Hello to all,
My ISP is Cox Communication of New Orleans.
I have two Airport Extremes (One Tall and One Flat). The "Flat" one Creates the Network while the "Tall" one extends. I cannot seem to get either of them to push a WiFi speed above 30mbps. My ISP downloads at 150mbps. I have attempted to capture speed tests on both the iPhone 5s as well as the iPad mini. What am I missing?
p.s. I've also tried them individually.....Same Results.
iPhone 5s, iOS 7
What is the exact model of the "flat" AirPort Extreme that you have?
I don't see where the Model Number is, but I was able to check the Serial Number.
This "Flat" Airport Extremem is 5th Gen.
I'm guessing that the model number is MD031LL/A.
Also,
"Flat" Software Version is 7.6.4
"Tall" Software Version is 7.7.3
Message was edited by: Lester2k1
Ok, thanks for clarifying your networking equipment for me. Do you have any non-iOS devices to test data transfer speeds of your wireless network?
If not, I would recommend that you download and install the WiFiPerfapplet on several of your iOS devices. You would use this on at least two device to help troubleshoot Wi-Fi performance issues. This applet works in a client-server fashion and allows you to test the data transfer rate between those two devices. The goal is to see if the Wi-Fi network is the culprit.
The other area would be the WAN-to-LAN & LAN-to-WAN interface of your router. However, both the 5th and 6th generation AirPorts have significant bandwidth on both of these interfaces ... far greater than what your ISP is providing you.
What I suspect is that you may not have the extending base station at it most optimal physical location in reference to the base station that it is extending. Once you can verify that your extended network is working at its optimal overall bandwidth, we can do some further troubleshooting.
OK...so i installed WiFi Perf on both my iPhone 5s and my iPad Mini. The only way that I could get it to run was to set both to "Act As Server" with both devices showing the same Server Address on the Test screen. The Ipad Mini rand an average of 1,760 mbps while the iPhone was no higher than 36 mbps.
My Airport Extremes are less than 35ft apart and are both hardwired to the Modem. I also feel like my AppleTV's are running slower than I would have expected.
The only way that I could get it to run was to set both to "Act As Server" with both devices showing the same Server Address on the Test screen.
Sorry, but to get accurate data transfer measurements you need to set up a client - server pair. Both performing as clients or servers will not work.
Be sure to set up the server first. Note the IP address & Port on the Server tab. This will be the IP address & Port that you would enter on the client. By default the Port is: 5201. There shouldn't be a reason to change it.
On the client verify that you have the correct server IP address and port on the Test page, and then, tap on Start. Ten select the Graph page to see the data transfer rate, in Mbps, between the two test devices. This will be the basic data transfer rate of your Wi-Fi network.
Ok....so I installed WiFiPerf on my iMac and was able to do the Client/Server testing. My average Transfer Speed is 38 mbps with peak of 42 mbps.
For comparison, I just ran the tests on my Wi-Fi network which uses a 4th gen Extreme extending a 4th gen Time Capsule. I was getting around 45-50 Mbps.
Your results are telling me that your Wi-Fi network is not the issue. It's important to understand that Wi-Fi network bandwidth is a theoretical maximum speed whereas, the data transfer rate is a more reliable speed reading of what is actually happening.
Internet speed tests, as you know, attempt to measure the overall data transfer rate between a test server and your computer so it measures a number of segments between those two devices. Both your Extremes have Gigabit WAN & LAN interfaces and are capable of 400+ Mbps data transfer rates across those interfaces ... so, at this point, I'm not sure where the bottleneck resides.
Did Cox provide you with a DOCSIS 3.0 modem with a Gigabit Ethernet interface?
I'll look when I get home. I know that the modem DOCSIS 3.0, but not sure of the interface.
Also....I'm not using the Modems native wifi....I disabled that. The 5th gen AirPort Extreme is set to create the WiFi network and the 6th gen extends that network. The modem should be receiving the internet and passing it to the Aiport Extremes via Ethernet.
My level of understanding may be the bottleneck. Keep teaching me.
I'm not using the Modems native wifi....I disabled that.
If your modem had built-in Wi-Fi it is more than just an Internet modem. It appears that you have a combination modem & wireless router or gateway device.
When you have two or more routers in series you run into a condition known as "double NAT." To eliminate this you would typically reconfigure the downstream router as a bridge. That is, the gateway would still have NAT & DHCP enabled, but all other routers in the network would have these features disabled in order for the overall network to work properly.
What is the make & model of your gateway device? I know you disabled its Wi-Fi radios; however, did you disable any other features?
Cisco DPC3825
I didn't disable anything else withing the Router Settings. Both of the Airport Extremes are set to Bridge Mode.
The Cisco DPC3825 is an excellent gateway device. However, these devices offer a number of features, when enabled, can reduce the data throughput through the gateway significantly.
One of these is QoS. By default, WMM support is enabled. Try disabling this. (see pg 49 in the user guide)
Another is SPI Firewall Protection. If this is enabled, try disabling it to see if you get any improvement. (see pg 51 in the user guide)
I'll look into these features. I do have an iMac connected to this network via Ethernet and I get download speeds of 130-150 Mbps. Does the Ethernet connect make a difference in that the wifi is slow on the Apple Routers?
I've disabled QoS...there may have been a slight improvement .... peaked at 28 mbps
Do you think it would be better to use the Cisco Wifi and allow the Apple Routers to Extend that network instead of my current setup?
Wireless is ALWAYS slower than Ethernet for any manufacturer's routers, not just for Apple. However, also remember that your local network speeds are typically much faster than your Internet connection speeds. For example, with Gigabit Ethernet, you should be getting around 700-800 Mbps for data transfer rates. Again this is only for the local network and only if the devices on both ends (& the cable itself) can handle Gigabit speeds.
Do you think it would be better to use the Cisco Wifi and allow the Apple Routers to Extend that network instead of my current setup?
If you want the Apple routers to extend the Wi-Fi range of the Cisco, both would need to be connected back to the Cisco with Ethernet connections. This is known as a roaming network. Unfortunately, the AirPort routers are not compatible with non-Apple routers for extending a network using wireless connections between them.
Cannot get speeds above 20mbps
