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Customer Reviews for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
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Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
Model: MB763LL/A
SKU: 9268366
UPC: 885909261406
With 802.11n wireless technology, 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports and a built-in NAT firewall, this AirPort Extreme base station helps keep you connected and keep your files secure.
Average Customer Rating:
4.4
out of 5
(16 Reviews) 16
Rating Snapshot 16 reviews
5 stars
12
4 stars
1
3 stars
1
2 stars
1
1 star
1
88% of reviewers would recommend this product to a friend
(
14 out of
16)
Customer Reviews for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
Review 1 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
One of the Best Wireless Routers on the market..
Customer Rating
5.0
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
What's great about it: Very easy to setup, works with Windows and Mac computers flawlessly
What's not so great: Price (however after using it for a while it seems worth it)
I purchased this wireless router after looking at several other brands such as Linksys, Belkin, Netgear and D-link. My final choices were between Linksys and Apple. I was looking for a router that would be able to get great coverage in my house and had 802.11n capability.
I have used Linksys wireless routers before and seldom had any issues, with the exception of having to reset it once or twice a month. I bought an Airport Express in 2004 and never had any issues with it whatsoever. I gave that to a family member who is still using it today after several years nonstop use.
I really liked the Airport Extreme since it has what I was looking for, plus the ability to attach a portable hard drive or thumb drive to store files on it. You can also attach a printer to it to print from any computer wirelessly. Another great feature is that you can setup a separate access point for guests so they don't have access to see other computers or see an attached hard drive. So basically if you wanted to, you can set up two different types of access points on one router (personal and public). I really like how simple it was to setup the router. I don't think it took more than 7 or 8 minutes. I was able to setup all my devices to connect to the router. My Windows, Linux and Mac computers connected without problem. I was able to setup all my game consoles without a hitch as well. I think the only downfall of this product is the price, however after using all of the features I really think that may make up for it. Overall, I think this is the best wireless router on the market and would recommend this to anyone.
I have used Linksys wireless routers before and seldom had any issues, with the exception of having to reset it once or twice a month. I bought an Airport Express in 2004 and never had any issues with it whatsoever. I gave that to a family member who is still using it today after several years nonstop use.
I really liked the Airport Extreme since it has what I was looking for, plus the ability to attach a portable hard drive or thumb drive to store files on it. You can also attach a printer to it to print from any computer wirelessly. Another great feature is that you can setup a separate access point for guests so they don't have access to see other computers or see an attached hard drive. So basically if you wanted to, you can set up two different types of access points on one router (personal and public). I really like how simple it was to setup the router. I don't think it took more than 7 or 8 minutes. I was able to setup all my devices to connect to the router. My Windows, Linux and Mac computers connected without problem. I was able to setup all my game consoles without a hitch as well. I think the only downfall of this product is the price, however after using all of the features I really think that may make up for it. Overall, I think this is the best wireless router on the market and would recommend this to anyone.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 2 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
Not to buy
Customer Rating
1.0
Value for Price
1.0
Ease of Use
1.0
Performance
1.0
Ease of Installation
1.0
What's not so great: Does not work with base station set with XP Pro and Vista 64bit
My experience with the product went from excitement to out right dismay. First the setup contained in the manual is not complete. I pieced that together on my own. Logging in to get help with Apple did not work on day one. On the second day I was able to get through. After about an hour of getting nowhere, I got the "expert" who spent 2 minutes telling me that the problem is with HP and their driver, and that I should look on forums for an 'aftermarket driver'. I was able to pin point the problem to either the driver myself or the Vista/XP combination. So I promptly went out and bought a new HP 8500 and that still did not work. Maybe one printer not working, but two printers in a row is very unlikely. I then got another computer that did not have vista, and behold everything worked just fine. I would not recommend this product, I do not think they did enough testing.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Review 3 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
Easy to install and well designed
Customer Rating
5.0
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
What's great about it: Simultaneous dual band, Guest network
What's not so great: no browser interface, No QOS
Being Windows user I was bit skeptical buying it, Cnet review was not so high about this router for windows users, but bought it anyway. I was used to browser interface for setting Routers, this was different, i have to install the software on all machines to access router. The price is not high as compared to Router from Linksys ($169) with similar features as compared to $179 for this unit, the signal around my house is strong my N based laptops are at 150+Mbps range, I added a USB hub with printers and my USB external drives attached to it, everything is running great no hiccups.
The only trouble i have is one of my windows XP PC will not Scan Router (i could type the IP address manually to access router though), other than that all my game machines, Itouch and Iphone had no problems connecting to network.
On shortcomings side, no QOS on this router, also it has only three ethernet ports at back, but a usb hub took care of it for me as i connected my printer via usb instead of ethernet connection.
On shortcomings side, no QOS on this router, also it has only three ethernet ports at back, but a usb hub took care of it for me as i connected my printer via usb instead of ethernet connection.
This Router is indeed very easy for setup it is as good as for windows machine as i assume for Macs. The simultaneous dual band is great for old and new devices, i have watched ripped DVD on my network without any problems. Overall great product.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 4 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
Excellent Router
Customer Rating
5.0
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
What's great about it: Dual-band, Fast, Easy Setup, USB Print/HDD compatible
What's not so great: No QoS :-(
My wife and I owned a Linksys WRT54G v6 Wi-Fi router for two years and after having to send it in to Linksys, we decided to upgrade our router b/c of the issues we have had w/ our previous router, and the lack of customer service we had with Linksys.
Since we are a Mac household, we decided to go with an Apple router this time around. After some price shopping and comparisons, it appeared that while the Apple router had a higher price tag it had more bang-for-buck in comparison to other routers on the market. I'll explain...
+ USB Print Server -and- USB Hard Drive compatibility
You can also use a USB hub to hook up more than one device to the router, and use it at the same time. Very cool! We are using the router with a 2GB LG Flashdrive at the moment, and it has saved me having to run a flash drive from one computer to the other to drag/drop large(r) files. All of our machines are networked, but I prefer to keep certain files/programs on-the-ready (ie. print drivers, software updates, etc.) that I may need in the near future. Very handy, plus it is supposed to work w/ my MobileMe account so that I can access it from anywhere across the Internet; I have not used this feature yet.
+ Dual-band router
802.11N is broadcast at 5Ghz, while 802.11G is broadcast at 2.4Ghz. This is EXCELLENT for older machines since there is no sacrifice on bandwidth for "N" and there is proper backwards compatibility for "G". One nice perk is that you can set up a "Guest WiFI" account (similar to a DMZ) and have it completely seperate from your private network. Very cool.
802.11N is broadcast at 5Ghz, while 802.11G is broadcast at 2.4Ghz. This is EXCELLENT for older machines since there is no sacrifice on bandwidth for "N" and there is proper backwards compatibility for "G". One nice perk is that you can set up a "Guest WiFI" account (similar to a DMZ) and have it completely seperate from your private network. Very cool.
+ Gigabit
I don't know how much this would affect the average person, but Gigabit E-Net is very nice if you're doing a lot of data transfers back/forth.
I don't know how much this would affect the average person, but Gigabit E-Net is very nice if you're doing a lot of data transfers back/forth.
+ Mac and Windows Compatible
The only downside is that you must use Apples' (free) Airport Utility to access/configure the router. It's not a hefty program and I use it with a PC on occasion; it works great, no issues.
The only downside is that you must use Apples' (free) Airport Utility to access/configure the router. It's not a hefty program and I use it with a PC on occasion; it works great, no issues.
+ Uptime
My LInksys would have to be restarted about every week or so since it would gradually slow down and data throughoutput would gradually reduce. I've run the Airport Extreme for nearly a month now without any problems. We are on 10Mbps/1Mbps cable through Charter and the difference in download speeds was not changed, but latency was improved.
My LInksys would have to be restarted about every week or so since it would gradually slow down and data throughoutput would gradually reduce. I've run the Airport Extreme for nearly a month now without any problems. We are on 10Mbps/1Mbps cable through Charter and the difference in download speeds was not changed, but latency was improved.
+ Customer Service
This is a point of contention for some, but you only get 90 Days of free customer service with this router through AppleCare and a standard 1yr warranty. However, if you take it to an Apple Store, technical support is 100% free, and your warranty is honored there as well. I've read on Apple's website (see below) that if you have AppleCare on your Apple desktop or notebook, it is covered for as long as you have AppleCare.
This is a point of contention for some, but you only get 90 Days of free customer service with this router through AppleCare and a standard 1yr warranty. However, if you take it to an Apple Store, technical support is 100% free, and your warranty is honored there as well. I've read on Apple's website (see below) that if you have AppleCare on your Apple desktop or notebook, it is covered for as long as you have AppleCare.
Direct from Apple's website....
"The AppleCare Protection Plan covers your Mac, as well as an AirPort Extreme Card, an AirPort Express or AirPort Extreme Base Station, Time Capsule, MacBook Air SuperDrive, and Apple RAM used with your Mac."
My wife and I have AppleCare on all of our Macs, so we 'technically' have up to the warranty expiration of our newest Mac. Nice! Plus, AppleCare is all North America based (US/Canada).
PROS:
+ Comes with an SUPER long power cord, and Apple does sell a wall mount kit for it.
+ Very little setup involved; run the Airport Setup Utility and you're in business in less than 10min.
+ Configurable LED indicator--set for Network Activity, or Airport Status (Green = Good, Red = Bad, or Error).
+ Competitive price when compared to similar routers w/ same capabilities.
+ Gigabit 3 port switch, plus dual-band wireless
+ Comes with an SUPER long power cord, and Apple does sell a wall mount kit for it.
+ Very little setup involved; run the Airport Setup Utility and you're in business in less than 10min.
+ Configurable LED indicator--set for Network Activity, or Airport Status (Green = Good, Red = Bad, or Error).
+ Competitive price when compared to similar routers w/ same capabilities.
+ Gigabit 3 port switch, plus dual-band wireless
CONS:
+ Up-front cost is higher
+ 90 Days of telephone technical support**
+ Up-front cost is higher
+ 90 Days of telephone technical support**
** = unlimited at Apple's in-store Genius Bar
LAST WORD:
This is an excellent router that will no-doubt last you more than a year or two; it is built to last and gives you plenty of capabilities. I recommend buying it either at Best Buy or on Bestbuy.com so you can rack up those rewards points! Very good product, and I'm sure you'll have as good of luck w/ it as we have.
This is an excellent router that will no-doubt last you more than a year or two; it is built to last and gives you plenty of capabilities. I recommend buying it either at Best Buy or on Bestbuy.com so you can rack up those rewards points! Very good product, and I'm sure you'll have as good of luck w/ it as we have.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 5 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
So easy, even a caveman can do it!
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: GtothK
from NJ
on 07/16/2009
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
What's great about it: Easiest router I've ever installed
What's not so great: Nothing so far!
This is seriously the easiest router I've ever used! The setup is very intuitive and walks you right through everything! Unlike sketchy Netgear routers, I have yet to lose a signal or connectivity issues. The price is a bit high, but it's well worth it. I now print wirelessly over the network from my wireless enable HP printer, and even set up my wife's PC with a wireless adapter and she's had zero connectivity issues as well. If you're looking for a quality router, this is the one! My Macbook is so fast over the internet, it's unbelieveable! Another quality Apple product!
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 6 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
JOIN THE APPLE MATRIX ! AND FREE YOUR MIND!
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: dgtlmn
from Augusta Ga.
on 07/14/2009
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
4.0
What's great about it: THE SPEED!!
What's not so great: CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING
My interest was peaked when i purchased my new iphone 3gs and saw this in the store and it got me to thinking if the phone is this great and i already own a Mac Mini.... so...
All i can say is wow!! I splurged a little and got the extreme over the airport for
roughly 80 dollars more glad i did with the dual routers and all don;t regret it at all!
I must confess even with an apple computer i had my few minutes of fun just be patient with the install follow the instructions and it will breeze you through
i had about given up called Comcast and when i looked up instead of a blinking amber light i suddenly saw a beautiful steady green light yippee!
Go out and get yours i got mine! What speed WOW!
All i can say is wow!! I splurged a little and got the extreme over the airport for
roughly 80 dollars more glad i did with the dual routers and all don;t regret it at all!
I must confess even with an apple computer i had my few minutes of fun just be patient with the install follow the instructions and it will breeze you through
i had about given up called Comcast and when i looked up instead of a blinking amber light i suddenly saw a beautiful steady green light yippee!
Go out and get yours i got mine! What speed WOW!
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 7 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
Excellent device
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: solarpole01
from Rio Grande, PR
on 07/13/2009
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
What's great about it: For me the feature that hides my network from others around and select the time and computers connectivity.
What's not so great: Nothing.
I live in a two story residence and there is excellent connectivity throughout all the rooms in my house. My house is made of concrete and this does not affect the signal strength in order to have the five laptops connected at the same time. I have to go downstairs to turn my printer on and then work from my room and have all my works being printed. We have two HP laptops and three Mac's laptops and is working fine.
Prior to this wireless router I was using a Netgear which lasted for about a 1 1/2 years. It was working but we had slow speed when more than 3 laptops were used at the same time and sometimes the signal dropped.
Prior to this wireless router I was using a Netgear which lasted for about a 1 1/2 years. It was working but we had slow speed when more than 3 laptops were used at the same time and sometimes the signal dropped.
With this one I have no problems at all even if I'm watching online movies and my wife is connected to her work server working from home It is a thing of the past to ask a family member to disconnect from the wireless home network for other to have a chance to go online.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 8 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
Great Product
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: Jedds
from Orlando, FL
on 07/06/2009
What's great about it: Fast easy to use, looks great
What's not so great: Nothing
THis product was so easy to set up and start using just like everything else apple sells. plug it in insert disk and it practically sets itself up.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 9 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
good looking
Customer Rating
3.0
Posted by: TED105
from boston
on 06/25/2009
What's great about it: easy to set up
What's not so great: RANGE
graet router for one floor house. I have my cable modem on the first floor and my computer up staires and i have a usb adapter dual band 300mb/s speed.The signal is week speed drops to 19mb/s and is constantly changing... conection on 2.4 ghz is better than 5 ghz. 5ghz band is very low speed and low range.Can not realy use all the fatures of this router because of the comunications with my computer...using it on the same floor works good on 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz with speeds of 270 mbites/sec at a verry good range.AGAIN NOT GOOD TO USE THIS FOR A SECND FLLOR CONECTION... retorning it to the store.IF YOU READ THIS AND LOOK FOR AN UPGRADE USE NETGEAR 240MB/S ROUTER.WORKS GREAT NO SPEED OR SIGNAL DROPS...IT IS ONLY 2.4GHZ BAND
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 10 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
Simple and straighforward
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: Anoo
from Raleigh, NC
on 06/13/2009
What's great about it: Simple and straighforward, works the way all home networking products should.
What's not so great: $30 to expensive.
The quality shows with this device. I stopped using my Linksys WRT54G as the performance was degrading over time (it required increasingly frequent resets to recover). I have a motorola cable modem, and a Vonage VOIP router in addition to this device and for the first time all of my networking components are working well together.
Very impressed with the setup, simple and easy - obvious a lot of thought has gone into the product to make it this way. An example would be when I first completed configuration - the airport informed me that it had detected my other NAT router (vonage) and asked whether I would like the airport to act as a bridge - a simple 'Yes' and my wifi network was flattened and performing well.
Performance is good - I have been streaming video to my XBox 360 - smooth.
Recommend to anyone.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 11 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
N is the way to go
Customer Rating
5.0
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
My new macbook likes this router. I have never realized that there is a difference in speed between g and n until I got this device. Airport utility set up is easy to follow and it is intalled in the computer unlike other routers. Printer sharing thru the usb port is a very nice feature, now my $40 printer can be accessed wirellessly by both my mac and pc, that's what I call compatibility! User friendly, N technology, nice design and the apple brand....... I love it.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 12 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
GREAT Router
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: daysend365
from Chicago, IL
on 05/31/2009
Value for Price
4.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
What's great about it: Fast, Great Features, External Backup Network Drive
What's not so great: Like all Apple products, a little costly
Just bought one for use with 2 mac minis and a few windows machines. Integrates perfectly and haven't had any problems. Very Fast! Pleasing to the eye on top of my desk.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 13 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
Fast and easy to setup.
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: Areku
from Ca
on 05/16/2009
Value for Price
4.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
What's great about it: Its one of the fastest routers out there, it has usb port for hard drive or printer.
What's not so great: nothing
Setup is a snap with mac or pc, you can use usb for hard drive or printer or both with usb hub, range is great about 100-120ft, wireless N is very fast up to 300mb/s. Its also dual band so it can do 5ghz and 2.4ghz at same time, 5ghz is fast but range is not as good as 2.4ghz. Overall its a good router you can even use it as range extender if you have airport extreme already or use airport express to extend the range.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 14 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
Its a wireless (N)ot Yet router
Customer Rating
4.0
Posted by: KlipschFanatic
from Maryland
on 04/30/2009
Value for Price
2.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
2.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
What's great about it: Print server/NAS functionality, Gigabit ports, Dual Band Simultaneous, Software
What's not so great: It will not operate at N speeds even at 25ft distance.
(The good) Recognized my USB printer and shared it to my Windows computers without a hitch, also doubles as a network attached storage (NAS) device. Dual band simultaneous transfer is a plus. Software is extremely user friendly and will let you edit all options at once before uploading the settings to the router.
(The bad) The advanced settings are lacking in an attempt to make this unit more user friendly. If you are trying to optimize this unit for speed (HD video for instance) you should look elsewhere, as I was not able to reach even half of the advertised 300 mbps. Comparable models in this price range have a 4th gigabit port wheras this model only supports 3.
(The bad) The advanced settings are lacking in an attempt to make this unit more user friendly. If you are trying to optimize this unit for speed (HD video for instance) you should look elsewhere, as I was not able to reach even half of the advertised 300 mbps. Comparable models in this price range have a 4th gigabit port wheras this model only supports 3.
If you are not computer savvy this unit is about as easy as they come in terms of setup. If you need speed I had the best luck with a WRT610N (no print server).
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 15 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
Not functional in all applications
Customer Rating
2.0
Posted by: Tsip
from Dallas
on 04/29/2009
Value for Price
2.0
Ease of Use
1.0
Performance
1.0
Ease of Installation
2.0
What's great about it: Wireless functions work well with wireless computers
What's not so great: Printer functions very limited and sporatic
Will not work with all functions of a multi-function printer. It also will not print at all sometimes.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Review 16 for Apple® AirPort Extreme Wireless-N Wireless Base Station
Big improvement over older model
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: JinPA
from PA
on 04/11/2009
What's great about it: dual wireless channels, easy of setup, stability
What's not so great: some difficulty getting PC to function with USB connected printer
The new Airport Extreme is very nice, super easy to setup and get running. The only hangup I had was trying to print from my Windows based computers...Macs had no issue. The trick for PCs was to manually connect by creating a TCP/IP port and entering the IP address on the router of the printer. I could not get Bonjour to allow printing although it did find the printer.
Now that everything is hooked up it works great and the network is much more stable than my previous D-Link setup. No longer do I get random connection issues with my wirelessly connected laptops.
For the same price make sure you get this new version and not the older 563LL model....same goes for the Time Capsule...make sure you are getting the new version as they were updated the same way the Air Ports were.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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