Apple AirPort Express

Routing Performance

The Express has only one Ethernet port, so I had to test routing throughput using a wireless client. I first ran an uplink test using IxChariot with the Express and client within six feet of each other and the Express set to AP mode. This let me measure pure wireless performance with the router removed from the picture. I then switched the Express to router mode and re-ran an uplink test, this time measuring the combination of wireless + router throughput.

Figure 13: Routing vs. AP throughput - Uplink
(click image for larger view)

Figure 13 shows a combination plot of the tests comparing AP and routing throughput in the WLAN to WAN direction. The top trace shows average wireless uplink throughput of 23.4 Mbps without the router in the picture and 16.1 Mbps with the router cut in - slightly over 30% throughput reduction due to the router. For practical purposes, however, you'd never notice the speed difference, since most broadband connections are about 10X slower than the router.

Even though I mapped the proper ports for Qcheck to do its thing, I wasn't able to get WAN-LAN (downlink) tests to run. So that's the reason for the "No Info"s in the table above.

Routing Performance Test Results

See details of how we test.