| Apple AirPort Express with Air Tunes (M9470LL/A) |
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Model: M9470LL/A
Brand: Apple
Manufacturer: Apple Computer
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 299
Platforms: Windows
Operating system: Windows & Macintosh
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Enjoy your iTunes music library in virtually any room of your house
Share a single broadband Internet connection and USB printer without inconvenient and obtrusive cables
Create an instant wireless network on the go
Access an AirPort Express wireless network
Compatible with Windows XP or 2000; Mac OS X v10.2.7 or later |
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| Description: |
| Apple M9470LL/A AirPort Express Base Station - The AirPort Express is a very unique wireless base station. It fits in the palm of your hand, plugs directly into a wall outlet, and allows you to wirelessly connect to the Internet, print, and stream iTunes music to any room in your home. It does this via 3 bult-in ports. A WAN Ethernet port for your cable or DSL modem, a USB port for your printer, and an Audio port for your home stereo. Security - Built-in Firewall, Password Protection, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) Support, & 128-bit WEP Encryption Supports up to 10 users NOTE - Wireless printing over USB requires Mac OS X v10.2.7 or later or Windows XP or Windows 2000 and a compatible printer NOTE - AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express can extend the range only of an AirPort Extreme or AirPort Express wireless network |
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| User Reviews (299 total): |
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Music interruptions spoil this unit, August 15, 2004
By M. L. Stephens (Tucson, Arizona, USA)
This gadget seems to work for most reviewers here, but I have the periodic music drop-out problem. The Apple support forum has far too many such reports that fail to respond to any remedial actions. I'm returning the unit and waiting for a mature implementation of the concept.
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Amazing little gadget!, August 12, 2004
By L. Norton (Minnesota, USA)
I've just discovered the wonders of WiFi and couldn't be happier. The side of the box that the Airport Express comes in lists 3 simple steps to getting connected. I was a bit skeptical, but it really was that easy. I had my PowerBook connected to my cable internet, printer, and stereo in under 5 minutes. Everything works seamlessly. Highly recommended.
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Fast, Easy, Good., August 9, 2004
By patrick808 (Honolulu, Hawaii)
This little gadget does three things for the price of one! Sometimes I just plug it in to host a small wireless network. I've used it to play music easily, wirelessly. And, printing is like magic. Something of note, if you tend not to read manuals carefully are the five profile settings that you can save for using your Airport Express at different locations for different funtions.
If I could get three single function units for the same price, I would... but I can't think of any options. So, I guess i will have to buy another one or two.
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Once setup is fantastic, August 9, 2004
By P. Walsh
I'm using it to stream music only not extend my wireless internet connection as I have D-Link equipment and this only extends internet connection for Apple WAP.
Once up and running it is amazing at streaming music. The quality and stability is remarkable. The initial setup was difficult and required a 45 minute - free call to the tech support line. The wizard did not work for me and so required me to connect the AAE using an ethernet cable to my PC. The tech walked me through how to set it up and has been excelent since.
I have hit some of the limitations of iTunes itself running on a PC namely that once the PC goes into sleep mode it iTunes loses the connection to the AAE. The AAE itself is fine and still recognizes the PC but iTunes seems to get confused. Sometimes it requires a reboot to reestablish the connection but most times a restart of iTunes will do the trick.
So my setup is as follows, in a 1,500 sq ft. 1930s apartment building with thick walls is - a PC with a D-Link wireless PCI card at one end of the apartment; a D-Link hub centrally located and the Airport Express at the opposite end of the apartment about 80 feet and three rooms away.
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Setup difficult, but once done it is great, August 7, 2004
By Anonymous
This is for a Windows XP Prod config.
I was looking to use the device as a bridge, streaming music from my Ethernet wired computer to my stereo and hopefully throw an IP to my Xbox.
Skip the wizard, it was no help at all. You also should try to configure it via wireless config and not hardwire. (Like most devices) I worked with support for a bit of time, they got me into the access point but at that point they could not really go any further. The do suggest for more technical help, call their tier II support and pay the price.
After getting into the device, via the Air Port Admin utility, things started to move a lot smoother. It took a couple of bounces to get the device to gain a IP address from my router via a netgear access point. The final step was to join the device to the wireless network in my house. In all it took about 2.5 hours.
I did have a break in music on the second day, but after trouble shooting, I found it was my Netgear access point that was at fault. After bouncing that all is good.
It would be cool if you could us the Ethernet port as a switch, maybe it does and I have not found it yet.
So my setup is as follows, upstairs PC running Itunes down to the Airport Express, controlled by remote desk top from a laptop over a G network. If all else fails, I sell the device to a Mac lover and hook the IPOD back into the system.
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Great little device, August 7, 2004
By Patrick Tufts (San Francisco, CA USA)
Bought it, plugged it in, got a mini-headphone to RCA adaptor out of my junk box, hooked it up to the stereo, and three minutes later was sending music from first a Mac and then a PC to the stereo.
Simple setup, great physical design, and works well.
--Pat / zippy@cs.brandeis.edu
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Almost perfect, August 6, 2004
By Ben A Gabis (Chicago)
My setup involved 2 Macs, one wired via a router/switch, and one wireless. Getting the wireless machine (powerbook) to work was a snap. The AX sofware setup looked for a wireless network, joined it, and viola! I was in business. My wired machine (G4) was able to see the AX as well. Here's were things got interesting. Since I intend on having 2 of AX's, one hard wired, and one wireless, I tried to set up the AX without my wireless connection turned on, plugged directly into the router. My G4 could not run the AX setup software, since it does not have a wireless card in it, so I decided to plug it directly into the machine's ethernet port, and run Airport utilities. This enabled me to view the AX, but it would not stream music to it. After much frustration, I called Apple's help desk. No luck. They don't know much about this product's setup, unless it is bridging an Airport's wireless network, or a fresh (simple) install. However, I finally noticed there is a button called "Base station options", clicked it, and then saw an option for "enable airtunes over ethernet". Once that was checked, everything worked. Not typical Apple ease of use, but a neat product, and works great.
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Works great for some, but not for me, August 6, 2004
By gene (Trout Creek, MT USA)
I have the dreading 5 second drop out problem, aka skipping, that makes this device totally useless for playing music through my stereo. If you are one of the lucky ones, it should work great. If you are one of the unlucky ones, it will be awful. Do you feel lucky ?
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I want another one!, August 6, 2004
By Reid Sorenson (Minneapolis, MN)
Set it up in minutes, streaming music from iBook to stereo with ease. This is a simple, elegant product, and a perfect mate for a wireless-capable laptop. Some complain of the lack of a remote control... for me, the iBook IS the remote. Maybe a less-ideal match for someone with a desktop system.
My only wish is for the ability to stream to two AirPort Express units at a time, for true wireless multi-room sound capabilities. I'd by another one the minute they add that functionality to iTunes. (I'm sure it's only a matter of time).
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Horrible to setup on Windows XP/non-Apple router...BEWARE!!!, August 5, 2004
By K. G. Newby (Bowie, MD)
Good idea in theory, but the implementation seems to leave a lot to be desired. Though Apple is continuing its push into the PC market with this, they failed to account for one of the most common setups a PC user will have: PC connected via ethernet to a non-Apple router/802.11 device with possibly a wireless-capable laptop or second computer also. I (and others) had an insanely difficult time getting this thing to see my existing network. I eventually had to ethernet it to my router and change things manually using the "admin tool". Apple customer service was less than helpful. One rep suggested the above-mentioned fix, another said that was a bad way to go. Neither suggested that I download the latest version of the wireless service that runs on windows (also needed to get this thing working). The manual was lacking, at least from a PC-user perspective. They should have better documentation. And I understand that Apple makes no claims that this will work on a non-Apple network, but if that's the case, they shouldn't market it to PC users along with Mac users. If you're going to offer something, offer a complete product.
Once I finally got it working, it was still really sketchy, with music skipping, starting and stopping and such. I pretty much give up and will resort to connecting my iPOD or laptop directly to my reciever until something better comes along. Much easier, much cheaper solution and none of the headaches.
Just my $.02
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good for streaming music from a pc and a linky ap, August 3, 2004
By M. Fotter
...but read the apple.com support forums before calling support.
bit of a tough time trying to get ape to work with linky wrt54g and wpa. apple ts not helpful, apple forums very much so (hardwire, use aiport config not ape util, config and get working before unwiring).
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I like it!, August 3, 2004
By Mac Fan (AL USA)
I just got it about 3 days ago. I have read some reviews and what not and everything points to not having a way to change the music from the part of the room where it is playing. Well, I am using my bluetooth phone and an application to control it and it works great. But I also really dont care about it too much because I live in an apartment and just have to go over one room to change it, but due to the fact that i try to setup my playlist as well as I can I dont have to worry about not hearing something I do not want to hear. I am also using it as a wireless connection and setup was as easy as setting up the streaming music. The only thing I havent tried is the printer port. But the two other things make it worth the money, and if I ever get a printer I am sure it will just be an added bonus to this great product. Thanks Apple (Oh the only I dont like is that they dont supply the connection cables, would make me rate it 3 1/2 stars but can not do that so have to give it four).
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"Simply' great little device, August 3, 2004
By igoverman (Mercer Island, WA USA)
Works wonderfully with my PC and home wireless network (SMC wireless router). Set up was easy once I figured out:
1. It can be either a client or an access point (either create a network or join one) but not both if you're not using Airport Extreme, and that
2. The name of the network to join is the SSID of the access point
Works great a both a connection point, and then as a client to play music. Integration with iTunes was seamless, it just "shows up" on the bottom bar.
Would have given it 5 stars if there was a way to have it simultaneously be a client on the PC Wireless network and also extend it, like it does with Airport Extreme.
I know others have dinged it because of the lack of bells and whistles, but I gladly traded that for quick setup time, PC compatability and the fact that I had music on the back porch in less than hour (with powered speakers).
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Great product -- for what I was looking for, August 1, 2004
By F. D. Periquet (Bedford, NH)
This is a wonderful product. I wanted an optical connection to my receiver to listen to my music and this is a great product for that. Because it's close to my reciever, I don't intend to use the wireless printer capabilities and I already have a wireless router, DHCP, NAT, etc. and don't need that capability in the Airport Express either. Sometimes I wish I could've gotten this product a lot cheaper since all I want is to stream my music to my receiver via optical interface. I tried to do this by using a laptop, USB soundcard and remote control PC, networking, etc. and it was too complicated to be an elegant solution. The Airport Express does well and as expected from an Apple product.
One thing to note is that you need to either get the "right" optical TOS cable or get an adapter (which is what I did -- $7 cost); you also need an optical TOS cable -- $19 at Walmart. I didn't want to spend another $40 for the xxx kit they sell that contains the right cables.
In my setup: cable modem, wireless router (with existing network), DHCP, NAT, 802.11G/B, and wired network, the setup was not straight forward (and frustrating for an impatient, excited guy who just got a cool new toy that's he's been waiting over two weeks for) -- i.e., you plug in the device and you get the infamous blinking amber light -- all I wanted was the Airport Express to "join" my network. I could not tell whether the Airport Exprss was out of range, broken, unable to talk to the wireless router, etc. However, the solution was EASY: connect the Airport Express via wired network and let it get an IP address via DHCP (i.e., plug an Ethernet cable into the RJ45 connector and let the device alone until you get the solid green light). Once you get the light, run the "Airport Admin Utility" and configure it from there -- tell it you just want it to join your network (and give the SSID)).
Once I figured the above, it was easy to setup wirelessly, connect, and play music. Again, I love this product (so far) and highly recommended -- and I'm a picky guy. We'll see how it holds up (being on all the time, it seems to get warm) -- see how picky I am?
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Some notes on Mac OS 9, August 1, 2004
By C. Cosner (Mountain View, CA United States)
If you read up on this, you'll know that the wireless router feature works with Mac OS 9 but that you cannot *configure* the device from OS 9. The other features only work with OS X or WinXP/2000. Fair enough.
I'm planning to upgrade from Mac OS 9 soon, but am not quite ready.
I wanted the router to at least have some security (default is none, but you can set it up for WEP or WPA), so I used an XP laptop that had a wireless card. Note: During configuration, the firewall I had enabled in WinXP seemed to screw up part of the communication with the router. I was unable to commit changes until I turned off the firewall, but as soon as I did, the airport express was able to save its settings. As long as you know the settings you want, you don't have to be on your local network when you configure it, and you can even set up profiles.
At home, I was running OS 9.1 and the original airport software. Had to update OS to 9.2 and airport software to 2.04, then the device worked fine, and with WEP 128-bit security enabled.
I think you could probably just use the default settings (without doing any configuration) and get it to work with OS 9, but then you would have a wide-open router.
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It's simple: It works great., July 30, 2004
By C. Sicks (United States)
For the past year, I've been complaining about the options for getting music from my computer to my living room stereo. It's too far to run a cable, but all the wireless options had drawbacks. They either cost $300, or forced you to use their mediocre music management software, or required you to browse through your music on a tiny readout, or on a TV that I don't have in my living room.
I was frustrated, because all I wanted was a simple device that would replace the cable. I simply wanted to hit "play" on the computer, and hear music on the stereo. That's not a lot to ask, but no one could do it for me.
Until Apple came out with this little beauty. It is working great. Yes, I had some difficulty configuring it, but I guess it's my fault. I wish I had a Mac, which would make it really easy. Even if I had Windows XP it would have been easy. But I'm still stuck with Win2000, which is supported by the software, but is a little trickier to setup. Excellent customer service via telephone solved my problem, and now I'm playing music the way I always dreamed of. THIS is one of the reasons my next computer will be made by Apple.
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The Future of wireless home networking., July 29, 2004
By gynetix (San Diego, CA United States)
Apple has provided us with another new ground breaking networking device: the Airport Express. This 802.11g device can function as a router and perform wireless bridging via its wireless distribution system (WDS), with other Airport Expresses (or the older Airport Extremes Base Station), and with some non-Apple devices too. However, unlike most routers/ access points the Express features a USB print server for Wi-Fi printing, and a Optical / analogue audio port. It is the latter feature that is exciting, as it allows you to connect the Express to your stereo or speaker set, via Airtunes (that is built into iTunes and they Express' Firmware). Music streaming features lossless data compression, so no media quality is lost from the iTunes source (e.g. MP3 or Apple Lossless Format to name but two). The Express is highly portable, so throw it in your case, and take it on the road. You can set up multiple network profiles for this device, allowing quick configuration on the go. Finally, the Express is fully compatible with PCs. You can't go wrong with this groundbreaking Wi-Fi device.
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Clearly a first-generation product, July 29, 2004
By Eric J. Lyman (Roma, Lazio Italy)
I bought this Airport Express mostly as a kind of base station repeater, to extend the range of my first-generation Airport so that I use my Powerbook out in the garden of my apartment building. The device's musical talents -- it's real raison d'etre -- was really an afterthought. In the end, it's worked out the other way around: the thick marble walls of this ancient building proved too formidable to allow use out in the garden, but the thrill of listening to by burgeoning iTunes collection from anywhere in the apartment has put a smile on my face.
As with most Apple products it really works easily, feeding music from the computer to several sources of music in the house (not counting the computer itself I only have two, but I can connect many more). Using iTunes on the computer I can choose where I want the music to come from.
But the product is far from perfect. It would be better if it would allow the user to choose more than one music source at a time, having the same music plating seamlessly throughout the living space. And I am also disappointed that there isn't some way to adjust the music -- or even see what music is playing -- when I am far from the computer but close to where the music is being played.
I am puzzled by these omissions because I don't think there's a technological barrier to the features, and Apple is usually very good at making the most of whatever technologies are available. One can only hope these things will be among the improvements added for Airport Express v. 2.
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