Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

AirPort Extreme Base Station - Worth it?

Haoshiro

Haoshiro

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 9, 2006
1,894
6
USA, OR
Does anyone have experience with the AirPort Extreme Base Station?

I'm looking at upgrading to an n router (mostly due to the fact that my current g wireless router seems to be on the fritz, and gets disconnected by my plantronics wireless phone), I've recently switched to Mac (01/2006) and thought an AirPort might be ideal, especially since I'm considering buying an Apple TV.

My question, though, is if it's worth it. At $179 it seems rather pricey, especially compared to other such devices.

Is it worth that price premium? Is the quality that much higher then other similar devices or am I just paying for the Apple brand and styling?

Edit: Also, does anyone recall if the first intel macs support n?
 
As with many Apple designs (displays anyone?) there is a certain simplicity and sex appeal to the Airport.

Whether or the design is enough to justify the price is really a personal decision. I happen to love it, but others may not care.

What IS going to be different is the software to administer the router. I've used Netgear, Belkin, Linksys, and D-Link routers before ... and the software sucks for all them. They use a clunky browser based interface that doesn't come anywhere near the simplicity of the Airport admin utility.
 
I also didn't realize that the new AirPort Extreme (I don't know about the previous version) includes USB that will work directly with a Printer or USB HDD. That's a nice feature I haven't seen in many other wireless routers.
 
Agree with angrist. Airport Admin Utility is very nice. Plus the new AEBS has the cool disk sharing feature that can also set up password-protected accounts for everybody on the network, or allow read-only access to certain files and folders.
 
I've ordered on Haoshiro.

I currently use an Airport Express.

Prior to buying the airport express I had 3 belkin 54g wireless routers, a Linksys 54g wireless router and a netgear wireless router.

All of them died on me in the space of 12 months. The ethernet ports continued to operate, but the wireless part just stopped working. I bought them because they were cheaper than the €130 AE, but it was false economy on my part because in the end it cost me more.

The AExpress I bought has been working for about 12 - 15 months at this stage and we have had no problems with it.

All our mac's connect to it without issue, my 360, Wii, NDS, PSP all have no trouble just connecting.

It's been great.

When I saw apple were updating and releasing Airport Extreme I had no quibbles about ordering one even though its €179 here.

I was thinking of buying another Express anyway to act as an access point and boost the signal, so I can do this with my current one and use the extrene as the router.

Also the USB hard drive support is a major seller for Airport Extreme for me. love the idea of having shared storage for all my devices. Hub support for loads of drives & printers. I havent seen anything by a competitor with that.

It means I can now have my macbook in any room. My itunes music stored on the external HD connected to my airport extreme, and no matter where I go in the house I can access all my music. Then I can also use it for connect360 wherever the laptop computer is in the house and not requiring it to be fixed to the external usb drive. snazzy.

Mine is expected to ship on the 28th Feburary. :) :) :)


Worth it ? Definitely
 
MacRumorUser said:
It means I can now have my macbook in any room. My itunes music stored on the external HD connected to my airport extreme, and no matter where I go in the house I can access all my music. Then I can also use it for connect360 wherever the laptop computer is in the house and not requiring it to be fixed to the external usb drive. snazzy.

Mine is expected to ship on the 28th Feburary. :) :) :)
Worth it ? Definitely
Click to expand...


AEBS is NOT worth it for anybody living in cramped quarters, or metro cities like NYC. who has a space big enough to warrant "extended" wireless services? Most of our studio are shoe box sizes; wireless works just fine with my free Verizon router/modem.
 
djkny said:
AEBS is NOT worth it for anybody living in cramped quarters, or metro cities like NYC. who has a space big enough to warrant "extended" wireless services? Most of our studio are shoe box sizes; wireless works just fine with my free Verizon router/modem.
Click to expand...

But IS worth it if you live in the boonies where there is more living space than you know what to do with. I live somewhere like that and I love the AEPS! The interface is easier to use and navigate than any of the wireless routers I've ever had to set up (and that is quite a few now). Also, the range is really good. My former office was in the basement, the AEBS was a floor above on the other side of the house and I would typically be a bar below full on the wireless... mind you, some of that has to do with airport, which seems to be far better than stock cards on most PC's.

But if you live in the city can you use just the litter airport express instead? You can even transmit music on that apparently.
 
yojitani said:
But IS worth it if you live in the boonies where there is more living space than you know what to do with. I live somewhere like that and I love the AEPS! The interface is easier to use and navigate than any of the wireless routers I've ever had to set up (and that is quite a few now). Also, the range is really good. My former office was in the basement, the AEBS was a floor above on the other side of the house and I would typically be a bar below full on the wireless... mind you, some of that has to do with airport, which seems to be far better than stock cards on most PC's.

But if you live in the city can you use just the litter airport express instead? You can even transmit music on that apparently.
Click to expand...

That def. makes sense for someone like you. With regards to the Airport Express, I've only heard the dreaded 12-month failure rate with those, which is what's preventing me from getting one.

I think the AEBS has killer features and design, but just another addition to have alongside my already bulky DSL modem. Now, if Apple had designed an all-in-one (incl/a built-in DSL) that would be something ...
 
My 2-story house & an outbuilding both sit on my 3 acres in the boonies. I've occasion to ramble throughout the house, go outside near my pond, go on the deck & porch, and even to the steel-siding outbuilding that sits ~150' from the house. I've a Netgear router (in corner office of my basement), as it appeared at the time I looked that it had higher rated range than the Airport EBS, at a lower upfront cost [$20 at Radio Shack, on sale and after rebate].

Curious, what features does the AEBS have that make is worth the extra cost?

For example, after setting it up, when/why does one need to go back into the s/w?

Thanks!
 
MacRumorUser said:
...All our mac's connect to it without issue, my 360, Wii, NDS, PSP all have no trouble just connecting.
Click to expand...

Just wondering whether you hook up the 360 wirelessly or through ethernet. I was thinking about getting the new AEBS but I'd want to hook up the 360 with ethernet and wondered if worked OK.
 
djkny said:
AEBS is NOT worth it for anybody living in cramped quarters, or metro cities like NYC. who has a space big enough to warrant "extended" wireless services? Most of our studio are shoe box sizes; wireless works just fine with my free Verizon router/modem.
Click to expand...

I'm in a detached house in the styx of rural Ireland, so its makes perfect sense for me :)

gavd said:
Just wondering whether you hook up the 360 wirelessly or through ethernet. I was thinking about getting the new AEBS but I'd want to hook up the 360 with ethernet and wondered if worked OK.
Click to expand...

No, I have the wireless usb adapter for the 360. I traded in some old games last december 2005 when I got my launch 360 and used that credit for the adapter. Never had an issue with it on my AE network.
 
MacRumorUser said:
I've ordered on Haoshiro.
All our mac's connect to it without issue, my 360, Wii, NDS, PSP all have no trouble just connecting.

It's been great.
Click to expand...

The Airport Extreme works perfectly. weve never had a problem with it i can highly recommend it to all MAC users.. but.... i can not get the Wii to connect no matter what i do.. can you please tell me how you got yours online.. the Wii can see the Network no problems but it will not connect.

thankyou in advance.
 
Hi,

I have an extreme base station that I still haven't hooked up yet. Do you know if I can also hook up my scanner to the usb port as well, or is it only for a printer?

thanks!
 
MSM Hobbes said:
My 2-story house & an outbuilding both sit on my 3 acres in the boonies. I've occasion to ramble throughout the house, go outside near my pond, go on the deck & porch, and even to the steel-siding outbuilding that sits ~150' from the house. I've a Netgear router (in corner office of my basement), as it appeared at the time I looked that it had higher rated range than the Airport EBS, at a lower upfront cost [$20 at Radio Shack, on sale and after rebate].

Curious, what features does the AEBS have that make is worth the extra cost?

For example, after setting it up, when/why does one need to go back into the s/w?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You ARE in the boonies! For me, anywhere with a population under 100,000 is the boonies.. anyway...
That's strange, I've never set up a netgear that got better range than an AEBS. I think that the AEBS really has ease of use going for it - that might not seem like a factor worth the extra $$, but for a lot of people it is. AEBS is easy for computer dummies.

YT
 
nash777 said:
The Airport Extreme works perfectly. weve never had a problem with it i can highly recommend it to all MAC users.. but.... i can not get the Wii to connect no matter what i do.. can you please tell me how you got yours online.. the Wii can see the Network no problems but it will not connect.

thankyou in advance.
Click to expand...

I have the AEBS along with some expresses for extension of signal and wireless audio. I love mine and the ease of setup and quality alone is worth it. I plan on going for the new one as soon as it hits.

I have all Macs, Xbox 360 Wireless and my Wii connected to it. I did have to change from WPA2 to WEP encryption before my Wii would connect to it though. DOnt know why as I am not all that great with networking. I would not trade these for anything though.

Kevin
 
I just bought an airport express to give wireless to my townhouse at school and it was amazingly easy to use. Definitely worth the premium. Specially since I now have my speakers plugged in and can stream all my itunes music instead of having to stay at a desk to listen to music (I move around the house too much).

I wanted to wait for the new airport just because I have a macbook that will support the new wireless format and I can wirelessly access my external hard drive. The price definitely put me off. Plus I think having the 360 and Wii connected would lower the speed to 802.11g (I'm probably wrong, but that's what I read somewhere).

Overall I couldn't be happier. Best $100 I've spent.
 
No Gigabit LAN? WTF!?

Apple totally #%&^@#^ up by not including a Gigabit LAN port on the new Airport Extreme. I feel they've insulted me personally by suggesting my needs would be satisfied by an old 10/100 port. WTF happened, Apple?
 
OldSkoolNJ said:
I did have to change from WPA2 to WEP encryption before my Wii would connect to it though. DOnt know why as I am not all that great with networking.
Click to expand...
It means you lowered the security of your network to virtually nothing I'm afraid. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy

ricgnzlzcr said:
Plus I think having the 360 and Wii connected would lower the speed to 802.11g (I'm probably wrong, but that's what I read somewhere).
Click to expand...
You are, all connected devices will just use which ever standard they are cable of.

Sean :)
 
MacVault said:
Apple totally #%&^@#^ up by not including a Gigabit LAN port on the new Airport Extreme. I feel they've insulted me personally by suggesting my needs would be satisfied by an old 10/100 port. WTF happened, Apple?
Click to expand...

You are insulted because you choose to be insulted.

Apple is not even a human, to suggest that this none human virtual corporate entity would go as far as to cripple their own product to insult you... well you need a reality check.

No Gigabit sucks, but the router still rocks overall. Need gigabit just buy a wired gigabit switch and hook its WAN port onto one of the ethernet ports.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back