That’s how I see it. And I don’t see an answer. As I stared, 95-99% just want to plug in their router once and never bother again with it. And for “power users”, you would need to pack a lot of options and configurations. Which won’t be “easy to use”.
I’d rather wait for a new Synology router… And affordable 10GbE.
Please don’t encourage them (they do read these forums I’m sure).
Some might claim Apple TV+ is the greatest streaming service on the planet because… it covers the planet. 107 countries with the same content, which as far as I know is unique. Anything they make that’s limited to the US or the “blessed few” is just going to annoy a huge chunk of their customers.
Phase 1 is complete (Nov ‘19) with 79% of the population covered (if they want it) and Phase 2 is underway to raise that to 87% by some time in 2022. We also have “rural broadband” which is 4G (and at some stage 5G) cellular coverage to fixed-base units for infill. Bear in mind we are an 84% urban population and the other 16% can be in some pretty rugged places.
Soooo… going back to what I think the original topic was… are AirPorts still relevant/productive as a means of extending wifi or as a “mesh?” I am using an extreme and on express to extend my wifi to my current workstation (as the missus is working from home) and was thinking about buying a couple more on eBay or somewhere to extend throughout the house…
In my opinion, no. Airports have never been capable of forming a WiFi mesh network. Given that mesh technology is now well implemented in consumer grade products, if one access point won’t do and you have the option, go with mesh.
I had an 802.11ac AirPort Extreme and used the 802.11n one it replaced as an extender. These were bettered in range and reliability by simply plugging in my Orbi plus one satellite in identical locations.
I used to own an AirPort Extreme, but it didn’t work well with Windows computers. That part really bugged me. As a result, I ditched my AirPort Extreme just a few years after I had purchased it.
Just a quick PSA: When recommending Eero routers, consider these are only available in a handful of countries.
When I was in the market for a system not that long ago it was only US and Canada. Now they’ve done an Apple-style “expansion” (News+, iTunes TV shows, HomePods, etc.) which continues to exclude a heck of a lot of countries.