Is the AirPort Extreme Worth It?

bekurebekure
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2015
My $180 ASUS router died a couple of weeks ago and I'm shopping for a new router. I have been looking at this AirPort Extreme router and was wondering if it would be worth it.
How is it in terms of stability and reliability. Does it have to be reset once a week for optimum performance or is it consistent regarding stable operation. I'd like to know your thoughts if you have experience with the AirPort Extreme.
Thanks.

We have the following in our household.

1 PC
2 Apple TV's
1 iPad 3
2 iPad Mini's
1 iPhone 6+
1 iPhone 6-
1 BlueRay Player (with Wifi)
1 Printer (with Wifi)
1 Nintendo Wii U

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    pscooter63pscooter63 Posts: 1,080member

    I bought my Airport Extreme in early Spring of this year.  Prior to this, I had gone through a couple of ethernet-only routers (with a separate WAP using a high-gain directional antenna).  Both routers were nothing special, performance-wise and reliability-wise.  Their primary appeal was the internal DSL modems and the flexibility to handle my ISP's quirky settings.

     

    When my ISP ended their service to my neighborhood, I defaulted to cable.  This prompted me to "splurge" on the AE.

     

    Bottom line: this is the best router/AP I've used.  Dead reliable, and the ability to remotely control it via an iOS or OSX app is nicer than most browser-based UIs I've experienced.  The software is not especially fancy, but it is sturdy.  And the WiFi experience improved several orders of magnitude (from "g" to "ca").

     

    I've restarted it probably three times in eight months, and this was likely due to my cable company throwing garbage at it.

     

    Would I buy another one?  You bet.

     

    For the record (all wireless connections):

    1 Mac Mini

    2 Macbook Pros

    4 iPhones

    1 iPad 3 (soon to be an Air 2!)

    1 Nook

    1 gaming PC

    1 wifi printer

    1 XBox 360

    1 Nintendo Wii

    1 Nintendo 3DS

     

    Plus the occasional guest (for whom I enable the "guest network" feature).

  • Reply 2 of 3
    bekurebekure Posts: 2member
    pscooter63 wrote: »
    <p>I bought my Airport Extreme in early Spring of this year.  Prior to this, I had gone through a couple of ethernet-only routers (with a separate WAP using a high-gain directional antenna).  Both routers were nothing special, performance-wise and reliability-wise.  Their primary appeal was the internal DSL modems and the flexibility to handle my ISP's quirky settings.</p><p> </p><p>When my ISP ended their service to my neighborhood, I defaulted to cable.  This prompted me to "splurge" on the AE.</p><p> </p><p>Bottom line: this is the best router/AP I've used.  Dead reliable, and the ability to remotely control it via an iOS or OSX app is nicer than most browser-based UIs I've experienced.  The software is not especially fancy, but it is sturdy.  And the WiFi experience improved several orders of magnitude (from "g" to "ca").</p><p> </p><p>I've restarted it probably three times in eight months, and this was likely due to my cable company throwing garbage at it.</p><p> </p><p>Would I buy another one?  You bet.</p><p> </p><p>For the record (all wireless connections):</p><p>1 Mac Mini</p><p>2 Macbook Pros</p><p>4 iPhones</p><p>1 iPad 3 (soon to be an Air 2!)</p><p>1 Nook</p><p>1 gaming PC</p><p>1 wifi printer</p><p>1 XBox 360</p><p>1 Nintendo Wii</p><p>1 Nintendo 3DS</p><p> </p><p>Plus the occasional guest (for whom I enable the "guest network" feature).</p>

    Sorry for the late reply. Thank you for your response though! I picked up my APE back in November and so far it has been great! I plan on picking up another one for upstairs so as to extend my network. I am very happy with my purchase.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    pscooter63pscooter63 Posts: 1,080member

    Me too!  Since I last posted (3 months ago), I've not needed to restart mine at all.  And I installed one for my in-laws.  Just... perfect.

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