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reemas · Jun 10, 2004, 01:52 AM

They almost sound alike, and the spelling is close.

Anyways, is there any advantage to getting airport extreme over airport express?

I think im confused on the two? Airport extreme is just a regular wireless router made by apple and supports the 54mbps speed? and expensive?

and airport express is the same thing, smaller and less expensive?

why would anyone get extreme when u can have the same in express for less?

stevesnj · Jun 10, 2004, 08:32 AM

Originally posted by reemas:
They almost sound alike, and the spelling is close.

Anyways, is there any advantage to getting airport extreme over airport express?

I think im confused on the two? Airport extreme is just a regular wireless router made by apple and supports the 54mbps speed? and expensive?

and airport express is the same thing, smaller and less expensive?

why would anyone get extreme when u can have the same in express for less?

Actually it is not meant be a router like Airport Extreme but made to connect to an existing network or even bridge an existing Airport Network. I don't see why you can't hook your cable modem directly up to the Express and go wireless. I don't think it has the same firewall and security features like a Router/Base Station has. Also it seems to be more for laptops moreso than for desktops. You can throw this in a bag, plug it in, find a network connection cable and your wireless. Seems great, can't wait to get one.

itai195 · Jun 10, 2004, 09:53 AM

I'd guess it has all the same routing features, because it can act as a base station. The limitations are due more to its support for only 10 users vs 50, having only one ethernet port, and no modem.

headbirth · Jun 10, 2004, 01:53 PM

A mobil wireless device without a phone jack? hmmm .... I think they should rethink that.

Jansar · Jun 10, 2004, 02:34 PM

I have been wanting to ask the same question...

I just bought an Aria Extreme device for my Power Mac G4 (it's for the MDD without Airport Extreme) and I'm just now returning home from school with my computer. In order to successfully link my computer to the Internet, I must have wireless support.

My room is one floor down from where the base station will be (just a quick walk down the stairs which are blocked by closed doors) although I think that it should be fine as far as the Internet connection.

However, does the Airport Extreme base station supply more power as far as range? I don't care about the user base...our house has less than 10 users. I'm going to buy a device tomorrow and I just want to make sure that what I buy will offer the best reception.

Oh yeah, and if any of you know about the range, would you know approximately how far away I can be? Thanks.

itai195 · Jun 10, 2004, 02:51 PM

Originally posted by Jansar:
However, does the Airport Extreme base station supply more power as far as range? I don't care about the user base...our house has less than 10 users. I'm going to buy a device tomorrow and I just want to make sure that what I buy will offer the best reception.

That answer should be on the tech specs page at Apple's site, but if you're going to buy something tomorrow then you can't get an Express anyway.

mitchell_pgh · Jun 10, 2004, 04:11 PM

One is a little more geared for the Cable/DSL home user, and the other is for those that need more (more users, modem, etc. etc.).

I see a little overlap, but not all that much.

jmonty12 · Jun 10, 2004, 06:09 PM

I believe one important difference between the Extreme and Express is that the Express does not have a LAN port. This means anything that connects to it must use a wireless method. Not necessarily a good thing if you have both a laptop and a wired desktop PC.

itai195 · Jun 10, 2004, 06:18 PM

Originally posted by jmonty12:
I believe one important difference between the Extreme and Express is that the Express does not have a LAN port. This means anything that connects to it must use a wireless method. Not necessarily a good thing if you have both a laptop and a wired desktop PC.

Check out other threads about this... that's not exactly true. It has an intelligent ethernet port. It can serve either function, just as the port on the original ABS could, even though both are labelled as WAN ports.

I must say, AirPort Express is causing a lot of confusion and an awful lot of people are not reading other posts before asking questions about it.

MikeD · Jun 11, 2004, 01:28 AM

Yeah but I think what he's talking about is that if you use it too in 'LAN mode' then where are you getting your internet signal from? If you only have to have one of the two devices, you can't have it act as BOTH LAN and WAN at the same time as there's only one. If it's in 'LAN mode', then your only option to have the express join an existing airport network. Yet, I think that he meant if it's your only basestation period, then all devices would have to be wireless.

Originally posted by itai195:
Check out other threads about this... that's not exactly true. It has an intelligent ethernet port. It can serve either function, just as the port on the original ABS could, even though both are labelled as WAN ports.

I must say, AirPort Express is causing a lot of confusion and an awful lot of people are not reading other posts before asking questions about it.

itai195 · Jun 11, 2004, 01:45 AM

Originally posted by MikeD:
I think that he meant if it's your only basestation period, then all devices would have to be wireless.

No they wouldn't, you can probably connect it to a switch just as you could one of the original Airport base stations (which also only had a 'WAN' port).

tooki · Jun 11, 2004, 02:26 AM

Please read the big thread on Airport Express (and the articles linked from it). It explains most everything you ask.

Basically, they're the same. Here's what's different:

AirPort Extreme:
-has separate LAN and WAN ports
-available with modem
-available with external antenna port
-available with Power-over-Ethernet
-uses external AC adapter
-can act as wired router in all cases

AirPort Express:
-designed for easy portability (built-in AC adapter)
-has combined LAN/WAN port (just like the first AirPort Base Station model)
-can act as wired router, with caveat (you must deactivate AP Express' DHCP server and use static IPs on the clients if your ISP uses DHCP and you want to also share the connection to wired clients)
-has audio out port

Here's what they have in common:
-54Mbit speed (802.11g)
-can act as wireless router
-can act as wireless repeater
-can act as wired-to-wireless bridge
-have NAT, firewall, router, etc
-have USB port for sharing one USB printer

tooki

Frumpy · Jun 13, 2004, 08:30 AM

So if I only have two of the Express's in my house, the signal will transfer from one to the other, right? If I have one wired to my cable modem, and another by my home stereo, i'll be fine, right?

Buck_W · Jun 14, 2004, 08:36 AM

I am interested in using Airport Express as a wireless bridge to extend my wireless network range, however... Apple's website claims that "Airport Express can extend the range only of an Airport Extreme or AirPort Express wireless network."

Does that mean it will not act as a wireless bridge for my D-Link router?

Jansar · Jun 14, 2004, 09:08 PM

---Airport Express UPDATE---

Just letting you all know that I ended up buying an Airport Extreme Base Station (the regular $250 one just in case I needed to purchase an extra antenna). Today I installed the Aria Extreme PCI wireless card in my MDD G4 and synched it with the base station.

The results are...good! My room is approximately 40 feet (just a guess) from the base station, plus I'm one floor down (separated by a couple closed doors and a staircase). The internet is both fast and reliable. I never expected this much power from such a small device. Furthermore, I'm typing this post with the same wireless access.

If any of you have any questions about the device that you think I can test or answer, go ahead and ask away.