This router has a really nice feature in the simultaneous dual band, but does that make it worth the money. I use Linksys routers and I can get one with the same features for less money. If I wanted to stray from Linksys or Apple, I could get it for even cheaper.
I don't buy the "it just works" argument because the Linksys routers don't require a brain to set up either. Is there anything else that puts the Airport Extreme ahead of the game?
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Apple Logo Worth the Extra?
I've had linksys routers before just as I'm sure a lot of other people have. I'd much rather have a router that is, for one, covered under a warranty that can be serviced by live humans in a face to face situation and I'd have to say...out of the millions of times my linksys routers were replaced and ENDLESS resets...it's worth it.
Thanks for the feedback. Bummer that your Linksys routers didn't work out. I haven't had to reset mine just yet. Maybe you had a flaky product of some sort or a bad connection, or maybe I have been lucky with all mine, I guess we will never know. I'm definitely looking into the Airport Extreme but its $30 more than the equivalent Linksys...and on my budget, that matters, ha. The Airport Extreme has the others beat in form factor...but I hate glossy white. Get over it Apple.
Same here. I don't care about logos. It works. Period. My house is a 3k sq ft ranch. One story. I need no repeaters and it streams huge files like a pro! I've been through countless top of the line Link Sys routers (and others) since '01. I won't be going back.
Don't believe the Apple tax hype without trying the products for your self. You can see by my gadgets i've been a windows/windows mobile guy for as long as each has been in existence. I'm not looking, or going back.
Don't believe the Apple tax hype without trying the products for your self. You can see by my gadgets i've been a windows/windows mobile guy for as long as each has been in existence. I'm not looking, or going back.
I wanted to de-clutter my apt. I needed a router that could share my printer and provide a guest band to separate out traffic. Couldn't find any other than the apple under a reputable name. The linksys' and belkin's of the world all had separate print server and such. Found it really easy to setup and looks great sitting on my sidetable.
Here is the equivalent Linksys router, just FYI:
www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/products/WRT610N
Plug a device into the USB slot and you're good to go. Same exact solution as the AE. Street price is $169. Amazon has it for $139.
The guest set up is not nearly as easy on the Linksys in my experience though.
www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/products/WRT610N
Plug a device into the USB slot and you're good to go. Same exact solution as the AE. Street price is $169. Amazon has it for $139.
The guest set up is not nearly as easy on the Linksys in my experience though.
Be aware that the AEBS doesn't work with A LOT of models of hard drives, flash drives, and printers. The is a problem that has been bothering quite a lot of people.
It also doesn't offer as much functions or setting options as Linksys routers.
Anyways, one thing I like about the AEBS over my old Linksys routers is that it just keeps working, it doesn't need to be reset like almost weekly like my old Linksys routers did.
It also doesn't offer as much functions or setting options as Linksys routers.
Anyways, one thing I like about the AEBS over my old Linksys routers is that it just keeps working, it doesn't need to be reset like almost weekly like my old Linksys routers did.
I used to have a Linksys router (WRT54G) and it would require constant resets after a few months of owning it.
Finally replaced it with an Airport Extreme about 18 months ago and have had no issues since then. Not only does it look much nicer but it works a lot better and is easier to set up and configure and keep up-to-date with the latest firmware updates. It may cost a bit more but it's totally worth it in my opinion.
Finally replaced it with an Airport Extreme about 18 months ago and have had no issues since then. Not only does it look much nicer but it works a lot better and is easier to set up and configure and keep up-to-date with the latest firmware updates. It may cost a bit more but it's totally worth it in my opinion.
I have the pre-dual band version of the AEBS and it's been rock-solid. Actually the best router I've had to date. It has far better range than the Netgear "g" router I had before and far better than the pre-N Linksys 'joke-of-a-router' I had just prior to the AEBS for sure.
I have a 60gb 7200 IDE 2.5" external drive hooked-up to it and use it as my iPhoto and iTunes storage drive. The self-powered port has enough juice to run it without issue and been up an running 24-7 the past two years.
I have a 60gb 7200 IDE 2.5" external drive hooked-up to it and use it as my iPhoto and iTunes storage drive. The self-powered port has enough juice to run it without issue and been up an running 24-7 the past two years.
I have the Airport Extreme. Prior to drinking the cool-aid and switching to my MacBook I used a Linksys and then a D-Link. When both my son and I got the MacBook I wanted to have the 802.11n experience and tried the D-Link. For some reason I had the hardest time configuring it to work with iChat, so I headed over to the Apple Store, plunked down the extra $$ and never looked back.
From the moment I plugged it in it was good to go. Fired up iChat, live. I plugged in a 500gb external drive and BOOM, it was live. When the iPhones arrived in our home it was a simple matter of plugging the password to the router and, again...away we go.
As with just about everything, your mileage may vary, but I have not had more than a couple of minutes of downtime with this router (unlike previous brands mentioned) in over two years. When a new Windows Laptop arrived for my wife, still the router took mercy on her new machine and allowed it on with no problems.
As with other Apple products, not only do you get something that "just works", but you also get something that looks just fine on the desktop. For me that was worth the extra $$.
From the moment I plugged it in it was good to go. Fired up iChat, live. I plugged in a 500gb external drive and BOOM, it was live. When the iPhones arrived in our home it was a simple matter of plugging the password to the router and, again...away we go.
As with just about everything, your mileage may vary, but I have not had more than a couple of minutes of downtime with this router (unlike previous brands mentioned) in over two years. When a new Windows Laptop arrived for my wife, still the router took mercy on her new machine and allowed it on with no problems.
As with other Apple products, not only do you get something that "just works", but you also get something that looks just fine on the desktop. For me that was worth the extra $$.
I had Linksys routers in the past and experienced nothing but horrible throughput, spotty wireless, and illness-inducing mediocrity. I then switched to D-Link and had great experiences up to and including my last router, the DGL-4300. Mistakenly thinking the power supply was 240V compatible, I fried it a couple of weeks ago and have been suffering through on a loaner Linksys since.
Since a coworker is coming over here soon, I asked if he would stop by the Apple store in our neighborhood and bring me an AE. I look forward to using it, but the inclusion of only 3 copper ports is a bummer and means I'll have to find a switch to add in the mix.
Since a coworker is coming over here soon, I asked if he would stop by the Apple store in our neighborhood and bring me an AE. I look forward to using it, but the inclusion of only 3 copper ports is a bummer and means I'll have to find a switch to add in the mix.
I have a bachelors in networking and spend an absolute ton of time messing around with my home network.
I have also owned the airport extreme, linksys wrt54g, wrt610n, wrt600n, and wrt320n.
Linksys all had the most options, and the very familiar browser based setup, something that you can't do with the airport extreme. And the ability to set up QOS rules, which I miss.
That being said, the airport blew them all out of the water in terms of reliability, ease of management, range, and especially throughput.
Example: I was living on campus, where we can't have DHCP on our own routers, I purposely let the airport extreme set itself up wrong to see what would happen. At the end of the wireless setup, it politely informed me that it didn't think acting as the dhcp server would work on my current network and suggested that it go into "bridge mode".
Excellent
The throughput is what really sold me though. My main computer with all my media is on the other side of the apartment, in a place where I can't really get a cat 6 cable to it, so I m stuck with wireless. With the wireless N linksys routers, I would get a solid 5 Mb/s, sometimes peaking around 7. This worked ok for streaming media most of the time, but it struggled on some of the 1080p stuff, and some days it was just kind of angry the whole day and didn't work alot of the time. The AE on the other hand held a solid 10 Mb/s all day every day, and it would peak at closer to 14 Mb/s on good days. That is on average double the bandwidth.
In short, yes it's worth the extra money.
I have also owned the airport extreme, linksys wrt54g, wrt610n, wrt600n, and wrt320n.
Linksys all had the most options, and the very familiar browser based setup, something that you can't do with the airport extreme. And the ability to set up QOS rules, which I miss.
That being said, the airport blew them all out of the water in terms of reliability, ease of management, range, and especially throughput.
Example: I was living on campus, where we can't have DHCP on our own routers, I purposely let the airport extreme set itself up wrong to see what would happen. At the end of the wireless setup, it politely informed me that it didn't think acting as the dhcp server would work on my current network and suggested that it go into "bridge mode".
Excellent
The throughput is what really sold me though. My main computer with all my media is on the other side of the apartment, in a place where I can't really get a cat 6 cable to it, so I m stuck with wireless. With the wireless N linksys routers, I would get a solid 5 Mb/s, sometimes peaking around 7. This worked ok for streaming media most of the time, but it struggled on some of the 1080p stuff, and some days it was just kind of angry the whole day and didn't work alot of the time. The AE on the other hand held a solid 10 Mb/s all day every day, and it would peak at closer to 14 Mb/s on good days. That is on average double the bandwidth.
In short, yes it's worth the extra money.
+1. I too have had several Linksys routers and 1 D-Link. NONE of them have been as reliable as my AEBS-N. I've never had to powercycle it (unless i was upgrading firmware). Had it for well over a year now.
The only other router I would consider at this point would be a Time Capsule so I could use my external HDD for something else.
The only other router I would consider at this point would be a Time Capsule so I could use my external HDD for something else.
I've used Linksys and D-Link routers for years and I had to reboot them weekly or sometimes daily to maintain a decent amount of throughput. I have never had to reboot my Airport Extreme. That alone was worth the "Apple Tax," but in addition I was able to connect an old hard drive to it and set up time machine to back up to it. If you are interested in a premium router with a few distinct features, you are going to have to pay a premium price.
Dougwalk pretty much mirrors my very recent experience with both Mac's and the airport extreme. Some of my other posts talk about my recent conversion to all things apple so I won't get into that here. But I want to say that I was VERY impressed with how well the airport extreme deals with various changes in your network both over time and during the setup.
I use a Sonicwall as my primary router and firewall and when I plugged in the airport extreme it's default behavior is to create it's own network on the 10.X subnet. Well I was fine with that as I was pretty sure once the wizard was done setting it up I would just go in and manually change it to work the way I wanted.
Turns out I didn't need to do that, once it was running it realized that it was behind a NAT'ed network already and explained that it had a problem with "Double NAT" and did I want to fix the problem.
Basically it bridged it to my existing network and set itself up to get a DHCP address. To say I was impressed was a little underkill as it was pretty nice not to have to manually do something for a change and avoid it from assuming that I was directly connecting it to my Cable Modem or DSL as so many other devices do.
The speed is really impressive and I currently share out a printer and HD for Time machine backup. If you use macs you really can't go wrong with the airport extreme. And if you have multiple apple devices such as an ipod touch or apple TV then it makes life even easier.
Oh and the airport utility is pretty much one of the best configuration tools I've seen for setting up a device like this. While it's nice to be able to use the web for some devices I've never had a problem connecting to the airport and configuring or modifying settings is a breeze.
Good luck if you buy it and come back and let us know how it works out.
I use a Sonicwall as my primary router and firewall and when I plugged in the airport extreme it's default behavior is to create it's own network on the 10.X subnet. Well I was fine with that as I was pretty sure once the wizard was done setting it up I would just go in and manually change it to work the way I wanted.
Turns out I didn't need to do that, once it was running it realized that it was behind a NAT'ed network already and explained that it had a problem with "Double NAT" and did I want to fix the problem.
Basically it bridged it to my existing network and set itself up to get a DHCP address. To say I was impressed was a little underkill as it was pretty nice not to have to manually do something for a change and avoid it from assuming that I was directly connecting it to my Cable Modem or DSL as so many other devices do.
The speed is really impressive and I currently share out a printer and HD for Time machine backup. If you use macs you really can't go wrong with the airport extreme. And if you have multiple apple devices such as an ipod touch or apple TV then it makes life even easier.
Oh and the airport utility is pretty much one of the best configuration tools I've seen for setting up a device like this. While it's nice to be able to use the web for some devices I've never had a problem connecting to the airport and configuring or modifying settings is a breeze.
Good luck if you buy it and come back and let us know how it works out.
Most have already commented on why this is a great router, so I would echo those as well.
I love the dual band mode since we now have N devices and iPhones on the home network. The guest network is key as well. Frequently we have friends over and it's nice to have a separate network for them instead of changing the network password and hiding things for one night.
You can also manage network access via MAC address via the Airport software (I'm sure you can do this with other routers).
The only network downtime I've experienced was due to Time Warner, not any of my airport devices.
I love the dual band mode since we now have N devices and iPhones on the home network. The guest network is key as well. Frequently we have friends over and it's nice to have a separate network for them instead of changing the network password and hiding things for one night.
You can also manage network access via MAC address via the Airport software (I'm sure you can do this with other routers).
The only network downtime I've experienced was due to Time Warner, not any of my airport devices.
