Clarification needed - Two 802.11g Express units and an 'n' Extreme

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Level 1

14 points

I have two 802.11g Airport Express units, set up to join existing network, and an Extreme 4th Gen 802.11n.

My house is not that big.

When I'm in the room furthest from the Extreme, streaming music (a 'g' unit in that room), the drop outs can be pretty bad.

1. If I upgrade to 802.11n Express units, will I see a marked difference? Less drop outs?

2. If I do this, should those new Express units be set up to join or extend?

3. Are my current 'g' units dragging down my whole network?

Thanks for the help!

Posted on Dec 13, 2012 9:34 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Level 10

140,872 points

Given the number of environmental variables involved in any wireless installation it is impossible to say with absolute certainty but the answer is almost certainly yes. Upgrading your network to use 5 GHz 802.11n will eliminate many of these variables.
Either option will work. "Extend" creates an additional wireless access point while "join" simply joins the network in the same manner as a computer or iOS device.
Not necessarily, but any wireless "g" devices on your network will require all devices using the 2.4 GHz band to operate at "g" speeds. Your dual band Extreme also creates a 5 GHz network that is unaffected by the 802.11g devices on its 2.4 GHz network.

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Answer 2

Level 1

14 points

Thanks so much for the quick reply! Gotta go out and get 2 new Express units.

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