Amplifi as Airport Extreme replacement?

[dubya]

My 5th gen Airport Extreme (and cable modem) recently got fried by lightning. The cable modem I have replaced, but currently am using an old WRT-54g that was lying around. It is quite a downgrade.

I'm thinking of getting either a newer Airport Extreme, or the Amplifi router. The extra ethernet port and the lower cost, as well as the possibility of future support make the Amplifi seem like a decent deal. The thing is that I don't think I'll need the whole mesh system (whole house and yard were covered before), and I can't find a good review of just the router part. As a standalone router how does it compare to the Airport?

 

[Trip]

If you don't think you'll want or need a mesh-type product, why entertain buying one? There are plenty of standalone AC all-in-ones out that will be more than adequate as a direct replacement for the AEBS. AC68U, R7000, WRT1900ACS just to name three that have matured to the point of stability. They also have great third-party firmware support, should you want more features or like to tinker.

 

[sfx2000]

the Airport Extreme AC isn't a bad choice when considering the re-furb store price at $129USD...

 

[dubya]

If you don't think you'll want or need a mesh-type product, why entertain buying one? There are plenty of standalone AC all-in-ones out that will be more than adequate as a direct replacement for the AEBS. AC68U, R7000, WRT1900ACS just to name three that have matured to the point of stability. They also have great third-party firmware support, should you want more features or like to tinker.

My thought was that it could be a better router than the Airport even without the mesh features. I really liked my old AEBS because it just worked for 5 years straight, and notified me when it needed a firmware upgrade. But, it's now a nearly four year old product. The Amplifi seems like the most Airport-like of all the options available.

 

[dubya]

the Airport Extreme AC isn't a bad choice when considering the re-furb store price at $129USD...

It's not currently available. The best I could find was the education price of $180.

 

[Trip]

My recommendation stands, even in light of the "just works" factor. Just make sure to pick a model that's been out for some time and has been reviewed to have proven stability. As far as updates go, most of the competing products have a fairly simple update process straight through the web interface (I know at least Netgear does). You login, check the dashboard for update alerts, click through to the update page, click "Update", reboot, done (that's more or less the process, each brand will have different interfaces, but you get the general idea...). Granted, they don't do it exactly like Apple with their Airport utility, but the ease-of-use is comparable, if not easier, going straight through a web browser.

 

[dubya]

My recommendation stands, even in light of the "just works" factor. Just make sure to pick a model that's been out for some time and has been reviewed to have proven stability. As far as updates go, most of the competing products have a fairly simple update process straight through the web interface (I know at least Netgear does). You login, check the dashboard for update alerts, click through to the update page, click "Update", reboot, done (that's more or less the process, each brand will have different interfaces, but you get the general idea...). Granted, they don't do it exactly like Apple with their Airport utility, but the ease-of-use is comparable, if not easier, going straight through a web browser.

I think it's good advice, but the Airport Extreme refurb is available again, so I just ordered that.
Plan B was to use Automator to open the router dashboard once a month so I would see if there were updates available.