(My) AirPort network, RIP

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About three years ago, I finally jumped in and installed a WiFi 6 mesh network in my house — Amazon eero pro 6.

I had held onto my AirPort network, with three base stations connected by Powerline network devices. I held on for so long because I liked the granularity of control over all aspects of the network, particularly security and access control, and I didn’t like the idea of ceding partial control to network service providers, no matter how convenient. I like knowing exactly what devices are connecting to my network.

But, with Apple dropping Airport, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stay with it forever. In fact, I’m surprised I was able to stick with it as long as I have, with AirPort Utility still working on macOS, iOS, and iPad OS.

So, I installed Amazon eero Pro 6 in my house, and I slowly migrated devices over, including Homekit devices. Performance and coverage are the key improvements, and while I prefer the control I have with Airport Utility, at least the eero app is convenient.

It definitely bothers me that I see a lot of devices on my network with horrible identifiers, so I can’t always be 100% sure that what I see belongs to me, especially when the identifiers for a given device seem to change over time. But I’ve traded control for convenience. I guess.

Anway, this evening, I noticed difficulty logging back onto my Airport network, and certain devices that I had left there hadn’t connected in days. I spent the entire evening trying to reset to factory settings and reconfigure, but my iMac, iPad, and iPhone could no longer establish reliable connections.

So, RIP AirPort. At least without the AirPort network overlapping, there’ll be less network interference (though it was bearable while I had it).

-awlabrador

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I’m still plodding along with an Airport Extreme, feeding a couple Airport Expresses.. One a 5G, just for kicks… I have considered moving on yp s mesh setup, but behind me in a cabinet are several spares if any of the active ones fail… Used to pick 'em up super cheap at the local flea market, check, em out, update and they were fine…

For what I/we do, it’s been fine for years.. Hate to redo all the connected devices, so it stays, I ran CAT 5 to some parts for the TVs, streaming, but with switches out there on the end for more ports. so again, not a lot of pressure to tear it all up.. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!!”

I have a drawing of all the interconnects, but I haven’t had to update it for years.. New LG washer/dryer hooked in via wifi, as did the garage door opener… Home devices work off a 4K AppleTV brick…

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How did you decide on the eero pro 6 if you don’t mind me asking? I currently have the XE 75 pro and it has been pretty seemless. The only thing I don’t like is the China ties but so far there has been no problem. Thanks in advance…doc

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I read a few reviews, and they all seemed roughly the same, to me. I think I looked at PC Magazine rankings at the time, but even today, the pros and cons seem similar between different products. I also considered the Netgear Orbi.

In the end, I felt like I had to go with my instincts. Since they all seemed about the same to me, I figured I wouldn’t try one out and then return it in order to try another. It was going to be one shot, and all things assumed equal, I had to guess that Amazon, owned by (EDIT: owners of) eero, would have some influence or choice in iOS application design. I guessed that they’d be more consumer oriented than networking-specific companies like Netgear, so I thought their app was more likely to be easy to use and their network easy to set up. I pride myself on my tech savvy, but I also don’t like to waste time.

I also preferred eero’s low profile design. Theoretically, the taller Orbis would have better antennas, but I suspected eero’s would be good enough.

My short review is that it’s fast – more than fast enough for a household served by AT&T Fiber – setup via the iOS app is as easy or easier than setting up most household connected devices by an iOS app, and coverage is very good but depends on the number of basestations and careful placement. When I was running Apple Airport in parallel, I definitely had some WiFi interference, so I had to try out a couple of locations for each base station. Without Airport in the house, the eero network is vastly improved. I’m still tamping down some IP address issues that were left over from having two networks running in parallel for so long, but most of those seem to be going away pretty quickly.

-awlabrador

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