tempting AirPort Extreme Base Station

[phuong]

ok i just heard there's this new AirPort Extreme Base Station that offers 802.11n draft (or whatever it is) and i happen to own a MBP C2D which is told to support this 802.11n thingy as well.

so, i'm very tempting. mainly because of the speed it promises to offer (according to this article here, it would give the transfer speed of 200 to 540 Mbit/s
i am having a WRT54G at home, and often find myself having to plug my laptop to the darn RJ45 cable because the wireless is just too slow. and because of the design of the laptop, this cable often gets in the way of the mighty mouse (which is annoying sometimes)

the only thing that's keeping me from wanting to buy it is that, i dont like surprises. i mean, i heard 802.11n is not finalized and standardized until 2008 (is that why they call it draft 802.11n?) so there might be some kind of security or incompatibility in there?

given that, this Airport base station was designed to work with the C2D MBP, and at my home this laptop will be the only computer that'll access the wifi, and i am pretty sure by 2008, i will have sold them both cause there'll probably be newer models by then, would this be a good reason to buy the newly released AirPort Extreme Base Station?

though i dont quite mind its $179 price tag, but still, i dont want to spend that much money on something that doesnt work.. or works unstably.

plz plz plz let me know if it's wise to buy it!

 

[Cybix]

screw the draft-N, buy it because you can plug an external USB hard disk into it (or several)... hell yeah!

 

[Mal]

It will work, and it won't be unstable, there's just the slight chance of incompatibility with some future N devices, but the probability is low. Besides, like the previous models, it'll have an upgradeable firmware, so they'll simply release a software update that will bring it up to full N status once the draft is ratified. The draft N is likely almost identical to the final anyways though, so no worries there.

jW

 

[dalvin200]

screw the draft-N, buy it because you can plug an external USB hard disk into it (or several)... hell yeah!

i'm interested in having usb drives off the network and also printer too.. but only 1 usb port on the back, i assume you can plug in a usb hub (from what you say above - several disks.. etc..) ?

 

[Mac'Mo]

i dont think you have to worry about whether or not an Apple product will work or be stable. Those are like the mantras of the company

 

[EricChunky]

i dont think you have to worry about whether or not an Apple product will work or be stable. Those are like the mantras of the company

well if u read the comments of Airport Express on Apple Store it makes u feel like 99% of them die on the 13th month.

 

[bbydon]

i'm interested in having usb drives off the network and also printer too.. but only 1 usb port on the back, i assume you can plug in a usb hub (from what you say above - several disks.. etc..) ?

or, you can chain them together....a lot of hard drives have multiple usb ports for a chain.

 

[cyberddot]

well if u read the comments of Airport Express on Apple Store it makes u feel like 99% of them die on the 13th month.

I must've been really lucky...my Express has been perfect since day 1. I plan on getting a base station. I've been wanting an excuse to get an Ethernet NAS setup, which will leave the USB free for a printer. Yea!

 

[jsw]

i'm interested in having usb drives off the network and also printer too.. but only 1 usb port on the back, i assume you can plug in a usb hub (from what you say above - several disks.. etc..) ?

Yes - the Apple site confirms this.

well if u read the comments of Airport Express on Apple Store it makes u feel like 99% of them die on the 13th month.

FWIW, I have 5 of them, 4 are older than a year, and none of them have died.

 

[HelixOmnimedia]

I voted YES.
But having a built-in modem, so its a wireless modem router (like my Netgear Range Max), would make it even more tempting.

 

[djkny]

I voted YES.
But having a built-in modem, so its a wireless modem router (like my Netgear Range Max), would make it even more tempting.

Apple needs to build a built-in DSL. Otherwise, the Airport Extreme Base is only an "extender" at that, with a few more features built in. I would still have to park it by my dinosaur Westell DSL modem to get the extended range.

 

[Ugg]

I say get it now. As has been said, firmware updates will fix any potential compatability issues.

I have a PB, so the n part won't make a difference at this point but what I want it for is to access my hard drive wirelessly. Being on the patio and not having access to my external HD is a pain.