On Feb 7, 2015, at 8:34 PM, Steven Brown <[email protected]> wrote:
> I will be buying a new router soon and wanted to know if anyone has used an
> airport extreme with AT&T?
Steven,
It depends on what you need. The Airports have been great. Sometimes there have
been issues, but Apple has updated the software for them many times. If you
need all of Apple's features, they're great.
If you want to replace a UVerse router, then there are issues, more to how
difficult it is to pass through the signal so that ANY other router can do the
job, as opposed than the one in the AT&T multifunction box.
>>Know that you still have to use their box, just fewer of its functions.<<
The problem is that the really lousy software in the AT&T is hard to configure,
and sometimes the passthrough of the routing functions to your own router just
doesn't work. Richard Meadows' experience with an Airport will not be yours
because it is way easier to put a new router after a TWC box than an AT&T box.
[Don't count on their tech support helping you either. They will refer you to
their "Advanced" tech support (due to the fact that you are going "off-script"
with a non-AT&T router) who will charge you a bunch and… Let's just say that
their employees didn't appear to be born into this world in a country where
English was spoken around the dinner table every night. When I had to inquire
of them, they didn't understand what I wanted and I couldn't understand what
they were saying either. (I got my money back.)]
If you want the backup capabilities, then you should get a Time Capsule. They
work better than attaching an external drive to an AE, and the drives in the
Time Capsule are warranted by Apple which makes it way easier to get help if
you have problems. Even if you don't want wifi or routing, this is still a nice
solution to multi-computer Time Machine backups.
With either the Airport Express and the Time Capsule you can turn off the
router part ("bridge mode") and just user the AT&T router as it was set up
(except for turning off the AT&T wifi, if you want). Your wifi, print serving
and backups will work great on any Apple and the Airport Utility make this a
pretty easy setup.
However, if you just want the ability to add really great wifi access, then the
devices at the following links are awesome, have a really nice configuration
app that runs on your Mac, and costs WAAAAY less than an 'Extreme or a
'Capsule. I have installed several of these around, both the standard model and
the "long range" one and they really outperform the wifi of anything else I
have ever used. And they look really hi-tech if you want to install them
someplace where they can be seen. And my favorite feature (besides how
inexpensive they are): they are "power-over-ethernet" so you can install one
anywhere there isn't a power outlet, since the power is supplied on the
ethernet cable. That makes them very easy to install in any kind of
out-of-the-way location. I have mounted them high up on walls, in attics and on
ceilings, running just one little cable to it through a tiny and covered-up
hole in the wall.
Regular
http://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-UniFi-Enterprise-System/dp/B004XXMUCQ/ref=sr_1_1
Long Range
http://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-UniFi-Access-UAP-LR-US-Version/dp/B005H4CDF4/ref=pd_cp_pc_0
Have fun!
Jonathan
--
Jonathan Fletcher
FileMaker Certified Developer (9 thru 13)
FileMaker Business Alliance
Fletcher Data Consulting, LLC
[email protected]
http://www.fletcherdata.com
502-509-7137
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