airport extreme

Hello,

I have a 6th generation AirPort Extreme (set up as an access point only) that recently began to show slowing upload/download speeds. It was as low as barely 1 Mbps download within the LAN or WAN networks. Wired speeds in my network were unaffected. No changes with restarts, reset/reinstall, or other troubleshooting. No new 2.4 GHz band interference is known. As it turns out, only the 2.4 GHz band was the only one slow and switching wireless devices that I could to the 5 GHz band returned normal speeds.

So, I take it that this is a sign that my four year old AirPort Extreme is failing. Any further troubleshooting comments? It is generally suggested to replace a 24/7 wifi access point every 4-5 years anyhow.

Otherwise, I read last year that Apple had disbanded their department dedicated to wifi router development and no updates since. I apparently need to replace my AirPort Extreme with a same model or a competitors product. Any suggestions there?

Peace,

Dr. Z.