Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
My cable provider (Time Warner) upgraded my internet download speed to 200 mbps. I can get the 200 mbps speed when I connect the ethernet cable to my iMac. However, using wifi with AirportExpress, my download speed is only 35 mbps. I thought the problem was that I had an old Airport Express but I just bought a new one and I have the same problem
iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10)
35-40 Mbps is about the best that an AirPort Express can hope to do.
You will need an AirPort Extreme if you want to be able to deliver wireless speeds in the 150-175 Mbps range.....if your Mac is located 15-20 feet from the AirPort with line-of-sight between the devices.
35-40 Mbps is about the best that an AirPort Express can hope to do.
You will need an AirPort Extreme if you want to be able to deliver wireless speeds in the 150-175 Mbps range.....if your Mac is located 15-20 feet from the AirPort with line-of-sight between the devices.
I replaced my Airport Express with an Airport Extreme and my download speed now exceeds 200 mbps. When I went to the Apple store to get the Airport Extreme the Apple people seemed unaware of the download limitations of the Airport Express. I'm surprised that the download speed limitations are not described in the technical specs.
Thank you for your help.
my download speed now exceeds 200 mbps.
That's very impressive. Either the ISP is providing higher than 200+ Mbps speeds, or you have an above average AirPort Extreme.
When I went to the Apple store to get the Airport Extreme the Apple people seemed unaware of the download limitations of the Airport Express
That is a shame, since published test report after test report indicates that the Express is a slow performer, averaging about 35-40 Mbps maximum speed, even when a much higher connection speed is available, as you have seen for yourself. I guess that the Apple folks are not looking at test reports....or maybe they don't want to look at the test reports.
I'm surprised that the download speed limitations are not described in the technical specs.
If they were, I imagine that Apple would likely sell a lot fewer AirPort Express devices.
I just came across this thread looking for maximum wi-fi speeds for the Airport Express. Just to add to the conversation for anyone looking for this information, I was just now able to download 69.93 mbps via a Gen 3 Airport Express to my iPhone 6s from about 6 feet away (direct line of sight). My Comcast source measures 89.15 mbps directly into the ethernet port on my iMac. So, obviously, the Airport Express is definitely capable of faster transfer then the 35-40 mbps limit reported above.
A Generation 3 AirPort Express might do a bit better job than the Gen 1 and Gen 2 products. Was not aware that a Gen 3 even existed. The Express that the Apple Store is selling is the same model number as a Generation 2 Express.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPort_Express
The numbers that I mentioned above were for an AirPort Express in Router Mode.....WAN to wireless. If you have the AirPort Express set up in Bridge Mode, it will typically do better than it will in Router Mode.
In Router Mode, my Gen 2 will do about 45 Mbps. In Bridge Mode, it will do about 70 Mbps. The Gen 1 never gets above 40 in Router Mode, but it does a bit better in Bridge Mode....about 55 Mbps
Apple still quotes a 450 Mbps speed capability for the AirPort Express in their product literature. Interesting.
Airport Express Download Speed
