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Koodauw said:
I just got home and hooked mine up. This really is great. I demoed it to my roommates. They think its cool too. Although I hope they realize that my PB is NOT just a remote control for music. I will have to say though, I need to find away to get my internet through this thing. switching between the two kinda sucks.

So you cant surf the web while you stream music?
 
For sure. I can't wait to learn from others whether the AEx will work with non-apple wireless routers.

debo said:
The wds mode sounds pretty cool, but again apple says it requires an extreme base station. Lets hope they are just covering their butts here and that it will work with *most* other wireless routers.
 
Ok, no Airport Express at the post office.

Apple Australia say that no units in the country until next week which should get the backorders placed in June. Another week to go before it likely gets to me... :(
 
Some observations about the Airport Express

First. It is very cool. With that said, here are some things to keep in mind. It does not bridge or extend non Apple wireless routers. 2.4Ghz phones and other equipment can/will interfere with the music streaming causing iTunes to behave erradically. You can surf the web and stream music and print all at the same time. The serial number is placed so that you must remove it from the outlet get at it. There is no http configuration manager. So aside from being proprietary and clumbsy, I love it. The phone problem is kind of a bummer. It's sensitivity to interference may be a deal breaker in some circumstances. I don't think I'll be recommending it as much as I thought I would. However, I'm going to reserve final judgment until I've had it a while.
 
Keep in mind though that Apple will start offerning firmware upgrades for this thing periodically. It will no doubt have a somewhat of a rocky start at first but give it time before you pass judgement.
 
I got an e-mail from Apple saying I won't be getting my AEX until 7/23 and now I checked back and it's back to 7/15. I wonder whats up?

On edit: Nevermind. Seems like a glitch. Back to waiting until next week. I gotta stop checking the order status. :(
 
Jalexster said:
AHHHHHHHHHH! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS?




"If you connect an AirPort Express unit to an AirPort Extreme or Express network, using WDS, it can:"
"3. Extend the range of your wireless network"

Get it? You can extend a wireless network, as long as it is an AirPort Extreme or Express network! If it is a 3rd party network, you can still stream music and share a printer, but not extend your wireless network, or have it act as an Ethernet-to-Wireless bridge.

And finally: If you jack this into an access point in a hotel, and turn the DHCP server off, you will get wireless broadband. The same applies to adding it to an existing wired network.

Do you all understand now?

Too bad you're spreading misinformation!

If your 3rd party wireless device supports WDS (a standard, not an Apple creation) then it will bridge and extend your wireless network just like an AirPort Extreme.

Though not trivial, here is a link to an Apple discussion where an individual used the sveasoft firmware with WDS support to get their LinkSys WRT54G to bridge:

http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?50@7.hPlvasdCrte.0@.6896df11

Once 3rd party manufactures start supporting WDS fully you'll see a lot more "compatibility". Apple is just, as many suspected, covering their... well you know.
 
debo said:
So you cant surf the web while you stream music?
(Also to Koodauw) Yeah, you can. You just have to have the Airport Express join your existing network rather than create its own, so it can use your existing router's Net connection. There are some posts about it in the previous pages -- look for Client Mode and such.

Unrelated, I would like to point out to those who may not have noticed that iTunes keeps separate volume settings for your output selection. So I can have the volume at 100% for my Computer speakers, and only 10% for my Express output. This is handy, because the current input I'm using on my stereo would blast me out of my seat if I put it at 100%.

Also, for those confused or wondering, only the iTunes output goes to the Express. Other sounds, like text-to-speech on dialogs, comes out of your regular computer speakers.

And, another unrelated comment, I don't think AEx is a good abbreviation for the Express. It's ambiguous betwen the Extreme and the Express. You'd need to at least say AExp.
 
About me spreading misinformation:

Apple designed it so WDS would only work with Apple products. There is no guarantee that it will work with 3rd party products. It works with the Linksys, but that particular Linksys is probably not what the average home user has installed (I don't think home users would run a Linux router, they would probably think it was a computer or something. Stupid average users...).

So although you were correct about it working with a 3rd party, I wasn't completely wrong.
 
Sabbath said:
For all of you forced to keep waiting like me, I found this review over at iPod lounge that you may be interested in.

edit: I'm always making typos nowadays :eek:

Thanks for posting that review - I thought it was very good, and I'm happy to see someone else had difficulty in getting the Airport Express to join and extend their home network. And, like me, he also didn't know what he finally did to make it work correctly.

That said, since I got it working, it's been great and is well worth the money.
 
I had some trouble getting mine to join my existing wireless network until I remembered that I restrict access to the router via MAC address.

When I opened the 'access list' page, the router presented me a list of 32 separate MAC addresses that had attempted to access my router in the last couple of months (since I last cleared it). I live in New York City, so there's probably a ton of laptops in the apartments around me- not necessarily two dozen+ malicious wardrivers. Still, that's a hefty list!

Once I added the AExp's MAC address to my router's 'allowed' list, I was off and running. I'm streaming songs from my wife's TiBook through my AluMini 12" to the AExp, and controlling it with my Tungsten T3 via Salling Clicker. Lots of fun!
 
Trekkie said:
If anyone cares I got mine hooked up and I wrote up a little review and first thoughts.

Very cool


Thanks for the review! I just got mine today and hooked it up to my iMac with old airport card, same thing... all kinds of drops. I'm waiting on my new G5 with airport extream. Thanks for getting my hopes up. PEACE
 
Works with Xbox Live!

I just wanted to confirm with everyone that the Airport Express DOES indeed work with Xbox Live. I just tested it out a few hours ago, playing a couple games of ESPN NHL Hockey. Works like a charm. I already loved the device, and now it's officially one of the best purchases I've ever made.
 
I knew it would work with XBox LIVE, because it can function as an Ethernet Bridge.

Anyway, LIVE is one of the four good things that microsoft can do (Video Games Consoles (Xbox is the king), Online Services (I love .NET and LIVE), Keyboards (They have everything you need), and Mice (Very nice ones too...))
 
Well, AirPort software 4.0 has been out for a while then, long enough to be put on the AirPort Express CD's.

I wonder when everyone else gets it via Software Update?

AppleMatt
 
Out with the old, in with the new

I heard a rumor that Apple has stopped the manufacturing of the Airport card, so if you want one for an iMac you'd better find one now before they get scarce. Does anybody know more about it?
 
UK still no shipment! :(

Well I phoned the UK Apple store and they have told me that they will not be shipping my order until 30th July. I placed my order at 1130 on the day of release.

I told them to cancel the order...they then took 20 ukp off the price for me to keep my order..

To be honest I would have preferred to get the express than the discount.

--Zed2 :cool:
 
Attention

I might be naive, but for me it was not clear (as for the PB sexpert from Apple support as well) that extending your network ONLY works with Airport Express (do not know about non-Apple ones) but not with the older versions of Airport Base stations. Not compatible. So I am sitting here with my new Airport Express which is at the moment useless for me since the network I share has a normal (1st generation) base station. So caveat, it does not simply extend a networks range! :( :mad:
 
Doctor Q said:
I heard a rumor that Apple has stopped the manufacturing of the Airport card, so if you want one for an iMac you'd better find one now before they get scarce. Does anybody know more about it?

Don't go out of your way to get an old airport card! They don't work well with airport express. I have drops in music due to slow wireless speeds. I called Apple today and they said that the drops may be due to slower speeds in the original air port cards. So I will just have to wait for my new G5 2.0 which will be here on Wed. :)
 
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