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What is a good replacement for an old Airport Extreme? The Airport Extreme I am using now works well but I know it can't last forever.
I don't need anything heavy-duty like for gaming. I just need a replacement so I can run 3 Roku's, one laptop, 2 iPads and that's about it.
I need a unit that can handle printer sharing.
I need a unit that can handle printer sharing.
This is often a big drawback.. Is the printer that valuable you cannot replace it with network one.. even cheap lasers and inkjets now all have wifi if not ethernet.
I just need a replacement so I can run 3 Roku's, one laptop, 2 iPads and that's about it.
Any router these days can handle that sort of load.. the issue is how large an area you are covering and the sort of walls and if the place is double story.
Budget?
Do you want AX which is the next wifi standard?
There are literally hundreds of routers that fit your needs.
So check out a few review sites.. I like Dong's one
https://dongknows.com/best-wi-fi-5-routers/
https://dongknows.com/best-wi-fi-6-routers/
He covers top and bottom end products and having read his reviews for many years find he is pretty fair and reasonable. I doubt you will go wrong accepting his recommendation even if I occasionally disagree.
At cheap end look at the TP-Link.. generally good value for money and work fairly well with solid hardware.. e.g. AX10, AX20, AX50 .. different names in different places.
Asus is my preferred model for serious domestic router.
AC86U, AX86U
I don't like their cheap models which I think the TP-Link are better for.
Synology only has one router now and a mesh unit. The router is RT2600AC.. fairly expensive but a very solid replacement for Extreme and you can find lots of reviews along those lines. https://www.synology.com/en-au/solution/AirPort_replacement
Nowadays mesh is very popular for people in big houses. Since wireless is now more important than ever for all the IoT and gadgets around the house.. Mesh is also what many choose and Apple store stocks a few different brands.. but they are not as good routers as ones list above.
Note the routers will handle USB printers .. mostly.. not necessarily working with Apple though.. but almost none of the mesh have USB ports or working USB anything. You can always use an airport express for a print server or actual usb print server which are fairly cheap second hand since everybody now buys network printers.
I need a unit that can handle printer sharing.
This is often a big drawback.. Is the printer that valuable you cannot replace it with network one.. even cheap lasers and inkjets now all have wifi if not ethernet.
I just need a replacement so I can run 3 Roku's, one laptop, 2 iPads and that's about it.
Any router these days can handle that sort of load.. the issue is how large an area you are covering and the sort of walls and if the place is double story.
Budget?
Do you want AX which is the next wifi standard?
There are literally hundreds of routers that fit your needs.
So check out a few review sites.. I like Dong's one
https://dongknows.com/best-wi-fi-5-routers/
https://dongknows.com/best-wi-fi-6-routers/
He covers top and bottom end products and having read his reviews for many years find he is pretty fair and reasonable. I doubt you will go wrong accepting his recommendation even if I occasionally disagree.
At cheap end look at the TP-Link.. generally good value for money and work fairly well with solid hardware.. e.g. AX10, AX20, AX50 .. different names in different places.
Asus is my preferred model for serious domestic router.
AC86U, AX86U
I don't like their cheap models which I think the TP-Link are better for.
Synology only has one router now and a mesh unit. The router is RT2600AC.. fairly expensive but a very solid replacement for Extreme and you can find lots of reviews along those lines. https://www.synology.com/en-au/solution/AirPort_replacement
Nowadays mesh is very popular for people in big houses. Since wireless is now more important than ever for all the IoT and gadgets around the house.. Mesh is also what many choose and Apple store stocks a few different brands.. but they are not as good routers as ones list above.
Note the routers will handle USB printers .. mostly.. not necessarily working with Apple though.. but almost none of the mesh have USB ports or working USB anything. You can always use an airport express for a print server or actual usb print server which are fairly cheap second hand since everybody now buys network printers.
airport extreme replacement
