Apple AirPort Express with Air Tunes M9470LL/A [OLD VERSION]
by Apple Computer
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple AirPort Express with Air Tunes M9470LL/A [OLD VERSION]
Customer Review: Very easy to use, totally customizable
Summary: 5 Stars
I just recently bought my second AirTunes. I have been using mine all last semester at school, using it for remote stereo, printing, and internet. I have had almost no problems, and the ones I have had are all a result of my own (user) error. I am running an Apple Powerbook G4.
I recently took it home to show my dad how it works, and how he could share his music collection from his computer with the living room hi-fi stereo. He thought it was so cool, that he took it from and gave me some money to buy another. He has an existing wireless network consisting of three WindowsXPs and two linksys wireless routers. It works just fine for him.
Many other reviews have complained about how it doesn't work. I have been frustated at times as well, but the problem is almost always ended up being the fault of the network it is hooked up to (the modem, router, etc) or the software as set by the user.
If you have a pre-existing network, then you need to be sure to either a)have the airport plugged into an ethernet cord from your existing router (the airtunes can play over ethernet as well as wireless) or b) use (select in your wireless preferences) the airport for music and your old network for internet. To my knowledge, a computer can only be connected to one wireless access point at a time, and you must choose the Airport in order for it to show up as an available speaker in iTunes. I highly recommend wiring an ethernet cord to your airport from your existing router.
If you have an airport extreme, you can also select a feature to simply extend your wireless network (wireless) using the Airport Express as a repeater from the extreme. I have yet to do this, but it seems pretty cool.
I have had trouble in my dorm with intereference- about once a month, the music decides to cut out for two second segments. I don't have these problems at home, where there arent 10 competing signals.
I have really enjoyed my airports. While I am a bit of a computer whiz, my dad certainly isn't, and he can use it just fine. It's a little bit pricey, but you get what you pay for.
Customer Review: CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Like many couples, my wife and I enjoy listening to music in the house, but consider the constant changing of CDs a hassle. In addition, our toddler is fond of raiding the CD tower and scratching up all my discs. To eliminate that, I decided to rip all our music to a dedicated server and put the discs in storage.
I have a typical Windows wireless network in my home, consisting of a Belkin wireless router and USB antenna - pretty standard stuff. I wanted to play music from the PC in the basement to my stereo in the living room without running wires all over the house. Sound familiar yet?
So I went out and picked up an Airport.
- BAD ATTITUDE BEGINS -
I spent nearly SEVEN HOURS messing with the darn software. The instructions regarding Windows are abysmal and the admin software interface is no better. I almost gave up and smashed the little thing into bits.
Anyway I found a support forum on Apple's website that is filled with helpful hints from other Windows users. Following their sage advice, I finally got this little baby up and running.
- BAD ATTITUDE PART OVER -
WOW! Once it got going, it hasn't stopped for a second. As I said, we stream the music from a dedicated wireless music server in my basement, which I control remotely via the laptop in my kitchen. It's not as complicated as it sounds - my wife and kids use it with no problem. iTunes software is as good as it gets, and helps to make the whole process easy to use.
Now, about the sound quality... I was afraid the music would sound like a weak AM radio station. This is NOT the case at all! The music is played steadily in high definition without so much as a stutter across the network. I am extremely happy.
There are gadgets that are cool. Then there are gadgets that truly improve the quality of your life. The Apple Airport is one of the latter.
MY HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!
Customer Review: Play iTunes on your stereo from Windows XP
Summary: 5 Stars
I just got this unit and got it set up to play music from a WinXP computer on an existing wireless LAN in less than 10 minutes, thanks to some great instructions from another reviewer here.
From reading the negative reviews, it appears people expect this product to work wirelessly right away. Unless you have a completely unsecured network (no WEP/WPA security, broadcast SSID, etc), it will NOT be able to connect wirelessly to your LAN out-of-the-box. It has nothing to do with your operating system or brand of router. It also does not matter whether you are streaming music from a computer with a wireless card or if it has a wired connection to your router, they will both work.
Here are some tips on how to get it to join your network as a client to which you can stream music.
You have to set up the Airport Express properly for use on your wireless LAN. To do this, you must connect it to your LAN via ethernet cable (turn OFF MAC filtering on your router and make sure DHCP server is enabled). Then use the Airport Admin Utility to set your wireless settings. Things to set include:
- change it to client mode (join existing network)
- the network name (the SSID)
- the security settings for your network
- a password for future administration of the unit
- a name that this unit will be known as in iTunes
Press update to reboot the AE. Remove the ethernet cable and it will join your wireless LAN. Add its MAC address to the router's list and reenable MAC filtering if you use it.
If all is done properly, you will be able to see it in the remote speakers dropdown list in iTunes.
Even though its instructions leave a lot to be desired, the Airport Express' features and seamless integration with iTunes makes it an amazing product. The USB port will even charge your iPod or iPod shuffle. You can also get a remote control from Keyspan for it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for both Mac and PC networks!
Customer Review: It Does Work With 10.2.8 With Limitations
Summary: 5 Stars
Someone wrote a review on October 14 in which he said he was unable to use this Apple Airport Express because the software CD required Apple OS 10.3 and he is using 10.2.8. I too am using 10.2.8 on a 2003 iBook G3 and found that this device worked with my system without having to install the software on the CD. It's true that you need 10.3 to install the CD, but you don't need the CD if you just have the basic Airport software that comes with 10.2.8.
I just bought an Apple Airport Card and an Apple Airport Express base station and was literally on the Internet wirelessly in about 10 seconds after plugging them in. I spent several weeks trying to get my iBook to work with a D-Link router and USB adapter without success before I finally decided to get the Apple equipment. It was worth the extra money. My wireless set up now seems to be working flawlessly so far. I even have my TiVo connected to my new Apple wireless network via the D-Link USB adapter that wouldn't work with my iBook.
You should note that if you are running 10.2.8, you can't use all of the features of Airport Express. You need 10.3 to stream iTunes, for example. You also need 10.3 to administer the Airport Express base station and perform such tasks as naming your network or configuring it with password protection, which may be essential for most and may be a good enough reason to finally upgrade to 10.3. But you can get online and you can connect a USB printer wirelessly with 10.2.8 in the meantime. And if password protection is a concern, as it probably is for most people, you can get around the problem by using a friend's computer with 10.3 to set up a password on the base station and then access it from your own computer running 10.2. Or, I even went to my local Apple Computer store and the guy at the Genius Bar there helped me to put a password on my network in a matter of minutes.
I hope the guy who wrote the one star review on Oct 14 sees this and tries again.
Customer Review: Unbelievably quick and easy to set up!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am amazed once again at the design and engineering of Apple products. I just came home with an Airport Express, and I was a little worried about trying to set up a wireless network for the first time. I mean, it couldn't be as easy as Apple said, right? Just plug it and and answer a few questions and that's it???
Well, you can believe Apple. It took me all of 5 minutes to set up my new wireless network, and most of that time was spent trying to choose the two passwords!
I just plugged the ethernet cable from my dsl modem into the Express, plugged the Express into the AC socket in the wall, opened the Airport Setup Assistant, answered a few questions, chose a couple of passwords, and VOILA! My iBook found and connected to the Express in an instant.
I checked the download speed. Blazing fast. Then I decided to walk to the next room and see what the download speed would be. Just as fast. Then I went a little further away, to another bedroom, and guess what? The download speed was just as fast. Unbelievable. This was at least 30 feet away from the Express, with at least two walls in the way. And no discernable drop in connection speed.
I next decided to try out the AirTunes feature, which allows you to stream you music from your computer to the Express (and then to any connected speakers). Again, I thought "this won't be as easy as Apple says it is". Wrong. It was a cinch. Piece of cake. The music was streaming from my laptop to speakers in the next room in a matter of moments.
I cannot say enough about this fantastic product. Once again, Apple has blown me away. "User-friendly" is an understatement. I am kicking myself for not buying one of these miracle gadgets a long time ago.
One caveat: since I'm not on a PC, I have no idea what the process of setting up an Airport Express with a PC is like.