#Apple airport extreme 802.11 n install#
#Apple airport extreme 802.11 n upgrade#
#Apple airport extreme 802.11 n software#
#Apple airport extreme 802.11 n tv#

You need them, but there are so many other things you'd rather do with the resources. But, as you'll see from our testing, the AirPort Express's actual network performance sits on the lower end of the 802.11n scale.When you're a photographer, spending time and money on your WiFi network is like having to buy tires for the car. The rated specs for the standard include twice the bandwidth of 802.11g (74 megabits per second versus 23 megabits per second), and also twice the range, with about 70 metres for 802.11n versus 35 metres for the older standards.

The 802.11n standard certainly has its benefits.

#Apple airport extreme 802.11 n tv#

Apple also still hasn't opened up iTunes' DRM to other audio-streaming hardware vendors, which means the AirPort Express and the Apple TV are still the only networking devices that can stream music from iTunes.īecause audio streaming is generally not that demanding on your networking bandwidth, the benefit of the AirPort Express's move to 802.11n feels like more of a 'keeping up with the Joneses' kind of upgrade, although its wider bandwidth opens up the possibility for streaming high definition video smoothly across your network. It's no replacement for a dedicated music-streaming device such as Logitech's Squeezebox Duet, but if you're okay with playing DJ through the iTunes interface on your computer, the AirPort Express can provide a straightforward way to pipe music throughout your house. If you plug a set of speakers (or any audio output device) into the AirPort Express, you can then use any iTunes-equipped computer on the AirPort's network to stream music to that device. That audio out is one of the main features that the AirPort Express can hold over Apple's Time Capsule, the pricier AirPort Extreme Base Station, and indeed most other wireless routers. That's fine, since the AirPort Express isn't intended to accept any client systems wired directly to it. And where the others offer Gigabit Ethernet jacks, the AirPort Express also has only a single 10/100 Ethernet jack.

The AirPort Express can support 10 simultaneous users, while the AirPort Extreme and the Time Capsule can both support up to 50. The AirPort Express is also the only one that won't support an external hard drive over the USB port, although like the others, it does support a USB printer over the network. All three are 802.11n capable, but the AirPort Express is the only one that offers built-in iTunes audio streaming over a direct connection. The AirPort Express supports both the 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz wireless frequencies, so you can opt for the faster 5.0GHz band if you only need to worry about 802.11a/n-compatible devices.Īlthough nothing aside from the networking standard has changed in the AirPort Express, with Apple's new Time Capsule and the older AirPort Extreme Base Station out there as well, it can't hurt to clarify the characteristics of Apple's family of networking products.

#Apple airport extreme 802.11 n software#

The experience is basically the same on a Windows PC, the main exception being that it installs Apple's Bonjour network device discovery software as well, if you don't already have it.

#Apple airport extreme 802.11 n install#

You simply plug the AirPort Express into a power outlet, install the software onto a PC on your network, and follow the basic prompts via Apple's AirPort Utility. You get one 10/100 Ethernet port to connect the AirPort Express to your main wired Internet connection, one USB port that lets you install a printer on your network, and a single audio jack that doubles as an analog and an optical audio output.Īs with the original model, setting up the AirPort Express is remarkably easy. It also has the same snap-in, fold-out power plug, and it retains the same array of ports. It remains the exact size, weight, and shape as the original model, which lends the AirPort Express a unique degree of portability.

#Apple airport extreme 802.11 n upgrade#

Aside from the upgrade to the 802.11n, Apple made no other changes to the original AirPort Express design.