Any recommendations for a wireless access point to be fed by my Airport Extreme?

[SheridanPC]

I have a 105 mbps internet connection going into my current generation Airport Extreme which sits on the first floor of my house. I currently have no ethernet or coaxial connection to the basement and for the time being want to feed a few devices residing down there wirelessly. These include a Windows 8.1 (soon to be 10) HTPC, a blu-ray player, Apple TV, and a home theater receiver with airplay, all being fed through a gigabit switch.

I'm most concerned about file transfer speed within my network (I have a NAS and another computer on 1st floor both hardwired into the Airport Extreme) and video streaming quality/reliability for HBO Now and Netflix. The house is 1940's construction with wood floors. Any suggestions for a robust but not too complicated to operate access point or router that can be converted into one? My networking know-how is fairly minimal although I am willing to spend some time and energy setting up the network.

 

[System Error Message]

everyone here will say to wire your house but if you really cant use cabling than your other choice is to properly have wifi extenders is to get multiple access points and multiple directional antennas. I will use the asus AC68U and AC3200 as examples.
So i assume you're extending wifi to your basement (which usually does poorly if you use wifi to extend).
Option 1: 2 AC68U, 6 directional antennas for point to point links. Set them to bridge mode and use high gain directional antennas and make sure they point to each other directly and use an unused wifi channel. Penetration results vary between 2.4 Ghz, 5 Ghz and the amount of interference/wifi traffic there is on the channel. You than connect your devices from basement using wire to the AC68U.

Option 2, 1 AC68U, 1 AC3200, 6 directional antennas for point to point links. As usual set the AC68U in bridge mode, set 1 of the radios on the AC3200 for bridge mode and you can than have wifi in the basement. I am unsure to which radio the antennas connect to but 3 of them connect to 1 radio (they arent shared).

This is the proper way to do a extend wifi unlike what many carelessly do and it is costly so it may just be cheaper and faster to get ethernet cabling to your basement and have an AP or wifi router there vs 2 or 3 access points and directional antennas. The practical data rate for wifi is 60% of the rated throughput you get (i.e. if your PC says you're connected at 500Mb/s than practically you'll only use up 300Mb/s) assuming there is no interference.

 

[SheridanPC]

My basement actually does pretty decently with wireless judging by my macbook air's performance, so I'm not really trying to "extend" wireless down there so much as get a fast AC wireless adapter for the ethernet only and wireless N devices residing down there to hardwire into. If all my basement devices had wireless AC adapters built in I would try those first, but my HTPC and receiver both only have ethernet, and the other ones that do have wireless built in only have wireless N. My understanding was that I could get a wireless AC router or access point, put it in the basement, and then plug my gigabit switch into it to feed all my devices to maximize speed.

Ultimately I will get wiring down there but if I can spend $150 or less for a workable short term fix I want to do that for now.

 

[System Error Message]

i still think wiring ethernet there is going to be a lot better. When you extend wifi the improper way you only improve signal but the bandwidth suffers greatly.

 

[htismaqe]

My basement actually does pretty decently with wireless judging by my macbook air's performance, so I'm not really trying to "extend" wireless down there so much as get a fast AC wireless adapter for the ethernet only and wireless N devices residing down there to hardwire into. If all my basement devices had wireless AC adapters built in I would try those first, but my HTPC and receiver both only have ethernet, and the other ones that do have wireless built in only have wireless N. My understanding was that I could get a wireless AC router or access point, put it in the basement, and then plug my gigabit switch into it to feed all my devices to maximize speed.

Ultimately I will get wiring down there but if I can spend $150 or less for a workable short term fix I want to do that for now.

The problem is that you'd be spending $150 for a short term fix. I ran pre-terminated Cat6 cable from my router to my home office, 50 feet, for $12.

 

[SheridanPC]

The problem is that you'd be spending $150 for a short term fix. I ran pre-terminated Cat6 cable from my router to my home office, 50 feet, for $12.

My house is such that wiring from current cable outlet to basement would require electrician and some hard decisions on how to get it there. I know wiring is the best longterm solution but all I am really hoping to get out of this thread is a recommendation for the best access point or router for my scenario. Can someone help with that please? Thanks.

 

[System Error Message]

i suggest looking at this site for best wifi router over range. There isnt a quick fix, you can either use the method i suggested or just buy an AP to extend wifi and it will be much slower. Your airport extreme uses wireless N whereas wireless AC with point to point links are much faster.

If your basement has electrical plugs there are other wiring options you can use such as ethernet over powerline.

 

[SheridanPC]

i suggest looking at this site for best wifi router over range. There isnt a quick fix, you can either use the method i suggested or just buy an AP to extend wifi and it will be much slower. Your airport extreme uses wireless N whereas wireless AC with point to point links are much faster.

If your basement has electrical plugs there are other wiring options you can use such as ethernet over powerline.

My airport extreme actually uses wireless AC.