Need ac wifi range extender

[iMacGuru]

My Airport Express units do not take advantage of my new iMac. What would you recommend for an ac range extender. I need one that will work with my Airport Extreme router. Thanks for your help.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I don't have any suggestions but when you get something up and running be sure let us know about the performance of your solution or solution attempt(s).

 

[LiveM]

Perhaps another Airport Extreme is the only way to go, or a Time Capsule as base.

 

[Hilbert92]

Ubiquti AC Long Range Access Point. Shut the wireless off on the router and use the Ubiquiti access point for wireless.

 

[adam9c1]

I have 4th gen Extreme with WiFi off. I had the old 2.4 ghz only Ubiquiti WAP, sold that and upgraded to the new AC LR.
Both units were / are rock solid.
Can't wait to run more drops and and get another WAP.

 

[techwarrior]

I use Airport Express connected via Ethernet to the main unit for best performance and optimal interoperability with the main unit. I have had issues with other network gear where Bonjour services like AirPrint, AirPlay don't work well.

The main router is setup with Connection Sharing set to DHCP & NAT meaning it is acting as a router. The secondary units connected via wire to the main unit (or hubs\switches connected to the main unit) are configured with Connection Sharing set to Bridge Mode.

For Wifi, "Create a WiFi Network" on all of the Airport base stations, and use identical WiFi credentials (SSID, Password, security settings, etc.).

 

[VideoFreek]

The Netgear EX7000 is a beast, and can be configured as a wireless range extender (to be avoided) or wired to your router to function as an access point (recommended). Very powerful AC access point. You can configure it to run on the same SSID as your router, and your devices will roam to the best signal. Just make sure you set them to different channels.

 

[adam9c1]

When you say roam are you sure that's the case?
What if you have device A such as AppleTV connected to main router, and device B such as iPhone connected to the extender.

While they both connect to same broadcasted SSID NAME they are connecting to two separate SSIDs.

 

[VideoFreek]

When you say roam are you sure that's the case?
What if you have device A such as AppleTV connected to main router, and device B such as iPhone connected to the extender.

While they both connect to same broadcasted SSID NAME they are connecting to two separate SSIDs.

That's how roaming works. When a client device sees two or more access points operating with the same broadcast SSIDs (but on different channels), it will assume that the APs are using the same security setup (e.g., WPA2-PSK) and password. When the signal from the associated AP drops below some predefined threshold, the device will switch to another AP with a stronger signal. How well this works depends on the specific devices you're using; iOS devices have pretty good capabilities in this regard.

See this for a primer on how to set this up.