I got one last year. AE will probably go on clearance with the new ones coming out.
Personally I love the old AE b/c it is very compact.
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Apple Introduces Redesigned AirPort Express
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I got one last year. AE will probably go on clearance with the new ones coming out.
Personally I love the old AE b/c it is very compact.
This Airport express and the Airport extreme both have the same exact wifi specification of:
802.11n simultaneous dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz)
Does that mean it will offer the same exact wifi strength and range? I have a crappy old medialink router I found on amazon, the range on it is terrible so that's really important.
802.11n simultaneous dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz)
Does that mean it will offer the same exact wifi strength and range? I have a crappy old medialink router I found on amazon, the range on it is terrible so that's really important.
Since the maximum throughput of 802.11n is only about 110-160 Mbps, it's not exactly crippling.
Interesting. Must have been something I missed then. I was trying to get my old CRT iMac onto the wireless network at home.
Yeah but none of the 3rd party routers (Belkin, Cisco, Buffalo, ASUS, etc) do that either, they all have AC adapters. This is a step ahead with the internal transformer (like the Mac mini and Apple TV).
Right on my plug wouldn't be a good spot for reception in my house, and I would imagine the same for most people--plugs are low on the wall. Plus I would want it plugged into a UPS.
Oh yuck! I waited patiently for months for an upgrade to the Airport Express and finally caved about 3 days ago and bought the old one. Sooooooo glad now that I did buy the old one! I just wanted to add a 5ghz access point to my existing carrier supplied Actiontec router/modem combo (2.4ghz only) and mission accomplished. As I'm the only one who uses the 5ghz band in the house I can grab the AE and take it on the road with me for hotels, etc.
I was absolutely hoping for the same basic design as the old one but with simultaneous 2.4 and 5ghz, a gig ethernet port and that's about it. Would have been the perfect all in one road warrior for wireless. A little smaller/lighter and cooler running would have been nice as well but those were just bonus wishes.
Sigh......
I was absolutely hoping for the same basic design as the old one but with simultaneous 2.4 and 5ghz, a gig ethernet port and that's about it. Would have been the perfect all in one road warrior for wireless. A little smaller/lighter and cooler running would have been nice as well but those were just bonus wishes.
Sigh......
the best thing about the previous generation of the Airport Express for travelers is that you can just plug directly into an outlet and that's it!
but this one is bigger, needs cords and just a lazy design update stolen from the Apple TV.
this is NOT an upgrade this is a downgrade.However, i'm willing to pay more than $99 for it IF it includes a DSL modem but it doesn't!
but this one is bigger, needs cords and just a lazy design update stolen from the Apple TV.
this is NOT an upgrade this is a downgrade.However, i'm willing to pay more than $99 for it IF it includes a DSL modem but it doesn't!
I have the old one and found it kind of annoying when on a trip last year. I plugged it into my international socket adapter and then into the wall socket at the hotel and because it was all so heavy I had to prop it up with a phone book. Otherwise it would slowly bend and fall out of the wall socket.
So in my opinion the new one has it's advantages.
So in my opinion the new one has it's advantages.
This thing can do that too... Apple could not save $50 by selling the device you're describing. Your "AirPlay audio device" would still need a network interface and wireless, so it would cost nearly as much. The ability to act as a switch and have a DHCP server is not that complicated.
The "baud" is 300 Mbps. But the actual possible throughput available is much less. The most efficient implementations get about 160 Mbps out of a 300 Mbps baud connection.
IDK if I really care about the user cap increase since the last time I had over 10 people on my network was never. Can't wait to see the pics of these stacked with ATVs
It's really not hard to get over 10 devices. At my house I have my iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro, Apple TV, PS3, NAS, and Sonos music player. That's 7 devices already. Bring over two friends with their laptops and iPhone/iPod touch and suddenly you've exceeded the 10-device limit.
the old design you could attach a longer cord to it, I used to do that on occasion for specific jobs (the plug pops out and can be replaced like the the portable power supply in Apple's MacBook (pro). It was very handy to have those parts be interchangeable especially for traveling.
No longer portable without looking like a weirdo.
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It's the same hand.
Not only that, but with the identical finger positions and physical features, it looks like they just photoshopped an AE image onto the Apple TV image.
This is potentially the most exciting announcement of the day for me. I've been looking to go dual-band, but the available options either left me with an unnecessarily high price tag or no LAN ports. This is perfect - $99 and one LAN port. Not to mention, I gain a good bit of desk space back.
Very cool, thanks Apple!
This is potentially the most exciting announcement of the day for me. I've been looking to go dual-band, but the available options either left me with an unnecessarily high price tag or no LAN ports. This is perfect - $99 and one LAN port. Not to mention, I gain a good bit of desk space back.
I agree. I would have bought one at some point over an Extreme but as it is I have two Extremes, one that broadcasts and one that doesn't and both use all their LAN ports.
However, it would be nice to see them continue to offer the now outgoing Airport Express as the flip down plug in model is extremely handy for Airplay. I take mine to the garage for playing music in the garage or backyard, and I take it upstairs and connect it to my Klipsch iGroove or Memorex Alarm Clock for multi-room music.
I find the design quite appealing, but am puzzled by the timing of this release...Unless this is going to support the upcoming new wifi protocols via a flash update (which I doubt) then it seems a little strange.
I have a couple of the plug ins and they work well, but I thought apple would have waited until the new wifi standard was released and mainstream.
I'm surprised they don't do something like this. Imagine a tiny device (smaller than your thumb) that plugs right into the 3.5mm jack and simply connects to an existing wifi network for simple, quick, and easy airplay to any device that has a 3.5mm jack (you could set it up by plugging it into any Mac, where when inserted into a Mac a Wifi Utility specifically designed for it automatically opens up, ready for configuration). Price it somewhere between $10 and $30 and it would sell like crazy.
Am I correct in assuming this new AirPort Express allows one to extend an existing wireless network and – at the same time – allows one to attach an ethernet client to it? With the old Express, I believe this wasn't possible. You could either merely connect it to an existing network and have it communicate with ethernet clients, or have it actually extend a network, but rendering the ethernet port mostly useless.
Will this allow me to connect a computer or network printer to this new AirPort Express, while extending my wireless network? If so, that would be a major feature upgrade.
Will this allow me to connect a computer or network printer to this new AirPort Express, while extending my wireless network? If so, that would be a major feature upgrade.
The current one can do this ... I'd be surprised if the new one couldn't. The only problem is that this new model still has a 10/100 ethernet port, so you would have slow speeds between devices that are connected on separate base stations. This to me is a deal breaker. Guess I'll have to go with a second AEBS.
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It's crippling if you want to do large file transfers between two computers with gigabit ethernet.
I think it would totally make sense if new, faster Wifi protocols will be limited to the more expensive "Pro" Airport stations, i.e. Extreme and Time Capsule.
Release the entry-level Express with "802.11n only" today - supporting only today's mainstream standards.
Bring on faster Extremes and Time Capsules later, with support for bleeding-edge wireless.
Certainly better than the other way 'round*, from a marketing standpoint, isn't it?
* I.e., releasing a "new" and redesigned Express that is slower than its upcoming bigger siblings.