Customer Reviews

Apple Airport Express MB321LL/A [NEWEST VERSION]

5 star:		(269)
4 star:		(78)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(29)
1 star:		(38)

 

 

I'm a road warrior that uses this Airport Express to create a small wireless network, protected of course, within my hotel room. I just plug the AE into the 110v desk plug and then plug the hotel's internet cable into it. Instantly lets me un-tether from the desk to the couch, the other room, the bed, you name it. I was waiting for the "n" speed and am quite happy with this device. It never leaves my computer bag except at the hotels.

August 22, 2009 Update
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The software that comes with new Airport Expresses is much more user friendly. You may find going through the instructions listed below is not required.

Regards,
S. Monroe

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The CD that comes with the Airport Express has been useless to me in setting up a Windows XP computer to work with an AE. The instructions below should get you up and running.

1. First download the latest version of both the Airport Update and Airport Express Firmware Updater from [...]

2. Run the latest version of the Airport Update (4.1 at the time of this writing)

3. Disable your firewalls, plug in the Airport Express (AX) to an electrical outlet and attach it to your computer or router with an ethernet cable. The AX will have a steady or blinking yellow light.

4. Launch the Airport Admin Utility...it should detect the Airport Express in the "Base Station Chooser" within a minute or so and the light on the AX should turn green. You may have to hard reset the unit a few times by pushing the small reset button with a paperclip for about 10 seconds. If, like mine, it does not show up in the Airport Admin Utility leave the AX attached by ethernet and reboot, launch the Airport Admin Utility, and hopefully it will show up quickly.

5. As soon as it does show up, launch the latest Airport Express Firmware Updater (I used 6.1.1) and update the AX...this seemed to make a significant difference in the ease of detection later. This will take a minute or so. The AX will reset and you may have to leave it attached by ethernet, reboot, and relaunch the Airport Admin Utility to detect it again.

6. Once detected by the Airport Admin Utility, click the "Configure" button in the lower right hand corner.

7. A new set of tabs will pop up. Click on the "Airport" tab and select "Create Wireless Network" from the Airport Network dropdown box. This will be changed to "Join an Existing Wireless Network" later.

8. Now click on the "Network" tab and and check the "Distribute IP Addresses", the "Share a single IP address" button, and from IP range drop down list choose the IP range for your router (192.168.x.x being the most common for Dlink, lynksys, Netgear, and other non-Apple routers).

9. Go back to the "Airport" tab and change the "Create a Wireless Network" to "Join an Existing Wireless Network".

10. In the "Network Name" box type in the name of your wireless network (also called your SSID)

11. On the same page rename your AX to whatever you want it to be called in iTunes (often the physical location of the speakers the AX will be attached to, ex: Living Room, Bedroom, Ambient Sound), give it a new password (required), and give it a location.

12. If you are using security click on the security button, choose your encryption settings, and add your WEP key or password, etc. It might be handy to have your router security info open in a window so you can copy and paste the key right into the appropriate box.

13. If you now go back to the "Network" tab you will see everything is greyed out but now your new IP Range settings are visible.

14. With the AX still attached by etherlink, click the "Update" button and wait a minute or so for the AX to update. The changes you made should be reflected in the Airport Admin Utility when the update is complete.

15. Now you can launch iTunes and you should see a button in the lower right hand corner that says "My Computer". Click this button and you will see you have the choice of your computers speakers or the AX. Any further changes you want to make to the configuration such as the name you see in that button are easiest done while attached by ethernet so try to get it the way you want it with further Airport Admin Utility updates before unplugging the ethernet cable. As long as your Airport Admin Utility can see the AX you can update without being connected too.

16. When you are satisfied with the configuration and the AX is updated and is showing up in iTunes go ahead and unplug the ethernet cable. Now you can move The AX to your chosen locations electrical outlet, and hook up the audio cable. The AX light will blink yellow for a few minutes while being detected and then turn green. You can now choose your AX in iTunes and start playing your music as normal. Itunes will show it is busy connecting to the AX for about 30 seconds and then hopefully you will hear your music played from your remote speakers. I hope pulling this information together helps someone a little. Let me know if I missed something and I will update asap. Good Luck!

I have a decent setup at home with a Apple Base Station (wireless N) and this Express which is used to extend my wireless connection to other areas of my house. Again all is wireless N.

The Express disconnects every so often and computers attached to it are unable to get any network access. It has to be unplugged and plugged back in to get the connectivity back.

The streaming of music is ofcourse awesome, however every 2-3 songs you have to remind your computer to use the express....why? Simply because the express loses its connectivity.

I took it to Apple and the Genius told me that its my network connectivity. I said ok..I would make sure I was close to my base station and test again.

I did....I plugged it in 10 feet from my basestation and connected a apple hi-fi for audio. Again...disconnects every few songs and we were back to the same thing again.

I have tried this with 3 different mac book pro's in our home and the results are similar. I am hopeful that the next firmware will fix things up but until then....this product gets 4 stars.

It does what it should...but not at 100% all of the time....just most of the time.

UPDATE 01/19/2009
The problems continue. I have tried over and over again to like this device. The constant disconnects and sub par performance really make me hate this thing...the only reason I keep it is for playing music.... Just wanted everyone updated.... Check out the D-Link DAP-1522 if you are looking to extend your wireless network.

UPDATE 02/06/2009
I have been advised, via comments, that I should change the channels on these devices. I did change the channels a number of times with no apparent FIX for the problem. Incidentally my brother has been having the same problems with his airport express. Next is to try to downgrade to the older firmware as one commenter suggested.

With the Airport Express, I have a music server experience to die for!

I have an iPhone 3G and my wife owns an iPod Touch. After downloading Apple's free "Remote" application for both i-devices and setting up the Airport Express, we can now use the Airport Express to wirelessly access our computer's music library from the comfort of our living room!

With the "Remote" application, the cover art of the currently playing song shows up on our i-devices, we can choose any of our playlists or search for artists or songs with their virtual keyboard and, naturally, any music we download or rip is instantly available for us to listen to!

What impressed me beyond the smooth, easy, attractive implementation of the Apple system is the price; It's similar to competing Sonos BU150 Multiroom Music System wireless digital music systems which costs up to $999!

Unlike the Sonos system, however, the Apple setup also lets you take your music WITH YOU in your pocket via your iPhone/iPod and use the PDA/phone/game & other application features of the i-devices!

If you already have an iPhone or iPod Touch, or even if you don't and are looking for a way to stream your iTunes music to a room in your house, the i-device/Airport Express combination make an impressive duo to accomplish the task!

Let me start off by saying, that once we got all the bugs worked out, this is an awesome little piece of technology. But I must also say, that it took an entire week to get all the functions to work correctly between just two computers on our home network (my I-Mac and my wife's Vista based laptop). Apple claims this is a "plug and play" item like everything else they sell. And being a die-hard Mac supporter, I can say up to this point, that has always been true. Yet for those of us out there that are not familiar with setting up a Wi-Fi network, which Apple claims this product is for us, beware, you need to understand and know a lot about Wi-Fi, your cable internet (if that is what you have), and much more before you can get this thing to work. Even though most Mac's have the correct drivers (Airport Utility, etc.) already installed. Don't bother with them, install what comes on the disc supplied with your AE, this will save you about an hour of headaches. And for Vista users, don't bother with what is pre-installed or what is on the disc, download the latest version of Bonjour from the Apple website, this will save you days worth of troubleshooting on how to get the printer recognized by your PC. But, like I said, now that everything is running (haven't tried the Air Tunes because I don't care about that feature), it is like all Apple products, very, very, nice, compact, and smooth running. Apple needs to send out more detailed instructions with this product and provide better support, after all, we expect that type of service from them, not the "it doesn't work and takes forever to fix" type of service most of us have come to know and love from Microsoft.

I've been mostly satisfied with the Airport - it gets good reception, it looks nice, it was reasonably easy to set up, and running music through itunes to my stereo is nice (although sometimes it seems to struggle, only playing a second or two, pausing, repeat). The biggest problem is that they break down quickly. I have two set up in my home and in the last 3 years, 3 have died. Almost all of my friends have had the same experience. So be prepared to buy a new one after a year or two.

Be wary of all the positive reviews written shortly after they started using the product.

I'm a big Apple fan, have other Apple products. On the Airport Express, however, I have to rate it an AVOID! I love the device concept, and in particular the music angle. However, the design has a serious flaw with the power circuit, and the PRODUCT BURNS OUT SHORTLY AFTER THE WARRANTY PERIOD. I've purchased two, and both burned out. I'm not the only one; There are web sites that even show you how to repair the unit yourself -- not for the faint at heart. I mention it because it is proof of the issue. If you need more, go touch an Express that's been plugged in a while -- it will be hot. That heat is bad news for electronics in a small, unvented package.

This product has been around a while, and the problem has been there all along. The fact that Apple hasn't addressed this flaw is outrageous. How would you feel if your refrigerator burned out after a year or two? We, the consumers, need to inform each other, collectively stop buying products like this, and inform the company why.

AVOID.

I am no techie and this product was so easy to set up. I am thoroughly impressed. I'm new to Apple/Mac but none of that has mattered. It took me less than 10 minutes to set up this nifty little thing as my wireless base. I downloaded the included cd Airport Utility into my Macbook, plugged my cable modem and printer into the Airport Express, plugged the Express into outlet, followed setup steps and that was it. Everything just works. I was a little worried about the range on this thing but I've been all over our 1900 sq ft home and have had a very strong signal everywhere.

Things this easy are the reason technology is so fun.

Bought this to add to existing Apple Airport Extreme to extend range and play iTunes upstairs. Had a problem with setup, called Apple and a very helpful and knowledgable (US based I believe) person, walk me though the steps (I had missed one) and even waited while I did a couple of reboots of the device. The best support anywhere and the device worked as advertised extending my .n network and playing music easily.

The Apple AirPort Express works great on a non-Apple network as a way to stream music from iTunes to remote speakers or an audio system. You do NOT have to have an Apple base station for your wireless. I have a Linksys router and Windows, and the set-up was easy. If your current wireless network has security and encripton, as it should, you will need to connect an ethnernet cable directly to the AirPort unit to select the wireless network and enter the keys. (The AirPort Express unit requests and is assigned an IP address by DHCP automatically.) Once you set the keys you can unplug the ethernet cable and use the AirPort express like any wireless remote device. I use it with the free "Remote" app on an iPod Touch which lets me control iTunes from any location reached by the wireless. The Remote app also works with iPhones. Remote and iTunes also let you control which of several speakers, each with its own AirPort Express or hard wired to your computer sound card, gets the streaming audio from iTunes.