Apple Officially Discontinuing AirPort Range 😢

Apple General
#1

I am really quite saddened to read this. :cry:

I love Apple’s routers. I’ve used them for years, and all my clients use them. They are so robust and reliable. Nothing worst than crappy linux based ADSL modem routers. :man_facepalming:

I really hoped this rumour was not legit back in 2016 when it went around, but I guess it was. It seems Apple have lost their understanding of what made it special. All it needed was a mesh wifi update and it’d be still top of the tree. So sad to see such amazing tech fall by the wayside.

P.S. Having set up a Velop system recently (the unit Apple retail now sell) I was underwhelmed with the software. Apple’s admin/management software for macOS & iOS was always top notch.

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#2

Wow. I’ll say it again: What the hell are Apple doing in the big shiny new building? Because it doesn’t seem like very much. I’m wondering what fraction of that circle was devoted to Notch Creation.

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#3

I’ve had a pile of Airports, AirPort Express(es) and TimeCapsules over the years, but I only ever used them as Wireless Access Points. They always seemed to just work, and pretty well at that, but the reality for me was that I never used any of their features (other than the TimeCapsule bits). I’ve always kept any restrictions or limits set on the router so these really were just WAPs.

For me, that’s all I’ve ever viewed them as and I see that as a pretty small market, especially when your carrier gives you a “free” wifi modem anyway. Very nice WAPs for sure, but still not alot more.

Recently I’ve upgraded to a couple of Ubiquiti units along with the USG, but that’s a whole other story and they are still pretty much just WAPs… but with pretty graphs!

#4

They’ve always been at the upper end of consumer router performance too, being about to route at near 100Mb/s when others topped out at about 20. Their (native) IPv6 was good as well, but they never did pick up support for 6rd that some ISPs started to roll out.

My very old TC got a firmware update to 7.6.9 in the past couple of days. At least Apple continues to support their gear for a while after it’s gone end of sale.

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#5

I literally took a hammer to my old some-style Airport when I finally upgraded to a later model - the dome was shit! But was very happy with the 2011(?) model - till iiNet “gave” me a modem with wifi - then it became obsolete to my needs.

I do think it’s a shame - presume low returns are to blame.

#6

I’ll be keeping mine going until it dies. After that I’ll probably change to Ubiquity.

#7

Amen to that gehenna, although Apple are selling the LinkSys Velop system…

#8

I still have a couple of these (Express and Extreme( and will use them until they stop functioning.

At that point, Eero or something similar looks the goods — would much prefer to keep with AirPort tho (a mesh upgrade as @jaysee points out would be ideal)

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#9

Our Airport Express has been a true Apple quality product. Easy to setup and it is bullet proof. The managements apps are so simple compared to other non-Apple products.

I assume there is insufficient margin in selling these products. The market has been ruined by ISPs providing free units as part of broadband contracts.

#10

What a shame. My time capsule is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. Was even upgradeable!

#11

These were the perfect example of locked down Apple ecosystems. I’m not sad they’re gone at all. I could never get mine to successfully integrate into an ecosystem. You were in an all or nothing situation and I don’t believe in ecosystems like that no matter how good they are.

#12

This is actually why I packed my Airport away - when my iiNet modem arrived with wifi of its own, I did look at using the Airport as a bridge, but it was impossible. Shame really.

#13

Do you mean the iiNet modem wouldn’t go into bridge mode?

#14

Shame. Extreme was such a stable router. I sold mine last year when I moved to FTTP and Ubiquiti.

#15

No, the airport extreme doesn’t bridge with anything. It’s a shame because its Wifi signal strength is really good and so is its bridging with other Apple networking devices. The ultimate shame is that it does not play well with others. This is yet another example of how Apple does not understand the corporate sector (like the Xserve I have packed away).

Unless you are willing to be in a completely closed box ecosystem they just don’t work. This insults my intelligence as someone who knows how to use a computer across multiple OS and Archs… I get it that Apple was never trying to play nicely. Really though, if you don’t want to play nicely get out of the corporate IT sector. I think Tim Cook has realised this.

In short: They missed the boat with mesh wifi by being greedy and not allowing for interchangeability with existing routing hardware in your house.

#16

Interesting, because my Airport Extreme bridges with just about everything. 3 Macs, 2 iPhones, iPod, Apple TV, Samsung TV (although the Samsung has random issues with the wifi, I think it needs a firmware update) and TP-Link Wireless Access Point (which we use to connect to a cctv recorder), even the cctv contractors Windows laptop…

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#17

So I had an ADSL iiNet modem with Wifi that served half the house really well, but not the other half. I had hoped to set the Airport Extreme up in bridge mode for the other half of the house - but they just wouldn’t talk. I recall some saying that it’s not uncommon between different brands in general for devices not to work together, though same said it’s specifically an Apple thing.

#18

Mine has been doing wifi duty for a long time. It happily worked with my old Billions and now with my Netcomm. There don’t seem to be any issues, I’ll keep using it til it dies.

#19

What a shame. Have had and still use Airport extreme, express and time capsule over the years. Would have far preferred the continued devolpment of these rather than Homepod.

#20

To be honest, I’ve moved off Apple routers for a few years now - have found them a bit unreliable and “slow” - I’m currently using a high-end Netgear which has a much wider range and great speeds. So I’m not surprised.