Airport Express vs. Airport Extreme... which one should I get?

[diehldun]

Well, I found out that our D-Link wireless router got busted by the lightning, and so we'll need a new one. My parents, who are (I still don't understand) SOOOO suspicious of Apple are now considering an Airport because practically all of our friends have had one and said how good they are.

We're going to be looking at the two Airports- express and extreme. Now, I helped set up my aunt's Airport Extreme several days ago, and was quite impressed. But I haven't had much experience with the Express.

Are the two pretty much the same thing? There's a significant price difference, and it looks like (at first glance) that the Express has more features (AirTunes, smaller size...), but is it right to assme that there's less power or performance compared to the Extreme?

Essentially, whichever Airport we choose, it'd be our main router in the house.

Pardon my ignorance, it's just that I didn't really learn much from Apple.com; they both look like essentially the same product, but different size and price

 

[TheMonarch]

They're the same thing. Extreme is just made to serve more computers at any given time (50) vs (10 or 11) on express. Express is the better choice unless you know that there's going to be A LOT of laptops at your place. Plus you get music.

 

[diehldun]

So performance-wise, they're the same?


I must say, the Express is very impressive.

 

[TheMonarch]

Out of the box, yes they're the same thing. BUT, if you so desire to, you could add an antenna to AP Extreme. Mind you, on Apple's website, many have had little to non luck successfully extend their range significantly. But again, when you first buy them, its the same performance.

 

[lopresmb]

So performance-wise, they're the same?


I must say, the Express is very impressive.

Pretty much preformance is the same, the only difference is that you get a couple of wired connections with the extreme and the airtunes with the express. Express has to be all wireless, that is unless you get a hub before you plug internet into the express.

 

[homerjward]

if you need a dial-up modem built in i believe you need an extreme.

 

[screensaver400]

Your parents are suspicious of Apple? So you have any Macs?

If you're running only Windows machines, don't get an Airport base station, as they're much harder to set up without a Mac. One Mac is all you need, though, and only for the initial set-up.

Unless you want Airtunes, though, I wouldn't go with an Airport Express/Extreme. Look at Linksys; they have the best designed web-based config I've seen, will provide the same functionality (aside from Airtunes) as Apple, and will be half the price.