I am looking for a replacement for my Apple Airport Express for my home network.

We already answered your other thread asking the same question.

The best match for the rest of your network would be another AirPort Express. If you don't want to go with the best match, It's going to be a coin toss as far as finding another unit that will fit seamlessly into your network.

The Express was an 802.11n product, and virtually any new router is not going to be 802.11n, so in addition to using another configuration program......(you won't be able to set up the 3rd party router using Apple's AirPort Utility)....there is no guarantee that the new router will behave as if it is part of the same network as the rest of your AirPort devices.

To me, this one is a no brainer. That is why I bought a few extra AirPorts in case one of the units in my network fails. I don't think a mix and match network is what you really want, but maybe I am wrong.

Although I agree with the replacement strategy for the AirPort Express for unified management via AirPort Utility, it should also herald a need for strategic network planning should Apple at some point remove AirPort Utility from future operating systems, and/or additional Airport hardware failures and an evolving need for higher performance network infrastructure.

As I added more Wi-Fi 6 and 6E devices to the household, I decided on five changes:

1. Replace a perfectly working AEBS v4 with a Synology RT6600ax router (2.5 Gb)
2. Replace a 1Gb switch with a 2.5 Gb 5-port Startech switch
3. Replace an older DOCSIS 3 cable modem with a 2.5 Gb DOCSIS 3.1 Motorola MB8611 modem
4. Update Cat 5 cabling to Cat 7
5. Acquire a Netgear NightHawk M6 Pro (MR6550) Wi-Fi 6E 5G cellular hotspot for power outages

With the AirPort Extreme, before the above changes, I was maxing out at about 100 MB/s Comcast speed test results. Afterward, the same speed tests average 260 MB/s. With 3-bars of T-Mobile 5G UC, I saw about 130 MB/s from the M6 Pro.

I kept my AirPort Extreme Base Station and it is currently powered off.

Hi, I will keep this simple.

You can’t buy a new Airport Express because Apple stopped making them.

You can use a HomePod, a wireless extender, a mesh system, a Bluetooth adapter, or a Chromecast Audio instead.

Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on what you want to do with it.

Plenty of A1264 and A1392 models available on eBay, as I mentioned in my previous post.

Some are even advertised as "new" and selling for $30-50 more than the original $100 retail.

Something in the $50-60 range with a guarantee from the seller might make sense.

Amazon has listings as well with 30 day return privileges.

With the AirPort Extreme, before the above changes, I was maxing out at about 100 MB/s

You mean 100 Mb/s. 100 MB/s is the same as 800 Mb/s. An AirPort Extreme set up as a router tops out at about 350 Mb/s.

With the AirPort Extreme, I regularly get 325+ Mb/s on a 300 Mb/s Internet connection from the modem. Good enough for now until the new 1,000 Mb/s fiber is up and running in the neighborhood. Then, I 'll switch to a new router and new access points.

Nothing wrong with picking up a refurbished or even used Express. It will match the other Expresses in the network just fine in my experience adding used AirPorts to replace failed AirPorts.