Home Anyone still using AirPort Extreme

[Mhotep]

So about a year ago I got a Eero mesh router for the old house. Huge improvement in reception throughout the house. We have moved to our new house, 2 level about 4000 square feet. The Eero works fine but speeds are noticeably slower. The house is hardwired with Ethernet in the entire house, so I got an Orbi from Netgear. Huge difference in speeds since the one satellite is connected over an ethernet to the main router instead of wireless signal. However the thing is buggy, will randomly stop working and I have to reboot. So it got me thinking that since the house is wired for Ethernet why not just pull out the AirPort Extreme and buy 1 or 2 more to act as hardwired satellites they are going for a good price. Wanted to see if anyone still uses the Airport Extremes and has them as a network in the house and how are they doing?

 

[Juicy Box]

Wanted to see if anyone still uses the Airport Extremes and has them as a network in the house and how are they doing?

I still use APE, and have been using AirPort equipment for almost two decades.

Comparing performance from location to location is very hard due to many different variables, but in my 3 floor, 2000 SQFT townhome, the performance seems to be fine for me.

I see the numbers that other people are getting with modern equipment, and my wireless network doesn't compete though.

 

[cynics]

Been using an AirPort Extreme for 7 years, I have 30 clients on it at all times due to my smart home, and since its on a UPS the power has been cycled 3-4 times in those 7 years.

For me this has been the most reliable router I have even had. Aside from firmware updates the power has never been cycled (relative to 3-4 times total over 7 years).

Its certainly not the best router by todays standards however it more than fast enough for my usage and exceeds my ISP speed. I've been very happy with it and at this point in time I don't have even the slightly of urges to "upgrade".

I'm not saying other routers aren't as reliable however for me its been more reliable than the routers that proceeded it.

 

[xraydoc]

So about a year ago I got a Eero mesh router for the old house. Huge improvement in reception throughout the house. We have moved to our new house, 2 level about 4000 square feet. The Eero works fine but speeds are noticeably slower. The house is hardwired with Ethernet in the entire house, so I got an Orbi from Netgear. Huge difference in speeds since the one satellite is connected over an ethernet to the main router instead of wireless signal. However the thing is buggy, will randomly stop working and I have to reboot. So it got me thinking that since the house is wired for Ethernet why not just pull out the AirPort Extreme and buy 1 or 2 more to act as hardwired satellites they are going for a good price. Wanted to see if anyone still uses the Airport Extremes and has them as a network in the house and how are they doing?

This is what I have.

My house is wired for Cat5e Ethernet almost everywhere, so I have 4 AirPort Extreme ac units (one is a Time Capsule) hardwired in bridge mode covering all areas of my house & yard, definitely over 10,000 sqrft all together. All have the same SSID for seamless device switching. I get great speeds on all devices and strong signal throughout and outside. Never had any bottlenecks even with 3 kids streaming Hulu/Netflix/whatever simultaneously.

Service to the home is gigabit Xfinity, connected to a gigabit Linksys business-class 24 port Ethernet switch. Each AirPort is connected to its own Cat5e run.

The base stations are strategically placed to include key outside areas for my Nest cams, solar panel inverter and MyQ Liftmaster garage door motors.

I had 3 Airports up until just recently, but bought one off eBay two weeks ago for $69 to improve coverage in the garage & driveway areas.

Everything works off of them. All my Nest gear, Google Homes, Amazon Echos (which I’m phasing out), Microsoft Surface Book, Apple gear, smart TVs, etc. Never ever need rebooting, though thanks to where I live, the power company reboots everything for me about once a month anyway.

There’s typically about 30 devices connected wirelessly spread out over the 4 base stations, plus another 15 or so hardwired.

For me, they’ve been rock solid. Don’t see myself replacing them for several more years.

 

[LiveM]

I have two plus an Express thrown into the mix every now and then, usually in client mode for Airplay to my headphones to watch movies quietly.

They never need rebooting and work perfectly. All the little problems with other routers just disappear from your life with these. I have no intention of changing them.