Wi-Fi роутер Apple Airport Extreme 802.11n — 329 отзывов, плюсы и минусы

2 звезды только за отсутствие...

А теперь по порядку, как моя любимая компания(Apple) подкинула этот роутер и что он из себя представляет, сразу скажу,что я работаю в IT и эти многочисленные железки настраиваю без проблем и геммороя.
Купил модель MD031RS/A(соблазнили отзывы по аппарату и любовь к изделиям компании Apple).Распаковал и подключил...

После внедрения MD031LL/A в нашем офисе начались проблемы с ftp соединением. Программисты вешались, сисадмин задолбал звонками сначала провайдера, потом Apple, потом Microsoft. После безуспешных попыток обеспечить связь с помощью этого экстрима, вернулись к чудесно работающему [A..s].

Так и не понял как произошла настройка )) Подключил, ввел логин и пароль... перезапустил и все работает )) Приобретал для увеличения качества...

объективно ничего особенного в этой точке нет кроме брэнда.
любая другая не apple точка настраивается...

Настроил за несколько минут, чего не скажешь о других производителях...

recently switched internet service providers to comcast. verizon [previous ISP] gave me a router with 4 LAN ports, comcast gave me a modem with 1 WAN port, needless to say this was a problem. in addition to changing ISP i also changed my phone service from verizon to vonage VOIP which goes through your internet instead of a phone line so its much cheeper, but at a cost. i used an airport express for wireless for years and it still works great. i have the typical appliances like a macbook, windows tower, 360, netflix instant streaming box, ipods etc. and one WAN port just wasnt going to cut it.i bought a trendnet gigabyte 8 port ethernet switch to try and solve my problem, but it added more, mainly because of vonage, i had to connect the modem directly to the vonage box then to the ethernet switch, by trial and error this is the ONLY configuration that would work and it was slowing many things down rather than speeding them up. since the ethernet switch and vonage didnt play nice i bought an airport extreme base station.i bought a grade 'c' [bad aesthetic condition but i was expect a or b condition, but ow-well what can you do] refurbished unit. i had trouble installing it and thought the WAN port on it was broken on the AEBS, but it was just my own idiocy, i was about to return it then a thought popped into my head, i never tried reseting the modem, so a few hours was waisted because i didnt try the simplest of things, so i did that and presto! everything worked. the problem was the modem not sharing its IP address.i set it up so that the 5GHz and 2.4GHz frequencies had different labels. 5GHz is about 5MB/s faster than 2.4GHz, glad it had both for the variety of wireless devices. it TRIPLED my upload speed over both frequencies and over wired connection. upload was 1.3-ish, now its around 4.1Mb/s. the wired connection is noticeably faster for internet [which has always been a problem with my win7 tower]. vonage works well in the configuration that i WANT instead of the configuration that was extremely problematic.havent had any signal dropping issues, i have 5 bars everywhere in the house, and i have an airport express if i ever had to extend the network.printing works for my macbook [hassle free since i learned to do it with my express], but not for windows [yet] havent played around with it but i have heard its a hassle, but the windows computer is about 6 inches away from the AEBS so i can unplug the printer and swap it easily if i have to. for how close they are to each other, its almost not worth the time to set up the printer for both simultaneously.i tried using a flash drive that is formatted for HSF+ and the AEBS did detect it, but it wasnt available, ill look into that in the future. never really need a flash drive [thankful i dont i misplace everything] or an external because i just put a 1TB HDD in my tower and i can just drag and drop or stream things wirelessly.when a file sharing network between OSX and win7 DOES work i can stream 1080p over wireless just fine, but i still havent worked out all the bugs with that, so sometimes it will work, most of the time it wont. thats just a case between mac and windows and i have had the same problem for years so its not the AEBS's fault on this one, windows just needs to learn to play nice with macs.CONCLUSION: so after i reset my modem this worked like a charm, cant blame it for my own ignorance. its even better than i thought it would be and completely hassle free. dual band wireless works just how it should, no range problems [i put it up a bit high just in case] through 3 walls and 25 feet, wasnt expecting the extreme boost with uploads, but they call it 'extreme' for a reason. i will update this in the future if i get the printer working, flash drives working, or if this is some how the missing link between mac and windows that finally makes them work together. so far so good and its working better and faster than any other network configuration i have ever used. also want to note that every ethernet cable i use is cat6 because they are gigabyte capable, for home use i noticed a slight increase in speed with them, but for server and business use i have read that they are magnificent and are really cheap to buy on amazon.sorry if any of this doesnt make sense, i am dyslexic and cant see my mistakes as well as other people, i try my best

A few years back I had to scrap an old 802.11b/g D-Link router that was on it's last leg (and I was buying a laptop that had "n" technology so it timed well). I went to Best Buy and weighed my options and it came down to a Linksys and the Airport Extreme. I mulled it over for a bit and at that time I didn't own any Apple products (besides a video ipod) and the price was much higher than the others. The staff at BB was trying to sell me the AEBS and I figured as much due to the price...I went with the Linksys product.I am fairly tech-savy and really don't have any trouble with electronics at all. That being said I know that networking is a pain in the rear no matter what anyone says. The Linksys was difficult to say the least, but only slightly more confusing than the old D-Link. It continued to get more difficult the more network devices I began to accumulate (PS3, PSP, network-capable television, MacBook Pro, etc) and had to configure the router manually every dang time something was added. Then set up the QoS list, and find all the devices' IP address, MAC address and plug all this into the router. Then let's say that a friend brought over his laptop and wanted to hop on so...here we go again!!!!! Just a head ache all in all!! Then more recently the router started dropping the network out of nowhere a little at first and then increasingly more often. Sometimes numerous times a day! This became infuriating after about a day or two so I started the search for a new one.Having recently purchased a MacBook Pro (and hating all things Windows based!!!!!!!!!!) I am slowly converting over to Apple-World. So my first inclination was to look at the AEBS right off. After doing a little research I went down to the store and picked on up (had to have it tonight, remember, the dropping-signal-router?). Man, that price! But whatever, it's Apple, things are always more expensive but you get what you pay for with Apple!AND BOY DO YOU!!!!!!!!!!! I pulled the old router out of the system and installed the AiPort Extreme Utility that came on the disc in the box on my Mac and the wife's VAIO, easy 'nuff. 5 minutes tops (and I am including getting a knife to open the plastic surrounding the box!). Then plugged all the ethernet cables I use into the back of the AEBS including the WAN cable, then plugged the power cable in. Within the minute the (new) software on my Mac found the new AEBS, clicked "want to create a new network", set a password for the unit and for the guest network, and it restart itself when I was done. I was then instructed to restart my cable modem. Another 5 minutes down. I then went to the kitchen area to grab our wireless printer (I reset the printer back to factory defaults to clear the network info in the printer) and brought it to the AEBS and plugged it in via USB cable. Opened up the Airport utility on the MAC, entered the password, went to the printers tab, selected my Lexmark printer and clicked the box to use it wirelessly. The AEBS restarted itself after that. Unplugged the USB cable, and plugged the printer back in the kitchen area, typed the AEBS password into the printer and done. Proceeded to check the (now hardwired) PS3 and the AEBS did everything itself. Set the television to its network factory defaults and rescanned, AEBS did the work behind the scenes; all done. On to the cell phones, type in the new password, done. Move to the wife's VAIO (and what I thought would be the real test of ease-of-use with this thing) and YUP! Network found, type in password, good to go! So I did in under 15 minutes what took me at least initially 2 hours and countless more over the years of owning the Linksys!!!!Granted, this is the FIRST NIGHT i've owned the product so I can't speak to it's long term ease of use, so keep that in mind. I just had to get on Amazon and write this review it was so easy!!!!!!!!! I am forever impressed with Apple's ingenuity! Everything Apple just works and works the way it's supposed to! I also love the fact that it's dual band so the router speed won't drop down to "g" speed the second a "g-based" device gets on. I checked the speed in the Mac's Network Utility and YUP! Sitting at full "n" speed even though all the other "g-based" devices are on!!! I love this thing! Super easy setup and for networking that is saying a whole hell of a lot! Well worth the price! The only regret I have is not buying this thing almost two years ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Recently I was looking for a router that would let me use a USB drive to back up my MACs using time machine and my PCs using Windoze backup. Clearly there's a configuration issue here.I originally had a Belkin N Wireless router. It was cool but it started killing wireless connections after a while. I also had a hard time with the USB HD setup. It wouldn't read a partitioned drive so it was of no use. I ditched it and picked up the latest D-Link N router. It was faster and more stable than my Belkin but I had to use a 3rd party open source software to read the drive and it wasn't very stable at all. Sometimes it would read the drive and sometimes it wouldn't... then it would hang my machines (MAC & PC)!I finally broke down and thought I would try the Airport Extreme. After looking at all the GREAT reviews on it I just KNEW it couldn't be as good as other say. Since Amazons return policy was so good, I thought I would give it a try. Well... Not only was I able to use the Partitioned drive like I wanted too, It's 5G thingy is super fast with GREAT range!Setup:The setup was almost a no brainer. It took all of 5 min. Once I got the 5G network setup and the Guest Network setup I was golden.I connected my:- Sony TV (a/n) (277-300mbps)- Logitech Revue Google TV (g/n) (65mbps)- iPhone 3Gs (g) (54 mbps)- HP Printer (g) (54-65 mbps)- Desktop PC (b/n) (144 mbps)- Macbook Pro (a/n) (216-300 mbps)- Sling Box Pro (hardwire) (gigabit)Speed:I listed the speeds next to the names above. The speed of the device itself is pretty good. It doesn't run hot and I don't see any lag when using multiple machines at the same time.Range:I have a 8000 sqft. lot. The house is 1800 sqft. The router is in the front of the house in a bedroom corner. I have a detached garage in the back of the property. I can still see and use my network from my iPhone sitting in my truck in the garage next to the pool. So range isn't an issue for this device.HDD:I now have my mac running time machine backing up to one partition on the USB drive connected to the APE. I also have my desktop PC backing up to the APE. Both machines are running on a schedule so there are times where they overlap. I had to format the PC part to fat32. Which isn't a big deal as long as the backups were happening. One thing I DO like is that I was able to take my music catalog and put it on the drive and now I can see it from both machines. If you have Windoze Media Player 11 you can use it as a Media Server (as long as it's open) and stream music across the network.Network (Guest):It has this nifty guest network configuration which I thought was neat. I was able to "hide" MY network (not broadcast it's name) and still connect my devices to the APE. I was also able to create a "Guest Network" so when people come over and ask "can I connect to your wifi?" I say "Sure! Look for the network that say's YOU DON'T LIVE HERE". They always get a kick out of that.Summary:All in all I think Apple hit it out of the park with this one. I am 100% pleased with the product so far and I have no issues to complain about. I did see some reviews where people were complaining about how many hardwire connectors are on the APE. True there's only 3 but I don't think that should stop anyone from getting it. Most items are wireless now-a-days and if you need more than 3, then a simple expansion switch can run you anywhere from $10-100 (depending on how many more ports you require).I hope this helps someone out there. Apple has made me a believer out of me when it comes to the APE.Cheers!

I've owned several wireless routers so far, and am a Windows / Linux / PC guy, but I decided that this wireless router was the one for me. Past wireless routers seem to malfunction over time (DHCP, wireless signal, etc.) and the Airport brand seems like it tends to last longer (I'm hoping for five years vs. the more typical two, but we'll see). I'm interested in future proofing where I can (802.11n, IPv6, etc.), and this Airport Extreme does seem to be best of breed (simultaneous dual band, DHCP reservations, etc.), with other features as icing on the cake (disk and printer sharing).So far, it's performed well. It's fast, relatively easy to understand, simultaneous dual band and DHCP reservations work, settings are easy to import/export, which I find quite valuable, it runs cool, and range is impressive, best I've seen yet. I can be in my backyard some distance from my house and have a fast and solid wireless connection to my laptop, which I couldn't do with past wireless routers. The potential cons aren't a real big deal, have been mentioned elsewhere before, and you may already be aware of them, but I'll mention them again here just to be complete.Given how feature packed this product is, I found it quite time consuming to setup, then I had expected it to be to configure it the first time. I did do a manual setup (not an easy setup), but the Apple brand does setup high expectations in this regard.It does have a few unusual defaults here and there, such as setting DHCP to hand out by default internal IP addresses of the 10.x.x.x variety, and not the more common 192.x.x.x IP addresses that most other products will use (but I found this can be changed).Probably the biggest thing, you will need to install and use the AirPort Utility to both configure and manage the AirPort Extreme, which doesn't have a Ubuntu flavor (but MAC and Windows OSes are of course covered). I do like the slick feel of AirPort Utility, but I personally find it preferable to use a simple web interface when possible, which is generally quick, easy, and universally compatible with any operating system. Still, for as often as you'll likely need to setup or manage the AirPort Extreme (almost never), it's not a big deal.As has also been mentioned, for disk sharing, the AirPort Extreme doesn't work with the standard NTFS format, as this is a propriety format controlled by Microsoft. If you can grab a free Ubuntu or System Rescue CD, you can use an easy tool like GParted to format the drive as HFS+, which will make the drive visible to the AirPort Extreme. Again, not a big deal, just something to be aware of.For the best performance, you'll want to use the wireless 5GHz and not just the standard 2.4GHz band. As not everyone may know, most cell phones and older laptops only support the older / slower/ more crowed 2.4GHz wireless band. Over time as newer laptops and cell phones come out, this situation should approve. Also not a big deal, just something to be aware of.All in all, I'm very happy with the AirPort Extreme so far. While the performance and functionality are both nice, the range seems quite exceptional, so I'm very please with that. I'm hoping the longevity of the product delivers like it has for others, which I'll know better in a few years down the road. If you're looking for a best of breed product, even if you don't own any MAC gear yet, and of course it's in your price range, I'd highly recommend the AirPort Extreme.

ORIGINAL REVIEW - Dec. 2009As far as my services go, we have AT&T's Elite (if you can call it that) DSL service. For years my parents have opted to go with the decent but otherwise middle-of-the-road gateway that AT&T (then SBC) provided as a step up from a simple modem. AT&T's brand of choice for these modem/router combos or "gateways" is 2Wire; and for the past few years we've been using their 2700HG-B.As far as the network goes, our house is of a fairly modest size. The gateway has always been in my room, largely because I'm the techie of the house, plus I have the most devices that require wired ethernet connections. My room consists of:- Desktop Windows 7 PC (build) - wired- MacBook Pro 13" (late-2009) - wireless-N- XBOX 360 (Pro 60GB) - wired- PlayStation 3 Slim (120GB) - wireless-G (added since initial review)*- AppleTV 40GB - wireless-N- DirecTV HR22 - wiredElsewhere, other roaming devices in the house include:- iPhone 3GS - wireless-G- Dell 1505 - wireless-G- Dell 1505 - wireless-GSometime in the past few months AT&T/2Wire (likely AT&T) pushed out a less than desirable firmware update. I gained WPA2 encryption but it almost literally bricked the 2700HG-B... it meant nothing but frequent restarts of the gateway (sometimes multiple times, consecutively; leaving it unusable), which was usually spurred by my MacBook Pro and/or iPhone using Wi-Fi. I spent hours on forums, and even found out this was a fairly common issue with other 2700HG-B users, but no fix came down the pike from AT&T or 2Wire. After years of only using these gateways, I figured it was finally time we went with a router, in addition to an older single-use modem we had lying around.At first I had my eyes set on D-Link's mid-range wireless-N routers, the DIR-655 (D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N Wireless Router) and DIR-825 (D-Link Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit Router). I'd heard very mixed reviews about the 655 and even worse things about the 825. Then I stumbled upon Netgear's WNDR3700 (Netgear Rangemax WNDR3700 Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router (Black)); it seems to have very comparable features to the Airport Extreme, and had almost nothing but good reviews. However, ever since thinking about purchasing a third-party router, the AEBS was always my pick. And if I was going to spend that much money on the WNDR3700, I might as well spend the extra ten or so bucks and get the AEBS.Pros:+ It's an Apple product. Packaged well, designed well, built well, and it works well. Plain and simple.+ Fairly easy setup. Again, this is my first router, and being spoiled with having AT&T's gateways, I'd never had to tweak anything other than which band(s) of Wi-Fi I wanted the thing to broadcast--and maybe which channel broadcast it in (1, 6, 11). PPPoE was about the only curveball I was thrown during the AEBS setup. I was aware--because of prior research--that PPPoE would have to be tweaked on the modem in order for the Airport Extreme to work. Once I got that fixed, everything was golden.+ Airport Utility vs. web-based UI. Although some might not prefer it, I find the client-based interface to work well. This means that you need to install the Airport Utility on all of your computers as opposed to visiting the router's IP address/webpage in a normal browser from any of your machines. I suppose you could connect a computer on which you have no intentions of tweaking the network with, without installing this Utility--but again, you'll be cut off from changing any settings since they're only accessible within the Utility. But I have no problems with this system. Initially the Utility gives you a step-by-step method in order to get things working. Whenever you want to tweak the settings, it will use this same step-by-step method. Nonetheless, there is a "Manual Setup" button which brings up an array tabs for options in general setup, wireless connectivity, sharing, disks, printers, internet connectivity settings, guest networking, etc... It takes all of that step-by-step procedure and throws it into a series of menus just like techies are accustomed to. Those who are less technical will probably like that initial step-by-step method better, and find it less offensive when using the Airport Utility's interface.+ Guest networking. This is pretty straight forward. The WNDR3700 has this feature as well. The Airport Utility gives you the option to give this network a separate name (SSID) and password--or no password at all.+ USB device support. As of now, I have an old 2.5" Samsung laptop HDD hooked up to the AEBS just to test out the AEBS's network storage functionality. It's formatted HFS (journaled) and is accessible to all computers on the network--PC and Mac. Albeit, it shows as FAT32-based to the Windows machines, it can even be accessed by guest users (if you want them to be able to). Transferring 48GB took about an hour [via ethernet to the AEBS, and of course USB 2.0 to the HDD] to give you an idea of the practicality of this feature. Disk sharing can be pa

I had switched to Apple routers after years of frustration with Linksys and (worst of the worst) Belkin routers.Upgraded to this latest APE from the older, single band model (MB053LL/A) for the obvious advantages and improved technology. Cosmetically, the units are identical. Set up remains similar: hook up the connections, load the software, set parameters, passwords and wireless options, then reboot the modem and then the router. You can also reboot the PC to make sure everything's in working order. The process ran smoother than on the old router which had trouble being recognized.The best compliment that can be said about routers in general is "set it and forget it" - this applies admirably to the AirPort Extreme line. Once set up, although parameters may need tweaking here and there as you update your network and new needs arise, the APE performs consistently. Most easily fixed problems arise from failure to reboot the modem/router after setup, and failure to specify the Radio mode and check the 5GHz box. Adjustments of the Multicast rate, Transmit power, and wide channel toggle are worth experimenting with to achieve optimal performance for your set up. Also, specifying the laptop's modem and connection settings to take full advantage of the network speed.I attempted to put the old AirPort to use as an extender and hub but didn't have the patience to get things right. I ended up using a Netgear ethernet hub with more ports.As with other AirPorts, there is no QoS/ packet prioritization. This is a big deal and many shun these routers because of this omission. I just bought the Ooma ooma Core VoIP Phone System with No Monthly Phone Service Bills which has built in QoS, however it's attached behind the router since I didn't want anything in front of the router. I have enough bandwidth that so far no problems arise. A solution could be Linksys Network Optimizer for Gaming and VoIP between the VoIP device and the AirPort.Now on to USB drives attached to the APE. My main PC is Win 7, other attached PC have XP, one Ubuntu, and wireless laptop and gizmos. The many limitations of the FAT32 format are frustrating. Windows 7, Vista, XP do not allow for formatting FAT, so you have to search around for freeware, or use Linux or a MAc. Windows 7 offers exFAT formatting option which is NOT recognized by APE. Since NTFS is also unrecognized, your options are FAT32 or the Mac native hfs+. The latter is a modern full featured format without limitations of FAT and is thus preferred.For a Windows user, either choice is problematic at first, and each has advantages/disadvantages. The greatest drawback of FAT32 (after the hurdle of formatting the drive in the first place) is file size limit cap of 4GB. Want to load that 12 gig mkv file? Can't do it- same limitation as on PS3. The greatest advantage on the other hand is portability and universal recognition across multiple OSs. This was my format on the old APE.For the new router I decided to give HFS+ a try. I'm someone who never "got" the Mac platform and still don't understand its appeal. However, other than Windows, I'm an increasingly avid Ubuntu user for several years now (lunacy, yes, I've been told). You can't plug in a drive in a PC and format to HFS. On Linux I didn't see hfsplus as a formatting option, though I know it formats Mac discs but not sure it's hfs+.Your options are to spend $$ on MacDrive 8 For Windows which works very well, allowing direct hfs+ formatting and use of drive for read/write by Windows. (Thre's a freeware prog out there, but I'm unsure if it's read only, like the Apple available one). You can buy a pre-formatted Mac drive (Seagate and WD have them) but Windows wont recognise them unless plugged into the router. Bring your drive to an Apple Store and beg the geeks to take pity and format it for you; or, as I did, ask your (a) kid to borrow their MacBook.Now that you have the properly formatted drive and attached it to the AirPort, Windows sees it as FAT32 formatted, even though it's HFS+. Now file size limitations no longer apply. Problems arise if you ever want to connect the drive directly to a PC, in which case it won't be recognized and Windows will prompt to format it. Ubuntu sees it as a normal drive.One of the reasons to remove the drive from the router is for faster file download. What takes a few minutes on direct PC attachment can take 30-60 min to load when attached to the router. It's much more efficient to load files while the drive is directly attached to the computer than to do it attached to the router. If you have tons of files it'll be a slow process.I also had several instances when the drive dropped from the network and unable to access it. sometimes it shows up in Windows but I can't connect to it. I never had this problem on the FAT32 disc and the old APE. Also, some drives are notorious for inability to wake and remain inaccessible unless replugged. The Airdisk utility loads at startup allowing connection to the dri

* I purchased this New Apple SIM Router in late August 09. This particular Apple Router, the latest generation, has been quite an Improvement over their older generation router's. This was also a long-awaited Upgrade from our previous Linksys-G routers, which were quite reliable, but didn't have the latest features that we were looking for to match-up with our New Mac's. I also have an Airport Express that I use as my Travel Router.* There was at least 3 very Important Features that we were looking for in the latest Generation of Routers, which were: (1) Uses the latest 802.11(n) wireless technology, (2) Simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi, and (3) had an Extended Wi-Fi coverage, for our business & large property footprint.So we took our time to Research & look-up Consumer & Technical `Reviews", among various web sites, magazines and forums, including CNET, Amazon, CES and others.* Compatible with the PS3, the Nintendo Wii, and all of our new Intel Mac's, with the latest 802.11(n) wireless technology , as well as a couple of Windoze Boxes. All `Firmware' Updates for our PS3 & Wii have been very fast and reliable.* I have given this New SIM AEBS, a 5-Star rating based on our User experience so far, and because it has Performed Perfectly!Pro's -* Simultaneous dual-band (2.4GHz + 5.0GHz) support is the perfect Wireless Access Point (WAP) for home, or business. It offers fast, 802.11(n) Wi-Fi access for Mac computers, PCs, and Wi-Fi `devices' such my Nokia, an iPhone, two iPod touch's, and an Apple TV. It Just Simply Works Fantastically!Solid - No ReBoots, 5x Reception, it's Transparent and produces Faster Speeds as verified by SpeedTest dot net.* Easy wireless networking Set-Up - How?Just connect your DSL or cable modem Ethernet cable to the "designated" Ethernet AEBS port. The easy-to-use CD with AirPort Utility (Mac and Windows) simply takes out the `set-up' hassle. It took me less than 8 minutes.It took me longer to Mount & Attach the Airport `vertically', high up on the wall by using the clear cast Acrylic H-Squared Air Mount, which fits & works perfectly, btw.By placing your AirPort Extreme up on a wall, you will both save desktop space and ensure Maximum Wireless Signal & Range.* Simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi - What this means is:For maximum Range & Compatibility, AirPort Extreme works simultaneously on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, allowing all the devices on the network to use the most efficient band automatically. It uses the latest 802.11n wireless technology, so you can enjoy up to five times the Wi-Fi performance and up to twice the range of 802.11g wireless networks.* Guest networking - How It works:Since we operate several Vacation Rental properties in Hawaii, we set up a "Guest Only" Wi-Fi network with a separate password for our guests so this means that our guests can use our Wi-Fi Internet but can't access other parts of our private network, such as our computers, printers, and/or any attached hard drives.* Wi-Fi - Wireless client access: Maximum Performance & capability with 802.11 a/b/g/n, also known as `Quad-Mode' now, working simultaneously on both the 2.4GHz & 5GHz bands, allowing all the devices on the network to use the most efficient band automatically.- Our Router experiences + comparison's has been against a very reliable 6-year old Linksys WRT54GWireless-G Router, where the Wireless antenna went out one day. It had provided great Wi-Fi coverage Range up to about 75 ft radius, where we could get 2 to 3 signal bars. It was immediately replaced with a New Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router. The WRT310N model did not impress us at all, as it did not even perform nor did it out-perform our old WRT54G model.RANGE - Before, about 75 feet Maximum; Now I'm picking up Signal's at 300 ft away!That's CRAZY! I used iStumbler to compare our Neighborhood Networks, before I could only pick up 2 at the most, now I'm showing a Cool Baker's Dozen!* Print without wires - Have not used the USB port for our Canon MX-860, because we are all using BlueTooth. We simply love BT ... it Rocks!* Share your hard drive - We are planning to share an external USB hard drive over our wireless and wired networks, later this month. I will Update this part of the Review later.Strong security and access controls - It offers a built-in firewall and supports industry-standard encryption technologies including WPA/WPA2 and 128-bit WEP, to prevent unauthorized intrusion into your wireless network.- The AirPort Utility (Mac & Windows) makes it dead simple to make any changes or tweaks to your Security or Performance Controls.Con's -* Does Not use `a Web-based Access Control', as most other Router Manufacturer's. Our Old Linksys Router was completely accessible from any PC AND use a third-party firmware, such as DD-WRT or Tomato, which worked well for creating `router setting tweaks', but only if your Router Model offered enough RAM and flash memory.Point: Lacking this feature might be a deal-breaker for some people, but it

I've used Linksys routers for about 7 years now. I had one of their 4-port wired routers in college. Then had a WRT54G for about 3 years, and it was awesome. Bought the same for my dad after I'd had mine for a year, and he's been happy with its performance. Same story for my girlfriend's mom. My former roommate in college got one after he moved out, and no problems. I'd get worried phone calls if anything went wrong, since I'm basically tech support for these folks. I'd thrown DD-WRT on mine to get a little more control over the fine-grain network settings, and it never gave me a single issue, and in addition it had really great range. When I got an N adapter for my Xbox360 at Christmastime and my girlfriend got her N-compatible MacBook, I decided it was time to give N networking a try. So being the Linksys loyalist that I was, and not wanting to spend a fortune, I went out and bought a Linksys by Cisco WRT160N Wireless-N Broadband Router.I gave the WRT54G to her, since she needed a router for her apartment, and it had been rock-solid. It's still treating her well. The same can not be said for me with my new 160N. It's been nothing but a headache from the day I purchased it until yesterday, when I finally got rid of it. Almost weekly firmware flashes, daily rebooting, all in an effort to fix the problem of it constantly dropping my wireless connection. It didn't matter how many things were connected to it, or what their connection speeds were. After 15 minutes or so, it'd drop the connection. Try googling "WRT160N drop connection" and you'll see this is a fairly common problem. I even tried putting DD-WRT on it, and even with the control that gave me over what the router was doing, I still couldn't get it to keep a wireless connection up. I kept waiting for the magical firmware update from either DD-WRT or Linksys that would fix my problem, and in the meantime I kept tinkering with settings in hopes that I'd find some mystery value that would make everything work properly. Didn't happen. I literally hadn't gone a single day, hell, even a single hour in 3 MONTHS without losing my connection with the 160N.Finally, after countless hours searching for answers, and finding nothing but frustration, with no response out of Linksys, I'd had enough. I bit the bullet and went out and bought an Airport Extreme. Sunshine, rainbows, and cuddly puppies! It actually works! This is a 100% better experience than the 160N, and was even easier to set up than the trusty WRT54G, which I could basically do blindfolded at this point. This despite the Airport Extreme being a more complex piece of electronics. Apple isn't known for their networking devices, but if they keep making them like this, maybe they will be. All I had to do was install the Airport software, plug the Airport Extreme in, set a couple of configuration options in the wizard, and bam! instant networking. All told it took maybe 15 minutes, including telling all my devices what the network ID & password are.My Xbox360, PS3, Windows 7 desktop PC, her Macbook, and both of our iPod Touches all see and connect to their respective (n and g) networks on the Airport Extreme just fine, and I haven't dropped a connection yet (admittedly it's been on for a day, but the previous router would've dropped more times than I can count by now). File transfers across the network are now possible, and the speed is also much greater than it was on the 160N. You could argue that anything that kept a connection would have made me happy, and that's pretty valid. On the other hand, this thing not only keeps connections, it also:1. Allows N and G devices to connect at the same time without slowing the N devices down to G speeds.2. Allows printer sharing with a USB printer3. Allows any USB hard drive to act as NAS4. Allows drastically faster file transfers between my PC and her MacBook just by connecting via an ethernet cable, due to having Gigabit portsThis meets my networking needs now, and allows room for expansion as pointed out above. I used to be skeptical of anything with an Apple logo (and the high price tag that comes along with it), but the Airport Extreme has proven to be a great piece of equipment, and well worth the money.Linksys, you've got a strong competitor in Apple, and - due to a terrible product release followed by nonexistent support - lost a loyal customer.

It came in an original box with the instructions. I followed those instructions partially and had to go do it again to the letter and then it was up and running soon after. I have yet to use all of the features like attaching a HD and a printer. It is faster and the signal is stronger and greater range than the old Linksys router I have. I must say that in the box it is a lot heavier that I expected it to be.

I picked this up used. I see the prices for new and balk every time I see it. So, I took a chance and got this and it has worked flawlessly. The Mac Pro I use (2008 Dual 2.8 Quad-Core Xeon) has the 3 cables, not just the 2, but I just attached cables 1 and 2 and left 3 hanging and it works great! Installation is only a little tricky, seeing as it should come with 2 TINY screws that can be easily lost in the installation process. Make sure you have time and patience in case you have meat hooks for hands like I do. I would recommend this for the 2008 Mac Pro line.

Bought this and the directions that came with it were not for a 2008 pro, but none the less I took out the memory module and the card went right underneath. I understand the people frustrated with small screws and so on, but if your buying an internal computer part, that seems a silly complaint. the card went in in about 10 minutes, I could redo the job in two, just took a while to understand the directions seeing as they were for a different motherboard. Anyways, if you need wireless in your mac pro, go with this card, easy cheap upgrade. I recommend. Mine looks exactly like the picture, and works perfectly.

Purchased the kit incl airport express which did work flawlessly but Bluetooth chip did not work had an apple tech double check it and does not work. I did message this company in regards unfortunately I didn't do it through the claims process but they never did return my messages. I am re-purchasing this from the same company in the hopes of not only this one working but them coming to the table with a credit or something in regarding the chip that was shipped defective so I can rate them better and have them come to the table

Set up and configuration was simple and operation has been seamless. As an IT professional I'm ready to leave the other router variations aside and move to one simple solid solution.

We were looking for a new computer for my wife, an we made the leap to the iMAC because all the components are integrated into the monitor (thus out of reach of our small children) and the MAC enthusiasts at work rave about it. We made the right choice...once you get used to the differences in the OS, the machine is a breeze. The wife (a non-techie) loves it...and that's all that matters!My trusty D-Link router began to fail...dropped the wireless signal when the wireless devices were inactive for several hours...so I decided to try the Airport Extreme to take advantage of the iMAC's wireless N and still be able to connect with our wireless G devices (custom built WinXP PC, Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop, and an XBox). The USB port for printer sharing and network storage were also key decision points...and the ability to set up a guest network is a big boonus.For the tech-minded...the router is connected to a Cox cable modem, my custom PC is connected through the ethernet port, and the iMAC, Dell laptop, and XBox (wirless G, for now) connect wirelessly.After a week of use (I'll follow up with an update in a few months), life is grand. The iMAC, PC, laptop, and XBox all connect well and the signal hasn't dropped once. I connected an Iomega external drive and an HP PCS 2210 AIO printer via a D-Link USB hub. Both were recognized instantly and transfering files/favorites between the PC and the iMAC via the network drive is a snap. The iMAC prints via the wireless network without a problem, but my PC can't recognize the printer through the Airport...yet (I'm sure a call to tech support will fix this...more on tech support later).The only markdown I gave this router was for ease of setup. I've set up many wireless networks using several types of routers from Florida to Alaska, and to be honest...the Airport Extreme is the only router I've had to call tech support with. The Airport software utility is not particularly challenging to use, but for some reason, though all of the devices in my house could log into the network...none could access the internet. One 60 min call with Apple support had me up and running. After some standard setting checks didn't fix the problem, they knew enough about the various cable modems to know that powering down my Cox cable modem and removing the battery was not enough to reset it to work with the new router (assign a new IP address)...only holding down the reset button would do the trick. Kudos to Apple support.Just a couple of comments on Apple support. The 2 tech reps I spoke with were English-speaking Americans (out of Austin TX and Sacramento CA), and neither tackled my problem with the scripted responses I've fought through with 3d world, outsourced tech reps used by other companies. Thanks Apple! My only issue with Apple support is that phone support is only available from 6am-6pm (Pacific Time), and there's no 24-hr web chat like HP, Norton, and others offer. The reps were curteous and knowlegeable, but with small kids, I do most of my tinkering after they've gone to bed...and Apple support is closed.Bottom line...it may take a call or two with Apple support to get all the functions working the way you want, but it's well worth it. The router is fast, stable, and all of the advertized capabilities work.

I was in the market for a new wireless router; the wireless router I have (Netgear 802.11g) was acting up; I had to reset it at LEAST twice a day; it kept on losing the IP addresses of our network; our network consists of two PC laptops, one MacBook, two iPhone 4's, and a Ethernet HP Officejet printer that is configured to print through the wireless network.After doing MONTHS of research for a new wireless router, I decided to buy the Airport Extreme Base Station based on customer reviews, and people that own it. They both have said the same thing; easy to set up, and it just works. I bought it last week, and I got it yesterday, and I was planning on a 2 hour session to configure the IP addresses in our network, setting up the printer that is hard-wired to print from wireless, and put in the new passwords for the two iPhone 4 that we use.Well, after opening it, bringing down my MacBook, and setting it up; it took me the max of 12 minutes. That's with setting up the IP addresses, guest networking, wireless encryption, and the whole nine yards. I've set up wireless networks before in the past, and speaking from experience, it is a pain in the butt because you have to make sure that your gear works with the wireless router, if it doesn't, you have to buy more things that will make it compatible, and that of that good stuff. With this wireless router, it just works.Setting up the Airport Extreme Base Station was a walk in the park; open Airport Utility (on a Mac), go through the instructions on the screen, and your done. It just works.The speed is very fast; traveling through the network at 300Mbps just on wireless n, but last night, I got smart and I decided to take my old wireless g router and turn it into a wireless bridge (basically, jumping up the speed and range of our network; I can now get range in my backyard with just wireless n alone where wireless g would drop, but both of them together are working like champs).I am extremely happy about this product; it works like advertised, it's FAST, and it does its job. I will definitely buy another AEBS in the future once Gigabit Wireless (802.11ab) hits the market. In the mean-time, I am very happy with this product, and I am going to keep on enjoying it. Thanks for reading my review.

This card worked flawlessly with my Mac Pro. It was nice to be able to use the built in OSX wireless utility since this is a genuine Apple part.

My Mac Pro (1st gen) did not come with a wireless card and the configuration of my home network and location of the computer made it necessary that it have one. The item arrived in a timely manner and, after a brief tutorial found online, I had no trouble installing it. With a little patience, installation is as easy as mounting with two screws and attaching two antennae wires.

This is for the Apple AirPort Extreme's current model. If you have the Round AirPort Extreme Bridge/Access Point, DO NOT PURCHASE THIS.

Just plain didn't work. Was very surprised to have an apple product that worked so poorly. I was trying to connect to my airport from upstairs, on my Mac Pro 3ghz dual core intel. Sometimes it would see the network but never connect.

Before I purchased the Airport Extreme, I tried two other well known name brand dual band routers. Because I had on PC with legacy equipment in my house, those routers did not support the protocols it would support, although they worked fine with my newer equipment. This was a problem though, because that one old piece of technology acts as my printer hub and file storage. I also had a harder time setting those other two routers up. Their web page interface wasn't bad, but definitely wasn't real easy and didn't explain a lot of things.So I eventually got frustrated with them and tried ordering the AirPort Extreme, dual band router. Once I received it, I literally had it up and running, with dual networks that supported all my PC equipment, in just over 10 minutes! I cannot overstate how much better this was. Previous routers took about half an hour; more if you consider the time I spent trying to get my older machine on the lower speed network.Now, I have my older equipment on their own a/b/g network and my new on the 802.11n network. If you're not aware of this fact, be warned: if you set up an 802.11n network and have equipment that only supports a, b, or g, on that network, they will work, but your other devices will also be slowed down to the old equipment's level. For example, my old computer only supported wireless a or g. So while it was on the 802.11n network, ALL my devices were operating at only 802.11g speeds. Now my new equipment is much faster on the n network and my print server and files are all happy on their own g network. It was simply amazing how easy and quick all of this was to set up. I highly recommend the Airport Extreme dual band router. It is a bit more expensive than some other 802.11n dual band routers you can find, but it's worth it. Don't forget that while the router is usually sold at around $149 brand new, you can often find one in excellent condition, factory refurbished with warranty for around $99 which is what those other cheaper 802.11n dual band routers will cost you.In the end, Apple does it again. They make a product that's easy to set up and manage and that just works for you without all the fuss.

Couldn't be happier with the Apple AirPort Extreme! Easy installation, strong signal, wide range! I have a 3,500sq ft homes, and don't have a problem with signal Anywhere in it!

I installed this card on my MacPro 3,1. I ordered a used version that was in like new condition for half the price of new. When installing one of these cards take your time and be patient hooking up the antenna leads as these can be a little tricky or frustrating. The screws to secure the card are small, so I recommend using a magnetized screwdriver to install so you don't lose the screws down in the case somewhere. OS 10.7.X and 10.8 will call the WiFi "Wi-Fi" in your network prefs pane, 10.6.X and lower will call it "AirPort". While I use the dual gigabyte networking on my Mac, I wanted the extra option of using WiFi if needed. I didn't have to enable "n" WiFi on this card, so I have great connection to my AirPort Extreme base station.

This review is going to mention a number of products--because a wireless network is all about infrastructure and integration. I purchased the AirPort Extreme to pull a number of other devices together, so I hope shoppers considering it will find this kind of review useful.Since 2001 I have used the original AirPort (graphite), the AirPort Extreme (2003) with modem, and a host of Netgear and Linksys wireless routers to set up 802.11x networks at work and at home. The latter work well in their applications, and this review is not intended to knock any of them.Apple M8209LL/A AirPort Base StationApple M8799LL/A AirPort Extreme Base Station with Modem and Antenna PortBut at home, I'm not a masochist. I want my networking system to work with my gear, and I don't want to spend hours setting it up and more hours dealing with changes to my system.When we replaced our home theater system after an equipment meltdown (thankfully insured), I wanted to add a Logitech Squeezebox to the receiver, streaming music from a ReadyNAS Duo. The problem was that the older AirPort Extreme was in our office at one end of the house, and didn't have the range to reach the family room where the Squeezebox receiver is located.Netgear ReadyNAS Duo 2-Bay (Diskless) Desktop Network Storage RND2000Logitech Squeezebox Duet WiFi Internet RadioMy first thought was to add an AirPort Express as an extender--plug it in at a suitable halfway point and allow it to extend the network. This was only half the solution, because the most recent AirPort Express is an 802.11N-centric device, and it proved to be nearly impossible to set up a stable Wireless Distribution System (WDS) with the older AirPort Extreme.Apple Airport ExpressThe solution turned out to be recognizing that, gradually, all of the wireless devices in our home now support at least 802.11G, and our computers all support 802.11N. On AirPort devices that also support 802.11N, it turns out that Apple has developed a much simpler way to link AirPorts in an extended network.The new AirPort Extreme arrived two days ago. Installation was classic Apple: open, remove plastic cling wrap, and plug in. Using AirPort Utility, I entered the new base station and network passwords, and needed to reset my cable modem to allow it to recognize the new MAC address it was feeding. (I should also note that AirPort Utility allowed me to view the settings of the OLD AirPort while I was setting up the NEW AirPort.) Installation took a grand total of 12 minutes, including slitting the packing tape on the shipping box.The second step was setting up the AirPort Express. This involved setting a base station password, naming it, and then following the three step procedure in the Help menu for "Extending a Wireless Network." The steps are: Click a checkbox in the AirPort Extreme's settings to "Allow This Wireless Network To Be Extended," choose a popup menu item in the AirPort Express's settings to "Extend a wireless network", and tell the AirPort Express which network it is extending along with password.Once settings are saved, the network is extended. Using the 802.11N standard still involves a small hit in networking speed, but because of the greatly increased throughput it's not as large a decrease as in earlier versions.This kind of configuration would have involved multiple instances of changing IP addresses, network SSIDs, and finger-crossing with other routers. (Believe me, I've done it successfully, and I plan for a two-hour session, even with known configurations.)With the AirPort Extreme and Express, it just happened. My Squeezebox is now happily streaming music to the receiver, TiVo is receiving streamed programs from Netflix with (almost) no rebuffering--a huge improvement--and both my spouse and I are happily living in the 21st Century!TiVo TCD652160 HD Digital Video RecorderTiVo AG0100 Wireless G USB Network Adapter for TiVo Series 2 and Series 3 DVRsAs I said at the top, I don't want to spend hours tearing apart and troubleshooting my network at home--home is for relaxing and enjoying time with friends and family. The AirPort Extreme is ideal as one building block of that equation.

Cheap, install straight forward with simple online search. Use a magnetic screwdriver to place screws. Used antennae cables 1 and 3 per previous reviews. Mac Pro 3.1 2008

This is my second APE and it replaced a failed D-Link DIR-825 which worked great until is died. I decided to utilize 2 APE's because 1) the MAC address security function / Wireless Extension Capabilities and 2) the ease of setup with the configuration options I needed.Note that I gave the setup 4 vs. 5 stars because while it was easy to get the configuration up and running, what I was looking for was a setup that was not easily found without searching Apple's support site. In essence if you want your primary connections to be via wireless bridging then the network extension option built works flawlessly.For those on the other hand that want both APE's on Gigabit wired connections and the added wireless extension the little known feature is that you don't use the extend network option on the 2nd APE, you actually put the APE in bridge mode (you do this for either option) and then you actually setup a duplicate wireless network (same name, channels, passwords, etc.). This in effect will allow the First APE to be the DHCP and DNS server and allow the 2nd APE to see the selectable option to use the wired gigabit connection to allow you to extend the wifi network. Essentially giving you both wired and wireless extended networks with a gigabit backbone.Just a note I did try this configuration with a N750 as the primary router before I bought the APE but, it could not extend the network properly nor did it have MAC address security options. Although it did support the newer Wireless Security standards. In terms of speed I am not noticing a difference in speed between the 2 wireless or via gigabit. The APE's are just more stable, IMHO, considering I am running 25 devices off it (gaming consoles, portable gaming devices, blu-ray players, VOIP phones, cell phones, Tivo, tablets, pc's, laptops, printers) and noticing no degradation in speed of any service with the MAC security and DHCP reservation overhead (including: VOIP, NetFlix, Live!, PSN, Hulu.com, Amazon, Apple TV etc.). So if you want stability in a small package with a quality feature set I think you shouldn't overlooking testing these APE's out.

I just put this card in my 2008 Mac Pro, Intel Dual Quadcore. Allot of people have complained online that it's hard to install. It's really not that bad. Others have complained that the range isn't very good, which maybe due to it not being hooked up correctly. On my model, the wires are mislabeled, I had to use 1 and 3, a good rule of thumb is it will be the 2 longest of the 3 antenna wire. I used a 00 screwdriver to bolt it in and a small wooden dowel with a flat end to push the antenna wires into place. It works great, took about 20-30 minutes to get it running once I read the information on http://[...] which shows you step by step how to install it.Should have bought this a long time ago, glad I finally did.

I am an Apple lover, for me they are the best in computing. I never had problem with it and I am still using it. I recommend it

Not an apple product. Did not fit my airport. Not even close. DO NOT BUY!!! Looks like this guy Frankensteined a chord together and sold it. Just call Apple and save yourself the headache.

I work with my wife and we own our own business (actually, she's the sole owner). We have about 5 employees and 24 consulting instructors. We provide consulting services in portfolio / project management, program management, and systems engineering, as well as training in all of the above as well. Our clients include Northrop Grumman, Joint Forces Command, the USCG, and many more. As a result, we rely heavily on our computers and our network.My office is currently downstairs near the router, and hers is upstairs (our building is 4600 sq ft). We needed more range, so after researching what I thought was the best router, I bought a new D-Link Wireless N Gigabit Router DIR-655 - Wireless router + 4-port switch - EN, Fast EN, Gigabit EN, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n (draft), and Hawking HWREN1 Hi-Gain USB Wireless 300N Range Extender (White). Still didn't have great coverage, so I tried even replacing one of the 3 antennas on the back of the DLINK DIR 655 with the D-Link ANT24-0700 2.4 GHz Omni-Directional 7 dBi Indoor Antenna after a recommendation by an employee of the now defunct "Circuit City" store.Still didn't help. And to top it off, every time I lost power, the Hawking and the DIR655 wouldn't work together. Hawking tech support in India (nice people, by the way) told me it was because they got stuck on different IP addresses. So the last guy I spoke with set them both to be on a static IP address together, which, while that worked, it seemed to slow my network speed, although I never verified that. I spent MANY HOURS solving connectivity problems between the Hawking and the DIR 655. And it even got to the point where, when using my iPhone 3GS in the house, I would skip the Hawking network connection when I had a choice between that and directly connecting to the DIR 655 because the Hawking always seemed to slow or fail with my connection.Anyhow, after seeing an article about Apple Time Capsule MB765LL/A 1TB, I decided that since I'm running a Windows machine I couldn't use the features of that (Time Machine), but I could try Apple's Apple MB763LL/A AirPort Extreme Dual-band Base Station because it had multiple advantages over the DIR655, such as having a "Guest Network" where we could allow our guests (sometimes employees) to use our network when visiting but not have access to our systems. It also has a USB port to plug in a hard drive, and we could share that for easy large file transfer, etc. And, I could easily extend the network by adding an Apple AirPort Express with Air Tunes (M9470LL/A) - all one has to do is when setting it up, check a box that says "Extend my network". IMAGINE THAT! DESIGNED TO WORK TOGETHER! No more IP address conflicts! WOW! I have been amazed ever since how easy my network has become! And, I'm getting much better range. And if you have a need to extend the network in a different direction, you can simply add another Airport Express.The odd thing is, neither employees of Best Buy, Circuit City, etc., ever recommended considering an Apple solution. I wish they had.So, what has all of this done for me? Well, for one, I love my iPhone 3GS, and now I also love my Airport Extreme Base Station / Airport Express combination, so much so, that I decided to switch my PC to an Apple MacBook Pro! About 6 days ago, I ordered a Apple 17 MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz, 4GBRAM, 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive, NVIDIA GeForce". And, it will be here today! What about my customers that use MS Office products? Well, my new MacBook Pro comes with Office 2008 for Mac, and, it also comes with Windows Vista Ultimate so I can still run the same software as before.Couldn't arrive at a better time too. Yesterday morning, my HP Pavilion DV6675US 15.4-inch Entertainment Laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7250, 4 GB RAM, 250 Hard Drive, Vista Ultimate)laptop had a Blue Screen of Death......So, bottom line - if you're needing more network range, and haven't invested too much in your current setup, I would highly suggest you consider the Airport Extreme / Airport Express combination instead. So much easier to set up, doesn't fail, better range, and for me, you save yourself a lot of time. And when you're in your own business, as the old saying goes, time is money.