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| Apple Airport Express | 
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| List Price: $99.99
Buy New: $64.99
You Save: $35.00 (35%)
Buy New/Used/Refurbished
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 72 reviews)
Sales Rank: 198
Category: CE
Publisher: Apple Computer
Studio: Apple Computer
Brand: Apple
Label: Apple Computer
Format: Cd
Platforms: Windows Xp Professional, Windows Xp Home Edition, Windows 2000
Media: Electronics
Memorabilia: 0
Modem: None
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 3 x 1.1 x 3.7
MPN: MB321LL/A
Model: MB321LL/A
UPC: 885909200979
EAN: 0885909200979
ASIN: B0015YJOK2
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Totally Cool September 17, 2008
This product is a marvel in a small case. It works like a charm right out of the box (especially if you have a mac). I had previously acquired a different wireless router that couldn't function with some complicated DHCP servers. This one didn't even blink. And to top it all, I can carry it around when I travel.
 USB Printing September 12, 2008
I purchased the Airport to replace an older Buffalo wireless router with the plan to incorporate centralized wireless USB printing through the router. As a wireless router it was easy to setup and provides a stable and strong signal to both my PC and Apple based laptops.
As for wireless printing, it has been a long and ultimately unsuccessful process. My HP printer has always worked flawlessly through my Macbook/Leopard laptop with no need for fuss or frustration. The Airport Express apparently does not have the capability to work with printers like mine (HP 3845) even though the printer works fine when plugged directly into my MacBook's USB port.
This was most definately not a case of "it just works". Given my expectations for centralized printing this has been a disappointing purchase.
I am hoping future software/firmware updates from Apple will correct this problem and meet the standard "of it just works" for all printers currently supported by Leopard. In the meantime I will continue using this router for it's other excellent wireless capabilities.
 Horrible product, decent support. Get the Xmod September 7, 2008
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
For $99 this seems like a great deal. It is if you can get it to work. I spent 2 days trying to connect this to my Windows network and failed miserably.
I broke down and called support. It didn't take long to get through which was very nice. I spent about 20 minutes with a rep saying, "I already tried that" over and over. Then they sent me to 2nd tier support. We spent about 2 hours fiddling with it. I was happy once it was working. However, the next day it wasn't working any more! I was too frustrated to call support again and sent the unit back. I did some research and found that a lot of people have issues setting it up. Take a look at some of the Apple forums.
I picked up the Creative Xmod for the same price. Setup was about 5 minutes (no need to connect to a network) and the sound is even better than the AE. Happy now!
 Not like I had a choice... September 5, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this product because I needed to get a wireless connection to my G5 Tower (across the house) that did not come with an airport extreme card (isn't compatible with the standard Extreme card). I would need to buy the Airport Extreme/ Bluetooth card for $140 and the "run away (runway?)" card for $40. Not going to happen.
I was sold on the Airport Express because it had an ethernet port, so I figured it would pick up the wireless signal from my Linksys WRT56G router and wire the Express to the G5. Also, the fact that I could print from it was cool because I have a Powerbook as well, being able to print from the laptop was a nice bonus. I also have a PC that was getting a weak signal from the Linksys router, so I figured this might help as it works as a repeater as well. All this for $100? not bad...
Here is where I ran into problems. I had a REALLY hard time getting the Express to work via ethernet with the G5. The guy at the Apple store said this would work. After a LOT of configuring, doing a lot of research, I was able to get it to work. Later on I was on the phone with Apple Care and I asked them if it should have been this hard to get working. They said that it should not work as the ethernet port is ONLY to connect to the Cable Modem, it is only supposed to receive the signal, not output it.
Somehow I was able to get it to do that. No problems since.
Then, for some reason I figured it would be a good idea to upgrade the firmware. BAD IDEA. It would connect to the internet for about 20 minutes, maybe less. Then it would lose connection to all the computers. I couldn't even change the settings with my powerbook, it would NOT recognize anything. I did the factory reset by pressing that small button with a pin. I would go through the whole set up again, and the cycle would continue. I had to go back to the first version of the firmware to get it working again.
Since I was using the Express with a Linksys router, the Apple Care people said they really couldn't help me trouble shoot because I wasn't using an Apple Base Station (I would if they were reasonably priced).
The documentation and instructions are very incomplete. There is nothing to help you trouble shoot the Express, and there is nothing to explain the different Wireless options available.. I could go on and on.. Since Linksys doesn't make OSX friendly drivers, and because I don't want to spend almost $200 on a wireless card for my G5, I'm stuck with the Express.
The Express would NOT work when I set it to act as a repeater using WDS, again, no info on how to configure. I set it to "Join an existing Network"
and with addition tweaking, it is sending the signal to my G5 via the ethernet port. But is it also sending the signal wirelessly as well? Why isn't my PC picking up its signal? (network security isnt the prob, that is fine).
I would say I am a "techie" person, I am always able to get computer related things set up and working, I built my own PC, so I should be able to trouble shoot this thing with little effort.
I'm a big fan of Apple, but the fact they make expensive networking products that only work if you use them only with other Apple products is a joke.
Final word is: This is ONLY a good product if you are using it as a portable router or have an Airport Base Station and your computers already have everything they need to receive a wireless signal.
With PC, fails the ease of setup standard but otherwise great... August 27, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
On a Windows XP PC, I found this product very hard to setup initially which is why I gave it such a low rating. The fix was fairly simple but it appeared nowhere in Apple's literature and I only found it through extensive Googling. If I recall correctly it was to set it up as a bridge. Sharing music wirelessly from ITunes is a really great feature since it means you can toss the computer speakers and use your home stereo for music playback. I found the wireless range to be surprisingly good for such a small device and throughput is excellent. Finally, the styling is attractive so it isn't another hideous wall wart and if you buy the Griffin stand for it, it looks even better. I have now switched to Mac and it is fantastically easy to set up and use. I rather regret giving it so few stars, if I could do it again I would give it 5 for a Mac and three for a PC.
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