Airport Extreme 802.11ac slow wifi with normal ethernet speed

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Level 1

8 points

Airport Extreme 802.11ac slow wifi with normal ethernet speed

I have an AE 802.11ac connected directly to my cable modem (SB8200) with 400 Mbs service. The AE 802.11ac provides DHCP & NAT services. I also have an AE 5th gen in bridge mode connected by ethernet cable to the AE 802.11ac. Here are my speeds.

AE 802.11ac ethernet LAN to a computer - 400 Mbs

AE 802.11ac 5GHz wifi - 100 to 130 Mbs. I've tried all the channels. Speed is measured within a foot of the unit.

AE 5th Gen (bridge) 5GHz wifi - 200 to 230 MPs.

I'm very happy with the hardwire speed and the AE 5th gen wifi speed. I don't understand why the same unit that is giving such good ethernet speed has slower wifi speed than a downstream AE in bridge mode.

Any ideas? I've done a hard reset on the AE 802.11ac. No change.

I toyed with the idea of making the 5th gen the DHCP/NAT server and putting the 802.11ac in bridge mode but the Airport utility would not let me do that. Does the AE closest to the cable modem have to be the one performing DHCP and NAT? The other option is connecting my AE 5th gen to the cable modem in DHCP/NAT mode and having the AE 802.11ac downstream and in bridge mode just to see what happens. I suspect the DHCP/NAT overhead is slowing down the AE 802.11ac, but if that is the case, why is it only slowing down the wifi and not the ethernet?

Thanks.

Posted on Jan 26, 2022 7:39 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,990 points

Jan 26, 2022 7:54 AM in response to sidste

I suspect the DHCP/NAT overhead is slowing down the AE 802.11ac

If that is the case, then it would slow down Ethernet as well.

Power off the 5th Gen AirPort

Power off the 802.11ac AirPort

Restart your Mac

Power up the 802.11ac AirPort, but leave the 5th Gen powered off for now

Try running the tests again a few times

You can power the 5th Gen back up after you run the checks

Does the AE closest to the cable modem have to be the one performing DHCP and NAT?

Yes. If you want to make the 5th Gen AirPort the DHCP and NAT router, it must connect directly to the modem. You will have to perform a Hard Reset on the AirPort and then set up the 5th Gen again. Keep the 802.11ac AirPort powered off while you are working on the 5th Gen.

Should be easy to change the 802.11ac to Bridge Mode using AirPort Utility. You may need to keep the 5th Gen powered off at the time to do this.

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Answer 2

Jan 26, 2022 11:42 AM in response to sidste

AE 802.11ac 5GHz wifi - 100 to 130 Mbs. I've tried all the channels.

On the computer.. hold down the Option key and click on the wireless fan.

Post the screenshot.

Depending on all sorts of factors your computer should connect at between 800-1300mbps to AC wireless signal of the AC extreme. If not it will help to see things like signal and noise levels.

Also need to know the age of the computer you are testing with and how old is the AC AirPort Extreme..

We have found that wifi is one of the first signs of a fading Airport and time to get a new wifi router.

Have you ever opened the AC extreme to clean out dust etc or any reason?

The antenna setup at the top of the Airport AC models is fairly fragile. If too much pressure is put on it during removal it can tear the paper thin connectors. I tracked down very poor wifi on a TC that had a disk replacement to damage to antenna array.

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Answer 3

sidste Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 26, 2022 2:57 PM in response to sidste

Hard reset with new setting (vice restoring old settings) did the trick. I'm now getting 80 MHz channel width and 325 Mbs on my AE 802.11ac wifi with 400Mbs internet service. Can't complain about that. Thank you Bob and LaPasenague - the combination of suggestions got me there.

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Answer 4

sidste Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 26, 2022 2:20 PM in response to LaPastenague

I think my AE 802.11ac is stuck on 20 MHz bandwidth for 5GHz channels. My 5th gen is putting out 40MHz bandwidth. I think I need to factory reset since this is not an available setting. Will do later tonight.

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Airport Extreme 802.11ac slow wifi with normal ethernet speed

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