AirPort Express Review

[SiliconAddict]

arstechnica has a new review up on the AirPort Express:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/004/airportexpress/airportexpress-1.html

The only reason I was thinking about getting one was because of the bridge capabilities. Since it doesn't support 3rd party AP's or routers. *shrugs* Guess its a no go for me. Pity. I would have picked up 2 of these if they had decided to not play the proprietary game.

[mainstreetmark]

I don't believe there's anything to the 802.11 spec about bridging or other repeater-type abilities, so all implementations would wind up being proprietary.

[FlamDrag]

A nice review which I would recommend to those considering the purchase. It covers many bases.

[slughead]

whew! thanks for posting!

I was about to buy one, and then I found out that bridge mode only works on that linksys router and Apple routers.

So basically, if the computer doesn't have a wifi card, it can't use the print server or audio bridge unless you have an Apple router or Linksys WRT54G! Congrats, Apple doesn't even tell you about it in the manual!

Wow, I was really thinking about buying one for my parents (who own a laptop and a desktop). Thank you Ars Technica!

[aztiml]

I recently recieved my AP Express. I too was hoping to extend the range of my current (none Apple) wireless router. I called Apple support, and the guy didn't even know if it was possible. He was interested to try it with me over the phone, just to see if it could be done --- way to go on training Apple.

Another important thing you should all know: you cannot use your existing wireless network for Internet access and stream to the AP Express. Its one or the other.

That said, I'm really happy with it, and I'm going to purchase another one. The ability to play music in diffrent rooms is too cool.

-T

[slughead]

Another important thing you should all know: you cannot use your existing wireless network for Internet access and stream to the AP Express. Its one or the other.

That's what I was talking about. It IS possible, but only if you have an Apple Basestation or the Linksys model I mentioned (the linksys is tricky, too--read the article).

You MUST set up the Airport Express in BRIDGE mode--bypassing the dhcp server and NAT, then you set up your central router (whether linksys or Apple) to treat it as a bridge. Pain in the ass.

If you're buying another one, you might be able to do this. I'd look into it before putting down any more cash.