Neowin Forums > Airpot express

jgrodri

May 13 2005, 14:05

hi.. i have followed neowin for quite a while now and finally decided to register...
i wanted to ask you, Mac connoisseurs

...
I am a college student and next year will be moving with two friends... thing is we'll have a nice sorft of living room where we'd like to have wireless and i guess so far the best option (the one i like the most) is getting an airport express and just hooking it up.... so here's the deal :

will it work with pc's? (centrino, 802.11b) does it support 802.11g?
will we be able to use airtunes with it?
can you think of a better option? --> Important!
thanks a lot for your help... looking forward to your comments

EDIT: lol, meant to spell airpoRt

GothTeddy

May 13 2005, 14:13

QUOTE(jgrodri @ May 13 2005, 14:05)

will it work with pc's? (centrino, 802.11b) does it support 802.11g?
will we be able to use airtunes with it?
can you think of a better option? --> Important!

yes, and yes.
yes.
no.

Jack31081

May 13 2005, 14:44

I assume you're talking about the Airport Express base station?

If so, I'd look around at other 802.111g WAPs (wireless access points). There are options out there that are less expensive with better range and more options. It's been a while since I've researched them, but the offerings from Belkin, Linksys and Netgear are usually pretty good. Even Buffalo is a company to at least check out.

A misconception some people have is that the Airport Express base station is somehow either specific to Macs or somehow better equipped for Macs. Truth is, it's just another WAP. There's nothing special about it. I have a powerbook and two desktop PCs hooked up to a wireless network in my house using a Linksys 802.11g WAP and I can easily connect from anywhere in my house (~2800 sq. ft.)

You might also want to check out a hardware review site (like Toms Hardware or Anandtech) to see if they've done a WAP roundup review in the last year or so. That'll be a good way of comparing and contrasting various WAPs.

cswadner

May 13 2005, 15:05

Wow this bears an uncanny resembelence to your other thread in Internet, Network and Security....

http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=319778&hl=

read my response there, and next time please dont post in multiple forums, let alone bump your thread.....

Vice

May 13 2005, 15:09

QUOTE(Jack31081 @ May 13 2005, 14:44)

I assume you're talking about the Airport Express base station?

If so, I'd look around at other 802.111g WAPs (wireless access points). There are options out there that are less expensive with better range and more options. It's been a while since I've researched them, but the offerings from Belkin, Linksys and Netgear are usually pretty good. Even Buffalo is a company to at least check out.

A misconception some people have is that the Airport Express base station is somehow either specific to Macs or somehow better equipped for Macs. Truth is, it's just another WAP. There's nothing special about it. I have a powerbook and two desktop PCs hooked up to a wireless network in my house using a Linksys 802.11g WAP and I can easily connect from anywhere in my house (~2800 sq. ft.)

You might also want to check out a hardware review site (like Toms Hardware or Anandtech) to see if they've done a WAP roundup review in the last year or so. That'll be a good way of comparing and contrasting various WAPs.
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Actually it is different since there is no Web interface to configure the base station, it is all done through an application you can save multiple profiles (how ever many you want) to your computer and can quickly upload these to the base station. its a good router I bought one to REPLACE my belkin router and I have not looked back the Airport Express is a top product.

NinjaMonkey82

May 13 2005, 15:37

I have an AirPort Express and love it. You won't be able to find another option because the express does more than most routers. The USB wireless printer sharing really comes in handy and you can't get AirTunes on any other router of course.

Make sure you check out Apple's Hot Deals section, they usually have refurbished ones there for anout $99.

Jack31081

May 13 2005, 15:56

Whoops. My bad. I thought he was talking about an airport Extreme base station..

Never read up on the Airport Express unit, so my previous post is effectively null and void.

jgrodri

May 13 2005, 17:01

cool! thanks for the imput guys...

@ cswadner.... you are right sorry about it, but since nobody was answering there i assumed it was posted in the wrong section

Thanks for the tips...
it's not likw we utterly need it.... it will cover about 15~20 meters range but it just is so nice

...
most likely my first step into migrating to Mac for good...

**Looks at the Mac Mini and drools**

cswadner

May 13 2005, 18:31

QUOTE(jgrodri @ May 13 2005, 10:01)

cool! thanks for the imput guys...

@ cswadner.... you are right sorry about it, but since nobody was answering there i assumed it was posted in the wrong section

Thanks for the tips...
it's not likw we utterly need it.... it will cover about 15~20 meters range but it just is so nice

...
most likely my first step into migrating to Mac for good...

**Looks at the Mac Mini and drools**

[right][snapback]585914109[/snapback][/right]

no prob... everybody makes lil mistakes here and there

<------ drools as well, but likes his G5 at work hehe

shodan

May 14 2005, 13:13

Maybe you should check first if you can do the initial configuration of the airpot express from a windows pc... I'm not so sure about that... you can connect windows client to it, but i guess you'll need a mac to make at least the initial configuration....

Vice

May 14 2005, 13:21

QUOTE(shodan @ May 14 2005, 13:13)

Maybe you should check first if you can do the initial configuration of the airpot express from a windows pc... I'm not so sure about that... you can connect windows client to it, but i guess you'll need a mac to make at least the initial configuration....
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No it can be configured from a PC the CD supplys the config Application for windows (which can do all there Airport products)

shodan

May 14 2005, 16:30

QUOTE(WinMacLin @ May 14 2005, 15:21)

No it can be configured from a PC the CD supplys the config Application for windows (which can do all there Airport products)
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That's a great thing... I didn't know that.... 1 point for Apple!

abrooks

May 15 2005, 09:31

Overall the Express does a a hell of a lot of stuff for its price, not only that but it works and can be configured easily from any platform. If your looking for a fairly cheap solution to share internet, printers and stream music then this is your answer no doubts.