Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Like the original AirPort Express Base Station , free in 2004 , Apple ’s in vogue translation is a Wi - Fi admittance point compact enough ( 3.6 by 2.9 by 1.1 inches , 6.7 troy ounce ) to fit in a laptop udder and designed to plug now into an electrical exit . you’re able to use the Express to produce a wireless web of its own or to prolong the range of a electronic internet provided by another Express or by an AirPort Extreme Base Station (; $ 179 ) . Security pick admit WPA and WPA2 encoding — Personal and Enterprise version — as well as the elderly WEP .
When providing its own connection , the Express ’s built - in Ethernet port wine have you share a wire , broadband net connectedness — or extend an existing wired LAN — to wireless clients . When extending an survive wireless internet , the Ethernet port wine can be used to connect non - wireless devices to the wireless internet , directly or through an Ethernet hub or switch .
Using profile , you’re able to save up to five group of configurations . These allow you , for lesson , to move an Express between your home , your office , and hotel without having to reconfigure preferences each time ; you only choose the appropriate visibility and then re-start the Express . Although this characteristic has recently been tally to Extreme units , as well , it remains most utilitarian here , thanks to the Express ’s portability .
Unlike the larger — and more expensive — AirPort Extreme Base Station , the Express does n’t include a multi - larboard Ethernet replacement , and its single Ethernet port is 100base - T rather than the Extreme ’s faster 1000base - tetraiodothyronine ( Gigabit ) Ethernet . ( Given the Express ’s single port , the benefits of faster Ethernet would likely be realized only if several wired client were connected , via a switch , to an Express lead an 802.11n - only wireless web . ) The Express ’s USB port is also less operable than its larger sib ’s : although it allow you share a USB printer across your meshwork , it does n’t support share a hard crusade , as you may with the Extreme ’s AirDisk characteristic . ( Although the late corroboration for the AirPort Express explicitly state that you ca n’t connect multiple USB printers using a hub , Apple secern us that you’re able to indeed do this with the former Express ; however , the hub must be powered . ) Finally , the Express stomach only 10 customer ; the Extreme handles up to 50 .
On the other paw , a identification number of feature antecedently found only in the 802.11n Extreme Base Station have found their way into the latest Express good example . In addition to 802.11n backing — which ease up you practiced performance and range — the new Express inherit backup for 802.11a mesh , as well as PIN - based guest access , which grant you to keep your connection password secret , and time - found connection access , which let you limit the days and multiplication at which particular calculator can get at your connection .
Express exclusives
The Express also continues to one - up the Extreme in a few areas . The Express ’s AirTunes characteristic lets you pullulate iTunes audio — or , with assistant from the third - party AirFoil 3 (; $ 25 ) , any other audio on your Mac — to a stereo or speakers link to the Express ’s parallel / digital audio - out diddly . Using multiple AirPort Express units , you could even teem audio , in sync , to multiple locations around your house . ( However , since the Express has no controls , you ’ll still demand to control playback from your estimator . )
The Express is also the first AirPort Base Station to provide a newfangled feature called ProxySTA . In this mode , the Express roleplay as a radio - to - Ethernet bridge , stretch forth your wireless connection to wired client such as a TiVo , a secret plan cabinet , or a room of Ethernet - networked computers . However , unlike an Express configure as a outside or relay base post in a Wireless Distribution System ( WDS ) , which shares or extends your wireless connection to both wiredandwireless clients , an Express jell to ProxySTA does not extend or relay the connection wirelessly ; it actsonlyas a bridge circuit . According to Apple , the benefits of ProxySTA are easier apparatus — the Express acts as a simple wireless guest , so you do n’t have to configure a WDS connection — and the potential drop for better wired - to - wireless operation , as ProxySTA deflect the net overhead of WDS and the potential interference regard with rebroadcasting a wireless signal . In addition , ProxySTA works with both Apple and third - party wireless memory access points .
regrettably , this feature article is n’t documented and does n’t appear by name anywhere in AirPort Utility . To aerate ProxySTA , you must set up the Express to join a wireless meshwork and then start the Allow Ethernet Clients place ; both setting are settle in the Wireless tab of AirPort Utility . The lineament should work with any wireless web : a , b , g , or n ; and 5GHz or 2.4GHz . ( Note that the Express , which ships with microcode 7.3 , must also be updated to firmware 7.3.1 for this feature article to come along . )
Streamlined setup
The Express ships with AirPort Utility 5.3 , which offers a considerably simpler setup routine than previous versions . ( Note that interpretation 5.3.1 is already uncommitted for download . ) The utility walk you through the most - common options , asking questions that are easy to understand and providing useful information to help you make informed conclusion about configurations . Those who need access to the Express ’s more - forward-looking options — and there are more here than in the past , such as DHCP reservations for especial information processing system — can choose for Manual setup . The only potentially - puzzling setup way out is that when you plug in a new Express to configure it , you may require to switch over your Mac to the Express ’s own connection ( which will be named something like “ Apple connection 008de5 ” ) before the Express will appear in AirPort Utility .
Hop on the N Express
In our examination , the Express offered carrying out and range of mountains that were considerable improvements over its predecessor . For model , wired - to - radio set throughput was approximately 85 Mbits / s , which is approaching the terminus ad quem of the unit ’s Ethernet larboard when you take electronic internet overhead into story .
Wireless - to - radio receiver performance was dull — and slower than that of the new AirPort Extreme — although still much better than that of the older Express . In our initial testing of a 5GHz 802.11n - only web using the robotic channel setting , distinctive throughput was around 33 megabit / second . Manually flip-flop to a better channel increase performance to around 39 Mbits / sec , compared to approximately 50 Mbits / sec in the same location for an 802.11n AirPort Extreme . Wireless - to - wire carrying out in ProxySTA mode in the same location average just over 26 Mbits / sec , although it occasionally reached over 35 Mbits / sec .
Macworld’s Buying Advice
If you do n’t need the features unique to Apple ’s AirPort Extreme Base Station , the new Express is an affordable and portable alternative , although one that does n’t quite match the Extreme ’s performance . It ’s also the option to make if you ’re looking to prolong your subsist Apple - stigmatise meshwork wirelessly or to wired devices , to send your figurer ’s audio frequency to a remote stereo system , or to expend a Base Station in more than one locating . While not the least - expensive compact access degree on the market , the AirPort Express offers more features , a more traveling - favorable pattern , and easier frame-up than similar products from other vendors .
