Better Range - Express or Extreme?

Hi
I'm looking to add another airport to my house, so I get better range out in the garden (my office is cool!) but I don't know if theres a reason to go for an Extreme or get another Express?
I don't need music streaming, I have a modem and it doesn't need to be portable; but a bit of extra "power" would be good - is there a difference in the range between Express or Extreme?

Hello velo fellow
I just had an airport express and an airport extreme (with Dr. Bott omni antenna attached) next to each other in the same room on different channels, so you would think I could tell you.
What I found was that the signal strength from both fluctuated radically (as measured in iStumbler), for reasons that I could not discern. I have asked in a few threads what the reasons for this fluctuations could be, but haven't received any answers that helped.
Wish I could help you, but there is a voodoo aspect to this that I don't really understand yet.
Dual G5 + 15" MBP 2GHz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Similar Messages

Is the range of the extreme better than the express ?

IS the range of the extreme better than the express ?

My extreme seems to have better range also, although my extreme and express are located in different parts of my home. The extreme has an extra antenna, which aside from allowing a faster throughput speed, helps with range as well.

I have a net gear router supplied by virgin media. Can I extend my wi-fi range using express or extreme?

I have a net gear router supplied by virgin media. Can I extend my wi-fi range using express or extreme?

Apple designed their "extend" feature with proprietary settings to only work with other Apple routers.
As a consequence, there is virtually no chance that the Apple devices you mention would extend the signal of a non-Apple wireless router...using wireless only.
If you plan to connect the Apple devices back to your Virgin Media router using a permanent wired Ethernet cable, you can configure the AirPorts to provide more wireless coverage that way.

WHICH IS BETTER AS A BUSINESS TRAVELER-AIRPORT EXPRESS OR EXTREME

Can someone please advise me as a business traveler since this is my first Mac in many, many years whether the Airport Express or Extreme would be the "best fit" for me?
I'm assuming Express would be the idea situation....thanks!

Hmmm. To be honest, I don't see how this would help you at an airport. They are all using wireless for public use. You simply locate the wireless network with your computer and log on (and pay the fees via your credit card unless its a free service).
Power wise, you would need an AC outlet to plug the Express in. Those are sometimes difficult to find as well at the airport. But again, having an AirPort Express around when a wireless network is already available would not benefit you in any way.

Which Apple product to use to get better range at home?

I have several Macs at home; all but one is wired since my whole house is wired. however, I recently bought a Macbook Pro and have successfully used it in the house both wired and wireless.
However, my office is situated at such an angle to the dsl modem that I have (from Qwest) which basically gives me no wireless signal in my house. This is true for other devices that I've tried to use there. There are multiple drywall walls "in the way" and given the angle and foundation in my house, there is likely some cement foundation also in the way.
Is there a device (Apple or otherwise) that I can use as a wireless signal repeater that would get me a better connection in my office? If so, what is it, and if not, then I'll just run another RJ45 wire to my laptop. Just had hoped to avoid that.
Thanks
Dennis

It is possible to use a second wireless access point to extend the first. But based on things I see on the web it looks like both access points have to be from the same vendor, and both must support this ability. It seems to be a fairly rare features. Apple's Extreme base station and Express appear to work this way, but it is unlikely that you could use an Apple product to extend your existing non-Apple base station.
Some base stations have better range in difficult situations than others. I've had good luck with products using the Airgo True MIMO technology (currently I'm using Netgear Rangemax 240). But there's no way to know without trying whether that will be enough improvement. It took me from mostly working but slightly flaky to a solid connection. I'm less optimistic that it would take you from nothing at all to a good connection.
There are also base stations that allow an external antenna. If you're concerned about a single remote location, a directional antenna could help.
Clearly running a wire to a nearby location is the safest. (Either to connect directly or to put a base station near where you use your laptop.)

I have an old Airport Express I want to use to extend WiFI (which is best Airport Express or Extreme) and to have a HD for storing Itunes connected to the old Airport as well. I would also like to have the new Airport hardwired to my Mac (desktop)

I am willing to buy a new Airport Express or Extreme so I can get at least one LAN port - but only if I can use that LAN port to connect to my MAC (desktop) so it doenst have to get internet via the WiFi- AND so I can set it up as its own hot spot. I think I saw that was possible?? That way my guest network would be separate from my home Network. Just trying to get the best layout. I have cable modem to old Airport now and USB from it to printer.
Maybe a new Airport - again USB to printer and LAN to MAC(?) then old Airport elsewhere in the house to extend the signal and use USB off it to hard drive to store Itunes? Would LOVE to have it there to use for Airplay etc- Is that possible- I have read many comments and still not sure if it is possible or not.
Baxically I need a simple solution to storing all my photos- music and movies (MAC only has 500GB) AND have a great back up; Currently have a 1TB drive as Time Machine - so could use that for back up- but running out of space on MAC for all the media I am saving. THANKS!!

You are asking several different questions. If you need to store your photos, music, and movies on an external volume, you certainly can. Any externally connected hard disk drive will work, connected either directly to your Mac or to your Time Capsule as a shared volume.
You should not rely upon using that as a backup device though. Although you certainly may use it for both purposes, it is a better idea to have dedicated backup devices for a variety of reasons not limited to redundancy. You would not want to simultaneously lose all your pictures as well as your backup. If they are all on the same device, that could happen. Furthermore, a backup cannot back up the volume on which it is running.
As for adding an Extreme or Express, using its LAN port for your iMac, and then enable Internet sharing so you can effectively use the iMac as a "hotspot", you can do that too, but I am unclear on what benefit you believe this arrangement would convey for you.
An Extreme's Guest network is separate from its Main network; that is the reason for having it.

Extending the range of Airport Extreme in house with walls

Any sugggestions on the best way to extend the range of Airport Extreme? The base unit is located in an office at one end of a house. I would like to be able to connect from rooms at the other end of the house, some 70' away. There are three walls betgween the base and the far room.

I have essentially the same problem, except that our router is a Netgear product (NOT my choice, my husband is a PC guy). I get a great connection when my G5 is on the desk, but if I put it under the desk (which is where I really, really want it) I get nothing.
Will an Airport Express do anything for me? Or do I need to get an AirPort Extreme router? If I get an Airport Extreme router and locate it closer to my computer can I set it up to work with the same cable internet service we have the Netgear connected to? Or do I have to have a totally separate service? My computer is downstairs, the Netgear is up. Moving it is not an option. Our house is wired for cat 5 throughout. (No idea if this matters, I'm clueless on this stuff). Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Link Express and Extreme?

I live in a two-floor apartment. My Ethernet connection plugs into an Airport Express on the first floor. The signal upstairs is a little weak.
If I buy an Airport Extreme and put it upstairs, will it amplify the signal from the Express and give me a better connection upstairs?
Also: If that works, and I can link the Express and Extreme, can I plug a USB HD into the Extreme that's sitting upstairs? Or does the Ethernet have to be fed directly into the Extreme?

XYU77, Welcome to the discussion area!
You can configure the AirPort Express (AX) and AirPort Extreme base station (AEBS) to wirelessly connect using WDS. The AEBS will then extend the wireless signal from the AX. All of the AEBS's service would be available... this includes a connected USB hard drive.

AirPort Express vs Extreme. Is this a solution? My wife wants to be able to access files on her hard drive for our Mac by way of a laptop from anywhere in the house. For example, she would like access her $ software from any computer in house.

Will one of these work to use software from iMac on any laptop wirelessly around the house? Which would be better Express or Extreme?

I've had much better luck with Express rather than the Extreme.
She can use "Sharing"
Apple - AirPort Express - Easy Setup
Mac 101: File sharing

Confused about which would be best. Is there a site I can quickly compare airport express, airport extreme and time capsule?

I'm confussed about which would suit me better and was looking for a comparison chart to quickly see the differences of each. Is there a site I can quickly compare the Airport Express, the Airport Extreme and the Time Capsule? The Time Capsual is a little more obvious seeing as it lets one back up one's hard drive, but I'd still like to see it's other features in comparison.

There is. Look at the AirPort Express page....Mac > Accessories > AirPort Express.... or look here:
Compare Apple Wi-Fi base stations AirPort Express AirPort Extreme Time Capsule

HT1515 New Express vs Extreme

I'm looking for a new router. I don't need to attach printers or hard drives... and I don't need gigabit. I just need a router for making my internet WiFi. I just saw the new Express that was released today and the specs seem pretty nice. The only spec that I couldn't find was how powerful the new Express is compared to the Extreme.
Does the Express have the same range as the Extreme, or does the Extreme still have a further reach? Is there anywhere where Apple shows this in the tech specs? I couldn't find it. Here's the comparision sheet. http://www.apple.com/wifi/
Thanks
Zack

Thanks Tesserax. From your link it actually looks like the Radio Output Powers are:
Extreme-- 20dBm
Express-- 20.5dBm
I'm no radiohead, but it looks like the power and thus range would be about the same. no?
g

What is the difference between express and extreme?

I am wondering what is the difference between express and extreme and will there be any effect in performance if I am just using it at home?

I am just looking for router that gives me reliable highspeed wi-fi for personal use within my home.
Wireless performance is roughly equal between the two devices, with a slight edge to the Extreme since it uses a bit better antenna package.
If I connect the the hard drive to the extreme, does that mean I can back up all my data wirelessly through the port into my external hard drive?
Yes, if you backup manually, or use an application like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper.
No, if you were planning to use Apple's Time Machine application since Time Machine backups to a hard drive at the USB port of the AirPort Extreme are not officially supported by Apple.

Airport express or extreme for home wireless network

My Mac Pro is hooked up to my internet upstairs. I would like to hook-up my sony bravia to the internet through a wireless bridge. Do I need the express or extreme? My PS3 is already hooked up to my mac pro through internet sharing. What is the best way to set up an internet connection for my tv and PS3?

joek1 wrote:
My Mac Pro is hooked up to my internet upstairs. I would like to hook-up my sony bravia to the internet through a wireless bridge. Do I need the express or extreme? My PS3 is already hooked up to my mac pro through internet sharing. What is the best way to set up an internet connection for my tv and PS3?
an airport extreme base station has 3 LAN ports ...

Yoga 13 Wireless Fix - far better range and speed using 5G Linksys AE6000 .11ac usb nub

$60 Linksys model AE6000 802.11ac USB hub has made my Yoga 13 a useful device. Benefits are as follows, along with a quick "how to" tutorial.
Far better range from my access point (80 feet with reasonable speed on Linksys vs. 30 feet using built-in Realtek WLAN card.
Significantly faster speed 55 meg/sec using 5G, compared to stock Yoga/Realtek's 2.4 GHz-limited 14-16 meg/second download speeds - both tests done same day using Ookla Speedtest.net)
No longer crashing after resume (I suspect the crashing that began with Win 8.1 is due to driver issue)
Recognizes both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WLAN networks (Windows 8.1 failed to recognize 5GHz signal until I backdated the Linksys WLAN driver to use Windows 7 driver).
TUTORIAL / STEPS:
Turn off (or at a minimum - review before downloating) windows updates - otherwise Win8.1/Yoga will over-write the good driver you're about to install and revert you back to slow WLAN performance. Give Microsoft 6-12 months & maybe they'll get the drivers right for their POS Win 8.1.
Create a restore point.
Download & the Windows 7 (yes, seven) drivers to a folder on your Yoga.
Then open the following folder:
C\Windows\System32\drivers
Locate the file named "netr28ux.sys" and move it to a new folder you create on your desktop (for safe keeping)
Download the Windows 7 x64 drivers for the Linksys AE6000 and the installation/setup program from the Linksys support pages here
http://support.linksys.com/en-us/support/adapters/AE6000
Extract those Win7 x64 files (including the netr28ux.sys file) into their own folder, then copy the extracted files to the
C\Windows\System32\drivers folder.
Run the Linksys AE6000's little setup utility, insert the little nub into your USB port, complete running the setup utility, type in (or select) your network, type in your password & select your encryption type, and you should be in good shape.
I turn my onboard "WLAN 1" card off using the right-swipe/charms, and the Linksys shows up as "WLAN 2" with the networks it's picking up.
CAVEATS:
The Linksys AE6000 occupies one your USB ports, but the Linksys AE6000 seems to have the smallest size (barely 1" sticking out) and was rated the fastest of its size by PC Magazine. Very good performance for .11n and .11ac environments.
This mod may not be for everyone. I was able to barely tolerate the Yoga's wireless limitations since purchasing in May, but the Win 8.1 rollout (along with what must be craptastic drivers) was the last straw. The system began behavng erratically, crashing after resume, and wireless was even worse (speed degraded to 1 meg/sec or less up and download, within an hour after a reboot).
I have not checked the impact of this nub on battery life. I suspect it may be a little worse than stock, but it may be a reasonable tradeoff for me to actually be able to travel more than 30 feet from my router/access point (and have YouTube stream in FHD without stutters/crashes).
BACKGROUND:
After Windows 8.1 update, my Yoga 13's wireless performance went from barely adequate to useless (crashed on resume, speed degradation an hour after fresh boot, etc.).
I'm sharing this info because I've enjoyed this machine's other assets so much. It's too bad we can't replace the Realtek WLAN card, and obviously Lenovo though enough of our issues suffered that they chose a different card for the Yoga 2 (although the antenna design still may be partly to blame for some of those performance issues as well). Love the keyboard, display, etc. and can put up with the fan noise (if someone has a fix for fan noise though, please post to this thread or point me to the fix).
Best of luck with this potential (relatively inexpensive) work-around. It's not as ideal as switching out the internal card, but I'm pretty pleased so far. If there are other wireless fixes, please share on this thread.
Thanks,
Stanford

Having used this thing for a couple of weeks now, I'm still amazed at how great the network performance is and how it's transformed my Yoga 13 into a near-instant device around the house (incl range that extends to the garage and perimeters of front & back yards. And traveling is pretty phenomenal too - great speeds at the hotels we've visited (instead of having to tether my 4G phone because Lenovo's weak-sauce wireless couldn't hang onto a 1-bar connection for 3 minutes).
It's a small tradeoff in having a 1" by 1/8" inch "nub" stick out of a USB port, but one of the best $60 upgrades I've ever done. Highly recommended.

Airport Admin loses Express and Extreme, no iTunes, no Network Printer

Ever since I have upgraded to Tiger, I’ve experienced a strange, random Airport Extreme/Express problem which I have not been able to solve. I can sometimes replicate the problem but never consistently.
Laptop Configuration: 15” Powerbook G4 running Mac OS Tiger 10.4.3 with most current patches. System is stable and manifests no problems.
Airport Network Configuration: Network is closed with 128bit WEP encryption. No other laptops attached to the network besides my Powerbook.
Base Station: Airport Express attached to DSL modem with “Distribute IP Addresses” checkbox enabled, running firmware v6.2, stereo speakers plugged into audio jack. Network access is restricted by MAC address; RADIUS not in use, default IP address scheme is used.
Remote Base Station: Airport Extreme running firmware v5.6. The Extreme hosts a HP 1012 LaserJet printer plugged into the USB port and an IP phone plugged into the LAN port.
The Express and Extreme are within 15 feet of each other and enjoy a clear, strong 802.11b/g wireless signal on Channel 1 with a multicast setting of 11, interface robustness enabled and transmit power set to 100%.
Symptoms: iTunes loses its remote speakers setting; I cannot print to the network printer attached via USB to Airport Extreme; Airport Extreme and Express do not appear in Airport Admin Utility….yet I can access the network via the Powerbook, I have full internet access and IP phone can make calls. I just can’t print to the network printer or use AirTunes.
Troubleshooting: I can restore all functionality if I perform a hard reset of the Airport Express Base Station then re-import my saved Airport Express base station configuration settings. I typically look at the Airport Admin Utility to determine if functionality has been restored. If both the Airport Express and Extreme appear in the Admin utility, all is well. If they are not there, sometimes a laptop reboot will restore them, other times they will not appear when the Admin Utility is opened or when I rescan. If a rescan fails, I can access the Express and Extreme by typing in the IP address and password. Then each will show up in the Admin Utility and I can make changes and restart the devices. Even with a device restart, they will not automatically appear in the Admin Utility.
I first thought the problem was associated with the laptop going to sleep but this is not the case. Sometimes when I reset the Base Station, re-import the configs and reboot the laptop, I am able to automatically see the Express and Extreme in the Airport Admin Utility. Other times I can’t. Sometimes my settings will last a few days and I’ll enjoy full functionality then they will disappear. Other times they will disappear immediately, even with a reboot and a reset of the Express and Extreme.
If I use a 3rd party utility called Cocktail and reboot, I can restore functionality. Cocktail will delete all user, system and kernel caches, delete all log files, rerun disk permissions, and run the daily, weekly and monthly Apple Kron maintenance scripts. If I reboot after running Cocktail, my Airport Extreme and Express appear in the Admin Utility. Thus, I think the problem may be associated with a Airport Extreme cache file becoming corrupted or deleted upon reboot…….but I am not positive.
If there are any Airport experts out there, let me know what you think. I love Apple, I love my Mac and my little Airport Network…….but this is ******’ me off! Thus my plea for advanced geekery review and assistance.
Talk to me!

If the Airport Admin Utility cannot automatically "see" your Base Station, you have a big clue as to the cause of your problems. On a private LAN, it should never be necessary to select "Other" and manually type in the Base Station's IP address.
The most likely cause for the Airport Admin Utility not being able to automatically "see" an Airport Base Station - is a firewall on the Mac that is blocking it. Any of the following are possible:
- you have installed non-Apple firewall software on the Mac
- you have installed so-called "internet protection" software on the Mac
- you have installed "internet monitoring" software on the Mac (like "Little Snitch")
- you have installed VPN client software on the Mac - and many of these applications install their own firewall
All this stuff needs to go, since it will cause all sorts of trouble with communication between a Base Station or Airport Express, and a Mac.
I'd also be very worried about what this "Cocktail" utility is really doing to your system.

Better Range - Express or Extreme?

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