Extend the wifi signal while using an Apple Airport Extreme Base Station and Frontier digital Fios router

the wifi coverage seems to be worse when I add in the airport expresses.

Normal and expected. On average you will lose about half of the speed over the Wi-Fi signal when you use an AirPort Express to wirelessly extend the signal from an AirPort Extreme. And....this assumes that the Express has a very good Wi-Fi signal from the AirPort Extreme......(line of sight). If there are obstructions....walls, heavy furniture, etc.....in the direct signal path between the AirPort Extreme and Express.....then the speed of the Wi-Fi in that area will suffer tremendously.

Some expert users argue that it is better to use less AirPorts.....not more....when you are trying to extend a network. Depending on the circumstances, that can be a valid point.

Unfortunately, even if you connect an AirPort Express to an AirPort Extreme using a permanent wired Ethernet cable, the speed will never approach the Wi-Fi speeds of the AirPort Extreme.

Why? The Ethernet port on the AirPort Express is 100 Mbps while the Ethernet ports on the AirPort Extreme are 1,000 Mbps, also known as Gigabit. The very best that the AirPort Express can ever do Wi-Fi wise is 100 Mbps.

So, while 100 Mbps might be better than connecting the Express to an Extreme using only Wi-Fi, you are going to be losing about 80% of the speed capability of the Extreme when the Express(es) are added to the network using an Ethernet connection.....not Wi-Fi.

So.....(using wishful thinking).......what would be the absolute best way for you to provide the best Wi-Fi signal coverage in your home?

The answer would be to set the Expresses aside and add more Extremes. Each Extreme would connect using Ethernet either to another Extreme, or to an Ethernet "switch" centrally located in your home, or back to an Ethernet port on your Fios router.

If you are patient and have the time to work through what will be some trial and error scenarios, I can provide some help on how to best use the AirPort Express(es) since I assume that it would not be practical to run Ethernet cabling to every area in your home where you need good Wi-Fi coverage.....(and buy more multiple AirPort Extremes from eBay, etc.)

Best case, an AirPort Express will connect using Ethernet to another AirPort Extreme or back to the Fios router....it does not matter.....performance will be the same.

Post back if you want to continue and we will work through things. There will be compromises.

rosindabow wrote:

Ubiquiti has an immense range of gear, and a half-dozen or so general “apps” including Network (networking, Wi-Fi), Protect (cameras), Access (access control), Drive (NAS), and a few others.

• https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012192813-Introduction-to-UniFi

Bob, I have looked at the Ubiquiti site. I found it very confusing. I don't think I can use 2 or 3 WiFi units like I am doing with my 2 Airport Extreme Base Stations.

Yes, you can. Ubiquiti does support what is called mesh networking.

It seems like everything points to using a wired backhaul setup, does that make sense?

Wired backhaul is advantageous for multiple reasons, but mesh (wireless backhaul) also works when you can’t get a wire to the halfway point, or to wherever the access point is to be placed.

Wired backhaul is faster, and avoids needing more channels, and avoids needing more (slower) hops.

Is there a specific Ubiquiti model you might recommend? One of these perhaps?

Ubiquiti Unifi Express 7, most likely. Express 7 is a purpose-built entry-level Wi-Fi networking box akin to a traditional ISP gateway, and does networking. Express 7 does not have Protect, Drive, or other app features.

If you might want to add cameras or other features though, Dream Router 7 (or another higher-end console) would be a better choice.

And how would I extend it? 2 mor of the same units?

I’m using a mix of mesh and wired backhaul in the various networks I deal with, with a mix of Ubiquiti access points. I’m running mesh, but with the mid-range Dream Machine gear, and not with the entry-level Express 7 or Dream Router 7.

Mesh info:

• https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002262328-Considerations-for-Optimal-Wireless-Mesh-Networks
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOi1lzsx5yk (includes meshing two Express 7 boxes)

Ubiquiti is not. very good at offering customer service ...

You can get that with paid priority support. AFAIK, Ubiquiti doesn’t offer free phone support. They’d get buried in network support calls.

And Ubiquiti do expect some familiarity with networking terms and concepts.

One of the better spots for asking these sorts of questions is the Ubiquiti community forums:

• https://community.ui.com/questions/

Your original post asked what you could do with the existing Apple AirPorts that you owned, and we assumed that you wanted to use as many Apple products as possible on your network.

Our reply would have been different if you had asked whether you should upgrade to newer routers and access points.

As far as "mesh" systems are concerned, my recommendation would be to connect the main router and access points using Ethernet as much as possible.....the same as if you wanted to connect AirPorts together to form a roaming network that would offer the best performance possible.

Good luck!

Just posted to Youtube, using three Ubiquiti Unifi Express 7 boxes to extend coverage using mesh connections:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr0tzmX8AOk

My comment was......if you have the time.....and for fun.....it might be interesting to see what a group of former Apple engineers are up to.

Let us know how the ASUS products are working for you when you can.

don't think it's possible to extended with non apple routers

use 2 extreme and 2 express and that works

gotten a 3. party to by wifi connect to the extremes network but not extend wifi I used

that to connect a wired ethernet device to the network

my extremes uplink ethernet port is connected to the 5g wifi router I got from my isp

I do not use the wifi part of the 5g router at all, only my apple routers wifi

I have a 5g cellular router which feature LAN wifi and wired ethernet switch, I do not use the wifi (maybe I will look into if I can disable it one of these days)

the only purpose from the cellular router is to provide internet to the ethernet switch

my airport extreme connects by it's uplink wired ethernet port to the cellular router providing the extreme with internet

all my devices have always connected to the extremes wifi network (and in case of some NAS to it's wired ethernet ports)

I went in that direction to avoid having to reconnect all the various homekit devices which already were configured to connect to the extremes wifi network, when I moved to another place and had to get a new internet access.

so without the new cellular router, me connecting my existing routers to ac in the new place, would make everything be as it were in my old house, minus lack of internet access, adding the 5g cellular router "in front" of my extreme added internet to my setup.

Very interested in the ASUS product.

That's a good choice. For fun...and if you have the time....you might want to take a look at Ubiquiti for products that the pros use. A number of former Apple AirPort engineers work there.

https://ui.com/wifi

rosindabow wrote:

Thanks - great information. I might have to go with the higher end Dream Router. I have cameras and sound gear and need good upload and download speeds.

Also then: https://www.ui.com/us/en/cloud-gateways/compact

You’ll be considering the internal storage capacities for the cameras, if you decide to add those.

One last question, do you know if these units carry 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz speeds?

The Express 7 and Dream Router 7 are both Wi-Fi 7 gear, with 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz.

Most of the current Unifi access points are also triple band, if going with a more traditional console and switch and (usually wired backhaul) access points design.

Best check with Ubiquiti about what they suggest, and try out their site designer tools.