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Apple Dropping AirPort Utility From the App Store With iOS 27
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AppleTO
macrumors 68000
Ubiquiti also had Amplifi, which is more consumer oriented than Unifi, but it seems they’ve pretty much abandon those. I have the HD system. (It’s still sold and supported, mind you.) It looks like they are clearing them out as the price is substantially less than before.
Could you let us in on your alternative system? I have been looking for a wireless Time Machine system to back up two Mac laptops.
boswald
macrumors 68040
Agent007
macrumors 6502a
maruyama
macrumors regular
I have mine tucked out of the way in back.
iPod Hifi + Airport Express A1392 is the GOAT AirPlay combo.
zapmymac
macrumors 65816
Same here. Still run the last gen Xpress for a separate network + my main Netgear Rax 80: both are officially EOF. ☹️
zapmymac
macrumors 65816
zapmymac
macrumors 65816
One solution is using a router with a usbc port as a NAS, …most newer and new routers have Time Maxhine support baked-in. Maybe your current router already has this support? 🤞
Powerbooky
macrumors demi-god
That is fully supported for SMB2 and SMB3 and it's highly unlikely that it will end soon.
Only AFP is dropped completely, so any NAS only supporting AFP can't be used with macOS 27 and later, abandoning many older NAS devices. Although there is a SMB hack on GitHub for TimeCapsule. AirPort Express and AirPort Extreme can't be used anymore as a NAS.
But to be honest, TimeMachine wasn't really that reliable via AirPort Express or AirPort Extreme in my experience.
Well, if you do not use the AirPort Express as a wifi base station or wifi extender, then one alternative is the HomePod mini or the regular HomePod. Next to AirPlay they can also play music by them selves directly from the synced iCloud library (with or without Apple Music subscription). Not sure if HomePod's have direct support for other services like Spotify. Anyway... I have 8 of them today for almost 5 years now.
But between 2005 and 2016 I did use active bookshelf speakers with an AirPort Express - work great combined with iTunes + VolumeLogic (for audio processing/leveling) + iTunes Remote app + some automation app. Eventually each piece of software wasn't supported anymore by either Apple or the 3rd party.
You mean the AirPort Extreme tower with 802.11ac? The older AirPort Express and Extreme models sure had a high latency; its internal controller couldn't balance large loads right, especially when more than one Mac was hauling large files over the local network. But the most annoying thing was that it couldn't handle interference from neighbouring wifi. I replaced them 6 years ago with an enterprise grade AP (WAX650S). Signal coverage is so much better that there's no need for an extender/WDS.
A friend of mine owns a shop and about 16 years ago we installed AirPort Express units throughout the shop with active speakers to play muzak in the store. They are all wired, because at the time they also served as wifi guest access points. 5 years later I turned off the wifi function, as it was just too slow and unreliable with only 802.11n support. For music it still works today; except that the speakers now need repairs (degraded capacitors).
Bummer, but it's probably time. I have to use a separate 2.4 NON .ac network for my elgato keylights because they cheaped out on their wifi, and don't work with ac networks.
I was using a handful of Airport Expresses for years for this purpose, but few years back a couple of mine died. After searching a bit I replaced with Wiim devices. honestly they've been more stable than the AE was before them. And the Wiim app is actually quite nice to see whats being played where and have control over all these devices on the network.
The biggest problem with them was the speed. If anyone ever tried restoring from one with ethernet, you were waiting a long time. So much is cloud stored these days that I could restore any of my Macs using my Apple ID and a few cloud services. The benefits of only taking photos with an iPhone ever.
Robert.Walter
macrumors 68040
TBH I’d rather have a new time capsule than Siri AI nonsense.
zapmymac
macrumors 65816
Yes you can. I’m in Sonoma still, but I do have a 7 year old Netgear router that has a 256 GB SSD attached to it and is setup as a NAS.
zapmymac
macrumors 65816
zapmymac
macrumors 65816
Very true, if you have fast internet. I only have dsl: 12-20 Mb/s down, 10-12 up ☹️
I have about 8 AirPort Express devices active in my home as I write, and at least one AirPort base station time capsule device (the numbers in use vary with my needs). I use the base station to create a net independent of the one my Comcast box provides, and I use the express devices to provide AirTunes support to 8 stereo systems. (I also use an aftermarket device to inject analog sound into my AirTunes net.) I like them because they are easy to manage with the AirPort utility. I just hope somebody picks up the ball, as this hardware and software ensemble is just too useful to give up. I strongly suspect that Apple is acting like Harley Davidson in lazily dropping support for old stuff without good technical reasons - I once had a Harley dealer refuse to install a battery in a motorcycle that was 20 years old, in spite of there being no technical difference from doing so to a newer bike. Telling customers NO for no real reason is the beginning of the end, IMHO.
I use two Airport Extremes as wifi repeater/extenders in my house. They work great for this purpose. I also have an AirPort Express that I just recently retired and replaced with a Wiim Mini for headphone use on an end table. Connected to a Schiit headphone amp and dac stack.