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

new wireless router

photogpab

photogpab

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 21, 2010
491
8
my old Linksys wireless router finally died. it's about 7 years old and kicked the bucket. does Apple make any of their own routers? and would they work better with my products since i have all apple products at home (apple tv, imac, macbook pro, iphones, etc)...

any tips or advice are greatly appreciated
 
whats the difference between the airport express / airport extreme. one is almost double the price and size. i'm on a budget but want to purchase a good product and not throw my money away. not sure i can afford the extreme, but if the express functions just as well, i would consider one.

the express just looks so small. it almost looks like the old ipod chargers. my current old Linksys router is huge compared to it. haha
 
Last edited:
photogpab said:
whats the difference between the airport express / airport extreme. one is almost double the price and size. i'm on a budget but want to purchase a good product and not throw my money away. not sure i can afford the extreme, but if the express functions just as well, i would consider one.

the express just looks so small. it almost looks like the old ipod chargers. my current old Linksys router is huge compared to it. haha
Click to expand...

Will you need to hardwire a computer to your router? If so you will definitely need an Extreme. Express will plug into the wall and you will plug your ethernet cable into it and can also plug speaker into it as well as a usb printer which will all work wirelessly.
 
Will you need to hardwire a computer to your router? If so you will definitely need an Extreme. Express will plug into the wall and you will plug your ethernet cable into it and can also plug speaker into it as well as a usb printer which will all work wirelessly.
Click to expand...

i dont think so? right now all our macs are in the living room and our modem / router are plugged into the wall in the bedroom and we dont really plug anything else into it.
 
The Apple routers will not work any better with your computers than any other Wireless router, they all use the same wireless protocols, the only thing that will be different will be the interface you use to set it up. You could save a good amount of money over the extreme and get the linksys e2000 or e3000 from amazon or newegg and have great features at a better price.
 
photogpab said:
i dont think so? right now all our macs are in the living room and our modem / router are plugged into the wall in the bedroom and we dont really plug anything else into it.
Click to expand...

Then the only benefit for you using the Extreme over the Express would be that the Extreme has dual band (5ghz and 2.4ghz) whereas the Express only has 2.4ghz. So the Extreme might give you faster speeds on your Macs, but depending on your incoming Internet speeds you might not even notice it.

If that wouldn't bother you that much then the Express would suit you just fine, and would allow you to Airplay your iTunes to speakers hooked to the Express.

And it's about the easiest router ever to set up.
 
ok cool. i was just curious if the Mac routers were more compatible with Pac products than say, a Linksys, etc
 
photogpab said:
ok cool. i was just curious if the Mac routers were more compatible with Pac products than say, a Linksys, etc
Click to expand...

Other than the Config software, no. I would just go with something else if you are trying to stay on a budget, the Express has some cool features, but for the same money you can get something that much better specs and 4 gigabit LAN ports which you might not need now, but if you ever want to hook up a NAS or home server of some kind it is good to have that option.
 
Brettla said:
The Apple routers will not work any better with your computers than any other Wireless router, they all use the same wireless protocols, the only thing that will be different will be the interface you use to set it up. You could save a good amount of money over the extreme and get the linksys e2000 or e3000 from amazon or newegg and have great features at a better price.
Click to expand...
This is a mixture of facts and misleading information. Airport in general is the gold standard for wireless routers. The original Airport was first wireless router most people ever heard tell of. The Airport Extreme is the gold standard of Wireless-N routers. Airport uses standard cards from the same manufacturers that every other good wireless router manufacturer uses. Apple makes them easy to manage. However, Airport routers are rock-solid and long-lived. I have owned quite a few Cisco Linksys routers. I used to believe that 18 months was all that I could expect from a router because 18 months was all that I could get from a Linksys. Apple routers last much longer. The parts may be interchangeable, but Apple buys stuff that lasts. As for the price, this Linksys E3000 owner strongly disagrees with the above statement about price. The Cisco Linksys E3000 costs about the same as the Airport Extreme. If you purchased it at a significantly lower price, then you bought it on sale. Congratulations.
 
This is a mixture of facts and misleading information. Airport in general is the gold standard for wireless routers. The original Airport was first wireless router most people ever heard tell of. The Airport Extreme is the gold standard of Wireless-N routers. Airport uses standard cards from the same manufacturers that every other good wireless router manufacturer uses. Apple makes them easy to manage. However, Airport routers are rock-solid and long-lived. I have owned quite a few Cisco Linksys routers. I used to believe that 18 months was all that I could expect from a router because 18 months was all that I could get from a Linksys. Apple routers last much longer. The parts may be interchangeable, but Apple buys stuff that lasts. As for the price, this Linksys E3000 owner strongly disagrees with the above statement about price. The Cisco Linksys E3000 costs about the same as the Airport Extreme. If you purchased it at a significantly lower price, then you bought it on sale. Congratulations.
Click to expand...

now im confused as to which one to buy! haha. the E3000 is selling on Amazing for $140, which IS cheaper than the extreme, but still very expensive. and it sounds like, form what others have said, that I may not even need the extreme?!

all i need is a router that will sit in the bedroom, hooked up to our modem, so we can use my iMac and my wifes macbook in the living room... and our apple tv from time to time... thats all... nothing else fancy. no speakers, no additional stuff. we're simple :)

within those circumstances... the express should be just as good as the extreme i guess?

they have them refurbished at Best Buy for about $55.
 
Last edited:
another issue i am having: we just moved into a new condo. its in a high rise downtown building. ever since we moved in, our internet connection has slowed down quite a bit. compared to the last condo we lived in. i had the internet tech come out and test our connections and he said everything was working fine. when we hook the computers up directly to the modem, internet speeds are pretty fast. but when we switch back over to wifi connection, speed drops in half. even less sometimes. tech said that due to being in such a big high rise building with so many tenants, it could be that the internet signal is weaker via wifi because of interference from other tenants.

i had never heard of that before. when we lived in NYC, we lived in a huge high rise condo there as well, lots of tenants, and our wifi was always perfect.

anyhow... not sure what else could be causing this. maybe it really is signal interference.

so i was wondering, if my really old Linksys router (like 7 years old) might also have been a part of the problem? i notice all these new modems say "n' technology or something... no clue what that is.

maybe with a new router these connection issues will improve?

thoughts?
 
Last edited:
all i can say is get the extreme. It works great and looks great with your other apple hardware. I know it may cost more but its worth it in my opinion.
 
photogpab said:
another issue i am having: we just moved into a new condo. its in a high rise downtown building. ever since we moved in, our internet connection has slowed down quite a bit. compared to the last condo we lived in. i had the internet tech come out and test our connections and he said everything was working fine. when we hook the computers up directly to the modem, internet speeds are pretty fast. but when we switch back over to wifi connection, speed drops in half. even less sometimes. tech said that due to being in such a big high rise building with so many tenants, it could be that the internet signal is weaker via wifi because of interference from other tenants.

i had never heard of that before. when we lived in NYC, we lived in a huge high rise condo there as well, lots of tenants, and our wifi was always perfect.

anyhow... not sure what else could be causing this. maybe it really is signal interference.

so i was wondering, if my really old Linksys router (like 7 years old) might also have been a part of the problem? i notice all these new modems say "n' technology or something... no clue what that is.

maybe with a new router these connection issues will improve?

thoughts?
Click to expand...
If your Linksys lasted seven years, then consider yourself lucky. None of mine have ever lasted that long. Clearly, it is not a Wireless-N router. Interference with neighbors, per se, is not your problem. Routers are smart enough to try to stay out of each other's way. Where it is a problem, interference is usually caused by devices that use the same bandwidth as wireless routers. I suspect that you are in the 2.4 GHz band where cellphones, pacemakers, cordless phones, and microwave ovens roam. That said, you should examine the various networks that you are linking into. Based on your description and other things, I suspect that you may linking into a neighbor's network rather than your own.
 
Last edited:
MisterMe said:
If your Linksys lasted seven years, then consider yourself lucky. None of mine have ever lasted that long. Clearly, it is not a Wireless-N router. Interference with neighbors, per se, is not your problem. Routers are smart enough to try to stay out of each other's way. Where it is a problem, interference is usually caused by devices that use the same bandwidth as wireless routers. I suspect that you are in the 2.4 GHz band where cellphones, pacemakers, cordless phones, and microwave ovens roam. That said, you should examine the various networks that you are linking into. Based on your description and other things, I suspect that you may linking into a neighbor's network rather than your own.
Click to expand...

Using a router that works on 5Ghz will help solve the problem, assuming your computer is capable of using that frequency.
 
DaveTheRave said:
Using a router that works on 5Ghz will help solve the problem, assuming your computer is capable of using that frequency.
Click to expand...
photogpad uses a 7-year-old router. It is most likely limited to the 2.4 GHz band. A new router will not have that problem.
 
photogpad uses a 7-year-old router. It is most likely limited to the 2.4 GHz band. A new router will not have that problem.
Click to expand...

my apologies again for all the stupid questions:

i have an old 2006 iMac G5. I went to Best Buy last night to look at some new routers because I thought that maybe with my router being as old as it is, it was contributing to these connection problems (even tho as i said before, this is the first building i've lived in where the router was performing so poorly). I did a speed test with the modem connected directly into my macbook and got about 12mbps download. Connected to router over wifi: 4.5mbps, 3.5mbps, sometimes lower. Its bizarre.

Anyhow... I looked at some of the routers mentioned here. the Express, the Extreme, the E200, the E3000, etc... but they all say "n" technology and list the 5GHz band you're all talking about. (they also said 2.4 GHz too tho).

Would they even be compatible with my old iMac? What if my iMac is too old to even work with these new routers?

Again, stupid question I am sure... but since I don't know what I'm talking about... thought I would ask before i drop $150! :)

and again do you all think a new router might help with my connection issues? confused as to why im having such issues now in my new home.
 
Linksys - Airport Express/Extreme

I too have a Linksys - the WAG160N modem/router in my case - it has lasted about 2 years and I've had 2 main issues with it;
  • in general it needs a factory reset every 2-3 months or it slows right down similarly to your reported speed problem though affecting both wired & wireless
  • the wireless has been a bit flaky in connecting (& staying connected) to my iPhone 4.
To address the second problem (which affects me every day) I switched off the wifi on the Linksys and a combination of Powerline networking and my Airport Express. One heck of a difference immediately.

Having decided that an Extreme was in fact what I needed - router par excellence (not modem) - I found a refurbished one on the Apple Store with 30% off. Waiting for the knock on the door now as it is due today.

Next job is to pick up a plain modem to ditch the Linksys altogether - shame Apple don't make them.

I can't comment on the compatibility of your G5 but I imagine it is b/g only - beware you don't throw good money away - if you can resolve that (n adaptor maybe) then go Apple, go Extreme and go refurb
 
Last edited:
The Extreme is simultaneous dual band so it will be running 5ghz and 2.4ghz so it will definitely work with you computer.

The Express is only 2.4ghz so it should also work with your computer.

Even they say they are "n" routers they will also broadcast "a/b/g" as well for devices that are not "n" compatible.
 
off topic:

does anyone know the speed i can recieve compared from cable to wireless. I sometimes have to download large files like 2gb from wetransfer. Would an time capsule be able to deliver 6MB p/s? because thats what i usually get over my cable. i have 80Mb internet connection.
 
MisterMe said:
This is a mixture of facts and misleading information. Airport in general is the gold standard for wireless routers. The original Airport was first wireless router most people ever heard tell of. The Airport Extreme is the gold standard of Wireless-N routers. Airport uses standard cards from the same manufacturers that every other good wireless router manufacturer uses. Apple makes them easy to manage. However, Airport routers are rock-solid and long-lived. I have owned quite a few Cisco Linksys routers. I used to believe that 18 months was all that I could expect from a router because 18 months was all that I could get from a Linksys. Apple routers last much longer. The parts may be interchangeable, but Apple buys stuff that lasts. As for the price, this Linksys E3000 owner strongly disagrees with the above statement about price. The Cisco Linksys E3000 costs about the same as the Airport Extreme. If you purchased it at a significantly lower price, then you bought it on sale. Congratulations.
Click to expand...

Wow, talk about misleading information.

The Airport Extreme is no gold standard, period. No one thinks that but Apple...and you. Frankly, it's just silly. It's just another router, made with the same parts and quality that Linksys, D-Link, and Netgear use. I don't know how he's only getting 18 months out of his routers. Perhaps he's fibbing to help his case, perhaps something else is going on. Who knows. The primary difference between Apple's offering and what the other company's sell is firmware and the outer shell style. You'll be able to do much more within Linksys, D-Link, or Netgear's firmware than you will Apple's app. However Apple's config app is much easier to use.

The Cisco Linksys E3000 is about $40 less at Amazon and Newegg as it's normal price. Nothing is on sale. You were ripped off if you paid more.

Listen to what Brettla said. Or better yet, check out other router threads here at macrumors. You'll find they will overwhelmingly say the same thing. Some certainly do prefer the Apple Extreme, some prefer Linksys. But to say Apple uses better parts and lasts longer is simply nonsense. Nothing but anecdotal evidence here to support that.

Check out this thread for more info to help
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1128066/
 
photogpab said:
i have an old 2006 iMac G5.

Anyhow... I looked at some of the routers mentioned here. the Express, the Extreme, the E200, the E3000, etc... but they all say "n" technology and list the 5GHz band you're all talking about. (they also said 2.4 GHz too tho).
Click to expand...

In my opinion, if you're going to buy a dual-band router with 5Ghz capabilities, make sure its SIMULTANEOUS dual-band. I would buy one even if your computer can't take advantage of the 5Ghz frequency. You're using a 5 year old computer. At this point, a new router will probably last longer than your computer. A new simultaneous dual-band router will help make your set-up more "future proof". That's what I would do.
 
New Wireless Router

My router just died as well. I purchased the new Cisco e4200 (linksys) that has dual-band and up to 450. I can't seem to connect about 300. I was wondering if there is a way to manually set the NIC on my MacBook Pro 13" (2010) to receive the 40mHz band? I can't seem to find any and I'm used to Window's Device Manager where you can change the settings from Auto to whatever. Any help would be great.
 
I am going to assume you mean the wireless NIC. As far as I know, there is no tool built-into the Mac OS to do so. The radios in the WiFi cards can only see and detect signals that are actually broadcasting at specific frequencies. You can change what frequencies the router works at in its settings.

hope this helps
 
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