Are the AirPort Extreme and Express still usable in 2025?

Are the AirPort Extreme and Express still usable in 2025 or is it time to get a new one? If it’s useless today, what should I do with them?


Main concerns are connection, speed and security since I work from home and live in a complex with many other people. I really wished Apple continued support and updates b/c I love the Airport. The design is just chef’s kiss. I’m so sad they decided to stop support in 2018, especially when these devices are so expensive to begin with and now they are just relics or waste.



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AirPort Extreme

Posted on Mar 23, 2025 9:35 AM

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Mar 23, 2025 11:47 AM in response to dorotheexploro

My opinion......Security wise, the AirPorts are still OK general home use if you use a strong Wi-Fi password, but the guy that has to have the latest and greatest will probably disagree.


Keep in mind that even if you have a new router using WPA3 security, all of your Wi-Fi devices will need to have the same capability. Chances are, most of your other devices probably won't be able to handle WPA3 anyway.


If you are using the AirPort Extreme as the main DHCP and NAT router, top speeds are going be limited to about 325-350 Mbps, so if your provider is offering 1,000 Mbps or Gigabit speeds, the Airports will fall short in that category.


If the AirPort Extreme is used in Bridge Mode, it will handle up to 800-900 Mbps speeds.


The AirPort Express will be limited to 100 Mbps if it is connected using Ethernet, but it can deliver higher speeds if it is set up to act as a wireless extender for a network.


I still use two AirPort Extremes that are connected using Ethernet to deliver a Wi-Fi signal at a house that is about 2,000 square feet. I'll probably move up in the next few years, but there is no rush. The network easily outperforms the new "mesh" system at my next door neighbors house.......which has him scratching his head.


If you decide to replace the AirPorts, reset them back to factory defaults and take them to the local recycle place, the Apple Store or a Best Buy.


If you want to make a few bucks, you will have no trouble selling your AirPorts on eBay.





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Apr 13, 2025 5:16 AM in response to Twyford99

At present the Airport AC (tower model) is connected to the main router from one of its LAN ports - not the WAN port - to one of the LAN ports on the router. Hence it is operation is LAN to LAN. This puts it in Bridge mode.


And, if the AirPort is configured in Bridge Mode....(Apple calls this "Off (Bridge Mode)" in AirPort Utility.....there is no WAN port. All ports behave the same in Bridge Mode.....as LAN ports. So, you could connect the Ethernet cable to the WAN port if you wanted to do so.



AirPort Utility > Edit > Router Mode > Off (Bridge Mode)





At present it's supplying wireless connections with an IP address from the main router's DHCP pool. Sadly it won't do WPA3 or even mixed WPA2/3 but it does use a long mixed password.


And that is why I mentioned in my first reply that you won't know how well wireless devices will "switch" automatically from one access point to another in your home until you try things out.


For example, lets say that a laptop is connected to your main router using WPA3.....and you walk the laptop to the area near the AirPort......which cannot do WPA3. Will the laptop automatically switch and connect to the AirPort using WPA2? Or, will the laptop stay connected to the main router? You won't know until you try.


Security on the Airport when used as a router is pretty basic and AFAICT is limited to NAT. There is no SPI firewall even when used as a full router connected to the internet via the WAN port.


That's correct. The AirPorts were never designed to provide higher security that might be needed in a business application. They were designed to function as very simple routers in a home situation.


I'm not sure where Apple's Airport team went after the Airport was discontinued but there doesn't appear to be anything quite like the Airport for ease of use.


Several engineers joined Ubiquity. Others stayed and moved to other areas at Apple. Yes, the AirPorts were very reliable and easy for most users to install.










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Mar 24, 2025 10:10 AM in response to dorotheexploro

I'm still using mine. I use an airport extreme as my main wireless access point and for backup (and I've got two spares). It's not the network router and I use the router's firewall and network settings to add a bit of security - but the security side doesn't worry me at all. I use three Airport expresses mainly for Airplay around the house and also a guest network if I need one cos Apple airports can only do guest network if they are the router. I must have half a dozen Expresses for spares in my tech-stuff drawer upstairs.


I intend to hang on to them and use them for as long as I can. They're great for Time Machine, the ease of adding an extension with ethernet is great and the security is OK for my use. The disc died in one of the Extremes last year so I put a bigger one in with relative ease. They certainly aren't relics and if you decide to stop using them then pop them on eBay for the rest of us to snap up.

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Apr 11, 2025 3:14 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Sorry to jump in on this but I have an Airport AC and want to use it as a Wireless access point. It would be connected to the main router by a length of Cat5e, so the connection would be from one of the Airport LAN ports to one of the router LAN ports. This would put the AP in Bridge mode, taking its IP from the main router.


My only concern is since this is LAN to LAN will it bypass the router firewall? Router firewalls generall filter LAN to WAN and the reverse. There is a long password for the wireless connections but a determined hacker could possibly get through that. From reading other threads the AP does have an internal firewall, but this is disabled in bridge mode.


Anyone have any thoughts as to whether this is a sensible way to proceed?

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Apr 11, 2025 5:02 AM in response to Twyford99

My only concern is since this is LAN to LAN will it bypass the router firewall?


No, the main router provides the firewall, just as it has been doing all along.


The only reason question will be how well......or if......wireless devices "switch" from different access points as they move from an area near your main router to the area near the AirPort and vice versa.

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Apr 11, 2025 3:24 PM in response to Twyford99

Twyford99 wrote:

Sorry to jump in on this but I have an Airport AC and want to use it as a Wireless access point. It would be connected to the main router by a length of Cat5e, so the connection would be from one of the Airport LAN ports to one of the router LAN ports. This would put the AP in Bridge mode, taking its IP from the main router.

My only concern is since this is LAN to LAN will it bypass the router firewall? Router firewalls generall filter LAN to WAN and the reverse. There is a long password for the wireless connections but a determined hacker could possibly get through that. From reading other threads the AP does have an internal firewall, but this is disabled in bridge mode.

Anyone have any thoughts as to whether this is a sensible way to proceed?


You’d have to wire that AP to the external side of the gateway / router / firewall / NAT box, or to open up most or all traffic through the gateway / router / firewall / NAT box, to get into the situation you’re concerned about.


Gateway / router / firewall / NAT boxes usually filter WAN to LAN, and only secondarily filter LAN to WAN, when that gets configured and enabled.


There can be good reasons to filter outbound connections, such as potentially blocking and auditing any connection from TCP port 25 outbound LAN to WAN.


Running two IP routers in the same network can get things quite tangled, unless you have subnet routing properly configured.




Note: I’ll leave any NAT-as-a-firewall debate for another time. But NAT is really not a firewall.


Note: An AP mostly-sorta-kinda resembles an Ethernet switch, from the perspective of a network routing view. And an AP is inherently operating in bridged mode.


Note: I’m not sure how well an AirPort will handle DHCP for itself here. You might need to manually set the AirPort 802.3ac box to an IP address outside of the DHCP address pool.


Note: An AirPort configured in bridged mode does not provide DHCP server.


Note: I’d select a private IP address space outside of the 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.2.254 range, on the off chance you might eventually decide to use a VPN. That range is very commonly used, and VPNs don’t appreciate using the same subnet on both ends of the virtual connection.

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Apr 13, 2025 4:52 AM in response to dorotheexploro

Thank to all for the replies.


At present the Airport AC (tower model) is connected to the main router from one of its LAN ports - not the WAN port - to one of the LAN ports on the router. Hence it is operation is LAN to LAN. This puts it in Bridge mode.


At present it's supplying wireless connections with an IP address from the main router's DHCP pool. Sadly it won't do WPA3 or even mixed WPA2/3 but it does use a long mixed password.


Security on the Airport when used as a router is pretty basic and AFAICT is limited to NAT. There is no SPI firewall even when used as a full router connected to the internet via the WAN port.


I'm not sure where Apple's Airport team went after the Airport was discontinued but there doesn't appear to be anything quite like the Airport for ease of use.




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Apr 13, 2025 6:20 AM in response to dorotheexploro

Just to add.....


If I use the WAN port of the Airport and connect to one of the LAN ports on the main router, wouldn't this have the same effect, provided that the Airport was set in Bridge mode? The Airport in Bridge mode, would bypass the Airport's internal NAT thus avoiding double NAT. All other things would remain the same


In effect it would be the same as a LAN to LAN connection, so would pose no addtional security risks.

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Apr 13, 2025 6:56 AM in response to Twyford99

If I use the WAN port of the Airport and connect to one of the LAN ports on the main router, wouldn't this have the same effect, provided that the Airport was set in Bridge mode?


Yes, as I mentioned above.


But....if you used the WAN port of the Airport.....and the AirPort was not set up in Bridge Mode......then you would have a Double NAT situation, which you would normally want to avoid.

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Are the AirPort Extreme and Express still usable in 2025?

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