Hi, I've been thinking of upgrading my 4 year old NETGEAR router to either the Express or the Base Station for 802.11n, but I'm not really sure which would be the better buy. I know the Express is $99, and the Base Station is $199, I'm just wondering if the the lack of gigabit ethernet in the Express will make a big difference or not. The only wifi connected devices in my home are an iPhone, MacBook, Laptop PC, and a Nokia cell phone. Your thoughts?
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Airport Express or Airport Extreme Base Station
- Thread starter molson2k
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If you need gigabit speeds between your macbook and laptop PC, or if you need gigabit speeds for the initial backup to an external hard drive plugged into the airport extreme (or even to be able to plug in a hard drive at all), then get the extreme. Otherwise, save the $100 and get the express.
The ethernet speed of the express is still much faster than any broadband connection, so it won't limit your speed on the internet. Only the speed between computers.
Do you plan on streaming iTunes? I think the range is greater on the Extreme, as well. Do you plan on adding any wireless gaming consoles, or similar in the future? If budget permits, I would go for the Extreme.
I have both because I bought the Extreme before the new "n" Express was out. Had the "n" Express been out at the time, I would have bought it instead as I use Airtunes.
Apparently, you can do Time Machine backups now with Extreme. So that is a bonus.
Apparently, you can do Time Machine backups now with Extreme. So that is a bonus.