Just got Gbit fiber internet installed. Ran speed test and discovered internet was no faster than with regular cable. About 95 Mbs. Connected Ethernet cable directly from new iMac to new fiber modem and got 940 Mbs both download and upload. Looks like old Airport Extreme router is limiting speed. Any solution or do I just need a new router?
iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15
If you want to get close to the gigabit speed by ethernet you need a new router.. no question.
If you want to get better wireless speed you will need to update your equipment to get wifi6 grade equipment so a router that support AX or wifi6 (same thing) is worthwhile.
eg Asus RT-AX88U
If you want to get close to the gigabit speed by ethernet you need a new router.. no question.
If you want to get better wireless speed you will need to update your equipment to get wifi6 grade equipment so a router that support AX or wifi6 (same thing) is worthwhile.
eg Asus RT-AX88U
Not sure how old an "old" AirPort Extreme might be. Can you provide a model number to give us something to go on here?
Are you connecting your Mac to one of the LAN Ethernet ports on the AirPort to check speeds?
Unless you have a truly ancient AirPort Extreme with 100 Mbps Ethernet ports......which would limit speeds to less than 100 Mbps, the AirPort should easily handle 200-250 Mbps over an Ethernet connection. WiFi will be a wild card though.
As a possible point of reference, I have a 10 year old 3rd Generation AirPort Extreme that I use for the patio area outside and it will handle about 250 Mbps on a 300 Mbps Internet Ethernet connection.
A newer AirPort......something less than 5-6 years old should be able to get up to about 325-350 Mbps on a good day.
The Airport Extreme is a Model A1408. I think it's about 10 years old. Maybe less. I didn't connect the Mac to the router with an Ethernet cable. Just wanted to see what speed I would get with the regular wifi. I did connect the computer to the new modem with Ethernet cable.
You have to compare apples to apples if you want to get an accurate look at things because WiFi will never be any faster than the wired Ethernet cable connection.
A poor connection at either end of the Ethernet connection will limit speeds to about 100 Mbps max, even if the actual connection is much faster.
Slow internet caused by old Airport Extreme router?
