Questions & Answers for AirPort Extreme Base Station

The computer (Mac or PC) that performs setup and management of the Extreme is not required to be wireless. If your Mac or PC has an unused Ethernet port, use that to connect to the Extreme. However, it will need to meet the system requirement for this particular model of the AirPort Extreme Base Station:

"System Requirements for setup and administration:

Mac computer with Mac OS X v10.5.7 or later, CD drive, and Ethernet or wireless networking capability
or
PC with Windows XP (SP3) or Windows Vista (SP1) or later, CD drive, and Ethernet or wireless networking capability"

Prior to connecting the AirPort Extreme to anything, the software on the included CD must first be installed to the computer.

If expense is an issue, consider the previous generation of the AEBS that can be purchased refurbished from the Special Deals section of the online Apple Store. They were all made during 2009, requires only OS X 10.4, and has the exact same warranty as this new one.

• Answered by Andrew H from Carmel
• Mar 21, 2010
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Yes, I have been using Airport Extreme with a HP Officejet Pro8500 Wireless for over a year and it works perfectly. We have 2 iMacs that use it wirelessly on a constant basis.

• Answered by Marvin H from Saint Petersburg
• Oct 24, 2012
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Myself, I canceled the cable years ago. $100/month strikes me as extortionate. The only downside for me is that I miss CNN & MSNBC. Even though the same news can be found on the web instantly, shows like Anderson Cooper appear a day later.

Otherwise, between Netflex, iTunes, Hulu, and others, there is more online streaming digital entertainment these days than any one person could possibly ever watch. True, you have to wait a day for the latest Downton Abbey to appear on pbs.org and sometimes a year or more for the newest HBO or Showtime series. Meanwhile there is certainly plenty to watch, and for me, the benefits of being able to watch whatever I want whenever I want far outweigh not being up to speed for chat on the hot show of the moment.

The only other possible drawback is that it does require some elementary technical common sense to either match-up the appropriate hardwired connections (HDMI vs, VGA or DVI, for example) or to pair up the wireless wifi connections if your TV is equipped for that.

AppleTV makes it dead easy for iTunes content, which while extensive can also get spendy fast if you watch a lot of it. Venturing outside the iTunes eco-system is of course entirely possible, but not totally intuitive if you are not mildly computer literate.

Myself, despite having a wifi-enabled TV, I've found it simplest to hardwire a Mac Mini to both the big flat screen AND my sound system, which gives me access to absolutely everything, along with the option to easily switch to web browsing to check my email, phone messages or the online news headlines via wireless keyboard and trackpad.

You can use your (new-ish) iPad the same way. I'm just fond of a real keyboard.

Bottom line, a minor learning curve is well worth $1,200 (or more!) per year. Also, depending on where you live, it might be worthwhile to make an under $100 investment in an antenna to pick-up the HD network content still broadcast for free over the air. Good luck!

• Answered by Gordon S from Mill Valley
• Feb 12, 2013
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The current addition of the airport extreme easily allows you to plug an external drive into the USB port on the airport extreme. Once you do, it can be configured in less than two minutes. This is a great solution to "create your own" time capsule if you would like more control in the selection of hard drives.

Again for most people, the Time Capsule can be not only the simplest and most elegant solution for shared drives but also cheaper less confusing. By incorporating the drive and router in one device, the overall price is cheaper than buying them separately, and both the drive and router can be serviced at the genius bar of the local Apple Retail Store.

By buying an Airport Extreme and External drive you do however give yourself the ability to choose drive brands and sizes as well as replace or upgrade drives without opening anything up. This is usually only important if you are familiar with network drives and networking, or are simply one of the many people out there that love to tinker. On a side note if you already have an external drive and/or airport extreme this cheaper than buying the time capsule.

In recap; totally possible, not difficult to do, increase the customization options, and could be cheaper if you already have an external drive. Time Capsule is always an easy and simple solution, great for beginners looking to get an amazing back up and/or storage solution.

• Answered by Maxwell L from Pittsford
• Feb 25, 2011
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I am the original poster of the question "Can I use an Airport Extreme to extend the range of an Airport Express base station?"

To answer my own question and to provide useful information to other readers of this site, the answer is YES. I configured the Extreme as a range extension router to my existing Airport Express base station. The Extreme is located about 50-feet away in the main core portion of my large concrete-constructed home. It is able to rebroadcast the original 802.11n signal sent to it by the AEBS-configured network (consisting of the base station, an iMac and two range extension Airport Express units) and thus provide WiFi connectivity in the main house. This signal is sufficiently robust that we have total coverage in all areas of the main home, although it weakens in the outermost 2d story room. We control three different amplifier & speaker combinations located in our two backyard wings and pool area...these are connected using our 2 Airport Express routers attached to each stereo source in addition to my Bose speaker-equipped iMac. I can walk around any area oif the home and using my iPhone or iPad as an Apple Remote, switch songs and change the volume of the current selection being streamed by the base station. It all works seamlessly.

The only area I am still unsure about is whether or not I really needed the Airport Extreme to extend my network or if another Airport Express would have accomplished the same result. From my study of the technical description of each device, I chose the Extreme because it appears to have a more robust signal to power the new extension. In any event, my particular application of Apple's WiFi technology works well for us.

We also have a CAT-5 cable running directly from a Buffalo Box (connected to the base station by jumper) to the most remote part of our home and guests always have the option of plugging their PC into this cable drop if the WiFi signal isn't strong enough to meet their needs.

• Answered by William J from Apo
• Oct 17, 2012
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AirPort and Bluetooth cards were an option on every PowerMac G-5 model (from 2003 to 2006). None had wireless as standard equipment, although they were all "wireless-ready." The cards are easily visible on the logic board (if there), or the empty guide and slot are easily visible for install-it-yourself (takes only seconds, not even minutes).

A less handy alternative is to use Ethernet cable to connect the Power-Mac to the Extreme. Your Power-Mac could then interact wirelessly with every other wireless device that has access to the network.

• Answered by Andrew H from Carmel
• Sep 27, 2010
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I just purchased the Base Station and discovered that I need to purchase a Airport Card for one of my older Macs. This will allow for the wireless connection to the Base Station.
Apple no longer sells this product but you can find it on the internet. Just verify that your computer is compatible with the Card. There are several. Approx. $15-$20.

• Answered by Deborah C from Seminole
• Mar 11, 2010
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This depends on many factors. 1st is if your are using 5 GHz 802.11n on the Airport Extreme AND your computer. Another is what other wireless traffic do you plan to have on your router.

If it's just one MacBook for example on this fast N network. Then I would suspect any lag at all. Now if a second computer jumps on a starts "streaming" the DVD files then you may notice some lag. This also depends on the quality and size of those files.

All in all, Should work great.

• Answered by Chris P from Stillwater
• Oct 19, 2009
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