# Airport Extreme vs. Airport Express



## NewGuy (Jun 23, 2005)

Is the extra money for the extreme worth it. Looks more and more like the express is all that one would need for a basic home network set up.
Thoughts?


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

Airport Extreme is the card that you put into your Mac computer to enable wireless access to 802.11b/g networks. Airport Express is the little compact wireless 802.11b/g router with 10 ports that also acts as a print server and AirTunes player. I think you're trying to compare Airport Express with Airport Base Station, the big kahuna router with 50 wireless ports and way more features than the Airport Express (except it does not have AirTunes).


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## zarquon (May 24, 2005)

dona83 said:


> Airport Extreme is the card that you put into your Mac computer to enable wireless access to 802.11b/g networks. Airport Express is the little compact wireless 802.11b/g router with 10 ports that also acts as a print server and AirTunes player. I think you're trying to compare Airport Express with Airport Base Station, the big kahuna router with 50 wireless ports and way more features than the Airport Express (except it does not have AirTunes).


Actually "the big kahuna" is called the Extreme. See attatched from the Apple site.

Z.


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## IT 101 (Dec 7, 2005)

The Apple Airport Express would basically fit the needs of anyone who is looking to setup a basic home network. However if you want maximum range, and more features the airport extreme would be the way to go. It depends on what your needs are.


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## Jordan (Jul 20, 2002)

I just bought the Airport Express, I like it.
I also have a Belkin Wireless router G. Now I can use the Express as a Router or extend the wireless range by using it to connect to the Belkin.
For a basic home network it's great, lot of features and security (easily set up, once I figured it out), although more expensive than other 3rd party Wireless routers.
What I like also is the portability, I have a Powerbook and when I go visiting family (with no Wireless) it's nice and easy to set up and plug into their internet.


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## draz (Jun 13, 2005)

I have both running at my condo...for general user needs..ie first and foremost wireless internet, then wireless printing both will do. But for most i would recomment the express. its cheap and easy to use, has wirelss printing, wireless music (airtunes) and can be easily configured as a node in the future if you find that you want to have 50 of your closest friends over and you all just have to be online at the same time...so you buy an airport extreme basestation....

whooo hooooo


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## csonni (Feb 8, 2001)

I am using Airport Express for streaming iTunes music (Air Tunes), but I find I can't go downstairs without losing the connection. Not so with Airport Extreme. Range is the issue with AE, at least for me.


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## atFault (Jul 29, 2004)

zarquon said:


> Actually "the big kahuna" is called the Extreme. See attatched from the Apple site.
> 
> Z.



Airport Extreme was what Apple originally marketed all their 802.11g equipment under. When they released the Airport Express the Airport Base Station kept the Extreme name along with the Airport card.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned here is the ability to use the Express as node on a Wireless Distribution System (WDS). It can extend a WDS and it can be used as an ethernet port. In my situation I have my computer and network at one end of the house and my XBOX and stereo at the other end. I can plug the XBOX and stereo into the Express and get online with it while streaming iTunes music to the stereo.

Basically my wireless setup is like this:

internet <--> modem <--> router <--> basestation <--> express(wds) <--> xbox/Mac mini PVR

It may seem like overkill, but because of all the legacy equipment I have that will not accept wireless it is the least expensive way to do it. If I need to move the network upstairs I just unplug the Express and put it by the stereo upstairs. If my wife brings home her crappy Dell from work and wants to be connected to the internet she just plugs the ethernet cable into the Express anywhere in the house and she's set. It is extremely versatile and still easy to set up.


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

I'm using an Express as my wireless router.

It's fine if you don't need a lot of range -- though it seems to work better at some times of day than others, suggesting that there are interference issues. Anyway, it's relatively unreliable at a distance of roughly >50 feet with a couple of walls in the way. YMMV.

But as far as the limit on number of client machines goes...most home users will never notice the difference. (If ever you reach the 10 client limit, you will notice your broadband internet connection slow to a crawl if everyone is using it, and the exact same thing would happen with the full Extreme Base Station.)


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## since84 (Jan 9, 2002)

Does the airport express talk to the Snow Airport Base Station ( the "b" version)? I just got an express and would like to use the old base stn to extend the express range. Possible?


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## elmer (Dec 19, 2002)

Depends a lot on your house and your machine.
To get good reception between my DLINK router and my PowerBook, I had to add an antenna to the router. Even though I live in a townhouse.
One of the big kahunas allows you to add an antenna. Most people don't need that though.


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## Atroz (Aug 7, 2005)

atFault said:


> \Basically my wireless setup is like this:
> 
> internet <--> modem <--> router <--> basestation <--> express(wds) <--> xbox/Mac mini PVR


What are you using for the base station? Is it apple's? 

I've been trying to get WDS working with a Linksys using HyperWRT. It's supposed to work, but never seems to authenticate to it. I can use the Express as a client and Airtunes works. But switch to WDS and it doesn't connect and ends up with a 169.x.x.x address range instead of my 192.x.x.x range.


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## atFault (Jul 29, 2004)

Atroz said:


> What are you using for the base station? Is it apple's?
> 
> I've been trying to get WDS working with a Linksys using HyperWRT. It's supposed to work, but never seems to authenticate to it. I can use the Express as a client and Airtunes works. But switch to WDS and it doesn't connect and ends up with a 169.x.x.x address range instead of my 192.x.x.x range.



Yes, I'm using an Apple Extreme Basestation without modem. I tried to set it up with my Netgear router instead, but it was not compatible. I did a lot of research at the time trying to find a solution with the Netgear and it seems that although some second party routers will work they are rather finicky. Instead of replacing my Netgear I just added the Apple basestation in to make things easy.

My main work computers are set up through the Netgear router for a full 100 Mbps which helps for file transfers, but they can still connect to AirTunes and wireless printing to either the express' or the basestation since all my main work machines have an airport card in them as well.


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