Airport express to Arris SB6190 modem slow speed

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Level 1

11 points

Airport express to Arris SB6190 modem slow speed

Hello!

My Comcast WIFi is supposedly giving me 150Mbps. My speed test only show's 70 or slower on a WiFi test. After calling them they told me to talk to my modems customer service. But their customer service is terrible. Here is my setup and yes everything has been turned off and hard reset. And Comcast was set up with modem while the Comcast guy was here. Early on after a few hard reset's the express worked. Here is the question and setup.

I have a Arris SB6190(not wireless) connected directly to my Airport express. The express (which is handling my wireless connection's) is connected to a switch (for hardwired devices). But I think my problem is the Express.? Not sure, I guess my question is am I doing something wrong in airport utilities with the Express's settings? I don't see why I'm not getting over 75Mbps wirelessly. Or maybe Apple if your reading you can give this a fix on your next update. Hope you can help and thanks!!

AirPort Express 802.11n (2nd generation), iOS 9.3

Posted on Mar 30, 2016 3:34 PM

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Answer 1

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,042 points

Mar 30, 2016 3:47 PM in response to theemurman

A few thoughts here:

1) The AirPort Expess uses 100 Mbps Ethernet ports, so the maximum theoretical speed that could ever be achieved with an Ethernet or wireless connection through the Express would be 100 Mbps.

2) The Express is not known for its wireless speed. On a 100 Mbps Internet connection here, I typically see about 45-50 Mbps at best over wireless, no matter whether 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz is used. Ethernet checks out better at about 75-80 Mbps at the LAN port of the Express.

3) These are user to user support forums, so it is extremely unlikely that anyone from Apple will ever see your post. If you want to provide feedback to Apple, you can do so here: Apple - AirPort Express - Feedback Apple will acknowledge receipt of your message, but they will not respond after that.

4) The AirPort Express was introduced almost 4 years ago, and it has been 2+ years since Apple provided a firmware update for the product, so additional updates are not likely.......my opinion.

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Answer 2

Mar 30, 2016 3:50 PM in response to theemurman

The reason is very simple.. the Express.

It is hindered by using 100mbit ethernet.. therefore at the very very best it can do about 95mbit.. remember nothing is 100% efficient.

My Comcast WIFi is supposedly giving me 150Mbps.

What model express is this.. on 2.4ghz you will get 150Mbps .. apple has always restricted 2.4ghz to N lite on every router they ever made to this day.

A link speed of 150Mbps does not translate to real world transfer of 150Mbps.. Wireless is half-duplex.. it can Tx or Rx but not both at once.. therefore actual real world wireless speed is 1/2 the link speed at best..

Surprise surprise.. your best wireless speed is 75Mbps.. exactly 150Mbit/2 as expected.

To get faster wireless you MUST use 5ghz.. and you should be using an Extreme not an express.

Edit

Dang hash it.. Bob beat me again..

In Maxwell Smart voice..

"beat me by that much".. holds up thumb and forefinger with infinitesimal gap.

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Answer 3

theemurman Author

Level 1

11 points

Mar 30, 2016 3:52 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks sounds good. I understand now. How much can I get from my Time Machine? Is that any faster?

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Answer 4

theemurman Author

Level 1

11 points

Mar 30, 2016 3:53 PM in response to theemurman

Thanks guys appreciate the information!!!!!

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Answer 5

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,042 points

Mar 30, 2016 4:04 PM in response to theemurman

If you have a new Time Capsule, you can obtain 1,000 Mbps speeds through the Ethernet ports and up to 1,300 Mbps speeds over wireless. Wireless speeds are hypothetical. Real world is about half.

So, the Time Capsule should easily handle just about anything that your ISP can provide.

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Answer 6

Mar 31, 2016 11:36 AM in response to theemurman

theemurman wrote:

Thanks sounds good. I understand now. How much can I get from my Time Machine? Is that any faster?

If by Time Machine you mean Time Capsule.. it depends on its age..

For Gen1 much the same as the express. But better if you swap band to 5ghz.

For Gen2 better on 5ghz.

For Gen3-4 much better on 5ghz

For Gen5 much much better on 5ghz with AC wireless card.

NOTE.. all are restricted on 2.4ghz as per Apple policy to only allow 20mhz of bandwidth.. you can get 217Mbps link speed using later 3 stream wireless cards.. but it is now and forevermore restricted by apple.

Ethernet is always gigabit.

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