Apple Airport Express MB321LL/A [NEWEST VERSION]
by Apple Computer
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple Airport Express MB321LL/A [NEWEST VERSION]
Customer Review: I take back a lot of the good things I said about this device.
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm leaving my original review in-tact below the line. These things used to be better, but recent software and firmware updates are making them close to useless for me. Used to I could connect one of these things to my Linksys and use the Ethernet port on the device for wired devices. That doesn't work anymore (I still have one that hasn't been hit by the firmware to stop it fortunately). This device is perfectly capable of simple bridging and I have had all of them doing it before, but now they don't and Apple acts like they never could. Let me copy-paste a circular argument from their support site:
Question: Since AirPort Express only has one Ethernet port, does it act as a LAN port, WAN port, or both?
Answer: Depending on how you have it set up, the Ethernet port can function as a LAN port (defined as either simple bridging or sharing your Internet connection via network address translation) or a WAN port (connecting to your broadband Internet service provider or upstream router). However, it never acts as both simultaneously in the way that the original AirPort Base Station (Graphite) can. When the AirPort Express is using network address translation, the Ethernet port acts as a WAN port. When it is set up as a WDS remote station, it can act as a LAN port. Assuming that your Internet service provider only gives you one IP address (the most common scenario for homes), this means that AirPort Express can only accommodate wired clients when acting as a WDS remote base station or bridge. Therefore, if you need to support wired clients and only want to get one base station (or router, as it's the routing capacity of AirPort Express that is relevant here), you should get the AirPort Extreme Base Station instead.
It brings up WDS and insist on it for enabling the network port as a bridge, but it will only allow it to work with a network extreme now. Used to "extend my network" meant using the expresses not only as bridges, but as repeaters. If you didn't have an Apple device serving up the DHCP it wont let you do anything with it other than music and printing. I've lowered my star ratings to reflect all of this. These devices used to be better than they are now. I can no longer recommend them with a good conscience. These changes in their product serve no purpose except to lock users into their own overpriced products.
I have three of these things, two G's, and this N model. If you're a Mac or Windows user with iTunes it's one of the most awesome things ever. I like to use USB powered speakers powered off of the onboard USB printer port, and before my iPhone broke I would use it for the remote to push my music between the three of these things I have and the Mac on my desk.
I am a tech, and occasionally people bring me computers to work on and WiFi from the system I'm working on isn't always an option. It's cramped where I keep the rest of my computer equipment so instead of stringing an Ethernet cable across the entire apartment I'll use the network port on one of these, it's just as good as plugging directly into switch/router, DHCP the whole 9 Yards works.
I've found that when streaming music to more than one at a time/the Mac the music is almost perfectly synchronized, the difference isn't much different than the delay caused by distance alone, and remember, I have old G models in the mix.
The built in wireless on my Mac Mini is to say the least buggy. It degrades over time with use, has somewhat limited range and just gives up occasionally. When I was using wireless from my Mini I found using this instead of the on-board wireless was the difference between using the internet reliably and banging my head into the desk repeatedly.
The only function this thing has I haven't used is printing from the USB port. Just really not that important to me.
My only real problem with these devices are the same problems I have with most Apple products. I know 14 operating systems. Right now my primary desktop is a Mac Mini, but my laptop is a Toshiba running Linux and I don't do Windows (at home). These things will continue to be very useful even when I retire my Mac in my gradual intentional elimination of Apple products, they'll be great for bridging game consoles from wired to wireless and I'll continue to use them as access points, but pumping music to them with anything but iTunes is difficult at best. There are hacks out to make Amarok output to them, but the hacks are not for n00bs. On a positive note Android can control Amarok and more open DLNA/UPNP devices with software, writing an interface to make remote controlling output to these with Android once the actual difficult part of outputting to them is accomplished.
I highly recommend one of these for game console and DLNA native TV bridging purposes, they support the use of a switch to support up to 10 devices. Using one of these with an Ethernet switch is much better than using a single proprietary bridge each. Not only does it have the potential to save money over buying one for the XBox, one for the DLNA TV, one for the Playstation, media PC etc... it cuts down on "air frame" traffic of using that many devices if you understand the basics of WiFi, it cuts the number of power outlets for communications behind the TV, one for the device, one for the switch.
This thing is the Swiss army knife of networking toys. I'm struggling to find a non-Apple proprietary alternative that's anywhere near as good as this thing.
Customer Review: An amazing gadget, but WPA2, 802.11n and speed issues for many networks
Summary: 4 Stars
The set of features is remarkable for this little device, but I don't want to repeat what's already covered here on that. Some people wanting to use the Airport Express may run into two issues when using the Apple Airport Express with non-Apple networks:
1) WPA2 SUPPORT IS LIMITED: Currently (April 2010, firmware 7.4.2), the Apple Airport Express cannot use WPA2 security when creating a non-Apple network, or with any networks when joining a network. Buried in the footnotes of the Apple Airport Express - Technical Specifications web page is this comment:
"When joining an existing wireless network, AirPort Express supports only WPA-Personal. WPA2 requires a Mac computer with an AirPort Extreme Card and Mac OS X v10.3 or later."
So a heads up - maybe it will save you the several frustrating hours I spent before I saw that footnote. What's especially diabolical is that the Airport Express appeared to connect to a WPA2 network or a mixed WPA2/WPA network - the green light always came on - but it wasn't accessible from iTunes or from the Airport Utility. (In a mixed WPA/WPA2 network, it seems to try to connect using AES as it loads a CCMP key, even though it should try to use TKIP.) It's a shame Apple isn't much, much clearer about the limited WPA2 support. It would have saved me a lot of unpleasant hours.
While not being able to use the latest security doesn't seem to present a big practical security risk for most people, it can affect network speeds and possibly even your ability to use Wireless N at all. Which leads to the second issue ...
2) LACK OF WPA2 LIMITS SPEEDS OR LIMITS WIRELESS N USE: The lack of WPA2 support limits a Wireless-N network to 54 mbps speeds. To achieve the higher speeds expected of Wireless N, you need to use WPA2 for the clients connecting to that network. Otherwise, most (all?) routers will limit speeds to 54mbps.
If you're only using the Internet, and don't have a super-fast connection, that might not matter. But our setup uses the wireless for some file backups. And the effect on our network was significant - a quick test showed over 30 mbps with WPA2/AES, about 12 mbps with WPA/TKIP. (This was true even for WPA2 clients in a mixed WPA and WPA2 setup.) Now, either of those would be fast enough for most internet connections. But it's a real issue for file transfers across the network.
And one of the routers I have won't even allow WPA/TKIP to be used with Wireless N. So the fact that the Apple Express doesn't really support WPA2 means I'd have to use Wireless G if I wanted to use the Apple Express on that router.
I ended up putting our Airport Express-es on a separate access point on the network, running only WPA, so that all the other devices can use WPA2 and run at the higher speeds. Unfortunately, the AEs don't connect reliably to the computers running on the router - apparently the access point doesn't pass along all of the obscure traffic used by the Airport Express.
So, that's a heads up if you're planning to use an Airport Express on a network that you want to (or do) run WPA2 on, or if you're getting a new router and suddenly find you have connection problems with your Airport Express. Check the security settings and think about what works for you.
OTHER ISSUES: If you're having trouble, there are a couple other things you might check as well. They weren't a surprise to me, and are covered elsehwere on the internet, but in case it's news ...
3) CHECK FIREWALL SETTINGS: The Airport, the Airport Utility and iTunes communicate using ports 192, 5009, and 5353. You need to be sure your computer firewall is set to allow the Airport Utility and iTunes to use those ports. One easy way to check if you have a firewall settings problem is to temporarily disable the firewall. If things suddenly work fine, check your firewall settings.
4) DISABLE 108mbps ROUTER FEATURES: Many Wireless G routers have a feature that tries to increase speeds when used with the router manufacturer's wireless adapters. You generally want to disable that feature in your router settings when you're using equipment from other manufacturers, especially the Airport Express.
You may also want to set your N Wireless router to use only 20mhz channels, not 40mhz wide channels. I can't promise it matters, but it may be worth a try and probably won't affect your speeds.
UPDATE May 2010: The Airport Express isn't recognized most of the time when it's connected to a different access point than the computer that's running iTunes. So I have to switch connections to the Wireless-G access point that the Airport Express is connected to in order to use AirTunes. So in my network I have to choose between Wireless N or having access to the Airport Express. The Airport Express doesn't fully support Wireless-N so I can't connect it to the Wireless-N network without adversely impacting my other connections.
Customer Review: Love my Airport Extreme and Airport Express Network! It just WORKS!
Summary: 5 Stars
I work with my wife and we own our own business (actually, she's the sole owner). We have about 5 employees and 24 consulting instructors. We provide consulting services in portfolio / project management, program management, and systems engineering, as well as training in all of the above as well. Our clients include Northrop Grumman, Joint Forces Command, the USCG, and many more. As a result, we rely heavily on our computers and our network.
My office is currently downstairs near the router, and hers is upstairs (our building is 4600 sq ft). We needed more range, so after researching what I thought was the best router, I bought a new D-Link Wireless N Gigabit Router DIR-655 - Wireless router + 4-port switch - EN, Fast EN, Gigabit EN, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n (draft), and Hawking HWREN1 Hi-Gain USB Wireless 300N Range Extender (White). Still didn't have great coverage, so I tried even replacing one of the 3 antennas on the back of the DLINK DIR 655 with the D-Link ANT24-0700 2.4 GHz Omni-Directional 7 dBi Indoor Antenna after a recommendation by an employee of the now defunct "Circuit City" store.
Still didn't help. And to top it off, every time I lost power, the Hawking and the DIR655 wouldn't work together. Hawking tech support in India (nice people, by the way) told me it was because they got stuck on different IP addresses. So the last guy I spoke with set them both to be on a static IP address together, which, while that worked, it seemed to slow my network speed, although I never verified that. I spent MANY HOURS solving connectivity problems between the Hawking and the DIR 655. And it even got to the point where, when using my iPhone 3GS in the house, I would skip the Hawking network connection when I had a choice between that and directly connecting to the DIR 655 because the Hawking always seemed to slow or fail with my connection.
Anyhow, after seeing an article about Apple Time Capsule MB765LL/A 1TB, I decided that since I'm running a Windows machine I couldn't use the features of that (Time Machine), but I could try Apple's Apple MB763LL/A AirPort Extreme Dual-band Base Station because it had multiple advantages over the DIR655, such as having a "Guest Network" where we could allow our guests (sometimes employees) to use our network when visiting but not have access to our systems. It also has a USB port to plug in a hard drive, and we could share that for easy large file transfer, etc. And, I could easily extend the network by adding an Apple AirPort Express with Air Tunes (M9470LL/A) - all one has to do is when setting it up, check a box that says "Extend my network". IMAGINE THAT! DESIGNED TO WORK TOGETHER! No more IP address conflicts! WOW! I have been amazed ever since how easy my network has become! And, I'm getting much better range. And if you have a need to extend the network in a different direction, you can simply add another Airport Express.
The odd thing is, neither employees of Best Buy, Circuit City, etc., ever recommended considering an Apple solution. I wish they had.
So, what has all of this done for me? Well, for one, I love my iPhone 3GS, and now I also love my Airport Extreme Base Station / Airport Express combination, so much so, that I decided to switch my PC to an Apple MacBook Pro! About 6 days ago, I ordered a Apple 17 MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz, 4GBRAM, 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive, NVIDIA GeForce". And, it will be here today! What about my customers that use MS Office products? Well, my new MacBook Pro comes with Office 2008 for Mac, and, it also comes with Windows Vista Ultimate so I can still run the same software as before.
Couldn't arrive at a better time too. Yesterday morning, my HP Pavilion DV6675US 15.4-inch Entertainment Laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7250, 4 GB RAM, 250 Hard Drive, Vista Ultimate)laptop had a Blue Screen of Death......
So, bottom line - if you're needing more network range, and haven't invested too much in your current setup, I would highly suggest you consider the Airport Extreme / Airport Express combination instead. So much easier to set up, doesn't fail, better range, and for me, you save yourself a lot of time. And when you're in your own business, as the old saying goes, time is money.
Customer Review: Airport Express Set-up Instructions
Summary: 5 Stars
August 22, 2009 Update
The software that comes with new Airport Expresses is much more user friendly. You may find going through the instructions listed below is not required.
Regards,
S. Monroe
The CD that comes with the Airport Express has been useless to me in setting up a Windows XP computer to work with an AE. The instructions below should get you up and running.
1. First download the latest version of both the Airport Update and Airport Express Firmware Updater from [...]
2. Run the latest version of the Airport Update (4.1 at the time of this writing)
3. Disable your firewalls, plug in the Airport Express (AX) to an electrical outlet and attach it to your computer or router with an ethernet cable. The AX will have a steady or blinking yellow light.
4. Launch the Airport Admin Utility...it should detect the Airport Express in the "Base Station Chooser" within a minute or so and the light on the AX should turn green. You may have to hard reset the unit a few times by pushing the small reset button with a paperclip for about 10 seconds. If, like mine, it does not show up in the Airport Admin Utility leave the AX attached by ethernet and reboot, launch the Airport Admin Utility, and hopefully it will show up quickly.
5. As soon as it does show up, launch the latest Airport Express Firmware Updater (I used 6.1.1) and update the AX...this seemed to make a significant difference in the ease of detection later. This will take a minute or so. The AX will reset and you may have to leave it attached by ethernet, reboot, and relaunch the Airport Admin Utility to detect it again.
6. Once detected by the Airport Admin Utility, click the "Configure" button in the lower right hand corner.
7. A new set of tabs will pop up. Click on the "Airport" tab and select "Create Wireless Network" from the Airport Network dropdown box. This will be changed to "Join an Existing Wireless Network" later.
8. Now click on the "Network" tab and and check the "Distribute IP Addresses", the "Share a single IP address" button, and from IP range drop down list choose the IP range for your router (192.168.x.x being the most common for Dlink, lynksys, Netgear, and other non-Apple routers).
9. Go back to the "Airport" tab and change the "Create a Wireless Network" to "Join an Existing Wireless Network".
10. In the "Network Name" box type in the name of your wireless network (also called your SSID)
11. On the same page rename your AX to whatever you want it to be called in iTunes (often the physical location of the speakers the AX will be attached to, ex: Living Room, Bedroom, Ambient Sound), give it a new password (required), and give it a location.
12. If you are using security click on the security button, choose your encryption settings, and add your WEP key or password, etc. It might be handy to have your router security info open in a window so you can copy and paste the key right into the appropriate box.
13. If you now go back to the "Network" tab you will see everything is greyed out but now your new IP Range settings are visible.
14. With the AX still attached by etherlink, click the "Update" button and wait a minute or so for the AX to update. The changes you made should be reflected in the Airport Admin Utility when the update is complete.
15. Now you can launch iTunes and you should see a button in the lower right hand corner that says "My Computer". Click this button and you will see you have the choice of your computers speakers or the AX. Any further changes you want to make to the configuration such as the name you see in that button are easiest done while attached by ethernet so try to get it the way you want it with further Airport Admin Utility updates before unplugging the ethernet cable. As long as your Airport Admin Utility can see the AX you can update without being connected too.
16. When you are satisfied with the configuration and the AX is updated and is showing up in iTunes go ahead and unplug the ethernet cable. Now you can move The AX to your chosen locations electrical outlet, and hook up the audio cable. The AX light will blink yellow for a few minutes while being detected and then turn green. You can now choose your AX in iTunes and start playing your music as normal. Itunes will show it is busy connecting to the AX for about 30 seconds and then hopefully you will hear your music played from your remote speakers. I hope pulling this information together helps someone a little. Let me know if I missed something and I will update asap. Good Luck!
Customer Review: Amazing!
Summary: 5 Stars
Music used to be a huge part of my life; I almost always had something playing on the stereo. Then we moved to a larger house, and it seemed like the music stopped. Our nicest stereo was in the living room. Our CD collection was upstairs, though some of it was on the computer in the office. And we spent most of our time in other parts of the house. It's long been a dream of mine to play the same music throughout the house; with the Airport Express, this dream became a reality, and I'm listening to music all of the time again.
I bought one to give it a try; this let me stream music from my Vista PC to the living room stereo on the same floor (while still playing via the PC speakers). I was hooked, and immediately copied the rest of our CDs to the computer.
After a few weeks, I bought another AirPort Express to stream the music to a pair of powered speakers upstairs (Creative Labs GigaWorks T40 Premium 2.0 Multimedia Speaker System with BasXPort Technology). All three music sources (the computer and the two Airport Express-connected speaker systems) are always in sync and drop outs have been very rare. It's really quite amazing; you can walk throughout the house and hear the same music everywhere. Of course you want to be able to control the music from where you are in the house, so I bought an Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation) to use as a remote (the iPhone works as well). The whole setup is just so cool!
I recently bought a third Airport Express. I don't stream music through this one; I use it as a wireless bridge to allow an old iMac without a wireless card to access my network. This one performs flawlessly; you set it up and forget it. I could also stream music through this one if I had another pair of speakers to connect to it.
Although I think this is an amazing product, I almost docked it one star because the setup and interoperability with non-Apple hardware isn't as seamless as it should be.
I connected my first two Airport Expresses to a non-Apple Wireless G access point (a 2WIRE DSL router). For security reasons, I do not broadcast the SSID on my wireless network. I could not get the AirPort Expresses to join my network with the SSID broadcast off (even though I typed in the network name); I had to broadcast the SSID, join them to the network, then stop broadcasting the SSID. That wasn't that big of deal, but it took me at least 30 minutes to figure it out and it's not how it should work. These units also had a tendency to drop out of the AirPort utility software when they connected via this access point.
When I got the third one, I bought an Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station (Gigabit) MB053LL/A to use as my main access point (these can't act as a bridge on a non-Apple wireless network). I set this up as Wireless-N only, I still use the old access point for B/G.
The third AirPort Express also had setup problems- the AirPort Utility software couldn't communicate with it until I did a factory reset. After the factory reset, it was easy as pie, though. I had no problems joining the AirPort Expresses to the Apple base station, even with the SSID broadcast turned off. So, in my experience, these do work with non-Apple access points, but they work much better with an Apple base station. On the plus side, the AirPort Utility works well under Windows; I don't think you need a Mac to get the most out of this.
Those minor hassles aside, this is the most impressive computing/home entertainment product that I've seen in a long time- it's somewhat expensive, but you get a lot of features for your money. Highly Recommended!