Airport question

[Mac'nCheese]

I am switching internet providers and going from 100 service to gigabite service. It comes with a new router. I was wondering if I should just use the new router instead of hooking it up to my airport (I have the "latest" tall tower version). Would it be better to just have my one imac, iphones, xbox, tv and wireless printer to just use the new router or does the airport do something that a plain old router can't do? Airprinting would still be ok, right? Thank you

 

[techwarrior]

Are you going to have to rent the modem\router from your ISP? Who is your ISP?

Most ISP charge $10-12\month for modem\router rental. A good DOCSIS 3.1 modem that supports 1Gbps may cost $150-200, high end DOCSIS 3.0 a little less. Most ISPs have approved modems listed on their website.

If you will keep the service for more than a year, you will save by buying your own if they will be charging you a rental fee. Plus, many ISP configure their routers to broadcast a "guest" WiFi for other subscribers to use your internet connection. While in theory, this is nice, and they don't count the traffic against your caps, it could slow down your connection speed if it is used heavily (ie. if you live in densely populated area).

The latest Airport Extreme is 802.11ac, so WiFi probably won't be any better with what the ISP provides, they tend to give you minimum HW. Airprinting should work with any router, though some may require turning on things like UPNP.

The only thing that you might miss out on without Airport may be a central Time Machine\data drive. The Extreme USB port can be used to share a USB disk, and can be used to backup Macs on the network. if you have no need for this, then any decent router should be ok.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

Are you going to have to rent the modem\router from your ISP? Who is your ISP?

Most ISP charge $10-12\month for modem\router rental. A good DOCSIS 3.1 modem that supports 1Gbps may cost $150-200, high end DOCSIS 3.0 a little less. Most ISPs have approved modems listed on their website.

If you will keep the service for more than a year, you will save by buying your own if they will be charging you a rental fee. Plus, many ISP configure their routers to broadcast a "guest" WiFi for other subscribers to use your internet connection. While in theory, this is nice, and they don't count the traffic against your caps, it could slow down your connection speed if it is used heavily (ie. if you live in densely populated area).

The latest Airport Extreme is 802.11ac, so WiFi probably won't be any better with what the ISP provides, they tend to give you minimum HW. Airprinting should work with any router, though some may require turning on things like UPNP.

The only thing that you might miss out on without Airport may be a central Time Machine\data drive. The Extreme USB port can be used to share a USB disk, and can be used to backup Macs on the network. if you have no need for this, then any decent router should be ok.

Its a verizon router, I chose to buy it outright than rent it because its cheaper that way. The site said I had to use theirs and the prices I saw online were actually a little higher. So by guest network you mean somebody who has verizion can use it as a hotspot. Like a public park. Can I shut that off? What did HW stand for in your post? Thanks for all the information!

 

[MBAir2010]

No one should use your Verizon router. Add a password and username to prevent anyone from joining that.
verizon has there own hotspots.

Verizon minions keep on knocking on our door, I yell at them because
Back in 2008 verizon offered to trim trees, what they did was loosen everyone’s cable connection were rainy days would slow down our internet. Our provider had to reattach the rusted cable connections.
And that spokesman is just way too creepy and anorexic to buy anything from.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

No one should use your Verizon router. Add a password and username to prevent anyone from joining that.
verizon has there own hotspots.

Verizon minions keep on knocking on our door, I yell at them because
Back in 2008 verizon offered to trim trees, what they did was loosen everyone’s cable connection were rainy days would slow down our internet. Our provider had to reattach the rusted cable connections.
And that spokesman is just way too creepy and anorexic to buy anything from.

I don't want anyone to use it that's why I was wondering about "Plus, many ISP configure their routers to broadcast a "guest" WiFi for other subscribers to use your internet connection." from the previous post. I don't want that.

 

[Phil77354]

I finally discontinued using my AirPort routers a few months ago and am now using the Google Wi-Fi system. Main reason for my switch was that my version of the AirPorts did not provide for guest access accounts. I also don't want to rely on my internet provider for wi-fi hardware, I prefer to own my own equipment and select the particular routers that I want to use.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

I finally discontinued using my AirPort routers a few months ago and am now using the Google Wi-Fi system. Main reason for my switch was that my version of the AirPorts did not provide for guest access accounts. I also don't want to rely on my internet provider for wi-fi hardware, I prefer to own my own equipment and select the particular routers that I want to use.

Were able to notice if the google system enhanced your wifi from the airport or just using the router from your ISP alone?

 

[Phil77354]

It would be hard for me to really give a comparison based on any real evidence. I was always happy with the AirPort units and they were easy to manage. As I said, the main thing I could not provide with them was a guest connection for someone visiting our home. I've never used and ISP provided unit, I always had the AirPort from the first day I set up a home Wi-Fi network. So the Google unit is only my second piece of Wi-Fi hardware.

The Google Wi-Fi is very nice in my opinion. It's very easy to set up and manage, it is only managed from the phone app and not from your computer, which was an adjustment at first but is fine now that I'm used to it. It has a built in speed check that it uses to keep track of your internet connection speed and health, which is very nice. And since you manage it using your phone, you can check status even when you're not home (or make changes).

Our internet connection today is also considerably faster than we've had in the past; we moved into a new home and I purchased the Google unit shortly afterwards. I upgraded the internet speed and we now get over 400 Mbps download speed, which is spectacular. The whole system seems to be rock solid and the only issues I've had were with the internet service provider when the system occasionally slows down or goes out entirely for short periods of time. That happens pretty infrequently.

In other words, the current performance of my own Wi-Fi system is probably more due to the speed we are getting from the ISP than anything else.

 

[techwarrior]

Its a verizon router, I chose to buy it outright than rent it because its cheaper that way. The site said I had to use theirs and the prices I saw online were actually a little higher. So by guest network you mean somebody who has verizion can use it as a hotspot. Like a public park. Can I shut that off? What did HW stand for in your post? Thanks for all the information!

So, is it Verizon FIOS? If so, then ya it probably requires their equipment. My comments were more for cable companies. Since VZ has their own 4G\LTE network, they don't need WiFi hotspots all over the place the way Comcast does. So unlikely they would broadcast a Version WiFi hotspot signal from your router.

BTW, you can still use the AP Extreme. If the WiFi from the router doesn't cover your home, you can turn the Bridge Mode on and use AP Extreme as an additional access point on the other side of the home to make the coverage area greater. If you do, make sure it connects via Ethernet so you don't weaken WiFi in the process. it can also be used with WiFi off and sharing disks. Or, it can make for a nice payday by listing on eBay.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

So, is it Verizon FIOS? If so, then ya it probably requires their equipment. My comments were more for cable companies. Since VZ has their own 4G\LTE network, they don't need WiFi hotspots all over the place the way Comcast does. So unlikely they would broadcast a Version WiFi hotspot signal from your router.

BTW, you can still use the AP Extreme. If the WiFi from the router doesn't cover your home, you can turn the Bridge Mode on and use AP Extreme as an additional access point on the other side of the home to make the coverage area greater. If you do, make sure it connects via Ethernet so you don't weaken WiFi in the process. it can also be used with WiFi off and sharing disks. Or, it can make for a nice payday by listing on eBay.

Thanks again for the advice. I will try it without the AP and if all is well, I will try and sell the AP

 

[MBAir2010]

I don't want anyone to use it that's why I was wondering about "Plus, many ISP configure their routers to broadcast a "guest" WiFi for other subscribers to use your internet connection." from the previous post. I don't want that.

Guests is for your guest as your family or friends visiting. You can set up temp user names and passwords.
Remember, this is yours, you pay for the service.