I currently have 2 airports - latest generation. Since asus, cisco, buffalo, netgear all have 802.11ac routers - that would make apple "behind" all of them.
While I agree it was disappointing that Apple didnt announce the ac router, my needs for a router arent just speed. Reliability and uptime are just as, if not more, important than all out speed. Before I bought my first (and only) Airport router 2 years ago.. I tried the brands you listed above and Dlink, Belkin and Trendnet. Like every other Apple product I thought it was overpriced, but I was so frustrated that I couldnt find a router that "just worked" I was willing to give it a try. To reduce the sting of the $179 price tag.. I bought a $129 refurbished unit from the Apple store.
Long story short, 2 years later you could not PAY me to use another router. Not only has the '09 spec Airport I purchased been dead nuts reliable. But the upgrades to the Airport Utility on my Macbook and Airport app on my iPhone have made the experience even more enjoyable. In the 2 years I've owned it, I might have had to reboot it once that I can recall. Other than that its been fast, reliable and even XboxLive works well with an openNAT.. something so many other N routers couldnt do.
While Apple introduced a N-spec router in 2011 thats faster that my '09, I'm still trying my best to hold out for an Apple AC-spec. I'm planning to buy a Synology NAS and (2) 3TB WD Red drives sometime in the next two weeks. If Apple hasnt announced an AC-spec router by then.. then I'm going to do the exact same thing and pay $139 to purchase a refurbished 2011 N-spec unit from the Apple store. Considering the 2011 version is much faster than my 2009, provides a bigger coverage area and none of my wifi client devices are AC yet.. I should have purchased the faster 2011 model a long time ago!
The other thing I love about Apple products, beyond the design & ease of use. The resale value. So I'll sell my '09 on Ebay.. probably get a $60 bucks back. Pretty awesome to use a consumer electronic good for over 2 years and sell it for 50% of its purchase price.
And its not just me, that has noticed the Apple routers are MUCH more reliable and stable than any other competitor. This is taken from the last paragraph of the conclusion section.. when AnandTech did their comparison of '09 spec vs '11spec Airport Extreme:
"I guess the reason that I personally use an Airport Extreme (in conjunction with another device for NAT) is that it's really one of a small number of 802.11n dual-band APs I've tried that actually works without locking up, becoming unstable periodically, dropping the session from overheating when being pushed to 100% for hours, or requiring a daily reboot. There are just so many other consumer level 802.11n APs that either fall short or are incredibly frustrating and unreliable. Thus far, I've been using an Airport Extreme Gen 5 and Time Capsule Gen 4 as my primary AP with over 12 devices attached to each one for the greater part of a month without a single instability. It's that kind of stability that really sells it for me, even with 3x3:3 out of the picture.
That kind of sums up WiFi in general—ideally, it should work and be something transparent to the user instead of a constant consideration."
The new iPhone 5 boasts, along with 4G LTE support for faster Internet speeds, faster WiFi connectivity. The device supports the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz band on 802.11n standard for speeds up to 150 Mbps.
Daekwan, I do agree that the airports are very reliable that is why I haven't used anything else for the last 2 years and that is why I'm so dissappointed Apple doesn't have anything yet. But it may be time for me to try out some other brands again as I need the speed now.
While I agree it was disappointing that Apple didnt announce the ac router, my needs for a router arent just speed.
It was just too early for that. The chip set is brand new and I doubt that the power requirements are really good in generation 1. Also, if Apple calls and wants your chipset, you have to be able to produce millions in a heartbeat. The 802.11ac routers out there now are being produced in the hundreds and thousands. There also isn't huge shift from PC manufacturers to use "ac" either...probably not until 2013.
Yes, Apple pioneered 802.11b 12 years ago but these days, priorities are different. It will come though. Next opportunity will be in 2013 when the Macbook Airs are refreshed.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Just like Apple was "behind" everyone that used the 45nm LTE chips, yeah? ????
I can't determine if you are purposely being obtuse or if you were born that way.
Originally Posted by boed
I can't determine if you are purposely being obtuse or if you were born that way.
I can determine that this is an insult. You don't seem to get the idea Apple presents.
Quote:
Originally Posted by boed
I currently have 2 airports - latest generation. Since asus, cisco, buffalo, netgear all have 802.11ac routers - that would make apple "behind" all of them.
While I agree it was disappointing that Apple didnt announce the ac router, my needs for a router arent just speed. Reliability and uptime are just as, if not more, important than all out speed. Before I bought my first (and only) Airport router 2 years ago.. I tried the brands you listed above and Dlink, Belkin and Trendnet. Like every other Apple product I thought it was overpriced, but I was so frustrated that I couldnt find a router that "just worked" I was willing to give it a try. To reduce the sting of the $179 price tag.. I bought a $129 refurbished unit from the Apple store.
Long story short, 2 years later you could not PAY me to use another router. Not only has the '09 spec Airport I purchased been dead nuts reliable. But the upgrades to the Airport Utility on my Macbook and Airport app on my iPhone have made the experience even more enjoyable. In the 2 years I've owned it, I might have had to reboot it once that I can recall. Other than that its been fast, reliable and even XboxLive works well with an openNAT.. something so many other N routers couldnt do.
While Apple introduced a N-spec router in 2011 thats faster that my '09, I'm still trying my best to hold out for an Apple AC-spec. I'm planning to buy a Synology NAS and (2) 3TB WD Red drives sometime in the next two weeks. If Apple hasnt announced an AC-spec router by then.. then I'm going to do the exact same thing and pay $139 to purchase a refurbished 2011 N-spec unit from the Apple store. Considering the 2011 version is much faster than my 2009, provides a bigger coverage area and none of my wifi client devices are AC yet.. I should have purchased the faster 2011 model a long time ago!
The other thing I love about Apple products, beyond the design & ease of use. The resale value. So I'll sell my '09 on Ebay.. probably get a $60 bucks back. Pretty awesome to use a consumer electronic good for over 2 years and sell it for 50% of its purchase price.
And its not just me, that has noticed the Apple routers are MUCH more reliable and stable than any other competitor. This is taken from the last paragraph of the conclusion section.. when AnandTech did their comparison of '09 spec vs '11spec Airport Extreme:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4577/airport-extreme-5th-gen-and-time-capsule-4th-gen-review-faster-wifi-/9
"I guess the reason that I personally use an Airport Extreme (in conjunction with another device for NAT) is that it's really one of a small number of 802.11n dual-band APs I've tried that actually works without locking up, becoming unstable periodically, dropping the session from overheating when being pushed to 100% for hours, or requiring a daily reboot. There are just so many other consumer level 802.11n APs that either fall short or are incredibly frustrating and unreliable. Thus far, I've been using an Airport Extreme Gen 5 and Time Capsule Gen 4 as my primary AP with over 12 devices attached to each one for the greater part of a month without a single instability. It's that kind of stability that really sells it for me, even with 3x3:3 out of the picture.
That kind of sums up WiFi in general—ideally, it should work and be something transparent to the user instead of a constant consideration."
I believe iPhone 5 supports 2.4 & 5G.
See below:
The new iPhone 5 boasts, along with 4G LTE support for faster Internet speeds, faster WiFi connectivity. The device supports the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz band on 802.11n standard for speeds up to 150 Mbps.
http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/09/12/iphone-5-boasts-faster-wifi-capabilities/
Daekwan, I do agree that the airports are very reliable that is why I haven't used anything else for the last 2 years and that is why I'm so dissappointed Apple doesn't have anything yet. But it may be time for me to try out some other brands again as I need the speed now.
Originally Posted by boed
…as I need the speed now.
You can get double the effective speed by using Ethernet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daekwan
While I agree it was disappointing that Apple didnt announce the ac router, my needs for a router arent just speed.
It was just too early for that. The chip set is brand new and I doubt that the power requirements are really good in generation 1. Also, if Apple calls and wants your chipset, you have to be able to produce millions in a heartbeat. The 802.11ac routers out there now are being produced in the hundreds and thousands. There also isn't huge shift from PC manufacturers to use "ac" either...probably not until 2013.
Yes, Apple pioneered 802.11b 12 years ago but these days, priorities are different. It will come though. Next opportunity will be in 2013 when the Macbook Airs are refreshed.
Originally Posted by boed
Still no new airport...
Saying this every day gets old.
This is getting old.
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Saying this every day gets old.
Originally Posted by JeffDM
This is getting old.
Great, now saying it's getting old is getting old.
Yes. All discussion ended two weeks ago. Locking.