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Apple or non-Apple wifi router?

jent

jent

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 31, 2010
893
568
My landlord is replacing his old 802.11g router and I suggested he invest in an 802.11n model, recommending the AirPort Extreme, which retails for $179. He immediately looked at the price and mentioned that there are several non-Apple n-speed routers for $50-75, which would be more affordable.

I personally had a Time Capsule at my family's house and loved it for the seamless wireless backups. Now that I'm under this landlord's roof, I want the fastest internet possible and a high-quality wireless router. What can justify the price of an APE to the average consumer? If there is a great third-party wifi router, which one(s) do you recommend and why?
 
M

malman89

macrumors 68000
May 29, 2011
1,651
6
Michigan
jent said:
What can justify the price of an APE to the average consumer?
Click to expand...

Very little to nothing, especially in your situation.

As long as it's an "n" and dual band (2.4/5GHz), it really shouldn't matter for your needs. You're not going to need wireless printing or wireless backups here. Any router should be an easy set up regardless of OS and type.
 
S

spacepower7

macrumors 68000
May 6, 2004
1,509
1
Anand from the anandtech website said he personally uses Apple routers bc they are the only ones he has ever used that could go a whole month without needing to be reset. He said many other brands need to be reset every week or 2, and some even every couple of days. He's been testing this stuff for 10+ years.

Where is the router going to be? Are you always going to have physical access to it or is it in a separate apartment? Would suck if you lose access and have to wake up your landlord to reset the router.
 
QuarterSwede

QuarterSwede

macrumors G3
Oct 1, 2005
9,785
2,033
Colorado Springs, CO
If you'll be using the router as well I'd recommend splitting the cost of an AE with him. It really is a great consumer router. The cheap ones are just that ... actually they're far worse unless you stick DD-WRT or another variant on them.
 
L

LaWally

macrumors 6502a
Feb 24, 2012
530
1
jent said:
My landlord is replacing his old 802.11g router and I suggested he invest in an 802.11n model, recommending the AirPort Extreme, which retails for $179. He immediately looked at the price and mentioned that there are several non-Apple n-speed routers for $50-75, which would be more affordable.

I personally had a Time Capsule at my family's house and loved it for the seamless wireless backups. Now that I'm under this landlord's roof, I want the fastest internet possible and a high-quality wireless router. What can justify the price of an APE to the average consumer? If there is a great third-party wifi router, which one(s) do you recommend and why?
Click to expand...

Affordability and reliability do not always go hand in hand. In general with routers I have found that you get what you pay for. I have an AEBS now (actually a TC) and it is rock solid.

I've also had a couple of cisco/linksys routers that were also rock solid. Their top of the line routers are typically priced close to the AEBS, but you can often find them on sale for $20-$30 or more off.

EDIT: Also, don't overlook a refurb'd AEBS. That can knock $30 off the price.
 
Last edited:
J

J&JPolangin

macrumors 68030
Jul 5, 2008
2,593
18
Close to a boarder, in Eu
I also like the simultaneous dual band feature on the AEBS, the guest network features, etc...I've had this model AEBS since about a month after it came out and I have only ever had to reset my Motorola modem:p
 
boto

boto

macrumors 6502
Jun 4, 2012
437
28
I doubt they will be willing to purchase a premium brand. The only way you can get him/her to do so is by getting a used or cheaper version from a 3rd party seller like ebay, amazon, craigslist, etc... I had second thoughts about buying my brand new Time Capsule (4th gen) and decided to get one from ebay saving $40 off the original price.
 
throAU

throAU

macrumors G3
Feb 13, 2012
8,831
6,994
Perth, Western Australia
If you ever want to extend the wireless network, be aware there's going to be issues if you use cheap vendor X for the router and cheap vendor Y for an additional AP - because there's not really an official standard to do this.

If you use an AEBS, then extending the network is as simple as adding airport express APs and selecting "extend a network" during setup.
 
J

Json81

macrumors regular
Jan 9, 2012
110
85
A slightly cheaper but still good alternative is Linksys E4200 or Asus high end models.

Avoid anything from D-Link, many people have problems even with the high end routers, needing to be rebooted often.

As several people have said, you get what you pay for.
 
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