Poor 5Ghz Performance on New 2013 Airport Extreme

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Level 1

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Poor 5Ghz Performance on New 2013 Airport Extreme

I just replaced two of the 5th generations AP Extremes with the new 802.11ac 6th Gen Ap Extremes. My setup (that worked fine in 5th gen) is 2 Extremes one as main router and one in bridged mode. Both of them are hanging of gig ethernet backhaul and both advertise the same SSID on the same 2.4 and 5ghz channel on both. (there is one ssid for 2.4 and one for 5ghz). When I connect to the 5GHz SSID it works fine for about 3-5 mins then it gets almost unbearable slow. Switching back to 2.4ghz SSID makes it fast again (though not as fast as 5ghz normal of course). I have now seen this happen on a 11" and 13" air (not the new ones the last gen). I thought it was because I migrated from old configs so I redid the setup from scratch and have the same issue. Anyone else seen that?

Posted on Jun 19, 2013 1:09 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 19, 2013 2:28 PM in response to Type_11

Your original setup sounds a bit complicated.. obviously it worked but if you had asked me I would say it has some issues.

In the old setup were the computers connecting to 5ghz signal.. or 2.4ghz.

In your new setup.. if you just use 2.4ghz is it working ok?

Remember the AC Extreme has much better range.. but the computers do not.. they have exactly the same range as before. Even higher gain antenna at 5ghz might not actually give you better range. If you test the air in the same room as the AC.. does it still fade out?

With the way you have it running now do you have the two computers in very different areas of the house?

Beam forming.. hmmm.. two different computers in two different areas could get confused.

Also there is too much auto happening. Can you lock the wireless channel.. on 5ghz at least and stick with the lower ones.. around 36-40 if possible. Apple made it auto rotate channels on the router end and auto rotate bands on the client end.. that can cause issues.

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Answer 2

Jun 19, 2013 2:31 PM in response to Type_11

I am seeing the same problem. My iPhone 5 is getting less than 1M/second on the 6th gen model over 5Ghz. It used to get 55Mbps on the 5th gen Airport Extreme. I'll likely be taking the 6th gen AE back.

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Answer 3

Type_11 Author

Level 1

5 points

Jun 19, 2013 2:36 PM in response to LaPastenague

YEah it probably sounds more complicated than it is. Basically 1 AE as the main router doing 2.4 and 5ghz and a second one in bridge doing the same. Both are fixed on channel 8 for 2.4ghz and 158 for 5ghz which I used before. Theya re both on gig-enet backhaul just like before. I basically unplugged the old AE extremes and plugged in the new ones in the same place. So the only variable is the AE before on the same computers I was able to get very good 5ghz 802.11n speeds on the same computers. It also does not matter the distance as it happens in the same room or across the house.

I also got one for work and am pretty sure I just saw the same thing on my iPhone 5 and this is the most simple setup with just one of them but with seperate 2ghz and 5 ghz SSIDs like my home ones.

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Answer 4

Jun 19, 2013 2:42 PM in response to Type_11

You should not have 2x AE on the same channels.. if they are in roaming setup ie wired together.. and they should not be wired together if you have it setup with extend wireless.

I suspect one nullified the other.. anyway the setup worked.

Obviously the new AC model just doesn't work as well.. did you update the firmware?

There are mixed results.. some people getting much better speeds and others getting poorer.. to be expected with wireless I guess. When you finally get AC client computers or devices you will need one of each.

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Answer 5

Type_11 Author

Level 1

5 points

Jun 19, 2013 2:46 PM in response to LaPastenague

Actually I am doing exactly what apple says to do.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4260

The same thing happened when I had it on automatic. However if they are not on the same channel it gets really confused (or used to, in fact I am pretty sure this TN used to have you set them the same). So perhaps this setup does not work with the new AE but I really would not understand why. The laptop chooses the most powerful one and locks on and disregaurds the other.

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Answer 6

Jun 19, 2013 4:18 PM in response to Type_11

Try 1, 6 or 11. 8 is a horrible overlapped channel.

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Answer 7

Type_11 Author

Level 1

5 points

Jun 19, 2013 5:31 PM in response to carboncanyon

Thanks I actually scanned and 8 is really clean around my place go figure. Anyway 2.4ghz is not the problem ;)

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Answer 8

Aug 1, 2013 6:52 PM in response to Type_11

How did you get the manually choosen channel to stick on the 6th gen AE? I'm frustrated over this. Whenever I set a manual channel to say like 8, the Airport Utility switches back to Automatic and ends up choosing either 1, 6, 11. Same goes for choosing Multicast rates.

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Answer 9

Bob Timmons

Level 10

186,068 points

Aug 1, 2013 7:43 PM in response to Happy_Pappy

Same goes for choosing Multicast rates.

Where do you see a setting for Multicast Rate in AirPort Utility 6.3.1?

You aren't trying to use AirPort Utility 5.x with the "new" AirPort Extreme are you? If you are, the settings generally will not "stick" when you Update.

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Answer 10

Aug 1, 2013 7:56 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Yes, I'm using Airport Utility 5.6.1. That is the most up to date Windows version.

Update: Issue fixed. I was able to manually set the channels using the iOS Airport Utility app.

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Answer 11

Bob Timmons

Level 10

186,068 points

Aug 1, 2013 8:05 PM in response to Happy_Pappy

Ah, there's the rub.

You'll need to use a Mac running AirPort Utility 6.3.1 or use AirPort Utility on an iPhone or iPad for full functionality with the new AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule.

There is no setting for Multicast Rate in AirPort Utiltity 6.3.1, so any change that you might make using 5.6.1 will not "stick". You also will not be able to change the Radio Mode using 5.6.1.

In other words, if the setting is not there in 6.3.1, you won't be able to change that setting in 5.6.1, even though it might appear.

No word from Apple about a Windows version of AirPort Utility for the new AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule

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Answer 12

Aug 2, 2013 5:03 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks for the reply Mr. Timmons.

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