When comparing eero Home WiFi System vs AirPort Extreme, the Slant community recommends eero Home WiFi System for most people. In the question“What are the best wireless routers?” eero Home WiFi System is ranked 5th while AirPort Extreme is ranked 15th. The most important reason people chose eero Home WiFi System is:
This device has twice the range(120ft) of a traditional router(60ft) while offering up to 5x's the connection speed at the same distances. The software and companion app help you place the devices in the best locations for signal strength, allowing you to play video games in your treehouse with the main router in the basement.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Going for distance
This device has twice the range(120ft) of a traditional router(60ft) while offering up to 5x's the connection speed at the same distances. The software and companion app help you place the devices in the best locations for signal strength, allowing you to play video games in your treehouse with the main router in the basement.
Pro Companion app
This comes with a companion app that allows you to monitor your internet speeds, monitor your network away from home, even set up usage schedules for other household members.
Pro Transplantability
You can buy 1 or 3 of these and make the most of a network you already have built at home, or completely replace it. This product can work with a multitude of network adapters, allowing more options than buying the bundle of 3.
Pro Easy setup for iOS and OS X
The AirPort Extreme is very easy to configure. You just need to plug it in and the follow the instructions provided by the setup assistant that's built into iOS or in the AirPort Utility for OS X.
Cons
Con Still a new product
This product came out Feb. 2016, so expect some hiccups and some troubleshooting conversations with tech support.
Con Expensive
You can purchase this as a stand-alone unit or in a bundle of three, and so on. One unit is about $190, and the 3-pack is close to $500. This can get expensive fast if you are looking to space a network out over a huge space.
Con It is not perfect
This product boasts some of the best features on the market, but its not perfect. There are still some reported issues with WiFi connections to Xbox's and old iPhone models. Will this be solved? Yes, wait for an update from eero. Users have reported that the only times this issue was apparent was when the individuals residence was 3000+ sq. ft with multiple stories.
Con Windows users have to download additional software
There is no web browser control for the Extreme, so users must download the AirPort Utility for Windows to configure and manage settings.
Con Trails other AC routers in speed
This dual-band router has a theoretical peak performance of 1.75 Gbps. In real life testing at 5 feet, it hits just 209.6 Mbps and 201.6 Mbps at 50 feet. It holds its performance at distance, but it's still slower than other AC routers.
Con Lacks additional customization options
AirPort Extreme offers only the most common features, such as guest networking and port forwarding, but lacks options like parental controls and traffic prioritization. It doesn't even have a web filtering option, for blocking specific websites.