Why Airport?

I have a broadband connection through Demon Internet, an Apple Power PC 1.6Ghz running 10.5.8, and a couple of PC's and an X-Box upstirs in the kids' rooms.
I can get a combined adsl modem / wireless router from Netgear, D-Link etc for about £40.
Or I can buy an Airport Extreme router for £130, to which I then have to add a standalone modem, which will probably cost me another £30.
I am not techie at all. I'm good with Photoshop, Excel, and some specialist applications which I use for work, but when it comes to modems and networks, I have absolutely no idea, so I need explanations in words of a limited number of syllables...
Can someone help me understand why I would consider the Airport Extreme option?

Thanks for the response, which I know is meant to be helpful, but;-
1 _wired and wireless?_ yes. my mac downstairs wired, two pcs and an xbox upstairs wireless. just like i've got with my existing netgear router.
2 _support for 802.11n?_ b and g works now. is n really 5 times faster? isn't that limited by my service provider? please refer to my point about words with a limited number of syllables.
3 _2.4 and 5 ghz?_ don't know. website says this stop interference from mobile phones etc. but i don't get any... see point 2 above.
4 _share a usb printer or hard drive?_ no
5 _extend wireless network to all parts of the house?_ the netgear router already does that.
6 _gateway or a router?_ i've got a combined modem/router. why would i need a gateway? as point 2 above.
7 _wireless encryption?_ no. if someone wants to hop on my network wirelessly, they are welcome.
8 _web based or dedicated software utility?_ as point 2 above.
9 _do i want control over where clients (aka my children) have access to on the internet?_ yes that would be good, but not if it costs me £170 for Airport Extreme plus a non Apple modem..
oh, and 10 _do i want apple TV?_ no.
Don't get me wrong. I don't like the Netgear router I've got. I would like to replace it, and I am a BIG fan of everything Apple, since my first Mac in 1993. But this does not look like the way forward for me. If someone said simply, it will be miles faster, or current modem / routers will all need to be replaced within 6 months but the AE will be good for 2 years... I would consider the expense. But really, I get decent speeds now with what I've got. The Apple website, and the answer below do not convince me to go and spend £170+ on an AirportExtreme plus a separate modem.
Or am I missing something?

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Anyone know why airport keeps dropping when in clamshell mode?

I been using my MacBook Pro for about 3 weeks now and have no issues whats so ever, but then I bought a mini display to DVI adapter and connected my MBP to a 19 inch monitor, which works great, however when I am using airport the connection consistently drops and idea why?

Usually it's interference on the 2.4Ghz band. Here's a quote from the support article and a link to that article.
Certain external monitors and LCD displays: Certain displays may emit harmonic interference, especially in the 2.4GHz band between channels 11 and 14. This interference may be at its worst if you have a portable computer with the lid closed and an external monitor connected to it. Try changing your access point to use 5 Ghz or a lower 2.4 GHz channel.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1365
Regards,
Captfred

Why Airport USB disk is that slow?

I'm using Airport Extreme at 802.11n to connect to the Internet and a 400GB USB 2.0 disk. I wonder why the transfer is SO SLOW (ussually 2.0 MB/s and peak of 5 MB/s).
For other people is this speed too?

I got so frustrated with the slow speed on mine that I actually unplugged it from the APEBS and plugged directly into my MBP. Made me "very very angry indeed"! I didn't have this problem under Tiger.
Matt

Why Airport Extreme 802.11ac on 2.4Ghz does not support 802.11ac?

On my Airport Extreme 802.11a/c, using Wifi Scanner, I can see that:
2.4ghz has PHY Mode: 802.11b/g/n
and
5ghz has PHY Mode: 802.11ac
On APPLE website:
"AirPort Extreme features simultaneous dual-band 802.11ac Wi‑Fi. That means it transmits at both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies at the same time"
My question is why is the 2.4ghz not showing PHY Mode that includes "ac"?
Is my Airport router faulty? if so, I will need to return it.
Thanks

The "ac" setting only runs on the 5 GHz channel(s) on any router. 2.4 GHz could never support "ac" speeds.

Can anyone explain why airport connects but no Net connection?

greetings all, i have a small and what i hope is an easy problem to solve..
my parents have wi-fi as well as my brother in his home, all i do on my macbook pro is turn airport on and it connects seemlessly..and i'm on google in 2 sec's...
but WHEN i go to my brothers house.. airport finds the network and jumps on it instantly and i have full service strenght. but no matter what i can't connect to any web pages,, they time out and i get a msg stating that i'm not connected to the internet... i eve tried my email prgram and nothing..all other net app's fail too..
how can this be if airport is finding the network? neither my parents nor brother have their network protected i.e. no WAP or WEP ect... so what is the deal?
even tho i'm connected on airport its like i'm not.. my brother has linksy's router and his sony viao jumps on it wit no problem at all!
anyone have any ideas or what i can do?
oNe
p.s. at my home which is an apartment there are several "open" networks and again the macbook finds them and jumps on them wit no problem... but i stick to my plug in net connection for security reasons...can't trust open networks.. sides my parents and brother i guess..
macbook pro 17" pimp ish Mac OS X (10.4.2) it came stock..

I wish that was the answer, but it doesn't seem to be the case. I have a Linksys wireless router in my office with no other users and no security provisions installed. Most days, I can bring my Laptop in and connect right away. Other days, like today, it simply will not connect, despite having a full four bars showing. If I go into Internet Connect, it confirms that I am connected to Linksys. However, when it fails to open any Internet page, I get the terrible message "You Are Not Connected to the Internet." I am then prompted to open "Network Diagnostics" to solve the problem, which it never does. Obviously, someone needs to introduce "Internet Connect" to "Network Diagnostics" since they clearly have never met.
I have experienced this situation in other locations, so it clearly is not limited to the one router. While I am ordinarily a big Mac fan, this problem drives me stark raving mad. Being a simple person, I just cannot fathom how a computer can be connected to the Internet, but...not...connected...to...the...Internet. Since I don't own any firearms, shooting my computer is out of the question and I don't really want to hurl it into the ocean. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.
Mac PowerBook G4 12" Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Why Airport Utility not pick up AirPort Extreme?

Suddenly AirPort Utility on MacPro not picking up AirPort Extreme for wireless. Other Macs in house connecting just fine.

Restart the AE and try again.

Why airport extreme no more powerful than frontier modem?

set up new extreme as new wifi network, thought it would reach out farther than the Frontier router/modem

You can expand a network by use of secondary wi-fi base stations, such as AirPort Express.
Older models of AirPort Extreme had antenna ports so external antenna could be used, too.
Not sure if any reason exists for that in most instances. There are other reasons for the signal
to be limited, due to location, building materials in walls such as metal &/or concrete, or other.
One of my older AirPort Extreme base stations with an antenna port was able to extend past
some structural issue to expand signal to outdoors, and still provide a good indoor signal.
http://www.apple.com/support/airport/
Hopefully you can resolve the area coverage issue by use of additional hardware,
or by placement of the wireless units where they are best able to serve an area.
Good luck & happy computing!

Why airport reconnect by itself

Hi,
when i disconnect from my network (i am connectet via wlan), airport reconnect by itself.
In the past its just sometimes done it, but now nearly every time. I have to disconnect it two or three times and then it wont connect again by itself. It does not connect by itself when i start my mac or safari, only if it was connected before.
In my PPOE options i have not aktivat connect when needet.
Hopefully someone could help me.
Its not a big problem but its getting on my nervs.
Thanks in advance
Arne
(sorry for my englisch is not the best)

hi silversurfer(79),
If I understand correctly then try this: make sure your Network settings is set to Location: Automatic.
System Preferences>Network Preferences>Location: Automatic>Show: Network Status.
or if that doesn't work
System Preferences>Network Preferences>Location: Automatic>Show: Network Status>Select Airport>Select Configure>Select Airport Tab>By default join: Preferred Networks>select your network and delete it>click Apply Now>quite System Preferences. Then go back and add it. Click Apply Now...
see if it works.
Powerbook G4 1.67 15", 1 gig ram, 128 vram, 80 gig harddrive Mac OS X (10.4.8) Powermac G3 266 mt, Dell 5150,ibook G4, 1 gig shuffle, epson printers, airport

Why airport cant connect to certain wifi,

I have the strangest problem
i m quiet new to mac, but all this while, i can connect to this particular wifi with no issue, but now i cant connect to the wifi. i kept getting connection faild message, i have reinstall the OS (Leopard) i even tried with lion but it doesnt work
can anyone help me with this?

No one knows? heloooooooo

Why can't my Lion airport utility find any of my routers?

I recently installed Lion on my 2008 MBP. Now the new airport utility cannot find any of my routers. However, my G5 leopard imac can still see my airport express and airport extreme routers. All I see on my MBP is a globe with an orange circle and the word 'Internet' below it. I also see an endlessly spinning wheel at the bottom. Any ideas? I'm connected to the network wirelessly and I have an internet connection. So, I don't understand why airport utility cannot see any of the routers.
Thanks,
Henry

Thanks, that did the trick. I didn't realize they had a different airport version for the older airport hardware....

Airport / Wii no longer friends

Hi - I have a Mac Mini, running 10.3.9, connected to a wired router. For nearly a year I've been using the built-in Airport card to share out my broadband connection to my Nintendo Wii, and for most of that time the setup has worked perfectly.
A couple of weeks ago the Wii decided it could no longer detect my Airport network (it can still see both neighbours' wireless networks). I've put both machines a metre apart, to no avail; I've taken the Wii to a friend's house and connected to their wireless router fine; and as far as I know I haven't changed any relevant settings on either machine. The Wii simply cannot see the Mac any more.
Recently I've noticed some odd behaviour with the Mac's Airport menus; occasionally it'll say that Internet Sharing is on when in fact it's off, or vice-versa. Not sure if that's important.
My hunch is that a software update (on one or other machine) has altered something somewhere, but I'm far from expert. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

If you can't find the express on your network list, then that explains why airport utility could not find it.
You could reconfigure it by just doing a factory reset. Should get it visible again.
Resetting an AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule FAQ
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3728

Airport Utility can't find Time Capsule but wireless is fine

Hi
I have my Time Capsule connected via cable to my NetGear Modem/Router and have wireless enabled on the Time Capsule.
I never have any problems with the actual wireless connections to the internet via any of our Macs or PCs in the house, but on a fairly regular basis, the AirPort Utility comes up and tells me 'AirPort Utility was unable to find any apple wireless devices. Please make sure the Apple wireless device you want to set up is plugged in and in range of your computer, and then click rescan to try again.'
Wireless access continues to work just fine when this happens, but I just can't get to the Time Capsule with the Airport Utility. Un-plugging and re-plugging the Time Capsule makes it appear in the Airport Utility again, and it's fine usually for a few hours or most of the day, but then quite often I will open Airport Utility again later in the day and it again will not be able to find the Time Capsule again.
I have tried firmware 7.3.1 and 7.3 but it didn't make any difference.
So I wonder if anyone might have any suggestions as to why Airport Utility would not be able to find the Time Capsule yet the same Mac from which I am trying is quite happily connected wirelessly and surfing the web.
Thanks in anticipation!
Ken

Wow it took me awhile to find this thread.
1047 views. I guess I'm not alone.
Every few days my macbook pro quits recognizing the Time Capsule even
though it works fine for wireless internet.
Airport Utility doesn't see it either. Shared disk access, gone.
I found I can get things working again over wireless if I plug the computer
into the time capsule with a cable. When I plug it in the time capsule instantly
appears on the list of available backup devices in time machine settings.
If I do a backup and then disconnect the cable backup continues to work for
awhile. Then I need to connect again.
Pretty silly bug.
When it works time machine and time capsule are great. We've used it to
recover data very easily.
Wish the connection wasn't so flakey though.

Airport Express no longer visible in Airport Utility

Hi guys, first post on here, so hoping someone can help me.
I have an Airport Express connected to my stereo and have been using it to stream music with no problems, until today. iTunes told me the airport was no longer available so I opened up the Airport Utility and it showed the Airport as no longer there, so I clicked "forget" in the hope that it would be found again.
No such luck.
So I unplugged it from the mains and plugged it back in.
Same.
I reset it by pushing in the button.
Same.
Airport Utility can't see it, and the network I previously created is not in my list of visible wireless networks.
How can I reconfigure it?
Thanks guys!

If you can't find the express on your network list, then that explains why airport utility could not find it.
You could reconfigure it by just doing a factory reset. Should get it visible again.
Resetting an AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule FAQ
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3728

Connecting Airport Express to Airport Extreme

I had a linksys router with a remote wireless Airport Express and it connected and worked wonderfully. The Linsys router died so I replaced it with an Airport Extreme. Now I can't connect to the Airport Express. It does not show up in the Airport Utility and the Airport Express status light blinks amber. Any suggestions to getting my Airport Express connected and working again?

Your Airport Express was configured to work with the Linksys router and it is remembering those settings, so it's trying to connect to a network that is no longer in existence. It's "lost". That's why AirPort Utility can't find it.
You need to "hard reset" the AirPort Express by holding in the reset button until the amber light begins to blink more quickly.
Then open AirPort Utility and click Continue to reconfigure the AirPort Express with new settings that will be compatible with the AirPort Extreme.

Airport Express no more visible in the Airport Utility

Hi, I own a Airport Express 2nd Generation. Since today my MBA is not able to connect to my Synology NAS via AFP, with SMB everthing is fine. In the Aiport Utility it says the Airport Express isn´t available but the Internet stilt works. On the interfere I clicked on the button ignore AE. Now I restarted my AE twice and the AU is not able to set up the AE.
When I tried the setup process via the iPhone, everything went smoothly. I suggest that with pressing the ignore button, I set a plist entry somewhere in the Library.
Does anybody has suggestions how to solve it. I need the Synology connection as well for the automated run of the Time Machine Backup.
Thanks in advance and best regards from Germany, Bastian

If you can't find the express on your network list, then that explains why airport utility could not find it.
You could reconfigure it by just doing a factory reset. Should get it visible again.
Resetting an AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule FAQ
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3728

Why Airport?

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