Airport Extreme router replacement 2020

If I could find a new Airport Extreme at a reasonable price, I'd buy one.

There are usually a few on ebay still in shrink wrap but the price is ridiculous.

And frankly the AE is now a 7 year old design and one that was not leading edge when it came out.

So I would toss up between the cheap TP-Link and Synology.. Either of which would work ok for your fairly minimal requirements and performance is far superior to Extreme.

A leading consumer testing magazine......we are not allowed to mention the actual name......listed three TP-Link products as Best Buys within their respective price ranges, so if you are happy with your extender, you might want to take a look at......

TP-Link AC 1750.........$70

TP-Link C1900.............$110

TP-Link C3150.............$160

The top rated router in the recent tests was.......

Synology RT2600.......$200

All of the above models received top marks for "Ease of set up".

Other good choices would be products from Asus and Netgear.

Apple sells the Linksys Velop mesh system, but it has been a middle of the pack performer compared to other mesh products. The key word here might be "sells", because that is all that Apple does in regard to the product. They offer no support on the product at all and instead will refer callers to Linksys for technical questions and support.

Also can access it from a Web browser for configuration, which I want.

All routers (except Apple and some pro Cisco) use Web interface even if command line or special software is also used.

Apple was very unusual in using an unconventional interface for no gain that I can see.

I already have a range extender in place (TP-Link model).

Avoid range extenders as much as possible. So when you buy the new router try turning off the extender and seeing if the new router has better coverage. (It will because Apple routers were never power house wifi devices.)

I'm shocked at the prices of some current WiFi routers, many of which are close to $400.

We paid that for Time Capsules.. and they were far from the most advanced devices on the market.

Latest AX spec wifi routers will reach those sort of prices.. or specialised units or mesh kits for sure.

A lot of products like AX will come down as mass production brings costs right down. There is always a premium on leading (bleeding) edge.

The other aspect is support.

Cheap end Chinese products tend to have fairly limited support. Even some of the major brands really spend very little time once a product hits the market and the bugs are fixed.

TP-Link AC 1750.........$70

TP-Link C1900.............$110

TP-Link C3150.............$160

I have used TP-Link products extensively over the years.

Some models like 1750 and 1900 are likely in runout sales. Even the C3150 is hard to get hold of now in Australia and we usually get the tail end of most products runs dumped on us.

They have a huge range of models. Most are reasonable for what they are. None are standout.

None have more than a bug fix firmware or two released. The design life expectency is fairly low.

I do recommend them for people who need a cheap vanilla router that will last a few years in a non-demanding situation.

It is worth buying better end and more recent products.. not necessarily the expensive ones.. AX for example has a lot of bug fixing to go before it is ready for mainstream. And almost no products that need wifi offers AX clients yet.. so buying latest greatest wifi routers with matching price tags to avoid being left behind is seldom a good idea. But AC wireless has come a long way and the more recent versions work better than earlier versions by a large factor. Range can double.

Watch Apple compatibility. Not all products are tested in Apple environments.

Example.. Netgear for one has some products out there that simply cause issues. M1 and M2 in recent discussions.. worked fine with PC but actually had major network problems with Macs. And support advice from Netgear was totally wrong to the point of not understanding at all.

I recommend any model you decide to buy just type the model number into google and search with "apple issues" or "bonjour issues" or "airplay issues"

The more expensive models like Asus and Synology do update their firmware regularly. Not just security but actual functionality improvements in later models will be backdated to any model that qualifies. eg Mesh in both those brands was added to help people get better range and roaming compared to the old extend wireless systems such as apple used that was poor.

Asus are excellent brand and I have run several of their routers. At the moment I run RT-AC88U which is very industrial looking and power supply is bulky laptop style which I much prefer cf another wall wart.. which I despise. It has worked well for a few years. I also installed the RT-AC86U for a neighbour who has no problem with it. To me it is a little more domestic. And appearance with red racing stripes did not enhance it however it is faster and better wireless by significant margin if you need VPN or have gigabit internet. For most people either model is pretty much of a muchness.. At current prices here I would buy RT-AX88U over RT-AC88U contra my previous post, just because the price difference is not that great. Or the RT-AC86U if you can find a suitable spot where the "significant other" (SWMBO:-she who must be obeyed) does not complain.

Synology only market two routers currently so they are a bit player. The RT2600AC is fairly old and yet to see if they are going to even release an AX version. Not even sure they are going to stay in game.

If you run a Synology NAS the interface will be very familiar. Otherwise it can take some getting used to. The Synology is great for using hard disk plugged into USB where the firmware NAS origins really shine.

I need a home office router to replace on old Time Capsule/AP Extreme

You did not mention the Time Capsule previously. Just a very old Extreme.

If you are using Time Capsule for Time Machine backups, it might be possible to continue.. although if it is very old then Synology with USB3 hard disk is a better choice. Just say if you want to try the TC in bridge to say an Asus router.

In my testing Asus was able to handle Time Machine but was much less than reliable. I did not test extensively with alternative backup software though, like Carbon Copy Cloner. Time Machine is known to be unreliable on later Mac OS so something to consider.

Even better if you can afford it is Asus RT-AC86U and a synology NAS. That is basically the combo I use.

They did have a bad batch.. apparently there was a faulty chip from broadcom. And it affected a number of brands.

Asus should replace it under warranty.

I am not sure of their policies where you live.. in Australia they do seem resistant to replacement. We have a lot of grey imports due to excessive markups by retailers here. Asus have got themselves a poor reputation not so much with the overall quality of the units but not dealing directly when they do have a problem. So people have had to use our consumer protection agency. And therefore people have indeed sworn never to buy another Asus again.

I have not had a bad one. I have bought and used 6 at least. Installed them for other people. The last 3 are still going strong. None have failed. Always hard with social media these days to gauge how big a problem is or just how noisy a disappointed buyer or two can be. Asus have not helped themselves is true.

What I want most in a router is long-term reliability.

Yes, agreed. Apple did make great routers after a series of disasters.

Remember back to the first and second series of Time Capsule. Apple did exactly the same thing. They died in large numbers and Apple denied responsibility outside of meagre 12month warranty.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2009/nov/04/apple-time-capsule-failures-early

I started my website to help people repair them way back then.. and setup a repair network around the world.

https://sites.google.com/site/lapastenague/a-deconstruction-of-routers-and-modems/apple-time-capsule-repair

Overall we fixed a few thousand directly and with the instructions many more hopefully were saved by DIYers.

It is easy to forget the bad experience especially for Apple fanboys.

So .. conclusion.

Asus are still my top pick. Of the current batch of consumer router I still think it is head and shoulders above the rest.

The Synology is very good. I have heard very few complaints about the hardware. And I do use RT2600AC myself.

People have had issues with mesh system so I would not recommend using it for mesh. Synology has been slow to correct problems and release updates for Mac/Apple issues. They do seem a lot more active on the NAS side and I think routers is a very small part of the business so not sure how long they are going to stay in the market.

Brands like TP-Link, Netgear, Linksys and many others tend to produce enormous number of models but support stops pretty much when it hits the stores and the big bugs are cleared. Long term they just don't produce or have time for older products.

If you want an average decent TP-Link which is cheap and cheerful and will keep you happy for 3 years.. ie typical consumer router lifespan then Archer C2300. I just bought one to install for a neighbour. Amazing for the price. Expect nothing glamorous.

There is quite a movement around the world to give up on consumer quality routers and go for semi-pro products like Ubiquiti. (Mikrotik is another)

Folk who help here have definitely decided to go that route and had good experience.

It has a steep learning curve and is more complicated than average home user can handle.. IMHO.

They are getting better at using simple setup wizards.. but still I had to use command line to just get a few things working.

I was 99% of the way there.. and pulled out after trial install because my ISP and the USG router did not work together. And Ubiquiti could not help. Just unlucky. But I needed a working system.. and having this expensive gear lying around was not worth it so I sold the lot and went back to my favourite Asus.

There is no such thing as one size fits all.. sadly.