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Best router for iMac?

I

icemantx

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 16, 2009
547
648
I have an aging Linksys WRT110 which is a "wireless N compatible" router that is really just a slightly faster Wireless G purchased in 2008. I am considering my options for a new router and was hoping to get some recommendations from those on this board.

My current setup at home is: iMac (early 2009), MacBook (late 2007), 2 iPhone 3G, 2 iPhone 4, Nintendo Wii, Apple TV and occasionally my HP work laptop.

I have read mostly positive reviews about the Airport Extreme on Amazon, but not as consistent reviews by cnet, pcworld and others.

I am going to buy a new one soon as my Linksys is flaky at times and I would like a real wireless N router with simultaneous dual bands.

What do you think? Which router is best in the $100-175 price range with a primarily Mac environment? I would think the Apple Airport Extreme since it is made by Apple, but do not want to buy that just because it is Apple if there are better choices.

The other router that seems to be a decent choice is the Linksys e3200. There is a new Netgear coming out that is Time Machine compatible, but that is not out yet.

Thanks!
 
I just switched over from a Netgear WNDR 3700 to the Airport Extreme, mainly because of the USB printing option the Airport Extreme offers. The Netgear was really good, but it did have it shortcomings, no usb printing. I have the new Airport Extreme and it works really well with a mixture of Macs and Windows machines. I also have a PSP, a Wii, XBOx 360 and PS3 hooked up and it works great, and good range. It is made so a beginning could hook it up. With an iMac, go with the Airport Extreme.
 
I've had an AEBS for slightly over 2 years now. I had some network problems previously, but none since. I haven't needed to touch the settings since I installed it.

Note that I use it as a 802.11N and G WiFi base station only. I've never used it as a router. Bought mine as a refurb.
 
Another option for those inclined is to build your own. I had an old PC sitting around so I set it up, and then installed the FreeBSD-based pfSense software. I've added several packages to the base configuration and it's infinitely more powerful and configurable than your off-the-shelf router. Best of all, if you have an old PC--even an old Pentium II is more than enough--that's gathering dust in a closet, building a router is 100% free.

Link to software: http://www.pfsense.org/

According to the pfSense web site:

pfSense is a free, open source customized distribution of FreeBSD tailored for use as a firewall and router. In addition to being a powerful, flexible firewalling and routing platform, it includes a long list of related features and a package system allowing further expandability without adding bloat and potential security vulnerabilities to the base distribution. pfSense is a popular project with more than 1 million downloads since its inception, and proven in countless installations ranging from small home networks protecting a PC and an Xbox to large corporations, universities and other organizations protecting thousands of network devices.
 
Feature/price wise, the Extreme is more expensive than comparable routers from other brands. However, the extreme is very reliable and easy to set up.

I have my Extreme for 6 months now and it works like a charm.
 
I'm another happy Airport Extreme user.

  • It's so easy to manage
  • It supports dual band (2.4 and 5GHz)
  • You can set up a separate "guest" network, with a different name and password, and which can't see anything on the main network
  • It supports the attachment of shared hard disks and a printer via USB

Just don't try using TimeMachine to the attached disks
 
DeputyRob said:
Another option for those inclined is to build your own. I had an old PC sitting around so I set it up, and then installed the FreeBSD-based pfSense software.
Click to expand...

I used to do that, until I used my Kill-a-Watt to see just how much electricity my old PC turned router was using. It was easy to justify the cost of buying a dedicated router, plus the added benefit of simplicity.

I'd go AEBS or Time Capsule. If you also have any mac laptops, go for the time capsule. Wireless time machine backups are the best - no need to remember to hookup your time machine HD to your laptop.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Is the AEBS not compatible with Time Machine?
 
peanuthead said:
Really? I was going to try this soon...
Click to expand...

icemantx said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Is the AEBS not compatible with Time Machine?
Click to expand...

It used to be the case but not anymore. See this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/881757/

Be aware that Airdisks (as hd hanging off of AEBSs are called) are very slow, like 10 or 20 times slower than USB slow.
 
flopticalcube said:
Be aware that Airdisks (as hd hanging off of AEBSs are called) are very slow, like 10 or 20 times slower than USB slow.
Click to expand...

Do you know if this is caused by the wireless access or it the AEBS hard drive is just slow? I plug in my MacBook into my wired LAN at home to transfer large files for that reason.

In general, slow isn't a problem for TimeMachine, which runs in the background.
 
johnfkitchen said:
I'm another happy Airport Extreme user.

  • It's so easy to manage
  • It supports dual band (2.4 and 5GHz)
  • You can set up a separate "guest" network, with a different name and password, and which can't see anything on the main network
  • It supports the attachment of shared hard disks and a printer via USB

Just don't try using TimeMachine to the attached disks
Click to expand...

Why is Time Machine bad news with attached disks? That's alarming because based on my research, there are some reliability issue surrounding Time Capsule.
 
6Stringer said:
Why is Time Machine bad news with attached disks? That's alarming because based on my research, there are some reliability issue surrounding Time Capsule.
Click to expand...

Apple doesn't support Time Machine on disks attached to Airport Extreme. The reality is that it works "most of the time". For me, it took a few months, and then corruption occurred.
 
Alternative

Give Synology a shot. Their 1-bay enclosure is HERE. And you can put any SATA drive in it. http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Intellipower-Desktop/dp/B002ZCXK0I/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_b is a WD green. They're pretty speedy and support Time Machine using an Airdisk emulator. I have two computers hooked up to the 4-bay and have been using it for a few months now. No issues :)

If you upgrade to their 2-bay, you can do data redundancy and have your data be protected if one of the drives dies.
 
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One more for the Synology 1 bay NAS & decent router like the WNDR3700 (awesome combo and very Mac friendly)

I use a DS110j and a WNDR3700 with 2TB.
 
Helpful thread, thanks. Saves me from cluttering things with a separate thread.

It sounds like AEBS is a good choice for me to make, however it is not listed in the buyers guide. Would you say this is a buy now or wait item? (I need now so why am I asking?)

What justifies the added cost of the AEBS? Is it brand name, usb printing, and hard drive hook up? (none of which are deal breakers for me.)

My situation is, I just got broadband via cable instead of DSL. Wonderful as I have had 1.5 Mbs (which was actually often below 1.0 Mbs and now have 12 Mbs via cable.) But I was a ding dong and bought a cable modem from the list of approved devices and it is just a cable modem, not a router. So using it via ethernet at the moment and very happy with the faster speed!

My priorities are that this high speed be kept as high as possible through the wireless router, My house is low square footage but reception in the yard would be a plus. The whole property is only 50' x 100'. Price is an issue for me, though if there was enough reason to I might get the AEBS. (I already spent almost $100 for the cable modem.)

I'm seeing routers for $29.99... big difference from the AEBS!!!

But if I get one of the other routers like a DLink etc, are they all platform independent? Or do I need to be sure to get a Mac compatible one? (Any suggestions?)

I'd be grateful for any feedback.
 
Last edited:
wmf said:
...

But if I get one of the other routers like a DLink etc, are they all platform independent? Or do I need to be sure to get a Mac compatible one? (Any suggestions?)

...
Click to expand...
Wireless protocols are platform-independent, period. Routers are platform-independent, but.... The "but" is activation and administration. If the router uses a built-in web server for administration, then any browser on any platform will do. That leaves activation. Not all, but some routers require activation. It is my understanding that Apple Airport routers are activated and administered using an MacOS X (or a Windows-based, I presume) utility. Non-Apple routers vary. Some require a Windows computer for activation. Others may be activated using either a Mac or Windows. The only router that I ever owned that required activation, a Cisco Linksys E3000, included Mac and Windows activation utilities on the CD. My preference is no activation.
 
Thank you MisterMe, that makes sense. I will make sure it is (preferably) no activation and if it requires activation that it is Mac/PC compatible.
 
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I bought an Airport Extreme one month ago and love it.

I had before a D-Link DIR625 that had some troubles connecting to my GF's Dell laptop. No more problem since then. It works great with our 2 iPhone, XBOX 360, Blu-Ray, iMac and the laptop. It's not the cheapest one, but I figured it would be worth it considering it also falls into my new iMac's AppleCare.
 
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