| Apple MA073LL/A AirPort Extreme Base Station |
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Model: MA073LL/A
Brand: Apple
Manufacturer: Apple Computer
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 65
Operating system: Windows XP Home Edition
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: IEEE 802.11n (draft), IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Ethernet WAN port
Wireless networking router based on the 802.11n draft standard
Backward-compatible with 802.11a/b/g devices
Up to 5 times faster and twice the range of previous AirPort Extreme Base Station
USB port turns external hard drives, printers, and other devices into network resources |
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| Description: |
| The sleek, easy-to-use AirPort Extreme Base Station is the perfect wireless access point for home, school, or small business. Blazing fast, it delivers up to five times the performance and up to twice the range compared to 802.11g routers. And you can use it with both Macs and PCs. |
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| User Reviews (65 total): |
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Slower than dialup!, August 6, 2007
By Philly Lawyer
Great if you enjoy watching the flashing yellow light indicator, i.e., a dropped connection. Going back to the previous Airport Extreme Base Statiion. .....I'm not purchasing any NEW Apple products until the bugs are fixed on the ones I've already purchased (eg. Apple TV).
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Not up to my expectations., August 6, 2007
By James
When Apple released this update of their Airport Extreme, I was excited. Apple simplicity, speed, and reliability were expected and new features such as printer connectivity and hard drive sharing made me jump on this purchase.
Wireless speed and easy LOCAL access to hard drives and printers between Mac and Vista make this suitable for most people. With my home network, I wanted to be able to access my home hard drive from any Internet connection. Documentation and support on this remote access is non-existent. Apple docs didn't shed any light on the process and neither did their online help. Some people in the forums said they were able to access their hard drives but didn't explain the steps. After repeated attempts, I've given up on this.
If you have a dynamic DNS, like 99% of all cable home users, you'll need either software or a router to update a service to a name server so you can access your network when the IP address changes from your ISP. This is needed if you want to access security cams, printers etc. Routers from linksys will easily update this without the need for software (this is a free service from Dyndns). Airport unfortunately does not offer this. You'll have to leave a computer on to update the DNS or have another router do this for you (I do the latter, a fifty dollar linksys router does this fine -- Yes, I use this WITH Airport). Bonjour promised to relieve all of this, but support or docs for that service are non-existent.
Wireless speed is excellent. Wireless-N will catch on and become affordable and the standard (most new Apples have this but Pcs need a N-adapter which runs around a hundred dollars). Gigabit Ethernet isn't included on this router and for Apple to release this (with all their recent computers supporting this) is a disappointment at this price point. Connection to a USB hard drive is surprisingly easy and will become a welcome integration for most home users.
Don't buy this router until some revisions take place. There are cheaper routers with the same speed and more features. The only current advantage you'll have is the Airport Disk sharing.
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solved all of my network issues, August 3, 2007
By Nikwax (Portland, OR United States)
I've had a wireless network in my house for years with Belkin and Linksys gear, and there were always problems. I finally spent the money for the Apple gear. Problems solved. It just flat out works. Great coverage, easy setup, good security, no issues. It just sits there and works. Fabulous!
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It works, August 3, 2007
By Kirk Nelson
It works. It was super easy to set up. It is super fast. You can hook up a printer and a networked hard drive to it. What more could you ask for?
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Solved many of my problems, August 1, 2007
By B. Desjardins (Ann Arbor, MI USA)
I had an old Linksys G wireless station, and I have attempted to upgrade it to an N station, while preserving the current functions of my G station. I stream video to several computers (PCs and Macs) simultaneously throughout the house, and share a printer. I bought several other N wireless stations from different vendors before getting that one, and I had to return every single one of them because I could not stream the videos properly from them (too many interruptions). This N station worked flawlessly right out of the box. No tweaking required so far (I only bought it yesterday). I can stream video flawlessly to many computers at the same time, as I did on my G station. And transfer to the N equipped laptops is 3 times faster. The range is also excellent. Connection to the base station is also much faster than on my old G station.
There is however one HUGE advantage of this station that the other ones I tried did not have. I was able to connect a USB printer directly to it (many other vendors do that). But what is unique to Apple is that I can access the networked printer from both Macs and PCs using Bonjour, and the station behaves as a USB passthrough, meaning that I do not need suboptimal CUPS drivers anymore, as the native USB printer drivers work flawlessly on both Macs and PCs. This is a huge advantage.
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Terrible range, not worth half the price, July 31, 2007
By Dana VanDen Heuvel (Green Bay, WI USA)
As a die hard Mac fan, I finally got into the Apple router after my Linksys died. What a mistake. I need wireless to reach downstairs in our two story home and this router couldn't send a signal 30 feet. Terrible, terrible, terrible!
Guess it's back to a Linksys...
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Airport Extreme Base Station, July 22, 2007
By Sherman Emery (Petaluma, Ca. United States)
I am very happy with it so far.It is very easy to set up and works great
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Works fine after some initial headache, July 17, 2007
By Mesmerizer (GT, CA)
-Installation was not all that smooth, connecting to my regular DSL at home required some manual parameter tweaking. That included both connecting directly to the modem or via the Eternet switch. The AirPort wouldn't get the IP automatically via DHCP, unlike any computer I would connect to the network, just plug them in and they work. I am not an expert, but fortunately I knew enough to be able to do it manually on the AirPort myself. Inexperienced users, however, would need extra help.
All that said, the installation utility is really easy to use, this was my first ever WiFi setup and I never felt puzzled or lost in the process.
-The 5GHz mode doesn't work that well, even though it's suposed to penetrate walls better than the 2.4 GHz. On the upper floor of my house, really only about 10 yards straight line from the base station, my new MacBook Pro COMPLETELY lost signal. I even tried positioning AirPort on it's side, closer or further away from windows etc., nothing helped. But switching to 2.4GHz made for a very stable connection.
-AirDisk works perfectly! I had an external Western Digital MyBook HDD connected to my laptop and after plugging it into the AirPort, it mounted without a problem, folder structure etc. intact (there was no need to create special user or shared folders and move files). Oh, it did take several minutes to show up after connecting for the first time, but after that never had a problem.
UPDATE: I am quite puzzled by the 5 GHz mode. I did some testing with the AirDisk and copying same sized files (about 200 MB) from the AirDisk to the internal HDD took 3 times LONGER using the 5 GHz mode vs. the 2.4. Base station was about 20 inches away from the laptop. I created two identical sized files, but of a different kind, to make sure cache was not to blame. I thought 5 GHz was supposed to be faster in every way...? So I am just sticking to 2.4 GHz, 802.11n mode only.
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Just Doesn't Get Any Easier, July 6, 2007
By Very Happy Amazon Shopper (Wylie, Texas)
My wife and I recently moved and this move required me to start over on designing my wireless network. The challenge for me was to design one that worked over all 3000 square feet of the house. My previous house was only 1600 sq feet and with one NetGear wireless router (a Linksys before that) I was able to do so without too much trouble and descent signal strength. Verizon FIOS provided me with a wireless router (Altec I believe) but it's location and the size of the house meant that upstairs and one side of the house had little signal.
I decided I needed to create a multipoint wireless network, or Wireless Distribution Network (WDN). My first choice was Apple's solution. I had a feeling it work work well and be easy to set-up. The price though drove me away. I didn't need "N" speeds and didn't really want to spend nearly $200 on a router, plus $100 per access point. So I went with NetGear.
After some 6+ hours of frustration, cursing and kicking the family dog a few times and a near divorce from my wife, I gave up. I had chosen one of their G routers and two of their Wireless Repeaters. First I couldn't get the wireless router to talk to the Verizon router. i just wanted to use the NetGear as an access point, but alas I had no luck. I had equally bad luck with one of the repeaters. I never even bothered to open the second one.
So I returned the NetGear solution and decided that i would go with the Apple solution. Remember, I spent over 6 hours working on the first solution, pounding my fists into the carpet and hitting my head against the wall. I was ready to go through some of that again, although I just knew it would be easier.
Easier?!? It wasn't easier, it was just easy. Here were the steps:
1. Unbox Router
2. Verify contents of box
3. Load software on Mac (I have a PowerBook, wife has a Dell, Daughter an HP)
4. Plug power into router
5. Plug network cable from Verizon FIOS router to Apple Router
6. Run Airport Utility
7. Answer Questions
8. Access Internet Wirelessly without Problem and with great range.....
i walked around the house and every inch was covered by the router. i couldn't find a spot that had no signal, and most had better than average. I decided though to install the Apple Express (repeater). While the Apple Extreme was easy, very easy; I was concerned that the next step would be a challenge. Afterall there is no standard for doing this type of thing and not many people actually use wireless repeaters.
Steps:
1. Unbox Apple Express
2. Verify contents of box (Just a small brick, that's it)
3. No software to install, same as Apple Extreme
4. Plug repeater into a wall outlet
5. Run Airport Utility
6. Answer Questions (choosing the option to enable wireless repeating)
7. Choose the network to join
8. Access Internet Wirelessly with 54mb connection in many parts of the house and speeds no slower than 18Mbs when speeds do drop. Since our connection to the net is 15Mbs, no loss.
Really, when I say this is easy; I mean easy. If you are unsure of how you are going to light up your huge home with wireless connectivity; Apple's solution will work great. You can use up to 3 of the AirPort Expresses on your network as I recall and their range, while small devices, isn't bad.
If you are looking for "N" speeds, these aren't the way to go; but then Apple doesn't have wireless repeaters that are "N" certified. Don't let that stop you, the AirPort Extreme can be used as a repeater and that would give you great coverage and "N" speeds to boot.
Oh, the Airport utility... super easy to use. Use Automatic to set-up your network, can't go wrong. Then use manual to tweak the network to your liking.
Trust me... this was so easy, anyone can create a powerful wireless network. It isn't inexpensive; but then what is your time worth?
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An excellent router, but the configuration needs work., July 5, 2007
By JOATAMON (Paris, France)
If I was just considering performance, then it'd be 5 stars without a doubt, and I still recommend the router without hesitation.
However, I wasn't so happy with the configuration utility. I'd much prefer a web interface like the venerable Linksys WRT54G. I ended up configuring it from my MacBook Pro because the configuration utility came preinstalled. I didn't want to install the utility on my Windows system.
I found it difficult to configure some advanced features such as MAC address filtering (if you don't know what MAC address filtering is, don't worry about it; you'll love the router). The problem is that you can't just tell it to add all currently connected systems to the MAC address list as you can with the Linksys (my previous router). You have to find the wireless clients on one screen, make a note of their addresses, then manually add them on another screen. The only exception is that the software will add the address of the computer on which the configuration utility is running. You also can't do something as simple as allow or deny access. You have to define access times, and if you want to always allow access you have to specify "every day, all the time".
To make matters worse, the default behavior is to give unlimited access for any system NOT in the MAC filtering list. Not a good move.
Once I got it working, however, I was very happy. I don't know if it is true, but the AirPort Extreme just seems to be faster than my old Linksys. It is also small and attractive, although I miss having a blinking light for each network segment...
I did not try the printer or disk interface, so I can't comment on them.
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Most elegant easy to use router I have used, July 3, 2007
By Mr. D (SANTA MARIA, CA USA)
I have a two computers hooked up to my home network. A PC and a Mac. I have had a couple different routers before and this one was the easiest to set up router I have ever used. The routers interface is simply easy to understand and a lot of the configuration is automatic. Plug in your devices, turn it on and it knows what to do with them. Super pleased with my experience and recommend this to anyone.
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even apple makes a stinker every once in a while, June 27, 2007
By Ian Wright (Atlanta, GA)
The problems I describe here are pretty common. Check out the Apple Airport forums and you'll see some of the following:
1) The station can't stay connected to anything, esp. the Internet. PPPoE users will experience frequent problems that eventually require power recycling of the unit. I have to do this several times a day. Sometimes, even when the light is a solid green, I still have to recycle because my PC and MacBook can't "see" the station via the software utility. In addition, my PC will sometimes lose all connectivity to the station even though it is hardwired into the unit via cable. It's the first time I've ever had a computer that couldn't see the hub it was physically connected to.
2) My LaCie d2 Quadra external drive worked for about 3 minutes after plugging it into the USB port on the station. After that, all connectivity was lost. My Mac nags frequently about finding the disk and then asks me to authenticate against it before hanging. Rebooting doesn't fix the problem. My PC is able to authenticate and look at the folders on the LaCie drive, but that's it. Recycling the drive doesn't help either. I've gone back to using the Firewire connection since it works flawlessly.
I've used Linksys routers in the past, but they are so poorly made they don't last much beyond 9 months. I opted for the Airport because I've had a great experience with Apple hardware. I own a MacBook Pro, three iPods and a Bluetooth mouse. The LaCie drive, although third party, has been a great addition. The Airport is the first stinker I've gotten from Apple and I'm not really sure that replacing it with another unit would make a difference since other owners have reported having the same problems after following this route. Given its poor performance, I'd advise PPPoE users especially to avoid this product. ComCast and other cable modem users on the Mac forums seem much happier.
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Works out of the box simplicity, what else would you expect from Apple?, June 26, 2007
By Hello Kitty Palm Beach (Palm Beach, FL USA)
I have an older house with only one phone jack upstairs, next to my bed, where I do not want to put my DSL and Computer. So, when I moved my workstation upstairs, I needed to go wireless. Since then I have owned THREE Netgear routers. The first one had a hardware flaw and would overheat, drop the DSL connection, and I would have to unplug, plug, and reset the modem connection each time. Major pain. Second Netgear router just quit on me one day. I bought another router, and could never get the connection to connect properly. After weeks of futzing around, I gave up and just got a REALLY long telephone cord so that I could hook up my DSL modem IN my home office. Which was fine, but I couldn't sit in bed and type on my laptop, or work in the kitchen, like I wanted to. Months went by, and I remembered that the Apple Airport Extreme had been released. So I ordered one yesterday. It arrived this afternoon. I set up the airport, installed the software, and after restarting my Mac, I was instantly connected to wireless network. It is THAT simple. Who could want for more? So the speed isn't super fast whiz bang etc. [it is perfectly adequate!] but for the first time in months I am wireless!
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Great, June 19, 2007
By Korin Adamson (Seattle, WA USA)
Easy to instal. However, had some trouble with setting up the printer. Overall, very happy.
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Apple easy to install and use!, June 17, 2007
By tinsel1939 (California)
I think I'm going to have a party to celebrate getting rid of my lousy Linksys WRT54G router. The AirPort Extreme could not be easier to set up and make secure using WPA2. It's got better range in addition to being easier to manage.
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Didn't like, June 11, 2007
By grapefruit betty
Could not hook it up! Isp and apple customer service where no help. just plain didn't work!
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Not ready for prime time, June 9, 2007
By Josh Rogan (Providence, RI)
I bought this Airport Extreme to bump up the speed of my network, but also to complement the two Airport Express devices that I own. The Extreme worked well for the first (my network seemed slightly faster), but failed MISERABLY on the second point. This product is completely incompatible with the Airport Expresses, despite what Apple's website says.
I highly recommend that anyone looking to buy this go to the Apple support discussion forum first and look for people who have tried to use it the same way you did. Otherwise, you're going to be stuck with a very expensive paperweight.
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best yet!, June 5, 2007
By Teliza (New Jersey)
This is by far the best router we have ever had. It was extremely easy to set up with our ibook, powerbook and imac, and wireless canon printer. We have not had to reset it even once. Prior to buying the Airport Extreme Base Station we had a belkin router which had to be reset at least daily and eventually overheated and stopped working all together (and it behaved even worse when we were running our old Dell desktop PC). We are about to get a pc laptop (reluctantly) for business since we don't want to defile our macs with windows. I expect to be able to set that up to work with the Airport just as easily, but will add to this review if their are any surprises.
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Warning! Do not buy if you plan on adding airports, printers, etc, June 3, 2007
By J. Theberg (Fort Lee, NJ USA)
This unit works fine by itself with an 802n compatible mac. but if you add it to a network with other airports and streaming and remote printing, you are in for a most un-apple like experience. Just look at the HUNDREDS of posts on the airport 802n discussion group of people with problems using this kind of setup. Apple has yet to address this.
You've been warned.
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Easy Fast Setup with Windows XP laptop, May 27, 2007
By Frank The Tank (Deep In The Heart Of Texas)
Purchased: May 27th, 2007
I purchased an Apple Airport Extreme Base Station based on several key functions:
1. Ease of setup
2. Ability to print wirelessly
3. Ability to set up a wireless usb drive
I installed the included Airport Software on my IBM T60 laptop that runs XP. The Airport Software Utility guided me through the wireless set up procedures and within 15 minutes I had set up a secured wireless network that allowed me to access both my Brother 2040 laser printer and my 250 GB Western Digital My Life USB hard drive (A USB hub is required to operate both the printer and hard drive at the same time). I was worried that I would not be able to use the Western Digital backup software over the wireless network, but it still works like a charm. The backup is a little slow compared to a direct connection to the drive, but I just schedule my weekly backups to start in the middle of the night after I have gone to bed.
I have had no issues in the two weeks following my purchase and setup. I am extremely happy with this product and I recommend it to both friends and family as a one stop solution for creating a secure wireless network with printing and file sharing capabilities. The $170 price tag may seem high, but it is well worth it! My only complaint is that there ought to be two USB ports instead of just one.
Update: July 28th, 2007
Two weeks ago I performed another data backup from my T60 to my Wester Digital USB hard drive while I was sleeping. When I woke up the next morning I went to check on the backup file. When I opened the drive folder in "My Computer" while on the wireless network it appeared as if my entire drive had been erased, however, the drive information on the left side of the drive folder listed the folder capacity as having roughly 80 GB of free storage left.
I connected the drive directly to my laptop and all of my files were visible again. I reconnected the drive to the base station and opened the drive over the network. Again, the drive appeared, but none of my folders/files were visible. I reinstalled the Base Station software and also checked for firmwar updates but it did not resolve the problem. I can still print wirelessly, but the most important feature to me in the product is now malfunctioning. I am still looking for a solution to this problem in the Apple support forums.
Update May 13th, 2008:
Turns out one of the Airport Extreme updates caused my drive to appear empty while connected to my wireless network. I uninstalled then reinstalled the Airport Utility software from the disk provided with the Base Station. After setting up my network again, I was able to view the content of my drive while attached to the Base Station. I have refused all further suggested updates for my Base Station for fear of running into the same problem again. After several months, I have not had the same problem again.
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