I wish Apple released a new Airport

[brynsmith23]

Im still amazed that Apple decided to discontinued their router line, it was seamless, it just worked.

i'm into my 6th year of using my Airport Time Capsule AC-Wifi version, in that time i've had no issue with it.

Now its time to look at my options as we are renovating a larger apartment, and as its larger and i'll be soundproofing this apartment, i can see my trusty Time Capsule struggling for full coverage.

It's a shame, apple didn't continue making routers, or at least brought up an another company to enhance their offerings.

I did notice i can still buy the Airport Extreme new over here, I'm tempted to buy a few and run cat6 cables to the furthest rooms while im re-sheeting the plasterboard after installing acoustic batts, connecting these via ethernet from the time capsule to boost wifi coverage.

But knowing my luck, the time capsule would die after completing it, lol, it would be a lot easier if apple released another Airport option.

 

[Moakesy]

Can really recommend AMPLIFI routers. I have their HD system, but they also bought out a new WiFi 6 system as well.

It’s pretty much the apple experience. You open the box, plug it in and in 2 minutes it works....and works very well with exceptional coverage. The App is very simple too. Oh, and it’s about the same pricing as Apple as well (but worth it).

I recommended it to a friend who was having issues, eventually he decided to try it and he loves it. Sorted his poor coverage and is very happy as well.

 

[nothingtoseehere]

I also like the Airport series, still in use today (1 AE, 1 TC). It begins to show age, though. Some time ago, I had to restart TC, but now it says it is full (shouldn‘t it delete older updates automatically?) UI of TC is a mess, TBH. And for an older MBA, TC backups via WiFi slow down the laptop terribly.

If I were to move to a new apartment, I maybe would lay ethernet cables throughout the rooms and go for Ubiquiti products as for example https://www.amazon.de/Ubiquiti-UAP-AC-PRO-Networks-weiß/dp/B016XYQ3WK?language=en_GB - great in the office.
Alternatively, a mesh network with cable-based backdrop.

 

[aakshey]

Invest in Netgear Orbi RBK50 or RBK852.

 

[Ray2]

Moakesy wrote what I would have and will repeat. I replaced an AirPort Extreme + 3 Airport Express units with 2 Amplifi HD's and kept 2 of the Airport Expresses as DAC's for audio. Frankly they blow away the coverage and stability of the older Apple routers. Easy to set up. 100% uptime. Near zero maintenance and when there is any (firmware update), it’s a snap. From my POV, priced right.

I run a mildly complex network with a hybrid wired and wireless approach, a server, dynamic and static addresses, a managed Ethernet switch, multiple av devices, multiple analog audio devices and a bunch of wired and wireless enabled devices. Other than a cumbersome approach to establishing static addresses, a snap to setup — and I’m no networking guru. I only have one regret. I didn’t make the change years earlier.

There are other options but letting the likes of Google or Amazon access my web use was a non-starter.

 

[pldelisle]

Get Ubiquiti hardware. They are ex-Apple engineers. Really good hardware and software.

 

[brynsmith23]

Thanks guys, those Ubiquiti products look like a nice easy solution, The HD series looks good, the Alien model is appealing as we have a few Wifi 6 products, iPhones and iPads.

I'm going to run Cat 6 cables while the walls are stripped, it's an easy thing to do and it would make a better preforming mesh network in the long run.

 

[Ray2]

My old Airport based network relied heavily on wire. My HD's sit 50 feet apart and between them 4 plastered walls with 2 layers of thick, pretty much solid, galvanized steel lath per wall. I still employ the wire as it’s there. However, when I initially set up the HD's I limited wire to connecting the 2 HD's and, for grins, tried wireless on a couple of ATV's. I could stream 2160 BD to an ATV on the flip side of 1 wall. Streaming 1080 to the other, 60 feet, passing through 3 walls was not possible. However, the room now had useful wifi for surfing and music. With the Airports, that room had been a non-starter for any wireless signal.

If your walls are ripped up go for wire. If not, you may find the wireless side of the Amplify's meet your needs.

 

[brynsmith23]

Thanks Ray2,

I've decided that i'll to run Cat6 while i have the plasterboard of, as when i replace the plasterboard to install acoustic batts, i will be going with two layers fire/acoustic rated dense plasterboard with a layer of green glue in between the sheets on either side of the metal studs

I'll most likely run it thought a switch unit depending on how many ports i end up putting in, so i can reduce the cabling mess in the living area.

I see how it goes once the renovation is complete, and if i come across wall density issues, i can add in more wired access points to cover the dead zones.

I did work in IT 2 decades ago, so i have a decent understanding in networking, just want it to be simple, its easy to run down the rabbit hole and have an over the top complex system.

 

[satcomer]

If you going through major construction maybe you wire your home for multi mode Fiber through your home because home 10G is right around the corner and you will future proof your constructive with a huge increase in price these days!

 

[pldelisle]

If you going through major construction maybe you wire your home for multi mode Fiber through your home because home 10G is right around the corner and you will future proof your constructive with a huge increase in price these days!

Wiring with fibre optics is totally useless. CAT7 cables are just fine for the next decade.

 

[Che Castro]

I like them so much I just bought another on eBay used to keep as backup $60, been using the one I have for 5 years now without any problems

 

[Apple_Robert]

I really like them. In fact, I have several here at home. Very easy to set up and they have been rock solid.

 

[brynsmith23]

If you going through major construction maybe you wire your home for multi mode Fiber through your home because home 10G is right around the corner and you will future proof your constructive with a huge increase in price these days!

Wiring with fibre optics is totally useless. CAT7 cables are just fine for the next decade.

Yeah i don't see the point of Fibre cabling at this point in time, Cat6a or Cat 7 will be fine for my internal Ethernet ports

I also only have Fibre to the Basement in our apartment building, so until they decide to run Fibre to the Apartments, i won't see higher than 100mbs, due to the copper lines

 

[pldelisle]

Yeah i don't see the point of Fibre cabling at this point in time, Cat6a or Cat 7 will be fine for my internal Ethernet ports

I also only have Fibre to the Basement in our apartment building, so until they decide to run Fibre to the Apartments, i won't see higher than 100mbs, due to the copper lines

Fiber isn’t faster than copper. It’s a transmission medium. Nothing to do with the bandwidth capacity that it can carry. Your fiber enters an ONT, a fiber terminal that transforms fiber into less expansive copper wire to your apartment. You are not limited to 100mbps. You are limited by the fact that this fiber, probably a 2.5 gbps drop, is shared among others in the building. And you have 100mbps reserved to your address through bandwidth limitation mechanism. If you want to have 1gbps dedicated, the ISP will likely bring another fiber drop in the basement and put yourself on your own ONT. But most ISP limits the bandwidth per address in shared buildings like apartments or condominium because bringing a second or third or fourth fiber is expansive.

 

[throAU]

Fiber isn’t faster than copper.

Well, it's not quite that simple. You can run 100 gigabit (or more) over fibre TODAY, over hundreds of metres/km or more if you have the money.

You can't do that with copper.

Its easier to drive higher speed over fibre, but there's a cross-over speed where the cost of the transceivers for copper are cheaper than fibre, and its a moving target.

Currently that's 10 gigabit. Want faster than that, you need fibre (exceptions being really short thunderbolt cables, etc. but 50cm isn't really a practical cable run length for a home network).

10-15 years ago? 10 gig over copper wasn't feasible.


Fibre is also immune to electrical interference.

Whilst I agree that for most people, copper makes more sense (and wifi makes even more sense) - if you run things like home lab with high speed NAS, etc. then 10 gigabit or faster is something you want. If not now, in the near future. Its a niche though that most don't fit into.

 

[pldelisle]

Well, it's not quite that simple. You can run 100 gigabit (or more) over fibre TODAY, over hundreds of metres/km or more if you have the money.

You can't do that with copper.

* I should have added “at reasonable speeds.” Or sub-10gbps.

1Gbps of copper == 1Gbps of fiber.

Everybody knows fiber can be deployed over a much longer length.

 

[viettanium]

Apple should remove AirPort Utility app and migare these router into the Home app.

 

[pldelisle]

Whilst I agree that for most people, copper makes more sense (and wifi makes even more sense) - if you run things like home lab with high speed NAS, etc. then 10 gigabit or faster is something you want. If not now, in the near future. Its a niche though that most don't fit into.

There’s a limit. 10gbps for almost any usage is more than enough. Especially for *home* use. My university backbone is in 10gbps!!! As you said if you really need more, get thunderbolt and shorten your distance from the device.

 

[throAU]

There’s a limit. 10gbps for almost any usage is more than enough. Especially for *home* use. My university backbone is in 10gbps!!! As you said if you really need more, get thunderbolt and shorten your distance from the device.

Like I said, its a niche use case. Clearly you're not in that niche.

10 Gb is only 1 gigabyte per second - modern SSDs are several times that, even without RAID; if you're wanting to copy around 100s of gigabytes of data and don't want to wait for minutes at a time twiddling your thumbs, or want high performance virtual machines running on remote storage, then there's a very real, noticeable benefit to going much faster.

I myself AM in that niche (yes, at home - for home lab/learning/testing purposes), I just can't justify the expense yet.

10 gb as a general network backbone is fast enough, but for VM on NAS workloads (i.e., storage network) - not so much any more.

And sure, I could tether a big box of drives/ssds to my machine with a short thunderbolt cable. But that's not as convenient as having the big noisy box (or rack) in another room.

 

[hobowankenobi]

Another vote for UBNT gear. Ubiquiti Unifi if you want to really control and monitor...Amplifi if you just want to turn it on and leave it alone.

I have 3 Unifi APs, and have done nothing to them for many years, beyond occasional firmware updates. My wife works from home on web stuff all day, so wifi drops are not acceptable. 2 cover a medium size 2 story house, while the third covers the entire back yard and beyond. Zero complaints or gripes.

 

[ksec]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1283078636560678919

There is still some hope.

 

[Prorege1]

We use Google WIFI mesh, just found a brand “new” unused 2 TB Time Capsule for USD 40 as a backup for the 10 years old 1st generation, it’s a shame Apple discontinued the production.

 

[Starfia]

Still going strong with my own Time Capsule from almost 10 years ago. (I've stopped using the hard drive just to switch to a higher-capacity backup drive, but it's still in there and works fine, as far as I know.)

 

[mikzn]

We use Google WIFI mesh, just found a brand “new” unused 2 TB Time Capsule for USD 40 as a backup for the 10 years old 1st generation, it’s a shame Apple discontinued the production.

View attachment 939709

looks like 2 of them in the picture? 👍

I am still using mine for sharing movies to apple TV / VLC and sharing music media to several macs - don't use for back up anymore