Ruth Haines
Apple's Airport Extreme is a discontinued line of residential gateways that function as routers, network switches, wireless access points, and NAS devices. The original Airport Extreme Base Station, released in 2003, supported up to 50 simultaneous connections. Newer generations of the Airport Extreme can also support up to 50 wireless devices and 150 Ethernet devices. However, it is important to note that the available bandwidth is divided among all connected devices, which can impact performance. While the Airport Extreme has been discontinued, some users continue to use older models, and Apple continues to provide limited hardware and software support as of 2023.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of simultaneous clients | 50 |
| Total number of clients on the network | 100 |
| Number of wired clients | 150 |
| Data rate | 1.3 Gbit/s |
| Processor speed | 1.5 GHz dual CPU |
| USB hard drive performance | 0.5-17.5 MB/s for writing and 1.9-25.6 MB/s for reading |
| Year Discontinued | 2018 |
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What You'll Learn
The Airport Extreme can handle up to 50 wireless clients
The Airport Extreme is a discontinued line of residential gateways by Apple Inc. that combines the functions of a router, network switch, wireless access point, and NAS, as well as other functions. The Airport Extreme can handle up to 50 wireless clients. This number is the same whether the Airport Extreme is the "main" router or a wireless access point.
The original Airport Extreme Base Station, released in 2003, was named as such because of its ability to serve up to 50 Macs or PCs simultaneously. Generation 1 could only handle 10, while Generation 2, which is what is being sold now, can handle 50.
The available bandwidth on the network is split up among connected clients. For example, if your internet connection is 20 Mbps and you have 40 clients connected, each client will get about 0.5 Mbps to work with. This may be sufficient for light browsing or checking emails without large attachments, but it will be very slow for downloads or file copies over the network.
The Airport Extreme has a built-in DHCP server that hands out all of the Private IP addresses on the local network. When a network client is configured as a DHCP client, it will "look" for the DHCP server to get its IP address. The only clients that should use a static private IP address are servers, network printers, or wireless access points.
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Wired connections are also possible, with a limit of 150 Ethernet devices
The AirPort Extreme is a discontinued line of residential gateways by Apple Inc. that combines the functions of a router, network switch, wireless access point, and NAS, along with other functions. The original AirPort Extreme Base Station, released in 2003, supported up to 50 concurrent connections.
Apple advertised that the AirPort Extreme could handle up to 50 clients concurrently, regardless of whether it is the "main" router or a wireless access point. This means that two AirPort Extremes could handle a total of 100 clients. However, it is important to note that the available bandwidth on the network is split among connected clients. For example, if you have an internet connection of 20 Mbps and 40 clients connected, each client will receive approximately 0.5 Mbps. This may be sufficient for light browsing or email without large attachments, but downloads or file copies over the network may be very slow.
The AirPort Extreme can also be used with wired connections, offering a limit of 150 Ethernet devices. This allows for a greater number of devices to be connected compared to the wireless connection limit.
While the AirPort Extreme has been discontinued, some users continue to use older models, and some have even expanded their network by adding additional AirPort Extremes to increase the number of supported devices. However, it is recommended to consider newer "mesh-type" systems that offer improved performance and support for a larger number of devices.
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The available bandwidth is split between clients
The AirPort Extreme is a residential gateway by Apple Inc. that combines the functions of a router, network switch, wireless access point, and NAS. The AirPort Extreme can handle up to 50 wireless clients concurrently, and when two AirPort Extremes are used together, this number can go up to 100. However, it is important to note that the available bandwidth on the network is split between all connected clients.
For example, if your internet connection speed is 20 Mbps and you have 40 devices connected to a single AirPort Extreme, each device will only get about 0.5 Mbps. This limited bandwidth per device may result in slow download and file transfer speeds, even for light browsing or sending emails without large attachments.
To overcome this issue of limited bandwidth, you can consider using two AirPort Extremes together, as mentioned earlier, to increase the total number of supported devices to 100. Alternatively, you can look into other mesh-type" systems that utilize multiple units to provide better coverage and potentially higher bandwidth per device. Some examples include Netgear's Orbi, Linksys Velop, Google Wifi, Eero, and Ubiquiti Amplifi.
Additionally, it is worth noting that the AirPort Express, which is an extension of the AirPort Extreme's wireless network, has a limit of only 10 devices and will inherit the 50-client limit when configured to extend the AirPort Extreme.
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The Airport Extreme is now discontinued
The Airport Extreme was a residential gateway that combined the functions of a router, network switch, wireless access point, and NAS, as well as other functions. It offered simultaneous dual-band 802.11 Draft-N radios, allowing full 802.11 Draft-N 2x2 communication in both bands at the same time. The 6th generation model also supported older 802.11n standards.
The Airport Extreme could handle up to 50 wireless clients simultaneously, with a total of 100 clients able to connect to two Airport Extremes. However, the available bandwidth on the network is split among connected clients, so with a large number of clients, each will receive a smaller amount of bandwidth. For example, with an internet connection of 20 Mbps, 40 connected clients would each receive approximately 0.5 Mbps, which would be suitable for light browsing or email without large attachments.
Although Apple discontinued its wireless routers, as of 2023, it continues to provide limited hardware and software support for the Airport Extreme.
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Newer mesh type systems can use multiple units for wider coverage
The AirPort Extreme is a discontinued line of residential gateways by Apple Inc. that combines the functions of a router, network switch, wireless access point, and NAS, along with other functions. The original AirPort Extreme Base Station, introduced in 2003, supported up to 50 simultaneous connections. Newer generations of the AirPort Extreme, such as the 5th and 6th generations released in 2013, continued to support up to 50 wireless clients while adding improvements in antenna design and wireless output power.
While the AirPort Extreme can handle a moderate number of clients, newer mesh-type systems offer enhanced capabilities for wider coverage. Mesh Wi-Fi systems utilize multiple broadcasters that work together and can be managed centrally, often through a mobile app or the primary router unit's interface. This centralized management ensures good connections among devices, the base unit, and any satellites, reducing the likelihood of a single poorly connected device slowing down the entire network.
The flexibility of mesh systems allows for easy expansion by adding more nodes to extend coverage. This is particularly useful for larger areas or those with trouble spots that experience poor or no coverage. Mesh networks can provide better overall coverage and lower latency, resulting in a faster-feeling connection throughout the house.
There are several mesh Wi-Fi systems available in the market, such as the Motorola MH7603, Eero 6+, Eero Pro 6E, Gryphon Guardian, and Asus ZenWiFi XT8. These systems offer varying features and price points, with some providing additional Ethernet ports, speedier connections, and support for the latest Wi-Fi standards like Wi-Fi 7. When choosing a mesh system, it's important to consider both features and performance to find the best value for your specific needs.
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Frequently asked questions
The Airport Extreme can handle up to 50 wireless clients and 150 Ethernet clients.
The available bandwidth on the network is split between all connected clients. Therefore, connecting more than 50 wireless clients may result in slow internet speeds.
Yes, connecting two Airport Extremes can increase the number of simultaneous Wi-Fi clients to 100.
The Airport Extreme is discontinued and considered old technology by some users. Newer "mesh-type" systems that use multiple units may be a better option for handling many simultaneous Wi-Fi clients.
