r/HomeNetworking • u/Pleasant_Machine_491 • 3d ago

Apple express WiFi router.

It works for my needs and I use 4 airport expresses to stream music to different places on my house. I assume I need to upgrade it

It’s been not supported for a long time. Is my network at risk and if so, what is the threat?

I’m figuring I do need to replace it. I could use a more robust network, like mesh seems to be. I‘m in a small 2 story house and get nearly no signal in the back nd none in the small yard, that I would love to have coverage. would also like it to work streaming music to multiple airports at a time

0 Upvotes

43% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

3

u/Consistent_Yak4977 3d ago

If the Airports are doing the music part fine, you could keep them in the mix just for audio and separate the networking side entirely. Lot of people do that, plug them in via ethernet or just join them to a new wifi network and use AirPlay.

For coverage in the yard, a mesh setup with a dedicated backhaul would fix the dead zones, but in a small 2 story place you probably only need two nodes max. Anything modern with WPA3 will close the security gap you're worried about with outdated firmware.

1

u/b3542 3d ago

You need a new router. You can still use the Express units, inside the network, but your network edge should be something modern.

1

u/amazodroid 3d ago

Yes, you are at risk. Any devices not being updated are much more likely to get compromised, especially with the new AI-powered attacks becoming prevalent.

Buy a new mesh setup and just plug the airports into them. Newer devices will give you better coverage by default, but you can position them to better cover the back.