Airport Extreme - Good time to buy?

[GIZBUG]

Currently have an ASUS AC88 router. Router is pretty good, but I get a lot of disconnects with all my IOS devices, my iMac will loose connection when in sleep and connecting to 5GHz.

I am wondering, is now a good time to buy an Airport Extreme and try that out instead? I am not sure what the current generation is of it, just that it's $199.

 

[chscag]

The Macrumors "Buyer's Guide" doesn't offer any advice about when to buy an AE, however, if you really need to upgrade your router, the AE would be a great replacement.

 

[h9826790]

IMO, if you don't expect you need anything better then Wi-Fi ac for the next few years, and you get a good discount for the current AE, then it may be a good option for you.

 

[Altemose]

@GIZBUG The AirPort Extreme is a fantastic router with awesome reliability, support, warranty, and simplicity. It however lacks in the benchmark department. That being said, for the price it is a solid performer. I highly recommend that you pick one up from the Apple Refurbished online store for $129. There is literally no difference between new and Apple Refurbished, and you will receive the same warranty benefits (up to five years in some cases). The only noticeable difference is the plain white box that it comes in.

 

[Polekat]

I'm in need of a new router. It just seems the AE is getting a little long in the tooth. Is it lacking anything the hot new routers out there possess?

 

[HBOC]

FWIW, my old circa 2008 Airport Extreme has been the BEST router i have owned. 99.9% uptime. I didn't even know there was a new one until a week ago when i bought a new MBP. still dunno what the new one offers over mine other than shape.

never notice any lag on anything - and i still manage a 2.0 k/d in battlefield

 

[maflynn]

FWIW, my old circa 2008 Airport Extreme has been the BEST router i have owned. 99.9% uptime. I didn't even know there was a new one until a week ago when i bought a new MBP. still dunno what the new one offers over mine other than shape.

never notice any lag on anything - and i still manage a 2.0 k/d in battlefield

Faster wifi through put, taller design, allows for more antennas which is said to improve reception

 

[mikecalderone]

I had the latest AE 3TB model and it was great until my sons xbox One could not enable chat, and apple does does not support xboxOne. I switched to Linksys AC2600 and it works GREAT! Wireless signal is stronger that AE, and the xbox One is working fine now.

 

[h9826790]

I had the latest AE 3TB model and it was great until my sons xbox One could not enable chat, and apple does does not support xboxOne. I switched to Linksys AC2600 and it works GREAT! Wireless signal is stronger that AE, and the xbox One is working fine now.

Port forward on your AE won't work?

 

[Altemose]

I had the latest AE 3TB model and it was great until my sons xbox One could not enable chat, and apple does does not support xboxOne. I switched to Linksys AC2600 and it works GREAT! Wireless signal is stronger that AE, and the xbox One is working fine now.

Apple supports it provided you forward the ports.

 

[mikecalderone]

No, openning the requred port still does not work, I tried this

 

[Altemose]

No, openning the requred port still does not work, I tried this

You followed all the steps in this guide? I have set up multiple homes with AirPort Extremes without any issues with Xbox One or even the older 360 consoles.

 

[steve62388]

I'm aware you originally posted a month ago and you might have already made a purchase...

The AE is a pretty huge step backwards from AC88U. Certainly I don't think it's worth shelling out any extra money.

Make sure you have the best options set in the firmware. The AC88U is also pretty new and it could be that the firmware is not stable yet. You could wait for Asus to update (and they're one of the best at supporting their routers for a long time), try downgrading the firmware or even third party firmware.

The SmallNetBuilder forums are excellent for Asus support.

I have a much older AC66U running Tomato by Shibby and it's rock solid.

 

[cynics]

I've been extremely happy with my AE. I used to need to put devices in the DMZ and/or use port forwarding, those same devices seem to just work without any interaction on my part. If nothing else I would recommend it for its ease of use, stability and reliability.

My 5ghz devices always stay on 5ghz, and throughput has a minimum of 500mbps (worst case) and generally hovers around 700-800 from across the house. I'm sure other more modern routers can have a higher throughput but you'd need something specific to utilize that. For example 1000mbps doesn't make any difference streaming content or writing and reading to and from a NAS that caps out around 100-200mbps.

I have no experience with any Asus router but unless you need a very specific feature it offers I think you'd (or anyone) would be very happy with a AE.

I bought one for my parents house and its been worth its weight in gold. Gone are the days of me having them unplug and plug the router to reset it.

That said, the Asus router is supposedly pretty good. You may want to use an Asus forum and see if you can sort out its issues if you haven't already.