[cspuryear]

So I've got 2 mac's (24" iMac, Macbook Air), 1 Dell laptop, Wii, and XBox 360. I currently have a D-Link DGL-4300 that is just completely unreliable. It's firmware is up-to-date, tried different channels, etc. etc....and I still have to reboot it constantly.

My house is about 3000 sq. ft. w/ 3 different floors and I'm trying to find something that will cover the entire house. Will the Airport Extreme do this? Any other recommendations?

[OreoCookie]

I would not try to have one router to cover it all. The WLAN power output is subject to regulations and hence you will probably not find a router/wlan access point that can cover it all. You can set up modern access points as repeaters for a master that extend the range of the wireless network.

Instead, I would plan on getting several and set them up properly. The actual setup depends on the architecture: different materials, placement of ethernet jacks/dsl, etc. need to be taken into account.

[Simon]

I agree. For best coverage in a large house get two or three and connect them through Ethernet. You run one as the 'master' that does DHCP/NAT and the others in bridge mode. All your devices will be on the same LAN and see each other.

New AirPort Expresses also run dual-band so you can run both 802.11n and 802.11g devices at full speed without sacrificing bandwidth for compatibility reasons.

[mduell]

Agree, multiple base stations, preferably wired backhaul.

And don't buy D-link.

[cspuryear]

I might try and go the Airport Express router and see what I can do about bridging. I might be able to use my D-Link as a bridge or just buy one of the small Airports as an extender where my iMac is. My problem is that I need my main wireless router on the main floor of the house to get equal coverage + VOIP hook-up, etc.....

[Simon]

Keep in mind that wireless bridging (WDS) comes with a performance hit. And it's not known to be particularly stable. Especially when you mix equipment from different manufacturers. In terms of max. bandwidth remember that you lose 50% for every extension stage in the chain. Also, if you're planning on using a WDS remote connected right to a Mac, it should be an AP Extreme to actually see improvement. If you use an AP Express as WDS remote, you might as well connect the Mac through wifi directly (no WDS) since the Express is really not great in terms of range and signal strength.

Powerline networking for wired connection of different base stations is most definitely better than wireless extension. It's still not exactly great. Regardless of theoretical specs you'll probably never see >5MB/s which is definitely less than 802.11n does real-world, but it works and mostly it's stable (turn on and forget).

Ethernet is the ideal choice to connect several wireless access points. It's not the cheapest solution and it might require that you pull some cable through your house, but if you're really interested in good wireless coverage and stable connections in a large house, it's definitely the way to connect your wireless base stations.

[cspuryear]

So quick question. I notice that there are 2 different Airport Extreme's out there that support 'N'. The one that is 2.4GHz only can be had for about $80-100 while the Dual-Band one (newest) is about $150-180. Any major difference between the two other than Dual-band? I have 5GHz cordless phones..........FYI

[Simon]

There's only one current AirPort Extreme. It costs $179 and supports dual-band operation, IOW two separate networks (one running g, the other n), both at full speed.

Then there's the AirPort Express for $99. It offers 802.11n and below, but no dual-band so for g devices you need to run it in g/n mixed mode (slower).

Both offer 5GHz support, but the Extreme can run two wifi networks at the same time. The Extreme also has better range and signal strength. Plus it offers the Ethernet LAN ports and support for network sharing disks attached through USB.