iPhone 6 vs iPad Air 2 Wifi Speeds

[Pagemakers]

If I do a speed test on my broadband network using my iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2, I get the following wifi results on my 152MB connection.

Connecting to Airport Extreme (main connection)
iPad. 136 down and 10 up
iPhone. 136 down and 10 up

If I move into my living room and connect via my Airport Express (which is connected by ethernet cable to APE)
iPad. 84 down and 10 up
iPhone. 35 down and 10 up

I am expecting the wifi to be slower, but my question is why are the speeds between the iPad and iPhone so different in the AE test? Could it be that the iPad has MIMO technology, or is it something else?

I can replicate it every time.

 

[rigormortis]

is the airport express a current model that is both 5ghz and 2.4 ?

crazy idea
buy an airport extreme, and set it up the same way and see if its your airport express.

answer / questions comments

does the airport express have the same name as the main airport ?

it could be that the iPhone is actually connecting to the main airport back in your other room, and its not connecting
to the airport in the living room, what you should do is dig up an old windows box , and get the old version of the airport program and see if the airport express is the one its actually connecting too.
with the old version of airport utility you could click on the device to see a list of wireless clients that its connected with. i think the new version does as well. so there is probably no need for the old version of airport utility. you might have to use the option key to bring up the list.


if your living room has a different name then the main unit, and its connecting to it, then its probably the express unit
you probably have it near the ground and its not up on the top of a desk and its antennas aren't as good as an airport extreme

airport mesh networks 101 by rigorkrad
----
if you are using ' allow my network to be extended ' and using 2 airports with the same name, you have to actually disconnect from the wifi network and reconnect again, so the device will connect to the nearest airport. moving around the house will result in your iPhone being connected to the main unit.

this is called not being able to steer

if you are using ethernet and giving the airport a different name and a different channel, the wireless device will 'steer' automatically, and as you move around the house, the device will change what hotspot its connecting too ( in theory). this is called steering.


just because your iPhone and iPad are "802.11n" does not mean they are 300 mbit.
because of the antennas in both devices, it seems that the iPad air has a max speed of 144 megabit and the iPhone tops out at 72 megabit

 

[Pagemakers]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply.

Both the airport extreme and the airport express both have the same SSID and 2.4 and 5 are enabled on both so it's possible what you say is actually happening.

I'll try and do some more tests.

 

[rigormortis]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply.

Both the airport extreme and the airport express both have the same SSID and 2.4 and 5 are enabled on both so it's possible what you say is actually happening.

I'll try and do some more tests.

i have been using airport extremes since god knows when, and i know for a fact that if i turn on ' allow my network to be extended ' and i use wifi to connect both units ( i have one t.c. and 2 a.e.) , the wireless device, whatever you have , is not steering when you walk around the house, you must actually go to the other room and " hang up and call back" to get the nearest base station

you said you use ethernet. so i am a little wishy washy about steering , but still sorta convinced that it might be what is gong on

 

[Pagemakers]

Is roaming the same as steering?

 

[Ipadlover29]

iPad Air 2 max link speed = 866 Mbps
iPhone 6 max link speed = 433 Mbps

 

[Pagemakers]

iPad Air 2 max link speed = 866 Mbps
iPhone 6 max link speed = 433 Mbps

What I don't understand is when they both connect to the main APE they are both 136 down. It only changes when they connect to the secondary APE in another room. The iPad is then twice the speed of the iPhone.

 

[rigormortis]

i have never seen iPad air 2 or iPhone 6 link speeds be that high. where do you get those numbers from??

i don't think the air 2 and iPhone 6 are 802.11ac.

i might be wrong..

but if the phone and iPad air 2 does not have 802.11ac then its maximum speed is just what i said it was
144 megabit for the iPad and 72 megabit for the iPhone.

i think its is totally impossible for the iPhone and iPad to have the link speeds you said. they simply do not have the "spatial streams" of something with more antennas, like a a macbook pro.or an airport extreme basestation

anything fast like 450 megabit requires 4 x 4 spatial streams. theres just no way an phone has 4 or 8 wifi antennas in it

i think you should go to the wifi alliance page and look up how many spatial streams an iPad air 2 has

the iPad air is 5 ghz 2 x 2 spatial streams. that means it is TECHNICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for it to have any speed faster then 150 megabit.

the reason why the iPhone 6 can only go 72 megabit is because it is 5 ghz @ 1 x 1 spatial streams. it is TECHNICALLY IMPOSSIBLE to go any faster. however. i might be wrong, and the iPhone 6 is 2x2. the 1x1 count was based on a 5s

 

[Pagemakers]

Here you go...

 

[rigormortis]

Is roaming the same as steering?

yeah i think its just apple people call it steering

 

[rigormortis]

Here you go...

if that screen cap is from an iPhone 6 then it might have 2 x 2 , i don't know, the wifi appliance doesn't list antenna counts in the 6. if its an iPad, then thats the max speed because you only have 2x2

my iPhone 6 plus is like 2" away from my airport and its never been faster then 72 mbit, you can verify your link speeds for each device in airport utility

they removed that feature in 6.00

if you have windows and airport utility 5.xx you can ask the router by going to logs or something and it will tell you the link speeds of every single device that is connected to that base station. it will even tell you the speed of the extended and base station if you have it linked that way

 

[Ipadlover29]

"Despite its slim form-factor, the iPad Air 2 is jam-packed with connectivity. Apple has upgraded the iPad's Wi-Fi to the 802.11ac standard, which offers speeds of up to 866 mbps when connected to a compatible base station. Thanks to dual antennas and multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO), that’s twice as fast as the 433-mbps 802.11ac Wi-Fi available on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus."

http://www.imore.com/ipad-air-2-review

 

[jezbd1997]

i have never seen iPad air 2 or iPhone 6 link speeds be that high. where do you get those numbers from??

i don't think the air 2 and iPhone 6 are 802.11ac.

i might be wrong..

but if the phone and iPad air 2 does not have 802.11ac then its maximum speed is just what i said it was
144 megabit for the iPad and 72 megabit for the iPhone.

i think its is totally impossible for the iPhone and iPad to have the link speeds you said. they simply do not have the "spatial streams" of something with more antennas, like a a macbook pro.or an airport extreme basestation

anything fast like 450 megabit requires 4 x 4 spatial streams. theres just no way an phone has 4 or 8 wifi antennas in it

i think you should go to the wifi alliance page and look up how many spatial streams an iPad air 2 has

the iPad air is 5 ghz 2 x 2 spatial streams. that means it is TECHNICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for it to have any speed faster then 150 megabit.

the reason why the iPhone 6 can only go 72 megabit is because it is 5 ghz @ 1 x 1 spatial streams. it is TECHNICALLY IMPOSSIBLE to go any faster. however. i might be wrong, and the iPhone 6 is 2x2. the 1x1 count was based on a 5s

Dead thread but thought I'd comment
The iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2 do have 802.11 AC. Technology moves along fast these days.
The iPhone 6 is just 1x1=433mbps max over AC (6S and 7 are 2x2=866mbps) the iPad Air is 2x2 N=max 300mbps and the Air 2 and above are 2x2 AC.