Apple Airport Express MB321LL/A [NEWEST VERSION]
by Apple Computer
![Apple Airport Express MB321LL/A [NEWEST VERSION]](/images/Apple-Airport-Express-MB321LL-A-NEWEST-VERSION-B0015YJOK2-L.jpg)
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: Apple ComputerFormat: CD-ROM
Platform: Windows Vista
Model: MB321LL/A
Product features:
- Take the music from the iTunes library on your computer and sends it wirelessly to any stereo or speakers in your home
- Print wirelessly through AirPort Express--it's almost like having a printer in every room of the house
- Wirelessly share photos, movies, and other files without having to worry about slow data transmissions
- The AirPort Express Base Station now features 802.11n, the next-generation high-speed wireless technology included with most shipping Mac computers and some newer PCs with compatible cards
- Industry-standard encryption technologies built into AirPort Express, including WPA/WPA2 and 128-bit WEP, plus a built-in firewall that creates a barrier between your network and the Internet
- AmazonBasics RJ45 Cat5e Ethernet Patch Cable (50 Feet/15.2 Meters)
- AmazonBasics RJ45 Cat5e Ethernet Patch Cable (14 Feet/4.2 Meters)
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple Airport Express MB321LL/A [NEWEST VERSION]
Customer Review: One of Many Ways to Stream Music
Summary: 3 Stars
Updated Review, of January, 2011 -- One way to avoid that microwave interference, that stops Apple Airport Express Modules.
-- I recently discovered another approach to streaming music. (Possibly, I am the last man on earth to get this news. LOL!) With a WiFi base station and ISP, your can stream music from an internet music service, also called an internet radio station, to an iPhone, iTouch, or iPad, through WiFi. You don't need an Apple Airport Express Module. Alternatively there are dedicated internet radio appliances. Better yet, on the road, if your iPhone or iPad has cellular data service, you can pretty much use it like a radio, with customized channels, based on your taste in music. But be careful of charges for cellular data services.
Advantages?
-- Big plus--Microwave ovens don't seem to have any adverse impact on the music streaming WiFi link to an iPhone or iPad. Why the Apple Airport Express is so susceptible to microwave interference, I do not understand. It is a disappointment that the Apple Airport express modules are so prone to drop the music stream when an ordinary microwave oven is turned on. No one at the Apple store has any suggestions, other than relocate the oven. A new iTouch is approximately $200, while a new Apple Airport express module is about $70. Perhaps an iTouch or iPhone has better shielding, circuits or software to deal with interference.
-- Your cost might be zero, if you already have an available iTouch, iPad, or iPhone, and you plug it into an old boom box cassette or CD player.
-- You don't need to setup and dedicate a computer to run iTunes, to serve as the source of the streaming music. The internet radio station handles that.
-- You are not limited to your collection of purchased CDs or iTunes. Internet radio stations have a vast variety of musical selections.
-- Drawback of this strategy is that music is streamed from the internet radio station to only one point, a single device, whether iTouch, iPhone, or iPad. I have yet to find an easy way to relay the same music, simultaneously, in several rooms of the house. Unless, of course, you run speaker wires, room to room. According to some reviewers, bluetooth introduces a time delay. Trying to use more than one bluetooth music receiver might possibly introduce unpleasant echo effects.
Original Review, of 01 November, 2009
-- Thanks for all your comments! I have a few suggestions, based on my experience.
-- With Apple Airport Express modules, at $100 each (at Amazon.com or [...]), I setup a music streaming network, to each of my existing stereos, with my existing MacBook. With free software, my iPhone pitches in, as the remote control. The only drawback is some intermittent disruption of music playback, in the kitchen, when running the microwave oven. I'll give the details, later. Can anyone comment on whether the higher priced music streaming systems are more resistant to microwave ovens and other radio frequency interference (RFI)? I suspect that RFI is the ultimate cause of problems that some are describing here, with other music streaming systems.
-- If you already have a Mac computer, this strategy of using Airport Express modules is a very low cost alternative to dedicated music streaming network appliances. You don't even need a WiFi router!
--Weird thing is that very few people seem to know of this option, which avoids the extra cost of specialized music streaming servers and remote controllers. Even the technicians at the local brick and mortar Apple store did not know of this approach!
-- To summarize the more detailed comments, that follow--
- If you already have an Apple Mac computer, take a look at the built in WiFi and iTunes that you have already purchased, and try adding a $100 Apple Airport Express module to your existing generic stereo. On a late model Mac, this approach to streaming music works in the background, letting you still use your Mac computer for other work, as you listen to music. This incremental approach will also uncover any radio interference at your house, that might make the more expensive systems intermittent. Better yet, if you already have an iPhone or iTouch, a free software download lets you use one of those as a remote control, over the same WiFi network.
- As comments here show, it is risky to put a lot of money in any system, until you find out if your site has a lot of radio interference that will defy troubleshooting and make any music streaming frustratingly intermittent.
- None of the vendors of specialized music streaming systems seem to want to explain exactly how their systems work. The consumer is really put in a bind, after purchase. I recommend an incremental approach, if that is possible.
Here are the details, if you want to read on--
-- I studied Sonos, Logitech and other specialized music streaming hardware, until I found this lower cost Apple alternative. Of course, it is attractive only if you already have purchased one or more of those expensive Apple Macintosh computers. However, if you already have a Mac, you probably now have 90% of what you need to wirelessly stream music. The missing hardware is the Apple Airport Express module, which is a small WiFi receiver that you can connect to any generic stereo. (It can connect digitally, by wire, to printers, as well.) This WiFi module converts the musical WiFi data packets transmitted by your Mac (with the free iTunes software) into analog sound signals, and relays the sound through standard stereo wires to any generic stereo amplifier with aux inputs. Even works with headphones, although that is not very practical as a mobile device, as this WiFi module needs 110 volt AC power.
(So, don't give away your old stereos and boom boxes!) Better yet, if you already have an iPhone or iTouch, these devices can serve as remote controls with a download of a free software app called "Remote". There is no need to buy any additional hardware, whether remote controls, servers, or routers! Apple Mac computers have built-in capability to transmit over WiFi through a router, as well as set up their own ad hoc WiFi network, without a separate router. So, you don't even need to have a separate wireless router. The free iTunes software acts as a music data base and server, running in the background, letting you use that same Mac to do other things. You don't even need to be connected to the internet, although that can enhance your system with streaming music internet services like [...]. Of course, it's true that the higher priced music streaming systems have some additional embellishments, such as sending different streams to each room of your house, or allowing adjustments to volume, as well as bass and treble, for each room. As far as I can tell, the Apple iTunes system only allows one music stream per computer. And from each remote (iPhone or iTouch) you can only select a track, adjust a global volume level, and turn speakers on or off, independently, at each WiFi module.
-- The only significant drawback that I have experienced is some intermittent disruption of music playback, in the kitchen, when running the microwave oven. After the microwave stops, the Airport Express module manages to restart the music. My MacBook, despite being in the kitchen with the microwave oven running, still seems able to connect through an old Linksys WRT54G wireless G router upstairs, at least for surfing the internet and downloading files. The intermittents in the music playback could possibly be caused by the internal circuitry of the Airport Express module not being able to resist the barrage of microwave interference. But more likely, RFI is preventing the musical data packets from moving fast enough to meet the real time demands of music streaming, as my MacBook has no trouble downloading web pages, while the microwave oven is running. Anyone care to comment on this hypothesis?
-- Another thing to be cautious about. The advertising shows the Apple Airport Express modules plugged directly into 110 volt sockets, low on the wall. For me, that arrangement caused intermittent WiFi acquisition, on the ground floor of a slab on grade house. The WiFi module would blink yellow, indicating no WiFi reception. These modules seem to work best when sitting out in the open, powered through extension cords. You will want to see the LED anyway. The LED glows blinking yellow to steady green to give you some troubleshooting info.
-- As some writers point out, this Apple Airport Express strategy is a "no brainer" obvious choice, only if you already have at least one Mac computer. On the other hand, one might do the calculations on whether a consumer could be money ahead by buying a lower priced MacBook at $1,000, and a few Apple Airport Express WiFi modules at $100 each. There are no additional costs, if the consumer connects his existing stereos to the WiFi modules, and copies (rips) his currently owned music CDs into iTunes, which is free software. And additionally, if you buy the computer instead of the dedicated music streaming appliances, you have a general purpose computer with which to edit your music, do word processing, access the internet, and do many other things. I could not find out if the special purpose music systems could do any of those functions. Probably, they can't.
-- However, YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary, with any wireless streaming music and video system, because of intermittent quirks in your internet connection and any radio wave interference at your site, as from your microwave, other appliances, your neighbors' appliances, and any pirate radio stations, that is, radio hobbyists who can't or won't control their RFI pollution. As best as I can determine, WiFi was originally intended to transmit packets of data, with retransmission of any missed packets. This can slow down the transmission, significantly, but is not a problem for surfing the net for web pages, or downloads in the background. But real-time streaming of music could be disrupted by delayed arrival of retransmitted data packets, trying to get through an environment filled with a lot of stray radio signals.
-- It's probably best to try a system that lets you assemble components a few at a time, and with a money back return policy, if that is available.
-- And from comments posted here I gather that none of these vendors want to explain exactly how their systems work. Doesn't anyone draw block diagrams or schematics anymore? With most of these systems, despite hours of reading and watching videos, I have no idea whether and where analog or digital data is being transmitted, whether by IR, toslink, WiFi, Bluetooth, ethernet, or some other proprietary packet radio, analog radio, or wired system. I suspect that the vendors have a two stage marketing plan. First, get the consumer to buy an attractive box, without understanding exactly how the system works. Second phase of the sales pitch is worked out over the phone in the struggle with tech reps, to get some of the promised features working, in some fashion, by guess and by gosh, rather than reasoned troubleshooting. And oh yes, Mr. and Mrs. Consumer, did you NOT read all the info we posted for you, at our forums and websites? LOL!
-- Give me a break! At these very high price levels, this should not be DIY!
(where DIY = Dig up the Info, Yourself.)
-- I'm not really a fan of Apple Mac computers. I got drawn into this very expensive Apple Mac hardware for other reasons. However, if you have already purchased a Mac, take a look at this alternative for streaming music. I have seen so many people spend money they don't have on expensive wireless stereos or music streaming systems, despite having purchased one or more Mac computers, all because they don't understand that a Mac can stream music, for just $100 per existing stereo. But the really weird thing is that even the "Genius" technicians at the Apple brick and mortar retail store don't know how to stream music with generic Apple Mac equipment. Perhaps the Apple retail stores are under pressure to sell more iPods and iPod docking stations. "Get a pair for every room in your house, and the patio and porch as well!" And computer users' groups also insisted that wireless streaming of music could be done, but only with more complex and costly hardware. What's goin' on, here?
Description of Apple Airport Express MB321LL/A [NEWEST VERSION]
Now with blazing 802.11n, the affordable AirPort Express is powerful enough to run a home Wi-Fi network, yet small enough to take on the road. Share your wireless network with up to 10 users, print documents, photos, and more from any room in the house to one central printer, play iTunes music through your stereo or powered speakers using AirTunes, and more.Digital Cameras & Photo Categories
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