Here's what I'm going to be running:
Xbox 360 - I use Xbox Live constantly, it's important to be able to host, have all ports open, low ping, and a perfectly smooth experience. This is my number one priority. I use it for gaming, Netflix streaming, and it's basically my entertainment hub.
PS3 - Rarely used, but would like to have a solid online experience when I do.
Wii - Also rarely used, but would like to have as few connectivity problems as possible.
iMacs (3) - We have three iMacs, two upstairs near where the router will go, and one downstairs. Used constantly for online gaming, web browsing, solid experience required as well here and a very close priority to the 360.
iPhones (2) - Just needs to work.
Sometimes I have friends who come over and use the WiFi but at most it would likely be one more device at a time.
Obviously these aren't all connected at the same time, we have a fast 16MB internet connection and the most that we'll be running at once would likely be the 360, and all three iMacs with maybe an iPhone or two.
We recently bought a high-end Netgear router that has nothing but issues. It's a dual-band 2.4/5.0GHz. I'm no networking pro but I know what I'm doing, I've tried WEP, WPA, WPA2, turning off all security measures, opening ports, DMZ mode, etc. and no matter what I'm having issues. My old G Netgear had less issues than this but couldn't reach downstairs which is why we bought the new one, to hopefully extend range, which it KIND of did. But everything that worked previously fine, didn't with the new one. The 360 even with all ports open has major issues which it never did previously.
The iMac downstairs worked fine for a while but now has issues with lag, and sometimes not accepting the wireless key even though it's right. Note it worked fine far away, we've now moved it much closer and are still having issues, we're hoping the new Apple router will fix this. Sure it's downstairs, but it's right at the bottom and I don't feel it's THAT far away. Maybe I'm wrong but I feel we should have connectivity.
As you can tell by everything I've written I'm very frustrated (routers are always a nightmare) and really want to get this fixed. Any help would be fantastic.
I feel that most likely an Express would work but I wanted to check. How much better is the range on the Extreme? I'd obviously like to save money but ultimately the setup needs to work. Do you feel I would benefit from the Extreme? I really have no need for dual-band and only got this one because it was a good price and thought it would solve our problem, but instead we just have issues with both bands.
So for my situation Express, or Extreme, and what would I be giving up by going with the Express, if anything? Thanks for the advice, and the more detailed the better for my decision weighing process. Really appreciate anyone who makes it through this wall of text.
EDIT: Great point pugu, I only use wireless, nothing hard-wired. And we don't really use internal file transfers, we mainly all just use the internet for a variety of bandwidth intensive purposes.
And in-case the first Airport Express didn't do it, could I buy a second to use downstairs as a repeater?
Xbox 360 - I use Xbox Live constantly, it's important to be able to host, have all ports open, low ping, and a perfectly smooth experience. This is my number one priority. I use it for gaming, Netflix streaming, and it's basically my entertainment hub.
PS3 - Rarely used, but would like to have a solid online experience when I do.
Wii - Also rarely used, but would like to have as few connectivity problems as possible.
iMacs (3) - We have three iMacs, two upstairs near where the router will go, and one downstairs. Used constantly for online gaming, web browsing, solid experience required as well here and a very close priority to the 360.
iPhones (2) - Just needs to work.
Sometimes I have friends who come over and use the WiFi but at most it would likely be one more device at a time.
Obviously these aren't all connected at the same time, we have a fast 16MB internet connection and the most that we'll be running at once would likely be the 360, and all three iMacs with maybe an iPhone or two.
We recently bought a high-end Netgear router that has nothing but issues. It's a dual-band 2.4/5.0GHz. I'm no networking pro but I know what I'm doing, I've tried WEP, WPA, WPA2, turning off all security measures, opening ports, DMZ mode, etc. and no matter what I'm having issues. My old G Netgear had less issues than this but couldn't reach downstairs which is why we bought the new one, to hopefully extend range, which it KIND of did. But everything that worked previously fine, didn't with the new one. The 360 even with all ports open has major issues which it never did previously.
The iMac downstairs worked fine for a while but now has issues with lag, and sometimes not accepting the wireless key even though it's right. Note it worked fine far away, we've now moved it much closer and are still having issues, we're hoping the new Apple router will fix this. Sure it's downstairs, but it's right at the bottom and I don't feel it's THAT far away. Maybe I'm wrong but I feel we should have connectivity.
As you can tell by everything I've written I'm very frustrated (routers are always a nightmare) and really want to get this fixed. Any help would be fantastic.
I feel that most likely an Express would work but I wanted to check. How much better is the range on the Extreme? I'd obviously like to save money but ultimately the setup needs to work. Do you feel I would benefit from the Extreme? I really have no need for dual-band and only got this one because it was a good price and thought it would solve our problem, but instead we just have issues with both bands.
So for my situation Express, or Extreme, and what would I be giving up by going with the Express, if anything? Thanks for the advice, and the more detailed the better for my decision weighing process. Really appreciate anyone who makes it through this wall of text.
EDIT: Great point pugu, I only use wireless, nothing hard-wired. And we don't really use internal file transfers, we mainly all just use the internet for a variety of bandwidth intensive purposes.
And in-case the first Airport Express didn't do it, could I buy a second to use downstairs as a repeater?
