Reviews for AirPort Extreme Base Station

While I like the feature specifications and performance, Apple seems to be going down their usual road of we'll do everything we _think_ you need and you can't do any more yourself. Most notably, the Airport Utility version 6 and up does not allow you to see what IP addresses the device has assigned on your network.

So, if you buy a new toy, plug it into your network and then need to know its IP address you can no longer find it. There are hacks out there for installing an older version of Airport Utility but in the Apple world those will break sooner or later and you're stuck with this very horrible experience.

I bought a new NAS device, booted it and now have no idea how to get to it to set it up. Boo Apple, Boo!!

If these situations do not affect you, then I would recommend this piece of hardware. If they do, look elsewhere. I personally have had many good experiences with D-Link.

The AE has to be one of the simplest products to set up. The hardware is well designed but the software is what makes this a gem. You can be a novice and make a very simple yet extensive network or a pro who needs range, shared disks, 5ghz networks etc. and it is also very easy to do.

I bought this under the impression it would act as a hub to plug a USB hard drive into and then back up over the air. As I had a 2tb hard disk it seemed unnecessary to buy a time capsule. Bad idea. This will not work as a time capsule at all. So make sure you are buying it for its sharing capabilities not as a time machine/capsule. Get a Time Capsule for backup, an Airport Extreme for a superb wifi unit.

iv owned 2 of airport extreme base stations first was the 4th gen that died in 9 months luckily apple swapped it out for the new 5th gen :D. sadly about 1 year in to owning it the same problems happened wireless N antenna over heats and burns it self out wish they would build a fan in to them to prevent the over heating problem. passive air cooling is not enough any more....

I think it's really stupid there is no stereo jack on the Airport Extreme. The Airport Express has been able to wirelessly play music via AirTunes from the beginning, but somehow the bigger and better Extreme loses this seemingly simple (and very much appreciated!) feature.

Disappointed and feel like I could've skipped this purchase and stuck with a couple Expresses.

I recently upgraded from a gen 4 to a gen 5. I've had it for about eight weeks. I made the decision to upgrade solely based on the positive reviews found here. Several claimed that their range and strength doubled. Sadly, that was not my experience. I would say it is 10% better at best and I have to reboot it periodically to keep range & signal at the optimum level. My service is through AT&T U-verse. I'm using the 2Wire router to feed my Airport Extreme. It is in the basement office. My main disappointment is when I use the WiFi to stream music via Air Play throughout the house. The music will drop out intermittently when I'm in the kitchen. This is where the main stereo is. It has a Airport Express connected to it. I've attempted to convert the Express to an extender, but it didn't work. My advice is to save your $180 and wait until a later generation really improves the signal & range.

I would rate it five stars if it weren't for the complicated security setup instructions.