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Apple Officially Discontinues AirPort Wireless Router Lineup [Updated]
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I suspect that this is happening because Apple believes that networking is going 5G everywhere, even in the home. So, we'll soon be 100% reliant on the mobile carriers and we'll be paying for every bit that is transmitted between any of our devices (imagine having to pay you mobile carrier each time you want to print a document to your wireless printer).
Of course, it also means that by default you will be able to control or access those devices from almost anywhere which could be convenient, but it will also open up some new privacy concerns and it won't be so good for users who don't have access to an affordable and quality 5G service.
Of course, it also means that by default you will be able to control or access those devices from almost anywhere which could be convenient, but it will also open up some new privacy concerns and it won't be so good for users who don't have access to an affordable and quality 5G service.
No way this is happening soon, given how greedy US carriers are with their pricing models and download quotas. Imagine Joe Blow opening his ATT bill and seeing $500 after binge watching Breaking Bad on Netflix...
This is sad indeed. I've had a AirPort Extreme as my router for about 10 years. I've had two over 10 years. I upgraded from a 2nd Gen to a 6th Gen, purely because I "figured" it was time to have faster WiFi in the house with ac being the hot new thing and finally having service at our home that was 100+mb in speed.
The Airport Extremes were the most stable routers I've ever had. They were updated constantly, the software was pretty good, no complaints at all from me regarding their performance. My mother in law is still using the 2nd Gen AirPort Extreme, has no issues. My only complaint now is, what do I buy next now that Apple is no longer making the best routers ever? I don't need a mesh setup, my AirPort Extreme covers our entire home (1500 sq ft) just fine. It covered our 2200 sq ft just fine as well before we moved. I don't need or want a mesh system. I want a new badass APE Time Capsule with a 1-2TB SSD.
The Airport Extremes were the most stable routers I've ever had. They were updated constantly, the software was pretty good, no complaints at all from me regarding their performance. My mother in law is still using the 2nd Gen AirPort Extreme, has no issues. My only complaint now is, what do I buy next now that Apple is no longer making the best routers ever? I don't need a mesh setup, my AirPort Extreme covers our entire home (1500 sq ft) just fine. It covered our 2200 sq ft just fine as well before we moved. I don't need or want a mesh system. I want a new badass APE Time Capsule with a 1-2TB SSD.
Techncially the Airports did "mesh" before mesh was a buzzword. Obviously cat5e+ to each WAP is still a superior method to mesh, but if you cant do that mesh is a good in between.
One thing that scares me about eero is privacy. Does it leak data to their cloud and if so what data?
I too am one of the millions who have used the Airport routers for flawless secure AND ease of use over the many years Apple Airport has been with us. I have 25 devices that are part of my home network which includes several Apple TV's, 2 Airport Express' and strategically placed gigabit switches. I live in an average sized one story home in suburbia. I took the time to wire my home so 1/2 the devices are connected via ethernet. I just purchased another AirPort Extreme and will put it in storage IF AND WHEN my current AirPort Extreme dies.
What about if Apple decides to remove software support in future macOS versions? This thought stops me from buying an Extreme right now.
Case in point, Apple has done this before. I cannot connect a gen 1 express to 2016 Mac anymore, perhaps even 2011 anymore, I don't remember right. I have to use Airport Utility 5.6.1 for it. So...
This won’t happen for the next decade at least (wifi standards will continue to be backwards compatible), so you can rest easy. You just won’t get any future benefits.
[doublepost=1525369654][/doublepost]Networked backups were actually the Achilles Heel of Apple's system. They stored their data in a special container called a sparse bundle (or was it sparsebundle?). These were easily corrupted, and once they were it was bloody impossible to repair them. So if you relied on this backup strategy, sooner or later your data was doomed to be lost. Apple must have known about this issue but never did diddly-squat to fix it.
What I would like to see Apple put out is a small, simple and cheap dongle that would allow whatever was attached to it join its wi-fi network. It could be used for satellite speakers, headphones (at least Apple and Beats brands), t. v.'s etc.
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When I first set up my Mini as a server for my house network I configured two other Macs on the network to use the Mini server for Time Machine backups. After multiple failures in this setup I trashed the use of TM completely and now run nightly backups from all on-net computers to my server using CCC (which uses rsync being-the-GUI). No problems ever since. For a supposedly tech-savvy company, Apple sure knows how to mess things up (and never fix them).
It’s so disappointing they are doing this. I remember buying the “UFO” airport then the time capsule for effortless backup and the AirPort Extreme to play music on my existing system. What do Apple suggest we replace extremes with ? Sonos ? Some people drop $10K on their home music system and for years the AirPort Extreme was a easy plug n play solution. Especially as you could use older tech.
Being the tech guy in my family I’ve set up and supported many family friends , members and extended friends. Every time I suggest Mac and always suggest a time capsule for backup and wifi + a airport or even another extreme in the kitchen.
When they released the new extremes I bought 3 and a time capsule for my newly renovated family home. Within 20 minutes I had every single one working and internet all over my house. I’ve been waiting for the new standard to come out before replacing them. A number of my clients(mostly family) are due for a upgrade at some point this year.
Yes there are other options and presumably a NAS or desktop HD plugged into that linksys will work the same as time capsule but it’s not as sleek as having a all in one
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Being the tech guy in my family I’ve set up and supported many family friends , members and extended friends. Every time I suggest Mac and always suggest a time capsule for backup and wifi + a airport or even another extreme in the kitchen.
When they released the new extremes I bought 3 and a time capsule for my newly renovated family home. Within 20 minutes I had every single one working and internet all over my house. I’ve been waiting for the new standard to come out before replacing them. A number of my clients(mostly family) are due for a upgrade at some point this year.
Yes there are other options and presumably a NAS or desktop HD plugged into that linksys will work the same as time capsule but it’s not as sleek as having a all in one
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True that.
I bought an Asus AC51 router last year, to check waters. My last foray into non-Apple routers was a Cisco router long, long ago, and that had not worked out very well. I am somehow not particularly happy with the router, and am far more comfortable with an Apple for an Apple in terms of routers at least.
When I was on Windows platform, I could pick any router on the market and set it up the way I wanted, and it would work flawlessly. But routers on the Mac seem to be iffy still, at least for me.
I have hopes from the likes of Amplifi and Orbi, however, they are way too costly in the country for me to think about them. For the price of 1x Amplifi HD, I could buy 2x Airport Extremes in my country, even with Apple-Inflated prices for my country, and have about $200 to spare on something else.
Here is an idea. Apple could release improved Airport devices and advertise them properly explaining their benefits (not like their current mobile device adverts). This might improve their sales, I don’t recall seeing any adverts in Europe for these great devices. These useful products needed promoting and updating.
Sorry, they are not. That's why I moved to Google and it works great.
Apple will provide service and parts for 5 more years for a product that will not receive security updates? I do not believe this. That said, I definitely believe that there will be no product improvements or enhancements It would be extremely shortsighted to provide service and parts for 5 years on a product that will be unusable should a single serious exploit be found that affects it.
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There's definitely a big hole in the AirPlay platform now. I hoping there will eventually be a HomePod Mini with the ability to AirPlay 2 to analog devices but I'm not holding my breath; Apple seems to have almost entirely removed analog audio from their roadmap.
For now, I use Airfoil to simultaneously AirPlay to Mac/Windows/Linux/AirportExpress/AppleTV. I'll have my Echo Dots stream Spotify to my analog speakers sometimes but prefer AirPlay's higher quality.
[doublepost=1525457014][/doublepost]Anyone using an Extreme as their main router with a modern broadband probably isn't getting their money's worth. I recently tested the latest Extreme, a 2010 Linksys, a 2014 Netgear D6200 and a new Linksys LRT214 on a 175mbps cable connection and the difference was night and day. The older hardware just can't keep up.
I am sure many members of forums such as this have bought new Airport devices since the announcement, either those who had been holding off waiting for a new product, or those wanting a spare. What surprises me is that Apple didn’t advertise the Airport products. I never saw an advert in Europe for them. If they had advertised, they may have sold a lot more and still be making and developing them.
Many users wouldn’t even be aware Apple made such products, let alone why they should pay a premium to buy one over the unit provided by their ISP.
Google loves you too.
*Google loves leaking all his network level data to serve ads and build user profiles on.
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I think the Time Capsule and AirPort AC versions are plenty fast, no? Let's not forget that Time Capsules and AirPorts run a flavor of *nix that is used on the Hubble Space Telescope and mission critical hardware.
Extreme 1 is wired to extreme 2
Extreme 3 wirelessly to extreme 1
Roaming network as I only have 1 WiFi network around 3 separate floors.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Two amplifi base stations and one amplifi mesh should more than do it.
Odds that they go on sale? I am debating jumping and buying one now or risking waiting for a sale.