Apple Introduces Redesigned AirPort Express

[JasperJanssen]

AND. Who went "Oh look, the apple tv box would be a good choice for redesign of the AirPort Express" then there is the horrible white colour (WHICH wouldn't match all my black apple products and tv, stereo etc) Why not offer black or white ATV, white/black ipads, ipods & iphones. I don't know much about hardware, but hasn't this now gotten bigger compared to the old Express? I hope the rest dont get this design, bit white apple tvs pretty much

The Apple TV and the APE (I have both) are almost the same size. The Apple TV is a bit thinner, I think, and it's square, but overall volume is probably within epsilon of each other.

Sorry for the silly question - but whats the difference with this and the Extreme now then?? Just that the Extreme has more ethernet ports??

Are the Extreme ethernet ports GigaBit?

Yes, the Extreme has gigabit ports, and it supports using the USB port for storage devices (i.e., Time machine backups). It also doesn't have the AirPlay audio out.

The extreme probably still has faster wifi. The current generation has full 3x3:3 support, for 450 Mbit streams with compatible devices (among others the MBP 2011). I don't see anywhere that the new Airport Express even has 2x2 support for 300 Mbit -- did the previous one?

 

[yg17]

Put them on a gigabit switch together and the 10/100 wont slow them down.

That doesn't help if you want to transfer between an 802.11n computer and another computer with gigabit ethernet.

It's poor design. The wired connection should never be the bottleneck on a network device.

 

[delacruzjeff]

my current setup is AEBS on the main floor and AE on the second floor. my AE is extending my wifi from AEBS to my room. my problem with this setup is every time someone use the microwave, the link between the AEBS and AE gets lost. it will only go back once the microwave is finished. with this new AE having dual band, will this solve my problem? does the new AE automatically switches from 2.4 to 5ghz? I understand that microwave runs at 2.4ghz thus creating this conflict? Or is there a solution given my existing setup? thanks.

 

[fat jez]

my current setup is AEBS on the main floor and AE on the second floor. my AE is extending my wifi from AEBS to my room. my problem with this setup is every time someone use the microwave, the link between the AEBS and AE gets lost. it will only go back once the microwave is finished. with this new AE having dual band, will this solve my problem? does the new AE automatically switches from 2.4 to 5ghz? I understand that microwave runs at 2.4ghz thus creating this conflict? Or is there a solution given my existing setup? thanks.

Is there any reason why you can't have the AE connect at 5GHz already? My setup is slightly different in that I split my wifi into 2 networks - one at 2.4GHz that only my iPhone 4S uses and the other at 5GHz that all my other devices use. My Airport Express connects to the 5GHz one and extends the network out of the ethernet port. That way I'm well away from the congested 2.4GHz frequencies.

 

[RoboCop001]

Huh? My wall-wart AE from 2008 has an RJ45 Ethernet jack.

Yeah, others have pointed out to me that you can in fact use the WAN port as a regular LAN port.

But I was never able to do so. When I set up my AE a year or two ago, I had it join/extend a wireless network but it would always disable the WAN port so I could never use it on my old iMac to give it wireless access. Followed all the steps, not sure why it didn't work.

 

[fat jez]

Yeah, others have pointed out to me that you can in fact use the WAN port as a regular LAN port.

But I was never able to do so. When I set up my AE a year or two ago, I had it join/extend a wireless network but it would always disable the WAN port so I could never use it on my old iMac to give it wireless access.

Depends when it was bought. According to wiki, only the 2nd and 3rd gen can do this. The 1st gen (made until March 2008) can't

 

[pgoodwin1]

AEBS is very competitively priced

Still no disk sharing for those of us that don't want to spend an egregious amount of money on an Airport Extreme. Shame on you Apple.

There are very few wireless routers that beat the AEBS for price / performance. There are many claims, but nearly all of them are 1-2 star rated devices with abysmal real-use user experiences. Go to SmallNetBuilders and look at the price / performance curves. Then look up the star ratings for all of them. The ones that are good are not much or any cheaper. Mine works flawlessly, installed easily, and has great range.

I too would love to see a simple cheap AirPlay audio transceiver that a few people here have mentioned. My old Express ( looks like a charger) works great, and you don't really need the n speed for that. It should cost about $30.

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Is there any reason why you can't have the AE connect at 5GHz already? My setup is slightly different in that I split my wifi into 2 networks - one at 2.4GHz that only my iPhone 4S uses and the other at 5GHz that all my other devices use. My Airport Express connects to the 5GHz one and extends the network out of the ethernet port. That way I'm well away from the congested 2.4GHz frequencies.

Try manually changing the wireless channel with Airport Utility. Interference can even come from neighbors on your channel that increases noise and slows speeds. There's some good discussions on Apple's Support Forum about changing channels

 

[fat jez]

Try manually changing the wireless channel with Airport Utility. Interference can even come from neighbors on your channel that increases noise and slows speeds. There's some good discussions on Apple's Support Forum about changing channels

I ran iStumbler on my MacBook Pro and looked for channels that were as free from other users as possible. I also wouldn't pick two consecutive channels, as I'm not convinced the filters are good enough to pick out just the one you're interested in. So if 10 is in use, I would pick 12 (unless somebody is using 13).

 

[RoboCop001]

Depends when it was bought. According to wiki, only the 2nd and 3rd gen can do this. The 1st gen (made until March 2008) can't

I must have had the older one then. Still... took them long enough to add that feature. lol

 

[delacruzjeff]

Is there any reason why you can't have the AE connect at 5GHz already? My setup is slightly different in that I split my wifi into 2 networks - one at 2.4GHz that only my iPhone 4S uses and the other at 5GHz that all my other devices use. My Airport Express connects to the 5GHz one and extends the network out of the ethernet port. That way I'm well away from the congested 2.4GHz frequencies.

I thought the old AE only connects to 2.4ghz range? If it does, I still can't use this option as I still have an old iPhone 3G that my daughter is using primarily for YouTube. otherwise she can't connect in this AE in our room.

 

[fat jez]

I thought the old AE only connects to 2.4ghz range? If it does, I still can't use this option as I still have an old iPhone 3G that my daughter is using primarily for YouTube. otherwise she can't connect in this AE in our room.

Yep, that would be a perfectly valid reason to keep it on 2.4GHz, since none of the current iPhones will pick up a 5GHz signal (not that I've been able to see anyway). Try changing the channel in use, you might find one that's less susceptible to interference.

 

[morespce54]

You dont even need an Airport Extreme for that right? Cant you just use airplay with any wifi router? That would make your idea useful for a lot of people.

Not if you don't have any Airplay enabled system (or speakers). With the AE, you can plug-in any (non-Airplay enabled) system, as long as you have a jack output. Actually, the AE act as an Airplay "dongle" for any basic system/speakers.

Correct. Airplay works over any wireless network. Or wired, really (if you plug the Express in as an Extender via a wired connection). A lot of 3rd parties have made devices that are Airplay receivers. Denon is a popular one. I am surprised that Apple hasn't come up with one themselves..it would allow for non-brand new receivers to be Airplay-enabled.

Well, as mentioned above, it works *if* you have a 3rd parties Airplay receivers.

 

[BeatCrazy]

This new AP Express Base Station seems pretty intriguing. I've never owned an Express/Extreme before. My Wifi devices are a 2009 Macbook Pro (wife's), two iPhones 4/4S and two iPads.

I wonder if this is better than my current WAP, a Cisco WAP-4410N? http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10052/index.html

The range on my Cisco is just fine, and it does have 3x3 MIMO. It doesn't support 5Ghz, however. And it is a few years old, I know Wifi stuff always gets better over the years, and Apple's stuff is typically near the top, performance-wise.

I would not use any of the streaming, printing or airplay features. My Cisco already supports a guest network.

Any ideas if it's worth an upgrade?

 

[pgoodwin1]

I ran iStumbler on my MacBook Pro and looked for channels that were as free from other users as possible. I also wouldn't pick two consecutive channels, as I'm not convinced the filters are good enough to pick out just the one you're interested in. So if 10 is in use, I would pick 12 (unless somebody is using 13).

I agree about the filters.

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This new AP Express Base Station seems pretty intriguing. I've never owned an Express/Extreme before. My Wifi devices are a 2009 Macbook Pro (wife's), two iPhones 4/4S and two iPads.

I wonder if this is better than my current WAP, a Cisco WAP-4410N? http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10052/index.html

The range on my Cisco is just fine, and it does have 3x3 MIMO. It doesn't support 5Ghz, however. And it is a few years old, I know Wifi stuff always gets better over the years, and Apple's stuff is typically near the top, performance-wise.

I would not use any of the streaming, printing or airplay features. My Cisco already supports a guest network.

Any ideas if it's worth an upgrade?

I did a little research about 4 months ago:

ESR9855G *EnGenius * Multimedia Enhanced Wireless N Gaming Router with Gigabit * $20.50/star. *$82 Newegg, 4.5 stars/22reviews on Google, 3. 1-2 star reviews 14%, *probably not enough reviews to be meaningful.

E3200 *Cisco *High Performance Dual-Band N Router *gigabit $27.25/star * *$109 minus $30 special Amazon 4 stars/142 reviews, *15 *1-2 star reviews 11%, 4.5 stars on Google/485 reviews

RT-N56U ASUS *Black Diamond Dual-Band Gigabit Wireless-N Router * *$31/star * $124, 4 stars/449 reviews, 82. 1-2 stars 18%

Airport Extreme Base Station 5th gen, A1408, MD031LL/A, * $170, 4.5 stars/135 reviews, 16. 1-2star 12%, * 10 * 1-star *$37.78/star

WNDR4500 Netgear. *N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router * * $45/star. **$180 * 4 star/160 reviews, 42. 1-2 star. 26%

I have a late model AEBS and couldn't be happier.

 

[BeatCrazy]

I did a little research about 4 months ago:

So what conclusions can you draw from that data, besides user-ratings? Of course those are important, but I'm more interested in objective capabilities of my current WAP vs. the new AEBS.

 

[kurosov]

If it had allowed hdd sharing then i'd have replaced my express. As it stands i'll stick with what i have.

Looks to be a nice router for people who want to set up a new wireless network and have little to no ethernet requirements though.

 

[almonde]

10/100 ?? Really ?????? How pathetic.

What difference does it really make? Firstly very few people have an Internet connection that will saturate 100mbps Ethernet. Secondly as it only has 1 LAN port (the other appears to be be WAN), so you'd need a switch anyway to connect two computers via Ethernet, so just buy a gigabit switch, then the single 10/100 on the express makes no difference, unless you're one of these morons that thinks LAN traffic has go via the router. Thirdly even a very good 802.11n signal in real world conditions won't saturate 100mbps Ethernet.

 

[Stridder44]

Imagine a tiny device, smaller than a mouse, that spits out a gold coin every 10 minutes. Sell it for $50 and it would sell like CRAZY.

a) Your device is unrealistically small.

b) You forgot the power supply completely.

c) A device like that is -- certainly at apple accessory prices -- more like $50-80. Which means useless, because the APE exists, which is why they're not making one.

A third party manufacturer, sans licensing costs, reverse engineered protocol, and using a USB power supply (many devices you want to plug into have USB to plug into for power, if it doesn't you're going to need that power cord anyway) might be able to make something like that for $30 in large volume. And no, they wouldn't sell like crazy. They'd also need a 3.5mm cable to connect from wherever you have the power to the destination, which makes the solution clunky.

It was just an idea, no need to get all prissy about it. And I think you really underestimate what can be done with modern components, but since you're apparently the expert on the subject what would you suggest?

 

[pgoodwin1]

So what conclusions can you draw from that data, besides user-ratings? Of course those are important, but I'm more interested in objective capabilities of my current WAP vs. the new AEBS.

Hi Beat. I didn't look at the specs for the older Cisco to compare. But they have detailed articles on all of those I mentioned, and probably your older one on the SmallNetBuilder website. I was only offering a little help on maybe the ones to start with for your research. My criteria for buying anything these days is that if there's more than 10-15% of the star ratings at 2 or below, it's a red flag that something is wrong; understanding that 1/2 of the people that rate stuff poorly don't understand anything about what they're operating.

 

[smellalot]

This new AP Express Base Station seems pretty intriguing. I've never owned an Express/Extreme before. My Wifi devices are a 2009 Macbook Pro (wife's), two iPhones 4/4S and two iPads.

I wonder if this is better than my current WAP, a Cisco WAP-4410N? http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10052/index.html

The range on my Cisco is just fine, and it does have 3x3 MIMO. It doesn't support 5Ghz, however. And it is a few years old, I know Wifi stuff always gets better over the years, and Apple's stuff is typically near the top, performance-wise.

I would not use any of the streaming, printing or airplay features. My Cisco already supports a guest network.

Any ideas if it's worth an upgrade?

Apple's Airport Base Stations have one unique feature AFAIK: sleep proxy. It will wake your wirelessly connected mac from sleep when you want to use a network service, e.g. streaming music from iTunes.
Thats the reason why I'd like another APX or APBS. But they are so expensive!

 

[BeatCrazy]

Apple's Airport Base Stations have one unique feature AFAIK: sleep proxy. It will wake your wirelessly connected mac from sleep when you want to use a network service, e.g. streaming music from iTunes.
Thats the reason why I'd like another APX or APBS. But they are so expensive!

Interesting, but not necessary for my situation. I leave the Mac mini on 24/7.

 

[mtreys]

I do this too. I've got an 802.11n Express extending my 5GHz network, with a 4-port switch attached to it. The switch handles the TV, Tivo, PS3, and Wii.

For the guy who was asking - on the 802.11n models, if you "extend a wireless network" the Ethernet port should be enabled by default. If you "join a wireless network" there's a checkbox "Allow ethernet clients". This is using Airport Utility 5.6.1.



I have a weighted base that Griffin used to make specifically for the Airport Express that would let you set it securely on a shelf or a desk. I've found it to be very handy, but it must not have sold well since they stopped making them several years ago.

Do you notice any lag on the PS3 or Wii this way? I'd like to do the same but I had hooked up my Xbox a few years ago with the wireless crap from MS and I remember getting horrible ping and PL.

 

[gramirez2012]

Apple's Airport Base Stations have one unique feature AFAIK: sleep proxy. It will wake your wirelessly connected mac from sleep when you want to use a network service, e.g. streaming music from iTunes.
Thats the reason why I'd like another APX or APBS. But they are so expensive!

Apple TV (2nd generation at least) is also a Sleep Proxy server.

 

[smellalot]

Apple TV (2nd generation at least) is also a Sleep Proxy server.

Cool thanks! Good to know.

 

[Westside guy]

Do you notice any lag on the PS3 or Wii this way? I'd like to do the same but I had hooked up my Xbox a few years ago with the wireless crap from MS and I remember getting horrible ping and PL.

No, it works quite well - I haven't noticed any issues at all. Most of the individual device's wireless networking capabilities are 802.11g; so there's no speed penalty to routing them all over 802.11n; plus the last thing I want is yet more 2.4GHz traffic.

Apple seems to do wireless hardware really, really well.