Help me! Multiple airplay cutting out...

[tobyjq]

I have two airport expresses that join my wireless network, and each into a hi-fi. The unit closer to my wireless router works flawlessy, but the second unit which is a little further away cuts out every now and then for a few seconds at a time.
I suspect that my original wireless signal is too weak, and that a stronger router (a la airport extreme) is required.

• Is there any way for me to measure the signal loss?
• Can I be sure that an airport extreme will solve the problem?

My broadband is by http://www.plus.net/ (I'm in the UK) and I only have their basic supplied router, a Thomson model, apart from the two airport expresses, of course

Many Thanks for any help!

 

[adbe]

I'm assuming there is no possibility to run a length of cat5e to the other AE?

Before spending money, check for two things:

1) Firstly is there anything around the AE that is going to be causing EM interference?

2) If you stand by the AE and 'look' at the router, how much brickwork etc are you passing through. Think of the angle, not just the count of walls. For example, if two devices are either side of a wall, but spaced 6 feet apart, the amount of masonry between them is going to around 6 ft, not just the wall thickness as might seem obvious.

 

[tobyjq]

Thanks for your reply, adbe.

Cat 5 would indeed be nice, but messy and awkward.

The AE in question is positioned beside a unit that has a TV, amplifier, DVD player, TV box, and two speakers. It's on a separate extension cable for power. I can't really think that there's any major cause of interference there.

The distance from my main router to the AE is about 11 metres, and is a pretty straight line. The router is tucked perhaps 1 metre behind line of sight at one end, and the AE is about the same at the other end, if that makes sense. Not a greatly convoluted route...

Although the signal strength according to my macbook pro is only slightly weaker in that room, internet performance is significantly slower, which is what makes me suspect the broadcast signal is weak.

Do you know of a way of measuring this drop in signal?

 

[tobyjq]

Update:

I've used a wireless program (meraki) to measure the signal drop to the front room where my second AE is, and regardless of which channel I use, and where I move the base router (within an area that works for the rest of the flat) the signal to noise ratio drops to around 8dB, not enough I think for a stable connection.

So does anyone know for sure if an Airport Extreme would broadcast a strong enough signal to survive the drop to the front room? My current router peaks at around 50dB when you're as close to it as my first AE, which is why it performs brilliantly .

Many thanks in advance for any help!

T