Apple MA073LL/A AirPort Extreme Base Station

Average customer rating: 4.0

Didn't like
Not ready for prime time
best yet!
Warning! Do not buy if you plan on adding airports, printers, etc
Airport Extreme Base Station

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Apple MA073LL/A AirPort Extreme Base Station

Manufacturer: Apple Computer
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B000MP831G
2007-03-01

Related Categories:

All Apple

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Networking

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Accessories & Supplies

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Access Points

Access Points

Access Points (Hubs)

Product Description

The sleek, easy-to-use AirPort Extreme Base Station is the perfect wireless access point for home, school or small business. Blazing fast, it delivers up to five times the performance and up to twice the range compared to 802.11g routers. Available for both Mac OS X and Windows, the Airport Extreme Base Station can quickly be set up with the easy-to-use AirPort Utility and connect your DSL or cable modem. Up to 50 others can surf the web, stream video, share photos, and more without wires within minutes. AirPort Extreme uses next-generation 802.11n wireless technology and features multiple antennas to deliver maximum speed and range. You can enjoy up to five times the performance and up to twice the range of 802.11g wireless networks. AirPort Extreme works flawlessly with Apple TV to transfer your media from iTunes on your computer to your TV. It's compatible with 802.11a/b/g wireless clients. Because it's dual-band, you can set it up to work on either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz spectrum, reducing the chance of radio interference.

Amazon.com Product Description

Apple has updated its highly rated wireless router with faster speed, twice the range, a lower price, and wrapped it all up in a whole new design. The new AirPort Extreme Base Station now has extra Ethernet ports for making wired computer connections and/or sharing network printers. It even has a USB slot, for connecting a USB printer, external hard drive, or other USB device. Also, it works with both Mac and Windows machines.

<TABLE ALIGN="left" BORDER="0" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="5" WIDTH="200"> <TR ALIGN="center" VALIGN="middle"> <TD> <IMG width="175" SRC="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/electronics/detail-page/B000MP831G-range.gif" ALT="comparing 802.11g and -n ranges" BORDER="0"> </TD> </TR> <TR ALIGN="center" VALIGN="middle"> <TD> <small><b>802.11n is faster, and with a longer range, than 802.11g</b></small> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <b>About 802.11n</b>
AirPort Extreme Base Station is compatible with the 802.11n draft specification, the new, all-but-finalized (as of February, 2007) standard for wireless networking, or Wi-Fi. Apple says their 802.11n is up to five times faster than the currently ubiquitous 802.11g. It uses three discreet antennas that not only double its range over previous AirPort base stations, but allows up to 50 simultaneous connections. Unless you're an office manager, school principal or a cafe owner, you probably don't care about that much capacity. Still, it's nice to know you can, say, telecommute over the Internet while someone else in your household is streaming video without slowing each other down. Thankfully, AirPort Extreme is backward compatible with 802.11a/b/g devices. Apple does caution, however, that "speed and range will be less if an 802.11a/b/g product joins the network." </p>

And while setting up a Wi-Fi network in your home can often be a confusing, frustrating experience, consumers have learned that Apple is adept at painlessly guiding even novice users quickly through a set-up process. Apple promises that their wizard will have you up, running, and secure in the time it takes to brew a cup of coffee. It offers WPA/WPA2 and 128-bit WEP encryption, as well as a built-in firewall, which helps protect you from Internet intruders.</p> <p align="center"> <TABLE ALIGN="center" BORDER="0" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="5" WIDTH="200"> <TR ALIGN="center" VALIGN="middle"> <TD> <IMG SRC="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/electronics/detail-page/B000MP831G-ports.jpg" width="700" ALT="Airport Extreme Base Station ports" BORDER="0"> </TD> </TR> </TABLE></p>

<b>Sharing Features</b>
One of the most interesting features of the new AirPort Extreme Base Station is its ability to turn almost any external USB hard drive into a network attached storage (NAS) device. Just plug the disk directly into the AirPort Extreme Base Station's USB port, and it will be accessible through the built-in file sharing capabilities of both Windows and OS X. The AirPort Disk Utility software helps you set up permissions and passwords, keeping the disk (or parts of it) inaccessible from others on your network. You can similarly turn a standard USB printer into a network printer. The AirPort Extreme Base Station only has one USB port, but you will be able to plug both of those devices and more in by using a separately sold USB hub. Like most wireless routers, AirPort Extreme Base Station lets you create a list of devices allowed to access your network. A new parental control feature in this router, though, lets you lock out specific devices, like a kid's computer, from connecting during certain hours of the day, such as after bed-time.</p>

<b>What's in the Box</b>
Apple MA073LL/A AirPort Extreme Base Station, AirPort Utility for Mac and Windows, AirPort Disk Utility for Mac and Windows, 802.11n Enabler for Mac, Bonjour for Windows, power cord, printed and electronic documentation.</p>

Customer Reviews:

Didn't like.......2007-06-12

Could not hook it up! Isp and apple customer service where no help. just plain didn't work!

Not ready for prime time.......2007-06-10

I bought this Airport Extreme to bump up the speed of my network, but also to complement the two Airport Express devices that I own. The Extreme worked well for the first (my network seemed slightly faster), but failed MISERABLY on the second point. This product is completely incompatible with the Airport Expresses, despite what Apple's website says.

I highly recommend that anyone looking to buy this go to the Apple support discussion forum first and look for people who have tried to use it the same way you did. Otherwise, you're going to be stuck with a very expensive paperweight.

best yet!.......2007-06-05

This is by far the best router we have ever had. It was extremely easy to set up with our ibook, powerbook and imac, and wireless canon printer. We have not had to reset it even once. Prior to buying the Airport Extreme Base Station we had a belkin router which had to be reset at least daily and eventually overheated and stopped working all together (and it behaved even worse when we were running our old Dell desktop PC). We are about to get a pc laptop (reluctantly) for business since we don't want to defile our macs with windows. I expect to be able to set that up to work with the Airport just as easily, but will add to this review if their are any surprises.

Warning! Do not buy if you plan on adding airports, printers, etc.......2007-06-03

This unit works fine by itself with an 802n compatible mac. but if you add it to a network with other airports and streaming and remote printing, you are in for a most un-apple like experience. Just look at the HUNDREDS of posts on the airport 802n discussion group of people with problems using this kind of setup. Apple has yet to address this.

You've been warned.

Airport Extreme Base Station.......2007-06-02

The Airport Extreme works great, but the set up was a bit difficult. The Amazon liturature stated that it was compatiblw tihe Mac OS X.3, but when it arrived we had to update out system to 10.4 for it to work. Once we got over that hump it has worked flawlessly. My office laptop sync with ease, even easier than the system I have at work.

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