Airport Express (2nd gen) output?

Am I stupid to expect better than 50-60 Mbps from a 6-year-old AE at 40 feet away?

The AirPort Express has 100 Mbps Ethernet ports, so the theoretical maximum speed that the AirPort could ever produce is.......you guessed it......100 Mbps.

Since Wireless speeds fall the further that a device is from the router, 60 Mbps sounds pretty good at 40 feet, especially if the signal must pass through walls or other obstructions.

In the real world, you might be able to attain 70-80 Mbps speeds if your Wi-Fi device is in the same room with the AirPort Express with line of sight between the devices.

I'm still using two AirPort Extremes here......which have 1,000 Mbps ports......and I do not recommend products unless I have used them myself, so perhaps another user can help out with a product recommendation.

I can only dream of getting that kind of throughput with my iPhones, but my ISPs serve remote areas where 300 Mb/s is not available.

Try using your iMac for a potentially more realistic determination of your actual wireless throughput. This assumes it's a fairly recent iMac capable of the wireless speeds you expect.

Bob Timmons wrote:

...and I do not recommend products unless I have used them myself,

Neither do I. All my network equipment is Apple, but if wireless throughput is that important to you I'd recommend a more recent AEBS or TC with Gigabit Ethernet ports and commensurately faster wireless radios. The Express with its more limited networking capabilities was never intended to substitute for the more robust AEBS.

Your AE is doing great. Much better than average.