Hello all:
Trying to figure out if it's time to upgrade my router. My iMAC is 6+ years old so my AirPort Extreme must be somewhere in the same age range (no longer have any paperwork etc. to determine exact age). Streaming services on our iPAD and TV can be slow and at times skips, freezes, etc. We have Cox.net for email, TV, et al services.
Would welcome comments, suggestions.
Thanks in advance,
Bob
iMac (2017 – 2020)
Although my 4th Gen AEBS was working fine and 5GHz 802.11n was OK, I did the following:
Those changes caused the speedtest.net results to jump from 75 Mbps to 260 Mbps without changing the cable Internet plan. The internal SSID wireless speed jumped from 300 Mbps to 1235 Mbps, though the latter is sporadic.
Although my 4th Gen AEBS was working fine and 5GHz 802.11n was OK, I did the following:
Those changes caused the speedtest.net results to jump from 75 Mbps to 260 Mbps without changing the cable Internet plan. The internal SSID wireless speed jumped from 300 Mbps to 1235 Mbps, though the latter is sporadic.
There are so many routers in the market it's impossible to recommend any particular one. You'll want to decide if you want a single router or a mesh system.
We have a two story house, and I've used a mesh system for over 7 years. My first one that I had for several years was a Netgear system, but it would often require a manual restart of every node when it installed a firmware update. I've since gone with a TP Link Deco mesh system that's much more reliable.
If course, if your house isn't all that big and is a single story abode, then a single router might be a better (and cheaper) option.
There are WiFi7 systems that recently hit the market. Going with one of those would be kind of a "future proof" for your WiFi. I have a WiFi 6E Deco system that works fine, and doesn't get "choked" by a large number of devices all clamoring for attention.
I also have Cox as my ISP. I would recommend against getting a router from Cox...the last time I looked into what they offered, they were only offering WiFi 5 when the rest of the industry had already moved on to WiFi 6.
Just my $0.02 worth.
Are you kidding....that's worth a helluva lot more than 2 cents........you take cyrpto???? Seriously thanks, really helpful response.
Bob
Thank you
Apple AirPort Extreme - Time to Upgrade?
