Using the Airport Extreme Base Station, in addition to an Airport Extreme reception card in your computer, you can move all around your home or office without the messy clutter of ethernet cables or connection equipment.

Setup is a snap using the included instructions. Within minutes you'll be surfing the web and accessing data wirelessly.

The only setback is the relative sensitivity of the Airport system. It doesn't like being near other computer components or going through walls. But, when push comes to shove, the unit does its job.

Apple Airport Base Stations are often than twice the price of equivalent devices from other manufacturers. The features of the Apple product do not justify such a huge disparity in price. You're just paying for the brand name.

Also, think twice before investing in a 802.11g wireless router, because if you use it for Internet via broadband like DSL or cablemodem, you are limited by the bandwidth of the slowest part of the system. DSL/cable bandwidth is typically about one-fifth of the 802.11g bandwidth. So you aren't going to surf the net faster. A faster router helps multiple computers on your local network communicate with each other (for instance, if you host multiplayer computer game parties), but connecting to the outside world doesn't improve. Of course, if you don't have broadband and your router connects via modem, the bottleneck is even worse.

Given Apple's track record of poor quality, premium prices, and dubious benefit of the "extreme" model, I do not recommend buying this product. Get a Linksys or Netgear 802.11b router for $40 or so, and you'll be just as happy. That's what I did, and I'm sending my ABS 'snow' unit in for salvage.

On the minus side:
- Let's face it, you can buy a regular 802.11g wireless router for way cheaper. I would have never splurged on this item myself (it was a gift). Linksys is always a reliable bet, although I haven't used their 802.11g wireless router.
- Printing through the wireless USB connection is very slow. Often the base station is connected perfectly fine, but forgets that there's a printer attached! I have had to restart the base station in order for it to see the printer again.
- Often my computer no longer sees the base station. I know this is not my computer's fault because it still sees my neighbor's wireless network. Usually I just restart the base station, and then it's detected again. About once a month I have to do a "hard restart" erasing all the settings for the base station to be recognized again. Very troubling.

The bottom line, as I see it: if I bought this item with my own money, I would have already returned it. It is three times the price of a PC-based wireless router, so I expect the base station to work 3 times more reliably. That has not been the case. Don't let its stylish appearance fool you - test it out for yourself.

PROS
) 802.11g (NATIVE)
) Native 802.11b support (part of the 802.11g spec)
) A throughput of 54mbps at most. This is about one half of standard Ethernet. And approx 5x faster than standard 802.11b
) My 802.11b computers seem slightly faster than before, but not a substantial amount

CONS
) 99% of PC users have a passionate hatred for Mac/Apple Products.
) Only 1 LAN and 1 WAN (a.k.a. Uplink i.e.: to DSL/CABLE) ether net ports.
) Requires a Mac for setup.

It is more appropriate to mark this as 3.5 stars but you cant. Don't get me wrong it's a good product but not enough Ethernet support.

I was successful with this platform/OS/equipment combination:
Apple M8930LL/A Airport Extreme Base Station
Mac: OS 10.1.5, Apple Airport Card
PC: Win2000 Pro, NetGear MA101 Wireless USB Adapter

Plugged an ISP-provided DSL modem into the Base Station and configured the Base Station using the Mac. (Had no success with Apple's Airport Admin config software for the PC.)

Then plugged in the NetGear MA101 on the PC, installed the software from CD, and configured the settings to match the Mac security.

I got strong signal strength and throughput from both the NetGear MA101 and the Airport Card in a three story house.
40-bit WEP works fine. 128-bit is occasionally a little buggy on the PC, requiring me to temporarily reset both platforms to 40-bit.

Haven't tried setting up file sharing yet, but will attempt the USB printer connection on the Base Station. (Caution, check Apple.com/airport for list if approved USB printers that will work with the Base Station. Also, this USB printer feature supposedly requires the Mac to run OS 10.2.3+)

I wish the Airport Base Station manual had more scenario details and suggestions how to tailor your WAN configuration. I spent a lot of time searching the Apple BBS regarding questions I think should have been covered in the manual.

Overall, the Airport Extreme Base Station is a thing of beauty to look at, relatively easy to configure -- but I'm scared to death of someone knocking it to the floor.

If you are using Mac OS X 10.2 or higher, you can upgrade the AirPort Admin Utility to gain additional benefits:
- New automatic channel selection option. If set, AEBS will automatically select the optimal WiFi channel when it restarts.
- New 'Enable interference robustness' option under 'More...' dialog box. If enabled, AEBS will better interoperate with wireless telephones, microwave ovens, etc.
- Wireless Distributed System (WDS) is now easier to setup.
- Control over DHCP range.

Yes, AEBS is better than ever. While AEBS remains among the most expensive 802.11g WiFi routers on the market, it sets itself apart with compelling strengths:
- It is the easiest to setup under Mac OS X by far, thanks to elegant AirPort Admin Utility.
- USB printer port for sharing printers and printing wirelessly!
- Excellent cosmetics... it's soooooo pretty!
- WDS lets you expand WiFi range with additional AEBS or other WDS-compliant WiFi access points (most WiFi routers lack WDS).
- Timely firmware updates from Apple. Bring on the 802.11i WLAN security!

Let me explain. I have a house that has really solid walls-- and I had one base station situated really badly so that in the rooms farthest away from the base station were not getting signal. Instead of having to string network cable into the other part of the house, I bought another airport extreme base station. I set this one up so that it received great signal from the original station used that as its network connection (instead of a network cable). I now can get signal everywhere with great reception (even outside) and I only had to plug in a second base station into the electrical outlet. Add that and the super-fast wireless, and you have a very nice system!

I am very happy with both base stations (I have both models). I am using a new 17" powerbook (which gets SO much better wireless reception than the titanium I had before!), but it does not get as good reception as the iBook (hence the need for the extra base station). The added USB port for a printer is a nice addition also. As I mentioned in my review of the other model, I have an older base station (3 years old) as well, I the signal from the new ones is every bit as powerful as the old one. Apple mentions that the 54mbps are only available for 50 feet, but it still has signal beyond that up to the 150 feet- just not at 54mbps.

The rest of the particulars of these stations are well covered in the previous posts. The are more expensive than some of the other options, but they are also more trouble free. You decide which you is more important. ;-)

Pros:
- Looks really really really cute... and small, too
- Better signal strength than Linksys BEFW11S4
- Innovative USB printer support
- Superb AirPort Admin Utility and tight Mac OS X integration
- Bridging with other WiFi station via WDS (for expanding the range)
- Wall mountable (comes with wall mounting kit)
- AOL and RADIUS server support

Cons:
- Susceptible to signal loss (i.e., when using the microwave oven)
- Pricier than most 802.11g router
- No web-based configuration interface
- Only 1 LAN port

When you run the AirPort Admin Utility for the first time, it might detect an older firmware and proceed to upgrade itself automatically (if you let it, of course). The new firmware (5.0.4 as I write this) fixes WiFi connection drop issue. For some strange reason, the problem persisted until I manually downloaded and uploaded the latest firmware. I've tinkered with the channel selection to get the optimum results. Running the microwave oven may cause WiFi connection to drop still, however.

The AirPort Admin Utility is a pleasure to use, which is also full of features. Among the options are choosing among 11 WiFi channels; operating in 802.11b, 802.11g or mix mode; setting the transmission power from 10 to 100%; setting up Internet via DHCP, static IP, PPPoE, or AOL DSL; and mapping ports. You can improve security via 40-bit or 128-bit WEP, create a closed network by hiding SID (Station ID), and add access control (MAC address filtering).

By the way, if you are running Windows, go to Apple's web site and download the AirPort Admin Utility for Windows. It does not specify AEBS, but trust me... it works.

Oh, did I mention how beautiful AEBS is? I tucked my ugly Linksys where no one can see (which probably hinders WiFi broadcast), but not so with AEBS. Located on the front are beautiful metallic Apple logo and three graphite status indicators (WiFi, power, and Ethernet). Located on the rear are reset button, 100/10BASE-T WAN port, 100/10BASE-T LAN port, USB printer port, and AC power adapter port (very long power cable is included). If you need more than one LAN port, you will need to mate AEBS with an Ethernet hub.

The signal level's stronger than Linksys BEFW11S4. I get full signal virtually everywhere in my apartment, including those where Linksys frequently gave up. If you need greater range (larger house), consider bridging ABES with another ABES via built-in WDS support (Wireless Distribution System) or purchase ABES with Modem and Antenna Port (and one of few external ABES antennas available).

Finally, I must mention its built-in USB printer port. Hookup one of many supported printers via USB and you will be able to print wirelessly via Mac OS X's Rendezvous feature. Neat!

The new stations come with two Ethernet ports and use the 802.11g frequency in addition to being downward compatible with 802.11b stations, cards, and networks. So, you can have an extreme base station and an older airport card. The speed will be limited to 11 mps, but it works.

The stations come in two models. The more expensive model also has a dialup modem and can be used to DIAL IN into networks when you are on the road or outside your home or office. This is a big advantage over the Ethernet model and should justify the extra [$$] or so. At least Apple lowered the prices to [$$$] and [$$$], but they are still overpriced compared to like models. However, if still have a dialup connection and need a network at home or for a small business, the modem model would be hard to pass up.

One drawback to the Extreme stations are range. They are limited to 50 feet, whereas, the Graphite and Snow stations have ranges of up to 150 feet. The Extreme models can be outfitted with externel antennas (to extend range) from Mac specialists Dr. Bott or others, but this comes with an added price. Unless your computers stay within 50 of the base station you will need an antenna.

Another problem that some people have experienced is interference with phones and microwave signals. Apple recently updated the firmware on this Station to help with the problem. Some early stations also had problems keeping the signal. The updated firmware is supposed to solve this as well.

Overall, these stations in theory are faster and the price is almost the same as the Snow station. However, there have been problems with firmware, interference, and the short range. Problems that firmware should fix (sans the range).

Although, the range is not considered a problem (and firmware won't fix that), but a short-coming. If you need to be on the 802.11g frequency and you love Apple for their easy solutions and setup, get this station.

This station also works well with Windows PCs and Windows users should not shy away just because it has an Apple logo.

Compare with D-link and Linkys 802.11g routers and base stations.