Thanks everyone. A bit of googling reveals that this topic is discussed surprisingly infrequently on blogs and mainstream Apple/tech sites, so this input is valuable. If anyone has any other thoughts, I'd love to hear them.
I'm still torn--I have no problem configuring my own routers, provided the web interface is accessible, and something offering NAS and solid AC signal for a lower price than $200 is definitely worth considering. However, if the price point turns out to be relatively close to the Airport Extreme anyway, I might just spring for the Apple gear. I guess it depends on what else is out there and what it all offers. The point about Apple refreshing the Airports is a good one, certainly. I seem to recall the Extreme being updated sometime last year, but maybe I'm getting my Apple events mixed up? It all kind of runs together after a while, except for the major product release dates. Can someone expand more on what, exactly, Airplay lets me do with media playback? We don't have an Apple TV, and the interest level in the house around that item isn't terribly high. $150 isn't exactly throw-away change for us just now. What would the Express let us do, or an Apple TV? I'm not sure I get the idea of plugging speakers into a router, especially since our router is next to the TV anyway. > On Jan 18, 2016, at 14:15, Christina C. <blindmaclo...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Alex, > > I don’t have the link handy but somewhere on apple’s website they have a > chart comparing the express, extreme, and time capsule. We are actually > wanting to update our almost 4 year old time capsule and so we are in the > market for a router and I find this conversation very interesting. > > One thing to think about if you are considering purchasing an apple router is > if it is a good time to buy or if apple is about to update or refresh the > current model. This is the thing I have been trying to figure out because I > don’t want to purchase one and then in three months apple updates the model I > just purchased. I can’t seem to find any information as to what year the > current model is. I don’t know if the apple airport extreme came out this > year or two or three years ago. I do know that it’s newer than my time > Capsule. That is all I can figure out so far. > > Also, I love having a guest network from the apple router. I don’t know what > other routers offer this. It gives me peace of mind when my kids neighborhood > friends want to use our wifi when they come over. I don’t mind sharing the > guest network at all. :) I don’t have to give out our password to our > personal wifi nor do I have to even worry one tiny bit about hacking from all > these kids. ha ha, not likely but I feel much better when it’s not even a > factor and I can be generous instead of cringing when people ask for our wifi > password. I’m sure that there are other routers that have a guest network I > just don’t know of them. My husband wanted to try google’s router but best we > can figure, their is no guest network and I don’t know if it would be > accessible. Our next router definitely needs to have a guest network. I have > heard that there are faster and better routers than apple’s but I guess it > comes down to trust and ease of use, especially with regards to > accessibility. > > We do use a airport express as a wireless wifi extender. I don’t know if an > express can be used with any brand of router but it does work well with our > time capsule. > > Please share any info you learn through your research because I am open to > trying something new but only if I know that I won’t have to have sighted > assistance do everything for me. I surely would love something friendlier to > my wallet. :) I’m pretty sure that in the end we will stick with apple but I > prefer to make an informed choice. > > Christina > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries > list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if > you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is Cara > Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries@googlegroups.com/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- Have a great day, Alex Hall mehg...@icloud.com -- The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
