![]() In this setup, the Airport Express works flawlessly as a wireless bridge. Streaming Netflix on my Xbox only delivered 2 bars, Xbox Live frequently would not connect, and connection tests reported a lot of packet loss.This was perplexing, because I' ve been using the DIR-655 with a couple of Macbook Pros without any of these issues.After a lot of frustration, I grabbed the Airport Extreme I hadn' t yet returned to Amazon and used that as my AP. Turns out, that doesn' t work! So, I fell back on the express.When paired up with my DIR-655 set to N-Only wireless, within line of sight of the unit, and configured as a Wireless-to-Ethernet bridge. So, I ordered an Airport Express and an Airport Extreme from Amazon, hoping that I could use the Extreme as a wireless-to-ethernet bridge. Moving into our new house, I' m unable to wire the spot we picked out to place our Home Theater setup. Hopefully Apple will come out with the next one soon and it will be awesome, but so far I am disappointed in paying a premium for a product that does not outperform competition. Airplay is nice, but there are cheaper alternatives and you do have to run a Ethernet cord from your router to the device to do anything at all, so beware of that. If you want to use it as a router, I would not recommend it unless you know your shit about setting up wireless networks. Considering it's the same cost as a wireless printer, maybe it's not the best fiscal choice, but that's up to you to decide. I love the Airplay aspect, but I actually got some speakers, transmitters and receivers for Sony's S-Air technology for just over $100 on ebay so I have been using that more when I want to play loud music.If you want Airplay and wireless printing, this device is awesome. So I have it set up as a participant in the wifi network, and the main function is wireless printing. Even when I try to use it just as an extension of my 2.4 GHz network it drags down my devices and makes it so I can't connect at times. ![]() After going home and experimenting, I got the printing set back up, Airplay working flawlessly, but the router function still sucks. They switched out my refurb Airport Express for a new one, without any receipts or anything, it was kind of weird. I went to the Apple store and told them of the Airplay problems. The router function was slow, my pc would disconnect, it was difficult to have more than 2 devices connected at once (PS3, PC, iPhone) and not have any problems. 5 seconds would go by and then it would come on again, but this constantly happened. With the Airplay I would be playing a song, rocking out and then 40 seconds later I would get silence. Printing worked, router performed poorly and Airplay would skip and pause during play. I bought it refurb from Apple online to begin with so my investment was only $75 instead of the $100 for a new one. I bought it to replace my router, have wireless printing and use Airplay as a bonus. Overall I am happy to have this product, but disappointed because it wasn't cheap. The APE has it's limits, but for the most part it works great, I have certainly been very happy with it for years now. But stability was an issue and I got tired of the thing crashing all the time. It had a few more features, such as a secondary ethernet port, etc. I am not using the streaming audio functionality either.There was only one comparable travel router from Linksys a few years back and it has long since discontinued. I am sure the APE would make a capable home router as well, certainly fine for a smaller place and if all your devices are WiFi (since it doesn't have any "downstream" network ports). I don't have to deal with logging into the hotel WiFi with every device, and if the place happens to charge for access, then one payment gets all my toys on the internet. Many hotels still have Network ports in the guest rooms (at least the nicer hotels do it seems) and with one network cable and the APE I have my own private WiFi network for all my other devices. It is small enough that I can easily pack it and the built-in power plug means one less cable to deal with. I am using the AirPort Express as a travel router for my business trips.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |