next best option would be to use a pair of Ethernet over powerline adapters to send the signal over the AC wiring in your home.

Unfortunately, there is no way to tell your Wi-Fi devices to connect to the AirPort Extreme when they might be receiving a stronger signal from the AirPort Express, so I understand the enigma with using the "extend" setting to accomplish what you want to do.

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Answer 2

Bob Timmons

Level 10

188,962 points

Jan 11, 2020 8:56 AM in response to rutteger

Power off the Expresses for now

Move your laptop to a location where you want to install an AirPort Express and run a few speed checks

What speed do you see over Wi-Fi at 2.4 GHz? What speed at 5 GHz?

In general, 5 GHz is not going to work very well unless you literally have line-of-sight or close to it from the AirPort Extreme to the AirPort Express. Reason....5 GHz signals are significantly weaker than 2.4 GHz signals, so they will not work all that well when there are obstructions in the signal path. Nature of the beast.

For what it's worth, I ran a few checks using an AirPort Extreme and an AirPort Express located a few rooms away from the AirPort Extreme. At the location of the Express.....with the Express powered off......speeds were better using 2.4 GHz than 5 GHz due to obstructions in the signal path.

When the Express is activated and set up to "join" the network, the speeds at the Ethernet port are about the same as the speeds when the Express is set up to "extend" the network, so I cannot duplicate the situation that you are reporting with lower speeds at "join" vs "extend".

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Answer 3

rutteger Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 13, 2020 1:58 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks for further feedback.

No, it won't be, at least in the "join" mode of the Express. I goofed on the speed measurements and picked up a reading when the Express was set to "extend" the network. When the Express was set up to "join" the network on another test a few minutes ago, the resulting speed at the Ethernet port is much less.....about 35-40% of the speed in the "extend" setting.

Tesserax has also mentioned that a number of users have noted the there is a significant loss of bandwidth when the Express is set up in "join", also known as "client mode".

This statement is key and confirms the issue I'm seeing. Back to the drawing board on this one, may have to look for a non Apple router / setup.

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Answer 4

rutteger Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 14, 2020 1:46 AM in response to rutteger

Update on this.

Installed an old version of Airport Utility 5.6.1 on my equally as old macbook.

Setup the Airport Express to Extend the Wireless network but unticked the 'allow wireless clients' checkbox.

Now have improved / full speed at the ethernet port and the express isn't extending wifi. Not clear why this is any different to 'join' but the results are clear thus far.

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Answer 5

Bob Timmons

Level 10

188,962 points

Jan 14, 2020 6:12 AM in response to rutteger

Nice work!

If you have the time and want to experiment, it would interesting to see the results if you set up the AirPort Express as a test to "join" the network using the 5.6.1 Utility. If you do this, if I remember correctly, there is an option to enable or allow Ethernet connections on the Express.

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Answer 6

rutteger Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 11, 2020 3:48 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks for the responses.

See you have completed a similar test without experiencing the same issue - thanks for that. Can you confirm you were connected via 5GHz.

To clarify a few points in my original post

5GHz connectivity is fairly good throughout the house. Centrally placed router and thin internal walls. 2.4GHz really struggles due I expect to so many other 2.4GHZ networks locally.
When connecting the express to extreme via the 5GHz network in 'extend' mode transferring a file over the network via the express ethernet port the speed was acceptable speed - able to get 10MB/s
When connecting the express to extreme via the 5GHZ network in 'join' mode transferring a file over the network was only able to achieve 0.8MB/s - setup identical.
When carrying out the same test via the laptop (old MacBook) connected via 5GHz wifi was able to achieve around 10MB/s.

The only delta between the two tests was extend vs join. I'd expect the speed when connected to the express ethernet port to be identical. The test was carried out around 2m from the router with one internal wall in-between,

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Answer 7

rutteger Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 15, 2020 12:41 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Did try join with the old airport utility (and there is a check box regarding Ethernet). Same behaviour noted, that is slow speed at the Ethernet port.

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Answer 8

Bob Timmons

Level 10

188,962 points

Jan 15, 2020 12:30 PM in response to rutteger

Very interesting, thanks.

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Answer 9

Tesserax

Level 10

159,288 points

Jan 11, 2020 8:59 AM in response to rutteger

Actually what you have experienced with your Express is a known issue. They perform "worse" bandwidth-wise when using them as an Ethernet bridge. Even more so with the 5 GHz band as it is harder for these signals to traverse through things like walls.

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AirPort Express A1264 as 5Ghz bridge issues

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