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Words by Trey Yancy
March 2005
Every once in a while we encounter a device that is described
as the right idea at the right time. Apple's Airport
Express® is just such a gadget. Bringing together the
diverse elements of music, printing and wireless networking,
this handy little item makes it possible to stream iTunes®
music to your home stereo while providing an 801.11g wireless
uplink for an Ethernet equipped computer and a share point
for a stand-alone USB printer.
Bearing more than a passing resemblance to a standard wall-mounted
Apple power supply, this 6.7-ounce device is compatible with
the same detachable power cables and international adapters.
It features a single 10/100Base-T Ethernet port, a USB printer
port, and a port that accepts either an analog 1/8" mini
stereo jack or a TosLink optical “audio out” port.
The Airport Express is Mac and PC compatible and includes
iTunes for both platforms along with Airtunes®, a rendezvous-compliant
software component that enables iTunes to recognize the presence
of an Airport Express and to stream music to the unit. The
device can be administered and accessed by machines running
OS X 10.3 or later and Windows 2000 or XP, and can be accessed
by Macs running OS X 10.2.7 or later.
Setup and Configuration
Setup is easy and there are a number of options.
The most basic configuration is to plug it into a wall jack
and connect it directly to your home stereo or powered speakers
via a mini-stereo to RCA adapter cable. The dual-standard
jack also supports a TosLink optical cable, making it easy
to connect the unit to high-end stereos and 5.1 surround systems.
Streaming music to the unit from your Mac or PC is drop-dead
easy. Once the Airport Express has been configured and is
visible on the network, iTunes will automatically sense the
presence of the device and reveal a pop-up list of available
units for your audio stream, including your computer and one
or more Airport Expresses. You can only stream to one output
at a time, but iTunes is clever enough to remember volume
settings for each one and to change the volume when you select
a target device from the list.
Setting up a USB printer is simple, as well, using Rendezvous
to find the printer and the proper driver. The USB port, by
the way, is intended only for USB printers.
You can use this unit for adding wireless capability to an
existing wired network or you can connect it directly to your
broadband modem. It supports up to ten simultaneous wireless
connections. Thanks to its portability, business travelers
can plug it into the Ethernet port in a hotel room and work
wirelessly without having to be restricted to some cramped
desk or creaky chair. Further enhancing its portability is
its support for up to five customizable configurations, making
it easy to go from home to hotel to airport without a lot
of fiddling.
If you have an Airport Extreme base station or additional
Airport Express units, you can use the Airport Express to
extend your wireless network by 150 feet per unit. An Airport
Express can support 801.11g speeds of up to 54 Mbps at close
range and 801.11b speeds of up to 11 Mbps beyond the 50-foot
mark.
Security
Airport Extreme supports advanced security options,
including WEP encrypted security, closed networks, and a variety
of other methods for protecting your data as well as preventing
others from accessing your internet services. Being a proper
Ethernet device as well as a wireless hub, it has MAC (media
access control) hardware addresses for both wired and wireless,
making the unit compatible with the requirements of some ISPs,
as well as providing mid-level users the ability to restrict
network access by machine ID via a configurable wired or wireless
hub. You can also limit the signal strength of the device,
making it suitable for use in apartments and small workgroups.
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Real World
I had a lot fun with this unit. Using a combination
of my wired home network, a Netgear 801.11b wireless hub,
an Airport Express, a couple of iBooks, a G5, an iMac, and
the “recipes & tunes” G4 concealed in our
pantry, I was able to create a very powerful setup in a matter
of minutes, could print to anywhere from anywhere without
having to leave a desktop machine running, and could stream
music directly to our video sound system or studio reference
system from any of our OS X machines. The wow factor is undeniable.
Airport Express is does have a couple of weaknesses. If it
detects a single 801.11b device, transmission speed drops
to 11Mbps and while it is backwards compatible with 801.11b,
its ability to extend wireless networks is limited to 801.11g
devices. You can, however, set the device to client mode and
connect it to your network via Ethernet, extending the network
with one or more additional Airport Expresses. It should be
noted that the more units you have, the narrower the bandwidth,
which places a limit on the number of devices.
In addition, this device does not have an “audio in”
port or the ability to encode music, so streaming takes place
in one direction only. As such, you can't send music
from your home stereo to the Airport Express and pass it along.
Frankly, this doesn't bother me, as this is, after all,
an iTunes device.
Pricing
Airport Express is priced at $129, which is $50 less
than a basic Airport Extreme base station and $70 less than
the version with modem and antenna port. The package includes
just the unit itself and does not come with any cables. A
cable kit is available from Apple for $39 that includes a
TosLink adapter cable, a 1/8" to RCA stereo cable, and
a power cable (but no USB cable). They are of high quality
but if you don't have an optical audio system and can
live without swanky white cables, you can pick up whatever
you need at a local computer or electronics store.
Conclusions
Its simple exterior conceals an amazing range of
features, capabilities, controls, and technologies, much of
which is not readily apparent. When combined with the CD ripping,
cataloguing, and streaming capabilities of iTunes, Airport
Express closes the analog-to-digital audio circle by providing
de facto computer control of the music on your home stereo.
By combining this with USB printer support, and both wireless
and wired networking, the Airport Express rates very high
on my must-have list. It may have a few weaknesses, but its
strengths definitely put it in the winner's circle and
I recommend it without hesitation.
Product Airport Express
Made By Apple Computer <www.apple.com>
Price $129
Pros Versatile, clever, well designed, backwards
compatible
Cons Does not directly extend 801.11b networks
Buy it now!
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