Apple AirPort Express with Air Tunes M9470LL/A [OLD VERSION] by Apple Computer
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Digital camera reviews of Apple AirPort Express with Air Tunes M9470LL/A [OLD VERSION]
Digital camera Review: 8 Hours to Set Up!
Summary: 3 Stars
It took me 8 hours to figure out that it does not do what it claims. on a non-apple network.
It does two things:
act as a wireless router, when physically connected to a wan
OR acts as a wireless client that ONLY lets you stream music to it (or presumably share a printer)
It DOES NOT allow you to attach it to a non-wireless device and use it to connect that device to your wireless network (a bridge). On a non-apple network.
Digital camera Review: A Mixed Blessing for Users with Mixed Networks
Summary: 4 Stars
I have owned two of these; the first one was purchased a few years ago when the product was brand-new. That unit was unreliable. It failed, and I had it repaired under warranty. Then, despite firmware upgrades, it would frequently need to be power-cycled. When I used it to share an inkjet printer, it frequently failed when I printed big color images (the image would not be completed on the page). AirTunes worked fine.
I have another new one, since it is still an inexpensive product and I wanted to try it out with a mixed network and a remote PC in an upstairs room. This has been a bit of an exercise in frustration; here's why:
- My main firewall/router is an older Netgear box. It works wonderfully, so I don't feel the need to replace it. Our seven- or eight-year-old Apple laptops in various states of decrepitude work great with it and their old-school Airport cards. A new Mac Mini and G5 iMac also work great with it.
- I wanted to put a laser printer and PC in another room and use the Airport Express to put the PC and printer on the network.
First problem: my PC run Ubuntu and Windows 2000, not XP (this is deliberate, for security reasons). The Airport Setup software for Windows requires XP service pack 2. I guess that's reasonable, but irritating.
Second problem: after much gnashing of teeth, I discovered that if you want to use the Airport Express to extend an existing wireless network and allow the PC to connect to the internet using the Ethernet port on the Airport Express, you'd better be talking to an Airport Extreme base station. If you're not, the Airport Express can act as an endpoint and do AirTunes and share a printer, but it won't provide an IP address via DHCP to the PC and won't route internet traffic. I think it shuts off the Ethernet port entirely, since a Mac connected to it would report that the Ethernet cable was not connected.
I have found that there are some hack workarounds for this; certain routers can get unsupported firmware upgrades, but I don't think my older model is among them.
So, to make a long review shorter, if you have a newer AirPort Extreme base station and you want to use these with it, you have a lot of options and they will probably work really well for you. If you have a mixed wireless network that does not support WAP you will not be able to use it as flexibly as you might like.
Digital camera Review: A Total Disaster
Summary: 1 Stars
I was really looking forward to getting my Airport, as I have over 600 albums in iTunes and wanted to hear my playlists over my stereo. I have a Windows PC, and I saw some reviews about the difficulty of getting the Airport to work with PCs and non-Airport wireless networks, but figured it couldn't be that tough to add an Airport to my network.
So I followed Apple's instructions (limited as they are), the installation seems to be going well until the last step when the installation utility says it couldn't see any Airports in range. And I was never able to get it to work, but that was only part of the bad news. It also screwed up my computer's connection to my wireless network. I spent several hours over a few days trying to get my computer back on my wireless network, and was at the point of spending $100-150 to hire a computer guy to get it working again. Fortunately an IT guy at work suggested I reinstall my computer's wireless drivers, and that worked. (He said he heard that the Airport has a known bug that can affect wireless networks.) I then dared to try again to install the Airport using C.P. Cavafy's instructions, but the Airport installation utility still couldn't see the Airport.
I used to have a very high opinion of Apple for creating products that had simple, elegant interfaces and of being a pretty pro-consumer company. But after the problems I've had using the Airport, and seeing Apple's promotional claim that the Airport is "unmatched in its ease of use", I now realize that they lie like the rest of them.
So my recommendation (for people trying to get music from their computers to their stereo systems) is:
1) If you're having trouble getting your Airport to work, return it. If you haven't yet bought an Airport, don't.
2) If you have a laptop, place it next to your stereo. Or, place your iPod or other MP3 player there.
3) Connect your computer or MP3 player to your stereo using a mini-stereo to RCA cable.
4) Press play.
5) Sit back and enjoy your music through your stereo, the money you saved, and the time you're not wasting trying to get the Airport to work correctly.
Digital camera Review: A bargain of a wireless USB print server - and small!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a Macintosh IT guy, and had been pricing wireless USB printer servers. They are in the $120 range, but bulky. This unit is nice and compact.
It works great as a print server - lay on the couch with my PowerBook and print in the other room. Also works great as a wireless hub/router/access point. I don't live the iLife, so I haven't even bothered using it with iTunes.
By the way, did I mention it's nice & compact? It slides easily into my bag when I make service calls.
Even without iTunes support it's a great unit and belongs in an IT professionals bag of tricks.
---Update ---
I have since used it to extend the range of my home Linksys WCG-200 combined cable modem/firewall/router/wireless access point. All done with minimal aggravation. The only aggravation is that the in the meantime I had upgraded to OS X 10.4, and the software supplied with the AirPort Express (APExp) is now part of Tiger and the CD supplied with the APExp no longer worked. A couple minutes banging around (We don't need no steenkin' directions!) and all was still A-OK!
A neat feature I had not previously discovered: If you attempt to route iTunes to the APExp and you do NOT have a speaker set/stereo/etc plugged in to the audio-out on the APExp, a red LED behind the audio-out jack lights up. Not sure that it's all that useful, but definitely long on the Cool factor. I guess it shows you where you're supposed to stick that plug!
If anything, my opinion of this is even better.
Digital camera Review: A bit of a headache for PC users but still worth it
Summary: 4 Stars
First there are a great number of shortcomings to a first generation product like this so lets get them out of the way. If you do not have an apple network you will need to run this in client mode which will work as a print server and a source for music but wont allow you to use the Ethernet port for... say... a gaming device? Second, you will still need to walk back to your computer to set up play lists or control i-tunes in anyway as this device does not offer remote capability. Finally as many users have reported i-tunes only outputs to a single device at a time so getting 5 of these (one for each room in your house) still wont let you to output to all of them at the same time (though I wonder if you force each onto the same channel what would happen).
Ok with that said, if you have been slowly migrating your music library onto your PC and now really wish there was an easy way to hook up your stereo in a discreet and cool way, this is it. Its especially cool if you also have an i-pod since then itunes can behave as a one stop software package for all your music needs (I'm not ragging on Music Match or Jetaudio - its all good but I am a fan of parsimony). The sound and simplicity of this device once installed is really excellent as a print server (do many people actually use this?), a wireless bridge or a music bridge. The unit itself is cool looking in its smallness (deck of cards) and simplicity (think ipod).
For apple users I imagine installation is a breeze... Well, I use XP and I have got this puppy hooked up to a Linksys wrt54g 1.1 router. Installation in this setting wasn't such a nice experience. Since the Apple Express Assistant will only automatically detect Apple wireless networks, you have to install the device initially (using an Ethernet cable from your router) as its own network. Once you have done that you can step back in using the Apple Admin Utility to join your current network (you will need to type the name of the network in manually). It is not a major problem but it took me a couple of hours to figure it out/install. Had the directions been clear would never have been the case. Apple tech support truly blows, but many of the user groups are pretty good, so use these if you have problems.
Overall Id say the device was worth the trouble, in fact it's reinvigorated my use of my stereo and saved me the cost of buying really nice computer speakers - so in a way it's been inexpensive as well. In fact I would put it in a class with harmony remotes and wavebird controllers in terms of being something that makes you go, "why wasn't this out long ago." Other than the installation bumps, the Apple Airport Express done EVERYTHING I hoped it would. BTW I live in an old stone house and the unit sits 2 walls and 25 feet away from the router and has not lost a signal once since I installed it a week ago.