sixth gen airport extreme

[ecornelius]

Does anyone know when this peripheral will be updated? Is 803.11ac the latest wi-fi protocol? Is there a faster one in the wings? Will I receive faster wi-fi even though I am using a mid-2010 MBP?

 

[lclev]

Hi ecornelius,

Yes, 802.11ac is the latest wi-fi protocol and is the 5th generation of wi-fi protocol. Here is some technical information on how 802.11ac achieves its raw speed increase by pushing on three different dimensions:

● More channel bonding, increased from a maximum of 40 MHz with 802.11n up to 80 or even 160 MHz (for speed increases of 117 or 333 percent, respectively).
● Denser modulation, now using 256 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), up from 64QAM in 802.11n (for a 33 percent speed burst at shorter, yet still usable, ranges).
● More multiple input, multiple output (MIMO). Whereas 802.11n stopped at four spatial streams, 802.11ac goes all the way to eight (for another 100 percent speed increase).

So 802.11ac wireless is the newest and is just hitting it's stride with incorporation into existing networks.

As to your mid-2010 MBPro, it has the older 802.11n wireless protocol. Here is a link showing a comparison with n versus ac:

802.11ac Definition from PC Magazine Encyclopedia

Regardless of the comparison of the two, on your MBPro with the N protocol, you will not see a huge advantage to N over AC on a home network. The biggest bottle neck on any network is at the internet connection. The average home owner even with a fiber optic connection will never hit the speeds that the wireless 802.11ac is capable of. Also keep in mind wireless speed reduces in proportion to the amount of interference it encounters. Walls, EMF's, number of machines using the network - the more interference the more resends of requests for and of data that occurs. On a gigabit work INTRAnet there can be amazing speeds but on the INTERnet speeds are reduced by the bottleneck at the incoming router/firewall/modem.

Hope this helps.

Lisa

 

[ecornelius]

Lisa,
Many thanks for the ample response. I did a bit of due diligence myself and found this article concerning "next wave" ac (coming early 2015) and ax (not coming until 2019... can't wait that long!) But I can wait until next year as router manufacturers support the faster iteration.
New Wi-Fi standard is coming. 802.11ax could reach 10Gbps

Since mine is an all-Mac household (iPads, iPhones, MBP) I believe the Netgear R7000 or R8000 would bump up my speeds from current 35 to 50 Mb/sec as advertised by Cox.

I am also in the market for a new modem since Cox does not support my Zoom 5341J except at a lower transfer rate. I have upgraded tiers with Cox so I need a modem from their "supported" list which includes DOCSIS 3 D-Link 301, Netgear CM400 and ZyXel 30360. Any insight for me here?

 

[lclev]

Yes I have read about the new 2015 802.11ac coming out. Here is the thing, it does not matter how fast your airport extreme is when the bottleneck will occur at the router/modem that you use to access the internet. Right now the top of the line fastest service provider tops at 46.8 Mbps download speed and that is with perfect conditions. That's Megabits per second. I will say that the new protocol should offer a more far reaching signal and increased handling capacity in your home.

Fastest ISPs: United States - The Fastest ISPs of 2014 | PCMag.com

As to what router. I thought you were looking at an airport extreme???? Anyway, I have mixed feelings about Netgear. I have had issues with too many of them. I tend to prefer Linksys/Cisco - they cost more but they last. Either of the routers you listed look good although the R8000 seems to be the beefier one. Since you have Cox I am assuming you have fiber optic cable which is tons faster than what I have living in the rural area I am in. If you have to buy a new modem you might what to check sights like Amazon and New Egg and read the reviews.

As to the modem. The ZyXel looks like the most favorable from what I could gather. I also saw a review that said the D-Link only had 8x4 channel bonding and it takes the 16x4 to get the higher speeds - not sure if that effects Cox since the reviewer was a Time Warner user. I did find a reviewer at Amazon that claimed the Netgear CM400 would not work with Comcast. He said he was a former tech for them.

Best I can come up with. Good luck!

Lisa

 

[RadDave]

................
Since mine is an all-Mac household (iPads, iPhones, MBP) I believe the Netgear R7000 or R8000 would bump up my speeds from current 35 to 50 Mb/sec as advertised by Cox.
.......................

Hello - Lisa has given you excellent advice & explanations (in fact, I tried to 'increase her reputation' and was unable to - must have already given her too many 'thumbs up'! This forum seems to limit you to spreading these out?).

BUT, the important point is you really do not need anything beyond 802.11 n @ the moment, and certainly 'ac' is not going to help you at all - as already explained, your bottleneck is the speed of the signal coming into your home network; if that is 50 Mbps @ best, then that is your speed (NOW w/i you home network, sending info between your devices will operate at greater speeds).

SO, the bottom line again is what your ISP is providing you - for myself, I'm using Time-Warner and routinely am getting just 20 Mbps on my computers whether connected by cable or by Wi-Fi, despite my Apple Extreme 801.11 g/n router operating at speed approaching 500 Mbps - I still get 'dumped' occasionally from my streaming activities and has nothing to do w/ my router's specs, nor would an 'ac' router make any difference - save your money and concentrate on getting a faster internet connection into your house. Dave

 

[ecornelius]

Dave,
Thank you for your informed input. I'll continue to weigh my options with your comments in mind.
Erwin