Airport Express/Airport Extreme

I've got two Airport Expresses. One since they were first announced and the 2nd for about 16mo. Neither have given me any serious problems, although occassionally (every week or two) I have to reboot them so they will talk to each other. It's not a big deal, but it is annoying.

The only thing I don't like about them, is that while you can stream music to the Express (which is hooked up to my receiver) I can't stream the audio portion of a podcast to the Express. Would be really nice to watch podcasts on my 55" SXRD and listen to them over my speakers rather then having to listen on my MacBook Pro speakers. I would assume the same is true for watching TV/Movies purchased over iTunes.

My guess is that there is this arbitrary limitation in order to sell more Apple TV's.

-Aaron

We've found the Airport Extreme and Airport Express to be reliable during four-years (Extreme) and three years (Express) of use. Also, setup is simple -- the best I have seen in such network devices. And the Express travels well too. Some purchase an extra Express, configure it to join any existing network, and use it to extend the wireless range of networks in hotels or other venues when traveling. Also, the Airport Express wireless music system is very, very nice -- and affordable given what it delivers.

However, there were about 800 Express owners (the last time I checked online) who all reported similar component failures during the 12-20 month time frame. I believe all units that failed were made in the same factory. In fact, both our Extreme and Express routers died simultaneously at about 38 and 18 months respectively, as did a Netgear 10/100 router and a hub on the same network. They did not simply stop working entirely (which would have made troubleshooting a breeze). Instead, it now seems that all these devices started failing during the same five- or six-week period. During this time, the network and Internet connection continued to function intermittently, which really made troubleshooting the problem all the more difficult. We never found out exactly what happened, and for awhile, I even thought it was a Comcast problem. But in the end, I concluded that a summer power surge probably fried all these network components. After troubleshooting with a telephone support tech, we took the problematic Extreme and the Express routers into a Genius Bar appointment and the tech tried to get them both working on their store network. When both failed there, Apple replaced them on the spot (with rebuilt units). A year later, both still are working fine.

Fortunately, we had purchased the Airport Extreme with a PowerBook, and so the tech at an Apple Store said it would be covered by the PowerBook's three-year, AppleCare extended warranty that had been purchased at the time of the sale. He allowed this, even though that three-year warranty had expired two months earlier, because both were on the same invoice and because we had formally reported the intermittent behavior to Tech Support before the warranty had actually expired. So, Apple replaced the Airport Extreme without hesitation, and then went the extra mile, and replaced the Express as well, even though it was purchased separately and was long out of its one-year warranty.

We've always gotten great service, support and warranty coverage from Apple, and I've only had one other product fail (a G3 desktop computer) since becoming a customer back in 1987. Even then, after three attempts at a video signal repair, Apple just called one day and offered to replace the entire computer with a newer G4 model that then was shipping (since the G3 desktop had been discontinued). However, I realize some online forums contain many examples of frustrated customers who do encounter problems. My advice, purchase their extended warranty when possible (especially for laptops) and carefully document any and all problems through Tech Support phone calls and/or at the local Apple Store.

My Airport Express died last week. I don't know how old it was, but I bought it when they were released. It's the first Apple product that I've purchased that simply died. Other than that, I never had an issue with it.

I have an extreme and three expresses (all 2-years). Two problems I experience are:

1) Extreme freezes randomly. Sudden loss of network, and of the three lights on it only the middle one is on and it's steady. Disconnecting the power is the only way I've found to "fix" the problem. So far no consistant cause that I can find... possibly turning on or off one of the expresses.
2) Signal strength on either my of my wife's MBP... way too low in spots around the second floor of my house (extreme on first floor). Ive tried adding Dr Bott's antenna(s), no joy.

Just keep in mind that the AirPort menu thingy is showing the *speed* of the connection, not the *strength*. [It's been this way since 10.4.0.] So, if you're only seeing two bars, it's because the connection is slow, not necessarily weak. [It could be both though, of course.]

iStumbler has a nice signal-strength gauge, if you want to compare.

Thanks, I did not know that! I really have to RTFI

I got iStumbler... I see what you mean. I also see several other networks...
cool!

I've had no problems with my AirPort Express, other than a VERY occasional need to unplug it momentarily. And I might have been able to avoid even that, but it only takes a minute or so to get back on the air. I'm only using it for Internet access, not music, but it works fine with my current 3 Macs, an earlier Mac or two, an earlier PC notebook, and (if I don't use WPA) my Palm and PocketPC PDAs. It used to be connected to a DSL connection, but I switched to cable modem recently; both were fine.

I'm not sure where you heard about a short lifetime, but that's not been my experience.

Doug

Nor mine.


Likewise, our Extreme is going on 4 years and our Express almost 3. Originally got the Express for its optical out in order to bring iTunes to a back bedroom AVR, now it just extends the network for internet access (and we take it with us when we travel.)

As soon as Apple releases an "n" basestation with gigabit, I'll upgrade.


refurbs for $79...

Make sure you use the new Category 6 Ethernet, or fiber optic, when wiring the house...Create a wired backbone from each room to the router and a main gigabit switch...

From a posting on the Apple Discussion boards, it MAY be that 220v units are where the short-lifetime reports originate. Or not, that was just one reply.

Doug

Actually it's because of the lag. You can get programs that will stream audio from *any* application to an airport express, but if you try to watch a video with streamed audio the lag will be VERY noticeable.

If the speakers are close enough that you can watch the video on the MacBook screen, why can't you simply connect the MacBook directly to the A/V receiver? I have a Mini as a low-end HTPC, and it works great for video podcasts, movies, etc.

Doug

so far i have had my express for almost a year no problems yet thinking about
getting a second one to send music to another room using airfoil.

I have an Express since it was released and both the G and N versions of the Extreme and have not had any problems with them....

They just work!

I'm not sure what's behind the question, but as I noted earlier I've used both DSL and cable with my AirPort Express and both worked fine, providing Internet access to several Macs, a former PC, and two PDAs.

Doug

Sorry for the delay in response, I have a Cable modem.