How can I test signal strength of an Airport Express that's extending a network?

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Level 3

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How can I test signal strength of an Airport Express that's extending a network?

I'm trying to figure out how much my Airport Express is actually helping to extend my network, and whether I should place it somewhere different. Any help would be appreciated!

Current situation: my base station is an AirPort Extreme in our apartment's computer room; that's plugged into the wall for the internet. The wifi network is being extended in the living room through an AirPort Express (version 7.6.4). There's an Apple TV on the same cabinet as the AirPort Express. The Airport Express also has an optical cable connecting it to a soundbar (which has an additional HDMI connection to the TV).

I'm really not sure if the AirPort Express is doing anything useful. The network is set up to be extended, as best I can tell: the Airport Extreme's Network Mode is "Create a wireless network", and the AirPort Express's Network Mode is "Extend a wireless network". But wifi signal strength on my iPad and iPhone still seem to drop a lot in the living room. The Apple TV usually streams music from my desktop computer (in the computer room) fairly well, but if I try to play music from my computer through the Apple Express to the soundbar, the connection is terrible and keeps dropping. (Which could be a wifi issue, or could be an aging Airport Express issue, or could be a cable issue, or could be a soundbar issue ...)

An example of what concerns me: if I go into the Airport Utility on my iPhone and look at the Airport Extreme, it has 4 wireless clients, including the Apple TV. But if I look at the AirPort Express, it sometimes has one wireless client (the iPhone), but never shows the Apple TV - even though the Apple TV is about 30cm away from the Airport Express. It's as if the 30cm-distant connection to the Airport Express is weaker than the two-rooms-distant connection the Airport Extreme, but I'm probably misinterpreting that.

Anyway, is there a way to test what the speed is through the AirPort Express, versus through the Extreme? I've been trying to use apps like CloudCheck on my iOS devices, but those just measure the speed of my network, and it's not clear whether or not it's using the Extreme or Express.

Thanks in advance, and apologies if I've (almost inevitably) used "Express" when I should have used "Extreme", or vice versa, somewhere above.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11), Late 2009

Posted on Feb 6, 2016 1:24 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Feb 6, 2016 5:32 PM in response to Lost in Asia

One way to see the signal strength is hold the Alt(option) key while clicking the WiFi icon in the menubar.

But you can not see directly to which airport it is connected. Also Airport Utility does not give much information.

You can see much more with the free app (Appstore) called "WiFi Scanner".

The problem might be that the place you have chosen for the Airport Express can be better: it should be somewhere halfway (in strength) between the AirportExtreme and where you sit with the iPad/iPhone.

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Answer 2

Lost in Asia Author

Level 3

777 points

Feb 6, 2016 2:31 AM in response to Lexiepex

Thanks ... but I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right app. The only WiFi Scanner app I can find is this one, and that's $20.99 in the Canada App Store. (Well, there are plenty of other networking apps, but I can't find one that seems to be able to identify which AirPort I'm using.)

On holding the option key while clicking the wifi icon (note to others that may make the same mistake I did: hold down the option/alt key BEFORE clicking on the wifi icon): cool! I had no idea all that information was there. Now I just have to figure out what the heck it means ... But what I can see on my computer is probably something of a moot point anyway - it's a desktop, so I can't really move it around, and what concerns me more is the signal I get on the Apple TV and the iOS devices.

Inquiry: I'm not sure what the Apple Express is "supposed" to do. I know it extends - so for example, if I'm 90 feet from the Extreme, but only 30 feet from the Express, then the Express is in range but perhaps the Extreme isn't (I have no idea what the actual numbers would be.) But does proximity also provide a more stable or stronger connection? The Apple TV is right beside the Airport Express, so presumably they've got the same signal strength connecting to the Apple Extreme. In that case, would it be better for the Apple TV to connect to the nearby Express, or to the more distant Extreme? I've been assuming that devices would link to the "closer" device (i.e. three feet to a base station is better than 30 feet to a base station), but now I realize I may have been thinking of that the wrong way, and instead they'll connect by whatever the shortest route is to the Extreme (i.e. 30 feet to the Extreme is better than three feet to the Express + 30 feet to Extreme, for 33 feet total, and yeah, I know distance isn't the only factor).

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Answer 3

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Feb 6, 2016 6:43 AM in response to Lost in Asia

- Yes that is the Wifi scanner I meant, didn't know is is not free (anymore?), I have it already a long time, probably before it was on the Appstore. Maybe you can download a trial version from their website.

- Forget about the Apple TV at the moment.

- In the Airport Utility (in Utilities folder) you can see the distribution and change settings if necessary.

- Of course distance to the WiFi unit is important !

In your setup you have the Airport Extreme connected to the modem or wall outlet, and at a certain distance the Airport Express: this Express picks up the WiFi signal and amplifies it to be picked up by your computer in your study.

Even though the Extreme has a stronger WiFi field than the Express, when placed correctly the express will be the "amplifier" .

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Answer 4

Tesserax

Level 10

148,357 points

Feb 6, 2016 5:32 PM in response to Lost in Asia

I'm trying to figure out how much my Airport Express is actually helping to extend my network, and whether I should place it somewhere different. Any help would be appreciated!

Take a look at the following AirPort User tip. Please post back your results. The bottom line? The Express should be placed so that it is within a 30+dB range of the Extreme. Note: This measurement must be made with the Express powered-down. You only want to measure the SNR of the Extreme where you want to place the Express.

Current situation: my base station is an AirPort Extreme in our apartment's computer room; that's plugged into the wall for the internet. The wifi network is being extended in the living room through an AirPort Express (version 7.6.4).

Which exact models are both of your Apple base stations? Based on your Express "version" number, I can only guess that it is either a 1st or 2nd generation 802.11n model. Where is the living room in relation to the computer room? One room, multiple rooms over on the same floor, or different floors?

The network is set up to be extended, as best I can tell: the Airport Extreme's Network Mode is "Create a wireless network", and the AirPort Express's Network Mode is "Extend a wireless network".

That would be the correct settings for an extended wireless network when the two base station are interconnected by wireless only.

The Apple TV usually streams music from my desktop computer (in the computer room) fairly well, but if I try to play music from my computer through the Apple Express to the soundbar, the connection is terrible and keeps dropping.

Let's take a minute to look at how the stream would travel on your current network. In general it would start with the iTunes host, and then, to the AirPlay "speaker." That speaker could be an AirPort Express, Apple TV, or another AirPlay-ready device. When the iTunes host (or any network device) connects to an extended Wi-Fi network, it will try to connect to the base station (wireless access point) that has the strongest signal, not necessarily the one that it is closest to it. So, for example, if the Express is properly located it may be broadcasting a signal that is weaker than the one the Extreme is broadcasting. In this case the iTunes host will connect to the Extreme and the stream will go from the host to the Extreme first, and then, to the Express (or Apple TV) to be played. If they are all in the same room (not typical), you would get the "best" streaming performance possible (except for all wired connections). When the are not, then the stream could potentially pass through multiple walls, ceilings, floors, etc. which will hamper the signal, thus reducing the overall bandwidth to stream with. This appears as poor streaming quality. Makes sense?

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Answer 5

Lost in Asia Author

Level 3

777 points

Feb 6, 2016 5:31 PM in response to Tesserax

Thanks for all the suggestions.

On the Airport User Tip linked to above: I don't think I can really use that information. My desktop computer, and only OS X computer, is in the same room as the Airport Extreme base station, so I'd be surprised if the computer room's desktop is using the living room's Airport Express at all. And seeing as how it's a desktop I can't really unplug it and move it around to test wifi strengths at different places in the apartment. Is there any similar advice using iOS devices that I could place where the AirPort Express is now?

The Airport base station models: it took a while to find the model! (Open Airport Utility; in the window that appears, hold down option/alt key; double click picture of Extreme or Express). AirPort Extreme 802.11n (1st Generation); AirPort Express 802.11n (1st Generation). They're both several (or more than several?) years old. Context: I recently got an Apple TV and TV, and am facing (probably inevitable) network issues; the AirPort Express is the oldest link in the chain, and seemed one place to look for weak spots, but I'm a little surprised by how difficult it's proving to test how well the little box is actually working.

Room layout: single-floor apartment, concrete walls. Lots of wifi networks all around me. Computer room is the northeast corner, living room southwest corner. Airport Express doesn't quite have line of sight to the TV cabinet area (where the Airport Express is), but it's close (and can't be improved without shaving the corners off some walls, and that's not going to happen!). For what it's worth using the microwave (kitchen is southwest corner) will often cut the wifi to the living room (Apple TV and AirPlay speakers and wifi to iOS devices will cut out), but the wifi in the computer room is still fine.

What's been closest to what I want so far: the AirPort Utility on the iOS devices. It told me the Airport Express connection (presumably the connection between the extension-Express and base-Extreme) was "Good" (43 Mb/s, RSSI -74 dBm); I moved the Express around a bit and now it's telling me the connection is "Excellent", 58 Mb/s, RSSI -70 dBm. I wish that metric could be more live - instead I have to back out a menu and then go in again to see current stats. What probably helped more than anything else - I was digging through the Box of Olde Time Cables, and found the extension cord that came with the AirPort Express, so now I don't need to keep the device stuck to the power bar behind the TV. That'll improve the signal strength, but I still wish there were a better way to diagnose the internet drops I get - there are lots of nodes in the network, so I can't be sure where the problem is.

Curiously, while I was using the AirPort Utility app on my iPhone, the iPhone suddenly couldn't find either the Airport Express or Extreme (I got a little yellow triangles with exclamations marks), even though the internet on the desktop computer - right beside the iPhone - was fine, and the Airport Extreme's light remained green with no issues. At exactly the same time as the iPhone lost the AirPorts, some kind of dull thrumming hum began in the building ... one of those hums that fill modern life and that we just ignore or attribute to air conditioning or heating or something. I assumed it was just a Time Machine backup starting on an external HD, but now I realize it's from somewhere outside the apartment. And I'm concerned not just about the signal strength from the Express, but also the stability - the Apple TV is just suddenly stopping the connection more often than I'd like. Who knows, maybe I need a tinfoil hat for my network.

Anyway, for measuring signal strength of the Airport Express, the AirPort Utility iOS app seems to be one of the more approachable methods. For measuring stability of the signal, I still don't know.

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