airport extreme alternatives

[appleman108]

i need a router (and external hd) to go with my imac. i'm tempted to go with airport extreme but am wondering if there are better options.

also, any thoughts on external hard drives? i figure better to go with a removable external drive than the time capsule.

i'm a graphic designer and teacher so am constantly copying and archiving work (my own and that of students)

there seem to be so many options out there.

any thoughts would be appreciated

 

[swarleystinson]

I've been incredibly happy with my extreme router. Blazing fast and excellent range. Haven't had a single hiccough. Plus it looks great paired next to other mac products.
As for HDDs, if you can afford them the G-Tech G-Drive is a great hard drive. It has Firewire 800 so you can rapidly transfer files. However, now the thunderbolt is out, you may want to hold off and by a thunderbolt drive you have a new mac that supports it.

 

[glitch44]

Wrong forum. Try:

https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/77/

 

[appleman108]

I've been incredibly happy with my extreme router. Blazing fast and excellent range. Haven't had a single hiccough. Plus it looks great paired next to other mac products.
As for HDDs, if you can afford them the G-Tech G-Drive is a great hard drive. It has Firewire 800 so you can rapidly transfer files. However, now the thunderbolt is out, you may want to hold off and by a thunderbolt drive you have a new mac that supports it.

Thanks swarley, good to hear you're happy with the extreme. it makes sense really to stick with apple products, and it's not that much more than other routers.
I've not heard of G-tech drives. i looked up the G-Drive and it looks awesome. This intel thunderbolt sounds worth waiting for. Looks like Lacie is coming out with one. would other drive makers be using this technology too?

 

[bruinsrme]

the extremes are nice and I am running one.
With that said I also run Linksys products.
I had the linksys connected to my network after running a few configuration tests. I could have sworn I changed pack to the extreme.
a few months later I needed to add a new wireless device and for the live of me I couldn't log onto the extreme, as the linksys was still connected
the linksys is just as seamless as the extreme.
Price wise the extreme maybe $20 to $30 more than a linksys router with the same features.
Both GUIs are easy to navigate around. The verbiage may be different.
Linksys and Apple have very good tutorials on their websites for basic and advanced set ups.
The linksys works with airport express modules for extending a network.

IMO it all comes down to how much you want to spend.

 

[farmermac]

the extreme is fantastic - it's perfect for households with mixed devices (n, g) because its a dual band. The N devices connect at N speeds to each other, while the G device operates at G speeds. Many routers simply slow down to the lowest common denominator.

Check out the apple refurb store, they are always available with a huge discount...27% off retail right now.

Good decision to keep the HD separate. There are many reports of time capsule hd's dying which effectively takes your router and your backup HD in one shot.

 

[stevec59]

Hi Guys,
I'm a PC user (Sorry), my wife has a MacBook Pro, we would like to backup PC (Windows 7) and Mac stuff to and external USB drive, I have a 1TB drive in a usb Caddy, I have a BT Home Hub 2.0, I can connect the USB drive to by BT hub and see it on my PC, can we do the same with the Mac?
I think I may need to format it, so that it will do both Mac & PC? If that is correc t, please tell me how..

Thanks

Steve

 

[Taz Mangus]

Hi Guys,
I'm a PC user (Sorry), my wife has a MacBook Pro, we would like to backup PC (Windows 7) and Mac stuff to and external USB drive, I have a 1TB drive in a usb Caddy, I have a BT Home Hub 2.0, I can connect the USB drive to by BT hub and see it on my PC, can we do the same with the Mac?
I think I may need to format it, so that it will do both Mac & PC? If that is correc t, please tell me how..

Thanks

Steve

I have not tried this but you would need to create two partitions on the HD using Disk Utility on Mac OS X. Format one partition as GUID and the other partition as FAT32.

 

[stevec59]

Thanks for that

Do you know if it will then work with my BT Home Hub 2.0? I read the instructions on the BT web site and I think it said MAC not supported, but I don't see why, I guess I could give it a go.


Steve