Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station MB053LL/A [OLD VERSION]
by Apple Computer
![Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station MB053LL/A [OLD VERSION]](/images/Apple-AirPort-Extreme-Base-Station-MB053LL-A-OLD-VERSION-B000UZCR56-L.jpg)
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Our Price: $199.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $59.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station MB053LL/A [OLD VERSION]
Customer Review: Piece of Cr-Apple!
Summary: 1 Stars
OK, so I bought the extreme because the wife was experiencing very slow download speeds with the Linksys wireless router and Apple promised lightning fast speed/downloads. The extreme delivers when it works, no doubt. I own a Macbook Pro and the set up was easy. I experienced similar problems with the wireless network randomly dropping. I would wake up in the morning and it would be off, so I would replug it and it would work for an unknown period of time before it dropped again. I returned it twice to the Apple store and they gave me another one (total of 3). I've replaced everything: the DSL modem, ethernet cable, phone cord to the DSL modem, I even had the Road Runner guys come to my house to check for faulty wiring within the walls. I love Apple products, but this has caused me more heartache and wasted hours than I want to admit.
It works fine with ethernet, but as other reviews mention, the point is to be wireless! I scoured through the discussion forums and tried every reset known to man to get this thing to work. No joy. So now it sits there next to my modem like a big white paper weight-how depressing.
Customer Review: Technology not ready for the mainstream
Summary: 2 Stars
While a great wireless router, I assume most people, like me, want to purchase this item for the wireless back-ups/access to the hard drive.
If that's the case, just hold off on the idea of a home wireless network. From my experience, and a lot of others if you look at online forums, dropped connections for no reason and no responses at all from Air Disk seems to be a pretty common problem not being fixed. Even when the wireless network works like it's supposed too, it is very slow. Large file transfers were at least 5x times slower than direct connected USB.
I think this product should be given time to mature. I always tell myself to never buy first generation products and this was the perfect example why. It was nothing but headaches from the day I bought til the day I returned it (3 days later).
If you already have a wireless router at home, just keep it. If you are looking for a better way to connect your external hard drive to your computer, just buy a high capacity portable hard. They are small, light weight, and are USB powered.
Deep
Customer Review: Good solid router
Summary: 4 Stars
I've used this router for a few months now. 3 Macs, Airport Express via ethernet, Squeezebox via ethernet and a Netgear switch. All wifi devices are 802g. The house is tough on wireless due to layout and plaster walls sheathed in metal. It is a good router, albeit pricey.
Pros:
Build quality and design. Probably typically Apple: eventual replacement will be caused by technological obsolescence versus dying like all the other routers we've had.
Very easy to set-up. Let Apple's auto configure do the work and go back later in "Expert Mode" to make any changes you need.
Most stable router I've had (5 routers, 1st Apple). Consistent performance. Have yet to reboot.
Although MacStumbler signal strength on 802g has not improved from my old router, download speeds have improved considerably. This was noticed by all users in short order. Beyond me.
Cons:
I was hoping at a price close to twice my old routers, wifi would be stronger. Had to wire via ethernet an Airport Express to get whole house wifi.
Customer Review: Great Time Capsule Alternative
Summary: 5 Stars
I was currently running a couple of AP expresses for my network as well as a 4 port switch, this thing has made an excellent addition to my network. Right now I have two printers and two external hard drives hooked up to this thing using a powered USB hub. I have two macs that are using the HDDs as time capsules for wireless backup as well as a Wii, Xbox and 360, PS3, iTouch, iPhone and a couple other wireless devices, this thing handles them all.
+ Ease of use is what makes this thing so great, lots of plug and play things with not too much network knowledge needed
+ Time Capsule support!
+ A USB hub makes it support multiple drives/printers
+ Can be easily extended with an APEXP
+ Easily the nicest looking piece of networking equipment on the planet
+ Single LED light is very easy to understand and acts the same as an APEXP
+ 802.11n
- No Airtunes support
- Power cable is waaay too long, possible 12ft with 6ft of cable on each side of the brick
- A three port hub, WTF?
- No Airtunes, I really love this feature
Customer Review: Working as expected
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this router after having bad experience with two other routers dropping links randomly.
Setup wasn't as straight forward as I was hoping, but after half an hour the device was running with all the configuration options I needed.
You won't get here options for advanced users, but for 99% of users this will be great.
Link is steady, the configuration utility easy and the option to connect an external HD or printer is useful (see my remark at the end about time Machine).
Overall - very pleased with the purchase. The price it a bit steep for a new one, but I got mine used and it's been working flawlessly.
Remark about Time Machine: One of the reasons for buying this router was to use it as a Time Machine drive to back up my Mac. I was using an external USB drive to backup for a couple of months. It appears you can't just disconnect an external drive, plug it in to the router and go on backuping over the network - you need to start from scratch. It's my fault I didn't resurch this before buying, but nevertheless it's a great router.