Orbi vs. AirPort Extreme + Nighthawk X4s extender?

[mmillikin]

I recently purchased the Nighthawk X4s Mesh Range Extender for use with existing Apple AirPort Extreme ac. The single SSID works as advertised, but the performance is still not what I was hoping for. Could I expect better performance from the Orbi RBK30 system? The physical layout would be the same: the main Orbi unit would replace the AirPort Extreme, and the Orbi satellite would occupy the wall plug currently used by the Nighthawk. 

[DarrenM]

The RBK30 could be better for you but it could be a environment issue going on have you tried to find the best channel for your wifi network or moved the extender around some to find better performance?

DarrenM

[mmillikin]

Thanks, Darren. I'm constrained as to changing locations, but I will definitely fiddle around with the channels first. 2.4GHz is on auto, 5GHz is on 157...

[Richard1864]

A bigger problem for you is that Apple no longer supports their Airports or Airport Extremes anymore; support was discontinued in 2015. Their last firmware support was several weeks ago which only provided fixes for the KRACK security flaws. Otherwise they haven’t been updated in any way since 2013. The ones being sold now are the ones left in Apple’s warehouses; no more are being made and there are no replacement parts for them when they stop working.

I did check with Apple Tech Support and they confirmed there was no way to increase the speeds on AirPort Extreme, even with any kind of extender; the hardware is too old.

[mmillikin]

Hadn't thought about that. Think I'll switch. Thank you. 

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[Richard1864]

You’re welcome. I personally wish Apple had continued with their networking gear, it was very high quality when it first came out.