Any experience with Airport Express?

[Iloveiphones]

I am asking for an airport express for Christmas, and I have a few questions.

1) Could this totally replace our awful router that we have now, or would we have to hook the AE up to the router we have now?

2) We could hook DSL up to it, right?

3) We can use an Ethernet wire to hook up our computer to the router, right?

4) And of we were to get cable Internet, we could still use that correct?
Thanks!


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[mrbunglez]

Mines an Airport extreme and Yes to all those questions and it lasts longer. Use mine with Comcast.
I've had mine for 9 yrs and its still working.

 

[jmp316]

I am asking for an airport express for Christmas, and I have a few questions.

1) Could this totally replace our awful router that we have now, or would we have to hook the AE up to the router we have now?

2) We could hook DSL up to it, right?

3) We can use an Ethernet wire to hook up our computer to the router, right?

4) And of we were to get cable Internet, we could still use that correct?
Thanks!


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1) It's a solid router, but doesn't have an awesome range. How big is your house?

2) Yes.

3) You wouldn't hook up your home computer directly to the router, you would hook up your computer directly from the modem.

4) Yes. I have used both DSL and Cable with my AirPort Express.

The nice thing about Apple routers is the ease of setup and control. AirPort Utility apps are free for iOS devices and bundled with Max OSX. I can control everything about them on my iPhone or iPad.

 

[Jimmyjade]

Hey guys. Is Apple updating any of their routers or Time Capsules with all the new products? I have Airport Express but would like to upgrade to Extreme or TC. Thanks.

 

[Iloveiphones]

THanks everyone!

 

[Iloveiphones]

Hi, I got an airport express yesterday for Christmas and I have a few questions. I'm not very happy with it. I was informed that I could connect it straight to our WAN wire, and from there we could have Internet. And we had LAN port to hook something into. No, that's not the case apparently. So now I have to use our old (it's not really old) router, use a LAN wire and connect it to the old routers LNA port and plug into the AE WAN port, then the LAN port on the AE into our computer. Is this supposed to happen?

And, when I plugged in speakers using the USB and the audio plug in, and I AirPlay, the speakers are just awful, the blue on button on the speakers dim like its not getting enough power, or too much. The status indicator on the AE turns a flashing amber orange and our wireless goes to like 0.01-0.05mbps.

Any help?


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[psylichon]

The AE is not meant to be a standalone router. It is meant to extend or add wifi to an existing router. Most people use it to extend wifi in their house and/or as an AirPlay receiver or print server.

Regarding the speaker issue, it sounds like you're trying to use speakers that are powered via USB. I don't think the AE supports this, which would explain why they appear underpowered. That USB port is meant for printers and disk drives. You'll have to plug the speakers into their own AC to USB adapter to use them with the AE.

 

[Iloveiphones]

Thanks for the info.

That stinks. I wish I woulda known that, I searched and I even started a thread on here and the answers implied it was a standalone router. I think I may return this, waste of money and no uses except i can say its an Apple router. And it looks nice.


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[psylichon]

Well, I could be wrong. Some quick searches seem to indicate it can be used as a standalone router. But it's not a particularly great one. What was wrong with your old router?

 

[Iloveiphones]

It's an ISP supplied. It's not a bad one, but its like an SII of the router world. And the AE is the iPhone 5.

I hope it can be used as a standalone router. Would be amazing if it does. Perhaps I'll call Apple.


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[psylichon]

I still don't get the problem with your ISP-supplied router. Is it slow? What kind of speeds are you getting on it? Even cheap routers should be more than fast enough to handle internetting. Are you transferring large files locally?

 

[Iloveiphones]

I still don't get the problem with your ISP-supplied router. Is it slow? What kind of speeds are you getting on it? Even cheap routers should be more than fast enough to handle internetting. Are you transferring large files locally?

No it's not slow, it's pretty fast. 4 LAN Ports, 1 LAN, 1 USB. I'm getting 2.70mbps on average, paying for 3, router syncing at 3.36mbps maximum. Problem is, it's not really a real router. It's an ISP dictated router. We are not transferring large files locally, but, we have 13 devices connected to it and I was hoping the AE could help with the congestion and slowdown our router and network has when it's experiencing heavy usage, however, I know it can't so miracles due to DSL slows as more folks get online.

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[psylichon]

Yeah, no router will give you more Internet bandwidth. That speed is fine for one person these days, but pretty painful for a household of users.


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[Iloveiphones]

Yeah, no router will give you more Internet bandwidth. That speed is fine for one person these days, but pretty painful for a household of users.


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Wouldn't it help with congestion, though?

Hehe, and we have 13 people on it.


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[psylichon]

No. The bottleneck is your WAN, not your LAN. Your Internet bandwidth is just slow. Unfortunately, that's probably about the best you can get with DSL.


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[Europa]

It sounds like you have no need for the AE. What you need is faster internet, not a different router. Might as well return the AE and use the money for something else you want. Can you guys get FiOS or at least wireless Internet (not to be confused with WiFi)?

 

[Iloveiphones]

No. The bottleneck is your WAN, not your LAN. Your Internet bandwidth is just slow. Unfortunately, that's probably about the best you can get with DSL.


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Oh no, by summer we are supposed to be getting up to 25mbps, well, if you live close enough to the CO. Once ADSL+ gets here, we will be getting a lot more bandwidth, about 10mbps or so.


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[Iloveiphones]

It sounds like you have no need for the AE. What you need is faster internet, not a different router. Might as well return the AE and use the money for something else you want. Can you guys get FiOS or at least wireless Internet (not to be confused with WiFi)?

Shoot. Just remembered. No, we can't return it. Bought it in Black Friday. Ooh, yay, just checked. Can be returned till the 7th.

I'd kill to have FiOS. That's about 10-20 years out for this town. The best we got is Mediacom Cable, and that's down and unreliable most the time, but its faster. And wireless Internet? Do you mean like a mifi from AT&T or Verizon?


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[Europa]

Cool, that's good that you can return it and get something else.

I'd kill for FiOS, too. It's not available at my house either. I used to have DSL, but I maxed out at 1.5 MB, so I switched to wireless interent. 12 MB is the fastest I can get right now. 3 MB was the fastest they had when I switched over about five years ago. Basically, I have what looks like a satellite dish on my roof and it's pointed at one of my local ISP's towers.

 

[Iloveiphones]

Cool, that's good that you can return it and get something else.

I'd kill for FiOS, too. It's not available at my house either. I used to have DSL, but I maxed out at 1.5 MB, so I switched to wireless interent. 12 MB is the fastest I can get right now. 3 MB was the fastest they had when I switched over about five years ago. Basically, I have what looks like a satellite dish on my roof and it's pointed at one of my local ISP's towers.

Who's your ISP? And is it unlimited?


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