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Best Router to buy now since Airport Extreme no longer available?

Benz63amg

Benz63amg

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 17, 2010
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My brother wants to buy a router as he is moving out to a new apartment soon and i obviously recommend the Airport Extreme as ive had one for many years with little to no issues and it has been an incredible product but as we all know it is discontinued and is no longer available. Whats the most reliable router to buy now that i should recommend for my brother to purchase?
 
I would say it depends a bit on the apartment. If its a big apartment or has thick walls like brick or something like that then maybe a mesh wifi system would be best. I personally have the cheapest(I think) ASUS WiFi 6 router attached to a cable modem. It works great and for my small apartment(1200sq ft) and has great coverage. The only thing is that no apple computers have WiFi 6 capability right now. But its a great way to future proof and some phones like the Samsung S20 Ultra and I believe even the iPhone 11 series can utilize WiFi 6. I think my router is advertised to cover between 1500 and 2000 SQ Ft of space, depending on what I said above like wall type/thickness, etc.
 
FWIW Amazon actually shows a used-like new Airport Extreme will be in stock on 6/19/20. I find that pretty surprising. I own one and I hope it lasts for a few more years.

www.amazon.com

Apple Airport Extreme

The sixth generation Apple Airport Extreme Base Station (6th Generation) features simultaneous dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi support to transmit at both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies at the same time. It gives luxury of worriless connectivity, no matter which band wireless devices use; theyll automa...
www.amazon.com
 
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Namara said:
FWIW Amazon actually shows a used-like new Airport Extreme will be in stock on 6/19/20. I find that pretty surprising. I own one and I hope it lasts for a few more years.

www.amazon.com

Apple Airport Extreme

The sixth generation Apple Airport Extreme Base Station (6th Generation) features simultaneous dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi support to transmit at both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies at the same time. It gives luxury of worriless connectivity, no matter which band wireless devices use; theyll automa...
www.amazon.com
Click to expand...
WHAT!? Will these be brand new units?
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
JohnMaldaner said:
This is exactly what I moved to when my AE bit the dust and I LOVE it. They have an app that makes viewing and tweaking your local network a snap.
Click to expand...
Does it work without any issues or does it drop connections etc?
 
Thanks for this great recommendation, which I'm keeping in a Note for the eventuality of my 5-year old AE dying. I looked at the product specs, and I like the app's UI. Looks like a very solid choice.
 
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Depending on the size of the apartment, he might consider one of the newer "mesh-type" routers with two (or more) nodes.

Linksys Velop and Netgear Orbi come to mind.
But there are many others as well.
 
I noticed that this is not the 802.11ax standard. Is that a big deal?

I often turn off my wireless and just use ethernet with my Airport Express.

Is this router able to shut off the wifi and use only the ethernet connected Lan ports?
Will the router temporarily disconnect computers connected by the ethernet Lan ports when turning off/on the wifi? Not a deal breaker, just curious.
 
Benz63amg said:
My brother wants to buy a router as he is moving out to a new apartment soon and i obviously recommend the Airport Extreme as ive had one for many years with little to no issues and it has been an incredible product but as we all know it is discontinued and is no longer available. Whats the most reliable router to buy now that i should recommend for my brother to purchase?
Click to expand...
A few places I now install UniFi.
But most people I recommend Orbi RBK50. In an apartment, with densely packed wifi, having two modules providing multiple bands is very handy for reliability. Good performer.
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Gentile said:
I noticed that this is not the 802.11ax standard. Is that a big deal?

I often turn off my wireless and just use ethernet with my Airport Express.

Is this router able to shut off the wifi and use only the ethernet connected Lan ports?
Will the router temporarily disconnect computers connected by the ethernet Lan ports when turning off/on the wifi? Not a deal breaker, just curious.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't worry about 802.11ax if the price is right for an ac only router.

1. 802.11ax still has growing pains, many of the first out are missing major features which muddies the performance improvements. Missing the new 2.4ghz modulations, missing OFDMA, missing 6ghz, etc.
2. Many devices still don't have it.
3. AC is still faster than many people's internet connections, so it's largely no big deal.
 
Are there any similar routers that people would recommend that have more than 4 lan ports? I like to hardwire multiple devices by ethernet.

I know I can use add a switch to the router to have more lan ports but I have tried that with my AirPort Extreme and it seems like some devices don't always get internet access by ethernet.
 
"Are there any similar routers that people would recommend that have more than 4 lan ports? I like to hardwire multiple devices by ethernet."

Just get a cheap gigabit ethernet "switch" and use that instead. Works fine.
 
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Gentile said:
Are there any similar routers that people would recommend that have more than 4 lan ports? I like to hardwire multiple devices by ethernet.

I know I can use add a switch to the router to have more lan ports but I have tried that with my AirPort Extreme and it seems like some devices don't always get internet access by ethernet.
Click to expand...
I have a 16 port Netgear switch connected to my Eero. Never had any connection problems. Lots of devices in my data closet.
 
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