how fast is airport express?

[dorqiekat]

I'm considering on getting the airport express with air tunes so I can get wireless internet around the house. I have a few questions about it though.

I have cable, so if I use the airport express do I still get the same speed through wireless?

And, I wont be needing any additional stuff will I? Like the base station or something? I already have a router for the cable and my understanding of the airport is just plug it in.

Whats the range on the internet? If its plugged in one room, can I go to the opposite side of the house and have the internet work there?

and lastly, for those who have used it, whats the quality of the internet? Does it disconnect suddenly, do downloads, page loads, go slow and interrupted?

thanks

 

[puckhead193]

I'm considering on getting the airport express with air tunes so I can get wireless internet around the house. I have a few questions about it though.

I have cable, so if I use the airport express do I still get the same speed through wireless?

And, I wont be needing any additional stuff will I? Like the base station or something? I already have a router for the cable and my understanding of the airport is just plug it in.

Whats the range on the internet? If its plugged in one room, can I go to the opposite side of the house and have the internet work there?

and lastly, for those who have used it, whats the quality of the internet?
Does it disconnect suddenly, do downloads, page loads, go slow and interrupted?

thanks

I just got it today! so i'll do my best. You won't need anything additional. (maybe an eithernet cable) For my house, i was able to go across the house with it. I was only able to get one "bar" out of four. It was still abe to transfer information. I didnt set up airtunes yet. The speed is pretty quick. I'm right next to it now but t was like being connected through the cable. Although once you loose signal it does slow down, not that much though. I haven't had any disconnect or or anything...The setup was simple. i think the hardest part was trying to open the box. It worked right out of the box. i installed to software to protect the connection.
I should mention that i'm the only one logged on to the wireless because no other computer has wireless.... yet....I would recommand it.

 

[iBert]

You might see a difference in speed. Your router is 100MB and the airport express is 54MB. So, if your cable uses the complete 100MB of the router then yes the express will be slower, but if your cable uses less than 54MB of the router then you should see some or no improvement. Still, 54MB is pretty fast that you won't see any different. I always thought that wireless wasn't that fast until I tried it. About the range, if you can connect it in a central location in your house or apartment. You should be covered everywhere in the house pretty much, but you shouldn't be tied to connect it there. For the other features, the only I've tried is the printer and it works great. Hope this help. The only thing you'll need a base station is to improve the range of the base station. The airport express will make an existing signal stronger.

 

[MacBoyX]

I'm considering on getting the airport express with air tunes so I can get wireless internet around the house. I have a few questions about it though.

I have cable, so if I use the airport express do I still get the same speed through wireless?

And, I wont be needing any additional stuff will I? Like the base station or something? I already have a router for the cable and my understanding of the airport is just plug it in.

Whats the range on the internet? If its plugged in one room, can I go to the opposite side of the house and have the internet work there?

and lastly, for those who have used it, whats the quality of the internet? Does it disconnect suddenly, do downloads, page loads, go slow and interrupted?

thanks

Considering your Cable connection is at MOST 3Mbps, and the AirPort Express is 802.11g (max 54Mbps) you should not notice a major slow down in ur internet activity, you will however notice a slowe down on INTERAL Network traffic (btwn macs)

 

[cerfsud]

Your router is 100MB and the airport express is 54MB. So, if your cable uses the complete 100MB of the router then yes the express will be slower, but if your cable uses less than 54MB of the router then you should see some or no improvement.

not to be a jerk, but what the hell is "if your cable uses the complete 100MB of the router..."? please don't be giving what sounds like de facto advice if you don't know what you're talking about.

most cable modems i've seen are about 1.5Mbps down, some are 3.0, and that is definitely not going to saturate a 100Mbps router/hub/switch. The 54Mbps of the AE (and even 802.11b's 11Mbps) is more than enough.

so no, it won't "slow down" your internet at all. as macboyx said though, any intranetwork activity might seem slower if you're used to 100BaseT or gigabit. but unless you're moving gigabyte-sized files, it shouldn't be noticeable.