Express Answer

tysonbarber

tysonbarber

Tech
Many people have asked (including me) if the Airport express is worth the money, and will work with none Airport networks. While Apple doesn't like to say it will or wont, and the other vendors out there won't say yea or nea. I am here to tell everyone that I am having a great experience with Express. I have recently upgraded my PowerBooks with 512 ram to 768, added a super drive, and have Airport Extreme by using a third party pci extreme card ( Aria extreme, 802.11g/b) I am always in a Windoz environment, and have had little trouble interfacing with it. I was worried about the express not being able to extend my range because of compatibility problems. I have had a great time, it has doubled my range and will allow me to print wirelessly with its USB port (I say will because my HP printer won't allow me to print using the rendezvous’, I have to use their network printer server or some damn thing like that, so I am getting an Epson, which I know works with rendezvous’) Airtunes is a blessing, though with out a remote for my PB it is a bit of a pain to change the song. So I say yes it is worth the money for me. It does everything the Extreme does w/o the $250 price tag, though the range isn't as far. If you have had any experiences with express or extreme, good or bad, please let us know.
 
I also have an Airport Express at home serving internet to two Macs and AirTunes to my lounge-room stereo. I have nothing but praise for this device ... its smart, compact and does everything it claims to do with a minimum of fuss.

I should point out, though, that the manuals that come with it make it very clear that it can work in PC wireless networks. The software provided on the CD includes both Win2000 and XP versions of Airport Administrator, and other systems with wireless can access the network (such as PDAs or Linux machines), provided you can borrow a Mac or Win2k/XP PC to do the actual setting up.

Another thing I noticed was the high-impact packaging. It comes in a colourful, ultra smart flip-out box with everything neatly nestled in ... similar to the packaging used for iPods. Its clear that they've intended to reach a wide market with this one. Setup is smart and easy (but what else would you expect?)

Now, if they can market it to the PC crowds as well as they've done with the iPod, then it'll be a winner, but so far I'm not seeing it. Even the most techno-elite PC users I speak to don't even know the difference between 802.11g and 802.11b networks, which is pretty clear to me: 802.11b is nowhere near fast enough for today's needs, though thats what most PC users are buying.

The other critical advantage over the Airport Extreme, aside from price, is the compact size. Its so easy to just chuck it into a side pocket when you head off for a LAN party or whatever, and makes it genuinely possible to take your wireless network with you.
 
there is a big difference between b and g, but for most people, b is enough. even with high speed cable or dsl internet, you can not max out a b connection with just internet data transfer. if you are using the router/access point to transfer files between 2 computer, thats where g is the winner. but for most people, b will do until we all get a fiber line run into our houses :) Click the link below for more info.

http://www.linksys.com/edu/wirelessstandards.asp
 
So your initial post with you extending that PC network is not true anymore? Or what do you mean by relaying a third party signal other than using the Express as a repeater?
 
When I first posted i had only been added to the current network, then after fussing with the express some more i noticed my reseption should have been better. Thats when i looked things over and found that i was only adding the airport to the network not extending it. I am sorry that i was wrong in my first post. I looked like it had worked, then... well it didn't.
 
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