Q: guest network does not work when bridging airport express to extreme

Anyone can help with this or have a recommendation or suggestion?

Thanks

Hi Jsalva,

My configuration is a little different than yours ... but I do think there is something wrong with bridged guest network and the 7.7.1 firmware in the 802.11ac units.

In my case, my primary router is a 5th gen Extreme.  I also have a bridged 5th gen Extreme, bridged 4th gen Extreme and several 3rd gen Express.  Those devices are all running 7.6.4 firmware.  Guest networking is slower than on the main network, but acceptable.  So I haven't paid any attention to it.

But I also have a bridged 802.11ac TC running firmware 7.7.1.  I've never bothered to test performance of the guest network with it, but indeed, I get a max download throughput of only 0.25Mbps, but with full upload throughput.

So something is clearly wrong.  My scenario is the reverse of yours ... but both of our experiences suggest there is a bridged guest network performance problem with the 7.7.1 firmware ... or between a mixed network of 7.7.1 and 7.6.4 devices.

I wonder if the issue also occurs if both devices are 802.11ac models running 7.7.1?  (I suspect yes, but would be curious to see reports from others.)

I guess the good news would be that the 7.6.4 firmware was released after 7.7.1 ... so perhaps Apple is already aware of the issue, and we might see a fix in a future firmware update.

I'm not familiar with the best ways to get anyone from Apple support to look into issues such as this, but I agree that it does look like a real issue.

skippythelizard,

Thanks a lot for you response, at least I know now that I'm not alone with this issue, I also want to test with two AE 802.11ac routers to see if the issue is the same but I have not been able to get anotherone to test.

I'm not familiar either with how to get anyone from Apple support yo look into this issue, if anyone reading this does know please help us get it on the radar.

thanks a lot for your comments and I hope someone can provide some help or solutions to this.

jsalva/skippythelizard,

I have the same problem with performance on the guest network in bridge mode across VLAN 1003 on the AE 802.11ac model I just picked up.

I'm not running two AEs, but rather a Tomato based router providing VLAN 1003 with the guest networking capabilities. I've tried many different configrations and have narrowed it down to the AE.

Good to know I'm not alone.

For now I threw my guest networks on my RT-N66U but would like to consolidate them back on to the AE.

Aparently its an issue with the AE 802.11 AC, i dont know if using two of the same or a new TC AC and a AE 802.11 does work, i hope apple fix this issue soon

For me it worked when first configured (Current generation Airport-TC as main router with two current generation Airport-Extremes connected over ethernet to cover the whole house/landscape. All at 7.7.1 since installation (flashed up to 7.7.1 as part of installation in early summer) and working until just recently.

I don't understand what has changed.

/Steve

sjdmd,

So it worked for you with 2 latest generation AE and one TC latest generation as well? the 802.11 AC versions? ans sudently it stop working? what do you mean? the speed slowed down?

Thanks for your answer.

Thank you for your response and question.

After I posted, I did what I should have done first and I dredged the forum for advice.

I have a Netgear 24-port smartswitch and by setting up the vlan with 1003 tag for the ports with the AE and TC everything is now working just fine for the guest network.

Yes, amazingly it did work for sometime without problem and then more recently it would not permit guest network connection. Perhaps at some point I power cycled the switch or otherwise reset it and that caused the subsequent failure. I have no idea. In any case, speed is fine on both the guest network and the core network after setting VLAN 1003 in my switch for the three ports involved.

Thank you./Steve

Sadly the firmware that was just released today, 7.7.2, does not solve the issue.

Thats a shame, I was hoping to see it fixed when i noticed the update, but no I can confirm as well that its not.

I've got same issue. Just purchased AirPort Extreme and guest network does not work in bridge mode. I have to keep it in bridge mode since my provider uses one of all in one modems/routers.

Same issue - and it's one of the main reasons I bought the thing - pls fix!

Jsalva,

I have the same issue as you. New 802.11ac AE running in bridge mode, VLAN 1003 configured and set up on my router for the guest network - all working. On the normal SSID, I can download at full speed (~100 Mbit); on the guest SSID, downloads appear to be heavily throttled - can't get past approx 3 Mbit. Upload throughput is about the same on both SSIDs.

I also have the same problem with slow download speeds on the AirPort Extreme "ac" version when using it in bridge mode. Mine is connected directly to a managed switch with VLAN 1003 enabled on that port. My Bluecat Adonis XMB is providing two distinctly different DHCP pools, one to the main VLAN and the other to the 1003 VLAN. That is working perfectly.

Download speeds on the AE using the guest network are dreadfully slow and the Ping latency is also terrible. Upload speeds are great though. The main wireless network is fine both ways.

Can Apple fix the problem with the download speed on the guest network?

Here's a speedtest using the guest network on the "ac" AirPort Extreme taken on a wirelessly connected iPhone 4.

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/i/844001586

As anyone should be able to see the download speed is terrible. The upload speed is great.