What is the difference? Someone I know needs a new router a so I thought of the Airport basestation but now I see there is a Express and Extreme.

Whats the dif?

They have many wireless devices and a couple oif wired ones that would be beside the unit to connect to.

In a nutshell:

- 3 ports for hard wired clients versus 1 on the Express;
- More clients can connect to the Extreme than Express;
- Better signal strength on the Extreme.

extreme can also share a hard drive off the USB port... i dont believe even the new express can do that (printer only)

i'd add :

- express can stream audio.

but IMO the extreme is the better product.

Also,

-gigabit ports
-guest networking

On apple's website it says that the new express supports guest networking, its true and false. If you have the latest version of airport utility, apparently apple removed this feature. If you downgrade to an older version it will support this. The extreme still supports guest networking with the current version of airport utility.

I just bought both last weekend. I recommend the extreme over the express purely for its speed and range. Btw, i returned the express, and kept the extreme.

thanks all

he is going to go for the extreme all the answers just made the choice simple

ok now that the Extreme is setup he is having a range issue.

Currently he has the Extreme upstairs in the second floor office. And down in the basement (sort of more like split level) he has the an Apple TV and other wifi components. At times the signal becomes very weak.

Would an Airport Express help in extending the range? I would prefer him to use it to extend the range not create another access point. The Apple salesperson told him he could buy the Express and connect the Apple TV directly to it. But that just sounds odd to me because if the Apple TV gets weak signal now wouldn't the Express get a weak signal also?

WiFi is usually best considered a "two wall" solution. His placement is ridiculous if you think about it. For starters locate the mainrouter centrally and work from there.....

WiFi is usually best considered a "two wall" solution. His placement is ridiculous if you think about it. For starters locate the mainrouter centrally and work from there.....

He would if he cloud but he can't.

Have you tried adjusting the router settings? using a different channel, and perhaps turn off the 5ghz band since it's of little use penetrating that many walls. There's a few other options as well.

ok now that the Extreme is setup he is having a range issue.

Currently he has the Extreme upstairs in the second floor office. And down in the basement (sort of more like split level) he has the an Apple TV and other wifi components. At times the signal becomes very weak.

Would an Airport Express help in extending the range? I would prefer him to use it to extend the range not create another access point. The Apple salesperson told him he could buy the Express and connect the Apple TV directly to it. But that just sounds odd to me because if the Apple TV gets weak signal now wouldn't the Express get a weak signal also?


Try mounting the AP Extreme vertically and maybe even inclined and/or rotated so that its antenna is pointing in the direction to the next wireless device they want to use.

As suggested, also try some other settings which aren't always obvious in the AP Base setup configurations.

And if needed, then maybe add an AP Express.

OP, What is currently hard wired to airport?

Try mounting the AP Extreme vertically

I did this, yeah it improved my range.

Also,

-gigabit ports
-guest networking


Aren't both ports on the new express GB?

Aren't both ports on the new express GB?

AnandTech - Apple Updates Airport Express - New Design (http://www.anandtech.com/show/5993/apple-updates-airport-express-new-design)

OP, What is currently hard wired to airport?

just a vonage phone and I think I left the iMac hard wired to hit as it was close

just a vonage phone and I think I left the iMac hard wired to hit as it was close

Is it a wireless phone connected to the vonage box? or wired phone?

If wireless, you could always move the vonage box, phone, modem, and airport extreme on the main floor. If wired, then you'd probably need to get something like the express to extend the network.

I don't think streaming video through 2 floors will do well with any current router out on the market. If you do extend the network with an express, its probably best to hard wire the apple tv.

Is it a wireless phone connected to the vonage box? or wired phone?

If wireless, you could always move the vonage box, phone, modem, and airport extreme on the main floor. If wired, then you'd probably need to get something like the express to extend the network.

I don't think streaming video through 2 floors will do well with any current router out on the market. If you do extend the network with an express, its probably best to hard wire the apple tv.

But if the apple tv gets a weak signal currently won't the the express get a weak signal if it is the same location as the apple tv?

.

Is the new Express better than the old one? It looks a lot nicer...
...

MUCH better!!

But if the apple tv gets a weak signal currently won't the the express get a weak signal if it is the same location as the apple tv?

Good point. You could always put the express on the main floor (extended network), and try to run the apple tv wireless. The apple tv should pick up the express as the preferred router automatically.

If its just the apple tv that's having the issues, it could be due to the actual cable or dsl line speed. Here are the recommended speeds that apple lists you should have. Apple TV (2nd and 3rd generation): Troubleshooting playback performance (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3623?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US)

Maybe check actual speeds through something like speedtest.net. Even if you are getting speeds above 8mb/s or higher (hard wired), if you go through 2 floors, you'll lose a lot of that speed.

I went over to this persons house to take a look myself. So he went ahead and purchased the express on the recommendation of the Apple salesperson to increase the signal to the Apple TV. I will save my thoughts on the Apple ‘salesperson’. The apple guy told him to plug in the power cord to the Express and sit it on top of the Apple TV and it will configure itself. I scratched my head with that one. Anyways I moved the express to the middle floor somewhere in between the Extreme base station and the Express. Went to his iMac ran through the wizard in the Airport utility and set it up and boom. Done.

The signal to the Apple TV and other gadgets in the basement was definitely stronger but still not as strong on the Apple TV. Next looked at where the Apple TV was placed and in was sitting in between a huge stereo receiver and a huge center speaker both with huge magnets that might throw off the signal I thought. So as a test we moved the Apple TV to the floor away from other devices and bang streaming a movie worked without issue.

I went over to this persons house to take a look myself. So he went ahead and purchased the express on the recommendation of the Apple salesperson to increase the signal to the Apple TV. I will save my thoughts on the Apple ‘salesperson’. The apple guy told him to plug in the power cord to the Express and sit it on top of the Apple TV and it will configure itself. I scratched my head with that one. Anyways I moved the express to the middle floor somewhere in between the Extreme base station and the Express. Went to his iMac ran through the wizard in the Airport utility and set it up and boom. Done.

The signal to the Apple TV and other gadgets in the basement was definitely stronger but still not as strong on the Apple TV. Next looked at where the Apple TV was placed and in was sitting in between a huge stereo receiver and a huge center speaker both with huge magnets that might throw off the signal I thought. So as a test we moved the Apple TV to the floor away from other devices and bang streaming a movie worked without issue.

Another happy customer!

Another happy customer!

I was so shocked at the ease of setting both up that if my router goes down I know where I am buying mine from.