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Resolved What's an airport express and what advantages do I get while using my iPhone?
- Thread starter iPodJedi
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The Airport Express is Apple's model of Wireless router. It supports Wireless A/B/G/N.
Apple tends to name it's products differently, but that's all an Airport Express is. A wireless router with an Apple interface.
You would use it in conjunction with your home network to provide routing for the devices on your network. You get the advantage at home of using your iPhone's WiFi to access the internet through your home network.
What is better, express or extreme. Is it worth it and are they good for gaming like an xbox. And is it noticibly faster with the extereme
Traditionally, Extreme (the word) as Apple uses, it trumps Express. The current version of the Airport Extreme also has AC, so wireless A/B/G/N/AC. Not a lot of devices currently using AC, but if you choose the Extreme you'd have that option.
The Extreme also seems to have Gigabit Ethernet connections, so if you have a home network set up correctly (Cat 5 ethernet cable doesn't support Gigabit ethernet, you need Cat 6 or better I believe) you'd be able to run pretty fast.
Please note, I am simply reporting what I've found via Google. I do not own and have never owned any version of Airport Express or Extreme. Never had the money and didn't see a reason as third party routers, hubs and switches do exactly the same thing and are much cheaper.
My own home network runs off a 2004 D-Link wired router and a Linksys WRT-54GL wireless router. Both of which are just fine for VOIP and gaming purposes.
I imagine both the Express and Extreme would do fine for gaming.
The Extreme also seems to have Gigabit Ethernet connections, so if you have a home network set up correctly (Cat 5 ethernet cable doesn't support Gigabit ethernet, you need Cat 6 or better I believe) you'd be able to run pretty fast.
Please note, I am simply reporting what I've found via Google. I do not own and have never owned any version of Airport Express or Extreme. Never had the money and didn't see a reason as third party routers, hubs and switches do exactly the same thing and are much cheaper.
My own home network runs off a 2004 D-Link wired router and a Linksys WRT-54GL wireless router. Both of which are just fine for VOIP and gaming purposes.
I imagine both the Express and Extreme would do fine for gaming.
Noticeable? Probly not.
Gaming... for hardcore interactive gamers, they want lightening quick latency, this is a very specific subject, better go to a gaming forum and ask THEM. Light gaming, Words With Friends, don't matter.
I have an Express. For some reason my Apple products never got along with other brands of routers like Linksys or Belkin. They would constantly drop the connection or my mac would refuse to establish a connection after waking up. Haven't and any of those problems with the Airport.
Aesthetically I love them (I have both, an Extreme as wireless AP and an Express as an extender), but they aren't better nor worse than any good branded router/AP.
I choose to buy them because my home setup is all Apple (MBA, MBP, Mini, iPad and iPhone ) so Im surely avoiding problems.
BTW my PS3 works flawlessly with both.
I choose to buy them because my home setup is all Apple (MBA, MBP, Mini, iPad and iPhone ) so Im surely avoiding problems.
BTW my PS3 works flawlessly with both.
True. If you want no-fuss, budget is not prob. Go extreme, although I do hate the latest shape, what's that?
I just recently upgraded my 8 years old "G" to a Dlink "N," terrible reviews on Amazon, but it was a tempting $39 and it got all the features I want. Not super heavy user, just surfing and such, so far so good, I like to gamble and get geeky with the difficult configuration.
The extreme can handle more clients, and covers a larger range than the express. Both are great!
True. If you want no-fuss, budget is not prob. Go extreme, although I do hate the latest shape, what's that?
I just recently upgraded my 8 years old "G" to a Dlink "N," terrible reviews on Amazon, but it was a tempting $39 and it got all the features I want. Not super heavy user, just surfing and such, so far so good, I like to gamble and get geeky with the difficult configuration.
I have this (last year model) and it's wonderful
the new model is huge
I have one and it isn't huge, it is taller than the previous model, however it is smaller than it looks in the apple picture.
Here you can have a reference in comparison with an iPhone:
http://forums.appleinsider.com/t/15...eme-with-802-11ac-support-gets-first-unboxing
Well , it's not huge to be honest, but I don't like its design (and Time Capsule as well) so much as the previous one.
Compared to the Express it's quite big
Well, I'm partial to D-Link and Linksys, no offense.
The wired D-Link router I have was a refurb bought in 2004. It's been on 24/7 for the last nine years and has never failed. The Linksys router and switch I have have both been rock solid too. I've gone through three cable modems in that time. To be fair though the last replacement was a Linksys cable modem for another Linksys. The replacement gave me DOCSIS 3.0 which allows me speeds up to 100mbps down. The previous Linksys is fine, just that it only has DOCSIS 2.0.
Netgear is also good gear and they make their hubs and switches out of metal.
Thanks for all of your answers im still not sure if ill buy them or not but ill take what yall said into consideration...
I think you got lucky with Linksys.
After their buyout, I've noticed quality take a nose-dive. A week doesn't go by without having to reboot or reset my router. I was partial to the WRT54G for the longest time.
I picked up the AEBS a few years and it has been trouble free. The only time I have to mess with the settings is when a firmware upgrade is out. Other than that, it has been flawless.
Yeah, we had a WRT-54GL at work and it sucked. Didn't last very long. So I was a bit hesitant to try that one at home, but it's been great.I think you got lucky with Linksys.
After their buyout, I've noticed quality take a nose-dive. A week doesn't go by without having to reboot or reset my router. I was partial to the WRT54G for the longest time.
I picked up the AEBS a few years and it has been trouble free. The only time I have to mess with the settings is when a firmware upgrade is out. Other than that, it has been flawless.
That said, I've never used it's routing capabilities. It's been used solely as a WAP to provide wireless capabilities to my home network. The wired D-Link router I use does all the routing. Plus, it helps to have a switch. That's Linksys too, but an older version so I probably got luck there too.
The WRT-54GL was actually my second Linksys router. It replaced the POS Linksys I bought the first time around. Forget which model that was but it had the bad habit of forgetting the password settings to access it and the even worse habit of knocking everyone using it offline if a new wireless device joined the network.
The next time I'm out to replace equipment there are some other brands I'm going to try though. I've heard enough bad stories about Linksys (including yours) to be wary.
Do you already have wifi in your home? Comcast is a broadband internet provider, but the router they provide could already have wireless networking built in.
If you already have wireless in your house, the AirPort Express or Extreme won't really do anything for you unless you need to expand your wifi coverage, or you want the wireless speaker (AirPlay) feature of the AirPort Express.
What exactly are to trying to do?
Yes it does, but these days lots of devices have either Airplay or BT capability built-in. Portable speakers with these capabilities is common, so the Express' audio output usefulness is been diminished.
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Am surprised to not find QOS on the Apple's routers. Seems to me in these days and age of streaming this is a must. They probably do this (my wild guess) in their own way and provide automatic QOS capability say to ATV, because at that kind of money, they better.
I would tend to disagree. The Airport Extreme isn't really worth the premium. I much prefer my Asus router, which is at least $50 cheaper. It has gigabit ethernet, and the newer model does 802.11ac (my model only does up to n). Insanely strong signal everywhere, works with all devices flawlessly, is super fast, and has an open-source firmware that I can replace with DD-WRT any time I feel like. There are literally no benefits that I can think of to purchasing an Airport Extreme.
The Express, on the other hand, may be worth it if you want AirPlay speakers or want to put a printer on the network that doesn't have a network interface of its own. I'd recommend getting an older used one off eBay, as there aren't really any benefits to the newer models as far as I can tell.
As for Macs having issues with certain wireless routers, I do find that you get what you pay for. If you purchase a crappy little Linksys / DLink / NetGear router, it's probably not going to have a great range and you're going to have issues. This is less a factor of who makes the hardware and more the quality of the hardware inside the case I'm sure good routers are available from all 3 brands, but so are cheap crappy ones.
The Express, on the other hand, may be worth it if you want AirPlay speakers or want to put a printer on the network that doesn't have a network interface of its own. I'd recommend getting an older used one off eBay, as there aren't really any benefits to the newer models as far as I can tell.
As for Macs having issues with certain wireless routers, I do find that you get what you pay for. If you purchase a crappy little Linksys / DLink / NetGear router, it's probably not going to have a great range and you're going to have issues. This is less a factor of who makes the hardware and more the quality of the hardware inside the case I'm sure good routers are available from all 3 brands, but so are cheap crappy ones.