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AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes

When you can get it work it's great...

Written by PF from Poringland

26-Jun-2009

I bought an Airport Express to stream music from my Macbook. It doesn't work. It does however work perfectly with my wife's XP Laptop, and even sounds amazingly good. I've trawled the internet forums looking for a solution, and this seems to have been a common problem since iTunes 8 came out. None of the suggestions I've tried make any difference. So I'm left with the ludicrous situation of having to share my iTunes library with my wife's Windows Laptop and streaming from there. Although this sounds good, what a rubbish solution, and how absurd to have to stream my Mac via WIndows. This problem been going on since September 2008, and there's still no fix from apple in June 2009. That really IS rubbish.

8 of 11 people found this useful

AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes

Connectivity Issues.

Written by TK from Lewes

17-May-2009

This is a brilliant concept with a fantastical executed product. However, there are some problems.

I love being able to play my music wirelessly around my house, it's novel and incredibly practical also. Whilst this should be a simple install and play job, it isn't. Whilst the configuration is harmless, the provided documentation is inadequate and a basic knowledge of wireless networking is required. Not a problem for me.

The idea behind the product is that I should be able to listen to my music wirelessly around the home without interruption. Not the case. The status light reliably starts flashing orange to highlight connectivity issues during regular use. This requires the simple turning off and on of the device to reboot, but when the idea is that you can install this behind a dresser or desk then forget about it, then the concept fails. You shouldn't have to constantly attend to it whilst in use.

No other wi-fi devices in the house have these issues, so it's not the home network.

12 of 17 people found this useful

AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes

Flawed with Front Row

Written by JS from London

14-Jan-2009

In principle the product works fine - with iTunes.

However, try to use Front Row (for example) with this product and you will find it next to useless as it will not stream to your remote speakers.

This appears to be a long-standing problem with Apples own forum registering lots of complaints about it - shame Apple haven't seen fit to try and resolve the issue, surely this would be a simple fix?

18 of 24 people found this useful

AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes

So unreliable

Written by BC from Orvieto

07-Dec-2008

I have had two and each one has stopped working after about one year. I guess I have to bite the bullet and buy another as I am not well enough informed to find a reliable alternative.

11 of 14 people found this useful

AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes

very Nice

Written by AA from LIVINGSTONLIVINGSTON

19-Nov-2008

it's very good product

2 of 88 people found this useful

AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes

Almost everything i needed...

Written by JL from TURKU

09-Sep-2008

First problem I encountered was with mac-address. I'm in university network, so I can use only one mac-address at a time. I can live with that and problem disappears when my studies end.

But the biggest disappointment was AirTunes. I can't control volume with my Remote or with volume control keys. And it would be nice to use remote speakers with other programs, DVD player or Front Row. Now Airtunes gives you just a taste from what you would want.

So I bought Airfoil wich is a great program but costed me 25 dollars. Airfoil unlocks AE:s full usability, without it is not worth of it's price.

Still, with AE I can connect with 802.11n-speed to my MacBook and it looks nice. Usually base stations are awfully ugly. And with some basestations, I have encountered problems. Apple works with Apple.

I did not connect my printer to AE. But I will and that's a nice option for laptop users. Not too much USB-ports in MacBook.

14 of 22 people found this useful

AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes

Not quite what it says on the box

Written by ME from Uxbridge

31-Jul-2008

I bought Airport Express to extend my network and to play Air Tunes over some additional speakers in my house. However, since the Apple advertisement says that Airport Express could act as a base station for "up to 10 computers" I thought I would give it a go and replaced an old faithful USR8054 router. Part of the reason was also that I was having trouble getting my i-Touch to talk to the network as advertised and thought it might have been a router problem.

Initially, it all worked OK with one computer on the wireless network and my i-Touch. However, when an Apple iMac Notebook and then a Dell Windows PC came online, the Airport Express could not cope. Airport Express is no good as a base station for more than one computer. It cannot deal with the data stream and keeps dropping off. There are also limits on its range.

I have put the USR 8054 Router back and am just using 2 Airport Express units to extend the range of Air Tunes. After some fiddling around, i-Touch is behaving itself, Air Tunes works fine and the entire wireless network is OK.

In sum, naughty Apple; Airport Express does not do what it says on the box. It is fine as a network extension and for Air Tunes, but it really is not good as a wireless network base station for anything other than a simple one computer set up.

43 of 61 people found this useful

AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes

Not as good as I had hoped :o(

Written by GM from ALTON

30-Jun-2008

I've had this for a couple of weeks now and have worked out most of the niggles and marvelled at its redeeming features...

Good points
-Great for streaming music to remote speakers. Never dropped the signal with instant playback - it is exactly like having the stereo connected with a cable. 5/5stars
-Wireless printing works well and is only slightly slower than if connected via USB. 4/5 stars

Bad points
-Despite spending an hour with a 'Genius' in an Apple shop, we just couldn't get it to restart using WEP encryption. So now I use WPA and can't connect my work laptop to it wirelessly. 0/5 stars
-Multi function printers will only print wirelessly, meaning you can't scan, or fax unless you connect via USB to your computer. 0/5 stars

Overall, I don't think that the 65quid pricetag is justified and there is still some way to go before it gets to Apple's usual 5/5 star standard.

I remain committed but disappointed.

79 of 101 people found this useful

AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes

Nice idea, but...

Written by MV from Manchester

11-Jun-2008

...in reality its flawed. I can't fault it for being a printer server, or the airtunes feature. The big problem - and Apple need to change this page to make a big deal about this - is that it won't work as a wireless extender unless you have Apple Airport kit or a 3rd party wireless router that supports WDS. I'm thinking of a full N setup so in time this won't be a big deal, but right now its not value for money.

56 of 86 people found this useful

AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes

Overall disappointing ...

Written by JH from Weybridge

31-May-2008

Fantastic piece of kit for playing tunes but so far I haven't managed to play movies or TV shows of any kind (even though sitting in iTunes library) so pretty disappointed overall since I could have saved a lit of money and hastle and just made the connection directly from stereo to computer. I read the review that it doesn't work thro Front Row and Leopard and I can cope with that ... I may return all iTunes library is not supported ...

8 of 28 people found this useful

AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes

Works as intended but problem with firmware upgrade and Front Row support

Written by RG from London

24-May-2008

I bought this primarily for the AirTunes feature. However, I was unaware that AirPort Express and Front Row on Leopard are not compatible. You cannot stream audio content to remote speakers from Front Row which to me makes it a pointless piece of software. What's weird is older versions of Front Row support this!

Also, whenever I try to upgrade to the latest firmware (7.3.1) I lose the connection to my modem and the AirPort Base Station cannot be found. Other than that, running firmware (7.3) and AirTunes with iTunes, its great!

8 of 12 people found this useful

AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes

IF it works...

Written by AS from Woodford Green

22-May-2008

It is, I'm sure, a great product if EVERYTHING you own has the perfect prerequisites, however...
1. It is not compatible with Xbox 360 wireless adapter - therefore needing to operate another wireless network, no problem HOWEVER:
2. It is not compatible with non-airport routers - it claims to be able to connect to another branded router but after joining the network Airport utility loses it, rendering it useless.
Used in isolation, fine - but it will not integrate with others.

10 of 12 people found this useful