Been using Airport networking products for 6 years. I am now so spoiled that I cringe when I have to troubleshoot other networks.
I love these routers because they are efficient at solving connection issues without user intervention, and a breeze to configure.
What do you like best about Airport Extreme?
Discussion about
Don't waste your time with the cheap stuff
It just simply works and doesn't crap out when you put full bandwidth through it. I went through a sting of D-link, Netgear and Belkin routers, all expensive, all meant to be the best but none of them could handle maximum bandwidth across the wireless network from the WAN connection. I tried all sorts of PCs and Macs and it was always the router that was the culprit. I bought an Airport Extreme after switching to a Macbook Pro and haven't looked back since. No issues, easy to set up, fixes itself if it gets a problem and more importantly will handle full bandwidth transfers across the network and WAN. I agree, the best router available hands down.
It sounds like what you want is port forwarding/port mapping. To set this up for free I recommend setting up an account with no-ip.com
They have a client that will help you determine your external IP, and keep it updated.
Let's say that you register tegel.no-ip.info
Next it is a simple matter of forwarding ports so that incoming connections to your IP go to the specific computer on your network that you want.
For this you'll probably want to assign DHCP Reservations to some or all of your machines. Under Manual Setup Click "Internet" "DHCP"
Reserve something like 10.0.1.222 for the machine Tegel's Mac Pro.
Next you need to Go to "Advanced" "Port Mapping" to add the ports for the services you want to add. I forward for vnc and ssh-- but I recommend using non standard port numbers for this on the router to avoid hack attempts. If you have a weak password and use standard ssh port 22, your machine won't take long to get pwnd. You can still use the standard port numbers on your machine though-- so no need to mess around with the more complicated process involved with that.
Add port map for ssh service:
public tcp port: 2223 (or something like this)
private ip: 10.0.1.222
private tcp:22
Now from work or a friends house you can log into you machine remotely assuming tegel is your local username:
ssh -p 2223 tegel@tegel.no-ip.info
Setup up a vnc forward (usually 5900) and you can remote desktop into it as well.
Voila!
I hope that helps.
They have a client that will help you determine your external IP, and keep it updated.
Let's say that you register tegel.no-ip.info
Next it is a simple matter of forwarding ports so that incoming connections to your IP go to the specific computer on your network that you want.
For this you'll probably want to assign DHCP Reservations to some or all of your machines. Under Manual Setup Click "Internet" "DHCP"
Reserve something like 10.0.1.222 for the machine Tegel's Mac Pro.
Next you need to Go to "Advanced" "Port Mapping" to add the ports for the services you want to add. I forward for vnc and ssh-- but I recommend using non standard port numbers for this on the router to avoid hack attempts. If you have a weak password and use standard ssh port 22, your machine won't take long to get pwnd. You can still use the standard port numbers on your machine though-- so no need to mess around with the more complicated process involved with that.
Add port map for ssh service:
public tcp port: 2223 (or something like this)
private ip: 10.0.1.222
private tcp:22
Now from work or a friends house you can log into you machine remotely assuming tegel is your local username:
ssh -p 2223 tegel@tegel.no-ip.info
Setup up a vnc forward (usually 5900) and you can remote desktop into it as well.
Voila!
I hope that helps.
Nope. You're right, I just looked at the officially supported ddns client hardware list, and apple isn't on it.
I'm guessing these "official" devices are setup up with firmware that can contact directly the proprietary system of DynDNS to facilitate the same kind of features I described above. Do they do something else?
As you can see it takes relatively little effort to set this all up on the airport. 30 minutes start to finish. ( Maybe 90 if you're really lost and need to look up terminology)
If I'm missing the point, I apologize. It just seems like a silly reason to avoid getting the best consumer home networking solution available-- because a little setup is in order to configure some advanced features. For me the time saved on maintenance outweighs the time spent on setup, and the higher price at purchase.
In the end, the reason to buy Airport, is the same reason to buy Mac -- it just works. Feature sets and specs are fine and dandy, but If you're manually resetting the router and cable modem every other day it's time to start looking for a better solution.
I'm guessing these "official" devices are setup up with firmware that can contact directly the proprietary system of DynDNS to facilitate the same kind of features I described above. Do they do something else?
As you can see it takes relatively little effort to set this all up on the airport. 30 minutes start to finish. ( Maybe 90 if you're really lost and need to look up terminology)
If I'm missing the point, I apologize. It just seems like a silly reason to avoid getting the best consumer home networking solution available-- because a little setup is in order to configure some advanced features. For me the time saved on maintenance outweighs the time spent on setup, and the higher price at purchase.
In the end, the reason to buy Airport, is the same reason to buy Mac -- it just works. Feature sets and specs are fine and dandy, but If you're manually resetting the router and cable modem every other day it's time to start looking for a better solution.
While I do not personally own an Apple Airport, DynDNS has its own utility similar to no-ip's that can run on your computer and will update your dyndns with your IP at regular intervals. I use it myself. One word of caution though is that the client that DynDNS offers on its website is actually quite flaky (in my experience) in terms of updating your IP regularly. They have an older version of the client (I'm using 3.1.0 build 15) and it works much better.
After spending many hours configuring and tweaking an old Linksys WAG354G v2 whenever something went wrong, the Airport Extreme has made a huge difference for me.
I got it when the aforementioned Linksys's Wi-Fi completely died, and was amazed at how easy it is to troubleshoot and set up. If you change a setting on the Airport, Airport Utility will let you know if it will cause problems. That's the kind of router configuration that we need. It's smart, and easy to use.
I got it when the aforementioned Linksys's Wi-Fi completely died, and was amazed at how easy it is to troubleshoot and set up. If you change a setting on the Airport, Airport Utility will let you know if it will cause problems. That's the kind of router configuration that we need. It's smart, and easy to use.
Surprisingly what I love, is what I originally despised. I didn't like the management app you have to use to change any settings, but now that I've added my AirPort Express, it makes sense as to why they make you use one program to do it all.
Plainly put, it's _fast_, it's worked for the last two 1/2 years, and I've rarely had any trouble (usually only with new firmwares), as this device was well worth the money.
Plainly put, it's _fast_, it's worked for the last two 1/2 years, and I've rarely had any trouble (usually only with new firmwares), as this device was well worth the money.
easy to add a USB HDD to make a very cheap and easy NAS. now if i could only get access to it from outside my network... :)
Access from outside the network is a breeze if you pay $99 for MobileMe and enable Back to My Mac. As long as I have a decent wireless connection, no matter where I am I have access not only to my iMac at home but also the terabyte drive I have attached to my Airport Extreme. Yet another reason (let's not forget Find My iPhone) that MobileMe *might* be worth the money....
Also, I find that I prefer the management software for the Airports as opposed to browser-based management. It's another example of "it just works."
Also, I find that I prefer the management software for the Airports as opposed to browser-based management. It's another example of "it just works."
i've been tempted for the mobileme stuff.. but the only thing i want is the ability to get to my nas from the interwebz and to me, it seems like it should be possible to do without a service (reading on older models that people made remote timecapsules out of, pretty cool remote backup from anywhere w/internet)
but i have yet to get it working. perhaps this weekend i'll do further testing.
mobileme is the easy way, hehe. i likes me a challenge :) but we'll see, i'm lazy at times too
but i have yet to get it working. perhaps this weekend i'll do further testing.
mobileme is the easy way, hehe. i likes me a challenge :) but we'll see, i'm lazy at times too
Check out this blog: funwithosx.blogspot.com
There's a great tutorial on remote access / backup to an Airport Extreme w/ a HDD attached.
There's a great tutorial on remote access / backup to an Airport Extreme w/ a HDD attached.
I also, at first, thought that the management app was stupid, but I came around as well. It is super fast to get your router configured and also makes updating the firmware a breeze. Also, if you happen to have more than one Apple networking device it is really nice to have them all listed there.
I agree that this device is worth the money. I live in block with high population of residents and businesses in NYC and I've had so many problems with other brands of routers. I've tried it all from Linksys, D-Link, Belkin, Motorola, etc.
I usually had to restart them after a day or two to get the wifi signal back.
I've had the apple for more than a year now and the only times I had to restart it was for firmware updates.
Sucks though--I didn't get the gigabit version..got mine a month before it was released.
I usually had to restart them after a day or two to get the wifi signal back.
I've had the apple for more than a year now and the only times I had to restart it was for firmware updates.
Sucks though--I didn't get the gigabit version..got mine a month before it was released.
I cant agree more with you people, I recently was on the market for a new router, I checked into linksys, d-link, belkin and apple products and was really wanting to get the APE but was not sure if the price was worth it. So I thought, hey isnt linksys part of the mighty Cisco company ? They gotta make good products right ? I bought a WRT160N and I dont really wanna get into de details but lets just say that I had to flash the firmware of my router 5 times in which during one attempt, I bricked my router and had to sent it back to linksys in order to get a new one. Now, I just wish I had pay the extra 125$ to get an apple airport express...!
I will buy an APE next time because of its ease of use, integration with the macintosh computer/peripheral and the features of it.
If you own a mac computer, dont ask yourself the question, just buy an Airport extreme. If you dont own a Mac computer, you can alsways get around using the setup CD that comes with other branded router, but you'll so often have problem with the product... I say save yourself some trouble, buy an apple airport extreme (or flash your linksys router to an open source firmware like dd-wrt, its the only to get a decent performance out of it)
I will buy an APE next time because of its ease of use, integration with the macintosh computer/peripheral and the features of it.
If you own a mac computer, dont ask yourself the question, just buy an Airport extreme. If you dont own a Mac computer, you can alsways get around using the setup CD that comes with other branded router, but you'll so often have problem with the product... I say save yourself some trouble, buy an apple airport extreme (or flash your linksys router to an open source firmware like dd-wrt, its the only to get a decent performance out of it)
The best part about the Airport is that you never have to think about it. Mine has worked flawlessly since I set it up. So nice!
When I originally bought it a few years back, it was utter rubbish due to the firmware. The Apple forum was awash with posts about it. (I failed to do my research) In fact it sat in a box for well over a year as I didn't want to sell/give my problem to someone else and picked up a Linksys instead. Somewhere down the line a firmware release resolved the issues and now I'm quite happy.
As noted above, if you own, or will own a Mac down the line, pick one up. The current firmware is solid and while this may sound odd, I like that I can decrease the signal strength, if you know what I mean.
As noted above, if you own, or will own a Mac down the line, pick one up. The current firmware is solid and while this may sound odd, I like that I can decrease the signal strength, if you know what I mean.
I've been using Airport Express and Extreme for awhile now in our house. Super easy to use and the management software beats everything else out there. I helped a friend set up their netgear router. You have to hook the netgear router up to the computer and network via ethernet cable to configure it. I thought it was a WIRELESS router. Insane.
I have not used it to host a NAS yet, but that's coming pretty soon.
I have not used it to host a NAS yet, but that's coming pretty soon.
I don't own one yet. But have been thinking about getting one. Can anyone comment on using it with a PC and a XBox 360 with wired connections rather than wi-fi? Is it easy to set up on those platforms? Is there any significant problem with gaming on XBox Live with it? Thanks for any feedback.
There are some tutorials out there on the web explaining how to get it set up to play nice with xbox live... but since there are a few versions out there it can be dicy finding the right one. For mine it took a couple hours of messing around with port mapping to get everything working automatically. If you require ease of setup with xbox, you might want to go with one of Microsoft's recommended routers. winqual.microsoft.com/HCL/ProductList.aspx?m=v&...
Here's the ms page on router configuration: support.microsoft.com/kb/908874
Here's the ms page on router configuration: support.microsoft.com/kb/908874
