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Alternatives to Airport Extreme

eclipse01

eclipse01

macrumors 68030
Original poster
May 16, 2011
2,848
406
Eau Claire, WI
I know this is a loaded question, but what are some recommendations to a good $100-$150 router, my trust Airport extreme finally died on me and I have been out of the router loop for many years.

Thanks in advance.
 
Using the triple-band version of the Linksys Velop (2 nodes).
Works great in my 1500 sq.ft. 2-story house.
 
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eclipse01 said:
Thanks, i was looking at the next step up (the 2900) of this model and thought it might be overkill for what i need.
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IMO that is a big price bump mostly to add MU-MIMO that no Apple device currently supports. Nothing wrong with it, but I honestly doubt if you could tell the difference running the two back to back.
 
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I used to run Airport Extremes (two, one acting as AP - big house) plus Airport Express.

After Apple stopped updating, I went with Xyzel and TP-link. Always fussy.

Went with Google Wifi last year. SO SO fast and stable. And as easy as Airports to setup, if not easier.
 
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It seems a lot of AirPort Extreme users have gone over to Synology, which is the route that I chose (Synology rt2600ac - $200). Synology used to offer a lower-powered version (rt1900ac) which was more within your price range, but it seems it was officially discontinued and replaced with the mr2200ac (~$140), a mesh router.

I've been using the Synology as my main router for a bit over a year now, and like it quite a bit. The blessing and curse is that it's capable of a lot more than the AirPort Extreme. It's a blessing because features like being able to form VPN connections to my home network and the newly added encryption of DNS queries are fantastic, and it's a curse because setting everything up takes a bit more doing. Time Machine backups through the AirPort were pretty seamless, but I had to make a special account on the router to get it working with the Synology, and initially it was still a little unstable (now works seamlessly); I still haven't been able to get USB printer sharing to work with my current printer (which is less than ten years old but getting there), whereas the AirPort handled it without any trouble. The router receives relatively frequent updates with additions of new features, and has many administrative and security-based features that are really nice.

Long story short, I'd replace this Synology rt2600ac with another Synology router when the time comes. I'll use my AirPort Extremes to extend the network if I move and have a need to, and if I need more devices, I'll use the Synology mr2200ac's. If Apple got back into the networking business and released an updated AirPort Extreme I'd be really tempted to switch back, but they're not giving any indication that they plan to reopen that division. Synology all the way for now, then.
 
Ledgem said:
It seems a lot of AirPort Extreme users have gone over to Synology, which is the route that I chose (Synology rt2600ac - $200). Synology used to offer a lower-powered version (rt1900ac) which was more within your price range, but it seems it was officially discontinued and replaced with the mr2200ac (~$140), a mesh router.

I've been using the Synology as my main router for a bit over a year now, and like it quite a bit. The blessing and curse is that it's capable of a lot more than the AirPort Extreme. It's a blessing because features like being able to form VPN connections to my home network and the newly added encryption of DNS queries are fantastic, and it's a curse because setting everything up takes a bit more doing. Time Machine backups through the AirPort were pretty seamless, but I had to make a special account on the router to get it working with the Synology, and initially it was still a little unstable (now works seamlessly); I still haven't been able to get USB printer sharing to work with my current printer (which is less than ten years old but getting there), whereas the AirPort handled it without any trouble. The router receives relatively frequent updates with additions of new features, and has many administrative and security-based features that are really nice.

Long story short, I'd replace this Synology rt2600ac with another Synology router when the time comes. I'll use my AirPort Extremes to extend the network if I move and have a need to, and if I need more devices, I'll use the Synology mr2200ac's. If Apple got back into the networking business and released an updated AirPort Extreme I'd be really tempted to switch back, but they're not giving any indication that they plan to reopen that division. Synology all the way for now, then.
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I'm seriously considering the RT2600ac myself. I have read a lot of recommendations (I think I saw your posts on another thread as well).

The one thing that has me a bit concerned is getting ExpressVPN to work with Synology's router software. It's doable, but one has to set up a separate OpenVPN profile for each city/server which seems like a pain to switch around. With the AE, the ExpressVPN app just sits in the corner of my mac's screen and I can quickly jump around the world with one or two clicks.

Other than that, the RT2600 seems to have a very friendly interface and setup (maybe not Airprint(?)). I like the idea of attaching a drive right to the router too. Too bad it is so big.

Thanks for all your input and experiences.
 
Just to add to the thread. I have had great success with the Ero Pro 3 satellite system for the last year. I hated to see Apple stop makeing/supporting the Air Ports. Many Home Kit items are managed on the network. Good stuff.
 
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