Replacements for an all-Apple Airport Extreme network?

You need to make one big choice first.. wired or wireless.

If you own the house my recommendation is you wire it with ethernet.. it is expensive job.. far more than what a few wireless routers cost.. but ethernet is fast, reliable and longterm. Wireless does not and will never replace it.

I would wire every main room in the house. And even some of the bedrooms and service spaces. And you need some space for a central point where all these wires come out and will be patched to a switch and router.

If you rent or live in concrete box where this sort of wiring is impossible then mesh is the better option.

Even if mesh is better than the old wireless repeater system... the better mesh uses a secondary high speed connection for system backbone.. those are the more expensive ones like Netgear Orbi.. I do not know much about. I used a lot of wireless in the past and it has been such a disappointment including Apple wireless routers. They might work fine to transfer data but when you start time sensitive stuff like streaming or VOIP they become useless.

For wired systems.. Ubiquiti unifi stuff is probably the best. It is not easy as Apple to install but it has pro rather than domestic type controls and reliability. Particularly if you like the Apple centralised controller the unifi is even better but about 10x more sophisticated. To actually tell you what you need to buy is impossible without knowing what you need in terms of speed of your connection etc. But for most people you can get away with fairly cheap end USG router and 2 or 3 UniFi AP AC lite which will come out around $300 so not a lot more than high end domestic router. (As long as the wiring is in place).

A few of us here are in the midst of moving from Apple to Ubiquiti (unifi wired) systems.

The best of the domestic systems I would say Asus or Synology.

Synology has been a recommend on a lot of sites if you google for Apple router replacements.

https://www.macobserver.com/tips/synology-rt2600ac-apple-airport-extreme-replacement/

I have been trying to work through some issues with another person here.. where wireless was really poor.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250121897

The issue was specific to one Mac in his network.. I do have a synology and cannot reproduce the issue.. but it is something to be aware of.

I do have issues with its IPv6 implementation. So if you have a particular IPv6 setup I am not sure synology will fit.

I also run high end Asus routers and have done so for ages now. Asus firmware is hugely superior to the run of the mill domestic router.. although there is no central controller. I have previously recommended here models like the RT-AC88U or AC86U as being top of the line for domestic routers for most services you may want.

I did run into an issue.. it was having issues with my particular setup. Again like the synology this is a problem a handful of people experience but if it happens to you, there is almost nothing you can do about it.

My ISP has just introduced IPv6 and the older Asus I have kept.. RT-AC3200, works best of all these routers.. USG worked but was difficult to configure, Synology did not work at all, so I am for the time being back to the Asus. NOTE with wired systems you can do this.. you cannot willy nilly swap components on a mesh system.

Both Synology and Asus also sell mesh satellites and their main routers have mesh additions loaded and available.

I was also searching for Time Machine compatible routers. And I can add that Asus and Synology both support it to a USB3 hard drive.. which is just as fast as internal drive on a Time Capsule or even better. The Asus proved unreliable on about an 8 week cycle.. the synology was better but I have not been doing long term tests as I am up to my armpits in Ubiquiti gear and installing it. Synology NAS is known to work well as again a few of us here use them and we recommend them as alternative to Time Capsules.. expensive though.

That is a lot of info to absorb.. it helps if you tell us exactly who is your ISP.. your actual upload and download speeds.. number of clients.. type of dwelling.. any special needs. Parental controls, Guest wireless, VPN server or client, remote access etc.

Great question because right now I feel your pain.

There is one crucial thing.. IPv6 must be working correctly. If your ISP is handing you IPv6 addresses that could be a problem. see more below but in previous posts about the problem we always get people to make sure they have the following.

1. IPv6 set correctly in both the airport and computer. It must be configured link-local only (unless you are on full IPv6) not auto because Mac OS does have issues getting the selection correct.
2. It is important that your computer is not running 3rd party anti-virus or firewalls or security packages. These can prevent connections works.
3. Some cheap adware products cause issues, Clean it, Keep it, speed it, any trash self-loaded from internet can be problematic.

Regardless of taking extra care to fulfill all the conditions I know of.. here is my Airport Utility view this morning.

Last night I put the computer to sleep.. everything was working. I did not even shut down.. this morning woke it up.. Look familiar??

Double checked it on iPad before sleeping..so it was working last night.. this morning.. even though iPad is connected to the TC wireless.. also gone.

The TC on the left is unplugged so that one is understandable.. the one on the right has a key role in the network.. it is connected by ethernet to the main router.. It has a static IP.. but will not open in the airport utility until I reboot it.

I have used every trick I know.

But it is working fine..

It is correctly responding to pings. But this happened just at the point when my ISP changed over to IPv6.. but I cannot fix it even by forcing the network back to older setup with IPv4 and link-local only IPv6 (NOTE as above that IPv6 is needed). No other changes.

I saw the problem fairly often in the past but it was just a quick network refresh and it would start working.

Using a bonjour browser before a reboot everything looks fine and it can see the TC on the network.. so I am rather lost as to the cause.

But it is not failure of that particular TC because it happens across all airports depending on what is connected at the time.

Fortunately I have ssh access and that still works.. and I can force a reboot from command line.

If you want help with this talk to me directly.. it is a bit hacky. rayhav@gmail.com

So now it is working again.. for another few hours. uber weird.

I'm curious if AU is doing some early detection of another 3-4 year old unit failing or not.

I don't think so.. my old Gen5 TC in the screenshots has been resurrected a couple of times.. and works just fine other than continually disappearing from the network.

I used to blame bonjour.. now I have tested it with the bonjour browser software.. I have to honestly confess .. I don't know!!

Certainly it has bugged the heck out of me for the last couple of weeks.

Don't post screenshots without removing some of the public addresses.. and I am still very new to IPv6 so not sure how much needs to go..

Love having screenshots.. pictures are worth so much than words alone.

The Mac looks like this.

Link local only would only be used where you are NOT running IPv6.

The option is here.. but I don't think you need to use it.

On the time capsule the setup is as follows.

Remember this bridged.. not router.. IPv6 is being handled by an Asus router just at the moment.. which is 100% compatible with IPv6

I am not sure of your cox setup.. I have heard that it can be problematic..

When you test IPv6 eg here.

http://ipv6-test.com/

Are you getting a score of 20/20 which means 100% fully compatible. If not then something still is not configured correctly.

Tomorrow I will pull out my main router and swap in the Time Capsule so I can see how well it works with IPv6.

There is a useful discussion here.. but this is very new to me.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250141749

I thought Apple was all about IPv6 back in the day.

For what it is worth, Apple designed the router back in the 2011 to 2012 timeframe using preliminary IPv6 information that was available at the time. There have been no changes to the IPv6 settings since the router was introduced in June 2013, so let's say that it is probably fair to say that Apple is not exactly up to speed with IPv6 routing.

Still, if your provider really does support IPv6......(I am using an Internet connection from Spectrum and the Google IPv4 and IPv6 DNS servers).......your IPv6 test should look more like this:

You can see that I have not bothered to type in the Hostname in AirPort Utility, but I'll get around to that at some point.

If your ISP really does not support IPv6, then it would probably make sense to use the Link Local Only setting on the Apple router.

I have now swapped a Time Capsule into the network as the main router (Gen4 model but good enough for my network speed).

I have configured IPv6 on it in the simplest possible way and it is working fine.. getting 20/20 on the IPv6-test site.

Both TC are showing up in the airport utility.. I can keep this running for a while to make sure it actually keeps working.

Just to be clear.. when I say wired or wireless.. I am talking about backhaul. In other words you have used wired system with Extreme at each point.. there is no extend wireless so you are using a wired setup.. no wireless client is more than one hop from a connection.. and no connection has double hops.. in other words, client to AP.. AP to Router .. both by wireless massively reduces network speed.

Mesh systems come in two types..

Google is cheap.. it does both the connection and the backhaul over the same wireless channel. It is excellent value for money but slow on 300Mbps you are not going to get full speed unless you are connected to the single hop unit.

But you do the all configuration via a google account.. and frankly that is unacceptable to me as well.. write off any units that need internet accounts.

Netgear Orbi

This uses a separate channel for backhaul.. but can also use ethernet.. so it is a superior system to the google.

However it has limited setup configuration and requires internet account to do the configuration.. also to me unacceptable. Netgear might not be evil.. but they are still storing your details for someone to use or steal or promote you the next gadget.

Since you have the wiring in place.. which is excellent (even if I think you need a bit more!!) there is no need to go mesh.. go Ubiquiti. It has local configuration and can use either a local or internet hosted controller.

It is worth the time and money.. and there is plenty of experience out there with it.

Or Synology or Asus can also do the same.. with rather simpler interface and no central controller.

Eero is more limited from what I can see

https://support.eero.com/hc/en-us/articles/207548436-Can-I-connect-my-eeros-with-Ethernet-

You will probably not get a lot of response here about Apple users on any of those mesh systems.. this discussion area so far has been pretty much devoted to Apple routers..

You will do better asking questions in a forum area for those products and how people running apple products have got on with them..

Since you have ethernet.. my answer is DON'T GO MESH.

Reading a blog with the real world not hidden away is helpful.

https://www.douglasisaksson.com/lessons-learned-from-deploying-a-unifi-network-at-home/

Here is a more pro install. It covers two houses and difference between clean install on new house and replacement.

https://www.troyhunt.com/wiring-a-home-network-from-the-ground-up-with-ubiquiti/

And some more ordinary type.

https://medium.com/@seanmiedema/ubiquiti-unifi-setup-at-home-impressions-from-a-non-pro-21c306261b1a

https://medium.com/@seanmiedema/ubiquiti-unifi-setup-at-home-90-days-later-and-thoughts-of-side-hustling-12a482d5e4a5

These give you a good idea of the complexity of what you are taking on.. some are ridiculously overkill.. but it pays to figure out if you want to go this way.. reading it up at least will suggest if this is over the top.. and from my own install.. it is a pretty steep learning curve and you need to run the ubiquiti setup as test configuration for a start to get a feel for what you are doing.. unless you are hiring someone to install for you of course.. don't leap in until you try it out.

There are excellent youtube videos as well on configuring USG and UAP which are worth a bit of your time.

Remember the test to IPv6-test site is actually the client that is tested not the whole network.

In your post a few back now.. you have block incoming IPv6.. I would uncheck that.. apply it and then reboot a Mac to do the test on.. Make sure you have IPv6 values in the network settings.. like I have shown.. and then run the IPv6 test again.

If you set everything to IPv6 link-local only you will only be able to talk to the outside world on IPv4 .. so you are cutting off your nose to spite your face.

"Block incoming IPv6" was STILL TICKED

As it should be, unless you want an unknown device to be able to connect directly to your network over the Internet. Even if you wanted to do this, I doubt that the preliminary IPv6 settings on the AirPort will allow this to work without changing around other IPv6 settings.......like Native to Tunnel.......and then allowing Teredo Tunnels.......that probably won't allow IPv6 to function correctly with your current setup.

Settings are interactive in AirPort Utility. Change one thing and another thing will change that you don't know about.

19 out of 20 is at least working as far as IPv6.