Networking Issue: AExpress not 100Mbit+?

[Jhingha]

Hi there, I have a networking question I can't figure out yet!

Here is the deal/situation:

I live in a 3 story house which has a Airport Extreme(june 2013 model) on the first floor and an Airport Express (june 2012, 2nd gen model) on the third floor.
These two are connected with eachother by a CAT6E ethernet Cable. The cable should be able to provide 1GBps over 100meters so that can't be the bottleneck.
Our ISP provides 300Mbits which I can confirm by forcing my macbook to connect to the AExtreme on the 1st floor and do a speedtest.
According to Apple/Mactracker the AExtreme has: Wireless Data Rate Up to 1.3 Gbps and the AExpress Wireless Data Rate Up to 300 Mbps.

Even though all hardware provides the right max data numbers. I'm not able to get a faster signal than 90-100Mbits on the top floor by WiFi (I checked via Airport Utility that my Macbook was connected to the Express) Also my iPad Air2 is not able to get numbers above 90-100 range.
(Macbook is a Retina Mid 2014 model.)

Can anyone explain my why this happens (Express Max numbers are wrong/fake/very optimistic?) and what to do to crank up the speed on the top floor to 300Mbits ?

Cheers.

 

[Jhingha]

Update: Test via Ethernet confirms there is indeed a 300Mbit connection on the 3rd floor.
Just somehow, the AExpress is not able to broadcast it wirelessly.

EDIT/SOLVED/FIXED:

[doublepost=1469219770][/doublepost]Solved my own problem this time!

Appears that the ports on the Airport Express are no Gigabit ports and have a top Ethernet speed of 100 Mbit/s. Now I'd have to consider buying an Extreme for the 3rd Floor.
Such a weird design decision by Apple...

 

[Altemose]

Appears that the ports on the Airport Express are no Gigabit ports and have a top Ethernet speed of 100 Mbit/s. Now I'd have to consider buying an Extreme for the 3rd Floor.
Such a weird design decision by Apple...

It definitely is a weird design choice, but then again Apple last updated the Express in 2012. I suppose they used that as a differentiating feature of the Extreme vs. Express. The Extreme has been Gigabit since 2007.

 

[keysofanxiety]

[doublepost=1469219770][/doublepost]Solved my own problem this time!

Appears that the ports on the Airport Express are no Gigabit ports and have a top Ethernet speed of 100 Mbit/s. Now I'd have to consider buying an Extreme for the 3rd Floor.
Such a weird design decision by Apple...

You'd be better off buying an ASUS router I'd say. Much cheaper & more functional than the Apple AirPort Extremes. Plus they're frequently patched with firmware/security updates.

I bought a cheaper RT-N66U N900 because I don't have any 802.11ac devices, so no point coughing up extra as the bottleneck is with my AirPort card. Considerably faster and infinitely more stable than my old router (ironically the old router was only single band, even though it's a gigabit Internet connection?!)

 

[Jhingha]

You'd be better off buying an ASUS router I'd say. Much cheaper & more functional than the Apple AirPort Extremes. Plus they're frequently patched with firmware/security updates.

I bought a cheaper RT-N66U N900 because I don't have any 802.11ac devices, so no point coughing up extra as the bottleneck is with my AirPort card. Considerably faster and infinitely more stable than my old router (ironically the old router was only single band, even though it's a gigabit Internet connection?!)

That would be an option except for the fact then I wouldnt be able to create one network as Apple Routers don't do the one SSID thingy so well with other brands.

Also the ability to control all the routers with my iphone, ipad or macbook with a simple and fast UI is a big plus. Also some of those devices are AC ready !
[doublepost=1469620173][/doublepost]

It definitely is a weird design choice, but then again Apple last updated the Express in 2012. I suppose they used that as a differentiating feature of the Extreme vs. Express. The Extreme has been Gigabit since 2007.

I'd say there are enough other differentiating features like the amount of antennas and the strength of the signal that comes with that or the amount of Ethernet ports. I can't even connect a UTP cable to my Thunderbolt screen to get full speed anyway because the ports are still 100Mbit. I'll wait for the september keynote as they might silently introduce new networking hardware right there.

 

[Altemose]

I'd say there are enough other differentiating features like the amount of antennas and the strength of the signal that comes with that or the amount of Ethernet ports. I can't even connect a UTP cable to my Thunderbolt screen to get full speed anyway because the ports are still 100Mbit. I'll wait for the september keynote as they might silently introduce new networking hardware right there.

It was quite a let down to see the 100 Mbps port, and I really hope that they refresh all of the AirPort line.