Why does my Airport Wi-Fi Network hierarchy change sometimes ?

Hi all....

I have multiple Airport Extremes and Airport Expresses located around my home to try and get the best wi-fi/broadband coverage that I can to my family member and various Airplay and Wi-Fi enables devices.

But sometimes when either I add a new Airport Express or I restart the network the layout and configuration can change when I view my network using the Airport Utility.

My main source router remains always under the Internet icon... but sometimes the other can be all in a straight line or as now some or under others... the hierarchy changes from time to time.

Is this a good or bad thing. Sometimes some have Excellent signal, other times Good...

Is there a way to fix the layout of the access points to get the very best results...?

Any comments most welcome.

Regards
Anthony

Mac Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12.3), 12 Core, 64GB Ram, 512GB SSD Drive

Posted on Feb 1, 2017 8:29 AM

20 replies

Tesserax

Level 10

158,208 points

Feb 1, 2017 2:19 PM in response to Anthony MacCarthy

Looks like Bob and LaPastenague filled-in while I was away. Since I don't want you to try to follow too many bits of advice, I will let them respond to any of your questions. I will drop to the background and monitor and pipe up if I can add anything.

Big hint: Anywhere you want to stream HD, or 4K video, you will want the most bandwidth possible between the source and the destination. Hi-Fi audio has much less demands so if you take care of video, you have taken care of audio. Also, where you get your 4K source, Internet or local network will make a big difference as well. Although, by theory, true 4K can be compressed down to 10-12 Mbps, this is done by either reducing the frame rate or sacrificing quality. 35-50 Mbps is more of a realistic number for video @ 60 fps. I believe Netflix, as an example, is encoding 4K @ 15.6 Mbps for 24/30 fps currently.

Feb 3, 2017 8:55 AM in response to Tesserax

I have now turned off all my Apple Express Extenders and I can so no deterioration in performance... I will monitor now as it could even improve matters.

Thanks again to everyone for all their help. The core problem I had is that I presumed that by adding more Apple Express Extenders to my system I would improve my wi-fi throughout my home without trying first to even see if the one unit alone would do the job. What a waste of money!! Thank you all.

Tesserax

Level 10

158,208 points

Feb 3, 2017 10:22 AM in response to Anthony MacCarthy

Rating? Based on what WiFi Explorer is telling you the Signal Quality on the Network Details tab is ranging from "Extremely Poor" (most base stations) to "Good." Not very encouraging results as seen from the device running the app.

Feb 3, 2017 7:51 AM in response to Anthony MacCarthy

Here are some more visual results of my wi-fi network:

Tesserax

Level 10

158,208 points

Feb 3, 2017 10:46 AM in response to Anthony MacCarthy

I may have missed it, but where is the AirPort Extreme located in reference to the Image Connect router? That is, are they in the same room, different rooms, or different floors?

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Why does my Airport Wi-Fi Network hierarchy change sometimes ?