Be careful when you do this... Having two access points on the same SSID really works best when both SSIDs are on the same network. Giving your AE the same SSID as your other router will cause roaming between the two routers to fail, since the AE can't act as a bridge (it can only route). That means that if your home network is, for example, on the 192.168.1 net, and your AE's wireless segment is 192.168.2, your machine will get "lost" if it switches access points.
The better option (if you can), is to use the AE as a relay. It'd really be nice if Apple would allow the AE to bridge.
As long as the AE is on the same network and not acting as a DHCP server, there's no problems. It just forwards all the requests back. On the contrary to your statement, running cable and matching SSIDs is the much better option-- you get twice the bandwidth and much better range (since the nodes don't have to be within range of each other). As someone who's done it both ways with this exact configuration, I'd say if you can run the cables try it.
Yet again Apple disappoints on this product. If you are one of the millions that has bought a printer that also copies, scans, etc., you are out of luck with this product.
There is absolutely no indication from the information we have that this will be wirelessly supported. Look carefully at the pictures on the website and the printers they connect are the simple vanilla kind. If you want to scan, you are going to have to unplug it from the Express and plug it into your computer.
When will Apple understand that a huge part of their customer base has MFPs?? They don't have it on the base station either.
pretty sure MPF support is a function of the device drivers not of the network device.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ulmelqlo
I have three words for you:
Multifunction Printer Support.
Yet again Apple disappoints on this product. If you are one of the millions that has bought a printer that also copies, scans, etc., you are out of luck with this product.
There is absolutely no indication from the information we have that this will be wirelessly supported. Look carefully at the pictures on the website and the printers they connect are the simple vanilla kind. If you want to scan, you are going to have to unplug it from the Express and plug it into your computer.
When will Apple understand that a huge part of their customer base has MFPs?? They don't have it on the base station either.
pretty sure MPF support is a function of the device drivers not of the network device.
This may be true, but the problem is that if you are going to use wireless printing capabilities as one of your main selling points, then you should have a disclaimer that some of the core functionalities of millions of MFPs are not going to work. Plus there are other networking solutions that, even on a brand by brand basis, have worked out support for scanning for example.
I'm sure Apple could probably get together with HP and the three other major printer manufacturers and work the driver issues out.
pretty sure MPF support is a function of the device drivers not of the network device.
I'm not sure if there is an open standard for scanning and faxing over the LAN. I happen to have a networked MFP that doesn't offer network scanning & faxing on Macs. I don't reall mind that though. I generally avoid MFPs whenever I can.
This was exactly my situation, and exactly what I use it for when not travelling. You have two options:
1. The preferred option is to run CAT5 across the house and attach the Express to it. Then just give it the same name (SSID) as the other router on a different channel and clients will automatically switch back and forth to the strongest router.
I like this option, but my house is almost 200 years old. I want to own it for a while before I start poking holes in it. I could probably get to the attic rather easily, but that might not help me on the far side of the first floor where the most egregious dead zone covers the family room.
Quote:
2. If running CAT5 isn't an option, you can put the Express in a place in the middle of the house where it's still in range of the original base station and use it as an extender. You'll lose half your wireless bandwidth in this process but it will double your range. For this your main router has to support WDS and be compatible, so it can be complicated to get right. (Or, you could shut off the wireless on the FiOS router and buy two expresses )
I guess I have to call Verizon to find out if my router supports WDS, then. I don't see how to replace the Verizon router because it is one and the same with the modem (or whatever you call it when it is receiving fiber optics) and it is supplied by coax.
If your computer can only read "b", then it will not realize any faster speeds (g or n) and will throttle down to "b" when you use it.
Actually, that part of the question was about range--not speed. I would believe you if you said that throttling down to "b" speed also led to "b" range, but I'm not sure that that is what you are saying...
This may be true, but the problem is that if you are going to use wireless printing capabilities as one of your main selling points, then you should have a disclaimer that some of the core functionalities of millions of MFPs are not going to work. Plus there are other networking solutions that, even on a brand by brand basis, have worked out support for scanning for example.
I'm sure Apple could probably get together with HP and the three other major printer manufacturers and work the driver issues out.
well i believe printing is not a problem - at least i have not usually had a problem setting these MFP devices up to print. scanning, copying and other functions are usually were the issue is and that is NOT what apple is advertising.
this issue belongs squarely with the device manufacturers to support mac users - if they can write the drivers for windows computers they surely can do so for os x.
The modem that they install with FiOS lets you turn off just the wireless via the admin controls. The installer should have given you the admin password, but otherwise you might have to call customer support and have them tell you how to reset it. That's what I ended up doing in my house-- I have an old UFO Apple base station on one side and the Express on the other side of the house.
The modem that they install with FiOS lets you turn off just the wireless via the admin controls. The installer should have given you the admin password, but otherwise you might have to call customer support and have them tell you how to reset it. That's what I ended up doing in my house-- I have an old UFO Apple base station on one side and the Express on the other side of the house.
Oh, cool. I didn't think of that. I will see what documentation I have from the install, thanks!
Airport Express can bridge (at least the old one would). I used it all the time mounted with a more direct view of the access point than I could get with the laptop. Bridged from a Netgear router if memory serves me correctly.
Setting up the two access points with the same SSID is a real pain-- it screws up routes on the clients constantly as one switches in and out of favor. Bridging works much better.
This may be true, but the problem is that if you are going to use wireless printing capabilities as one of your main selling points, then you should have a disclaimer that some of the core functionalities of millions of MFPs are not going to work. Plus there are other networking solutions that, even on a brand by brand basis, have worked out support for scanning for example.
I'm sure Apple could probably get together with HP and the three other major printer manufacturers and work the driver issues out.
Buy a Printer that has wireless built-in.
The Brother HL-5280DW has both 100BT and 802.11g. The data stream carries the packets across the network. The dumb device [three-in-one] determines what to do with it. It's your PPD that isn't working correctly.
If you're using your ethernet port off the Wireless access point to go to the printer and you can use a standard RJ45 enabled printer without the scanner/fax built-in then it's definitely a device driver issue.
If you can low-level ping your printer then it's still your device driver.
If you can't ping the IP address of your printer than I would check our ip address range set for your network and make sure they are on the same subnet.
Forgive my ignorance but can these be used as wireless adapters for gaming consoles such as X-Box 360 and Nintendo Gamecube? Would you need any drivers for these to work as such?
Will this in any way reduce the (admittedly minor and completely tolerable) lag in AirTunes streaming?
The delay is due to the buffering needed to account for interuptions in communication and has very little to do with network speed. "G" is plenty fast enough to handle it. It's sort of like how there is a delay when changing channels on digital cable vs analoge cable. The system needs a small buffer of data to work with.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nacnud
Can you use the USB port for anything other than printing?
I foget the company, but someone made a AirTunes remote that plugged into the USB port so you could remotely control your iTunes playback. I assume that's still compatible with the new Express. I wouldn't expect Apple would add AirDisk support as that would eat into Exreme sales.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bageljoey
I know one of the benefits of n over g is the increased range. But is that increase realized when the computer used is still on b? I am hobbled with a TiBook and its awful range--I got it 2 weeks before g...
A separate question, is it possible/difficult to use an Express to extend the range of a non airport network? I got FIOS and their wireless router, but I only have coverage in half the house...
They say having b or g on your n network will reduce speeds and range, but they aren't clear if that means "reduce to b/g levels" or "reduce to something lower than n levels" (for the range).
Sticking with a single vendor for extending the range of your network is usually best. It may be better these days, but a few years ago it was extremely difficult to get routers from different vendors to work well together.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nace33
If you have a Gigabit network that is put together with a Gigabit switch and then you could plug the Airport Express into that Network to create a wireless 802.11n network, then a gigabit port on the Airport Express would not be a waste.
It would still be a waste. Even if you had gigabit to the Express, where is it going to go from there? You are still limited by the n speeds of the wireless part. It makes sense on the Extreme, because you can have more than one computer hooked up via wire. So those computers can talk at gigabit speeds. But as soon as you have any part of the connection wireless, even with n, 100 Mbps will be sufficient to keep up with the wireless part. (Note: If you have a 100 Mbps connection on one port of an Extreme, that does not impact the other ports from communicating with each other a gigabit speeds, if that's what you are worried about.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by umijin
So, will this version not get its AirTunes wireless signal disrupted by my microwave oven, like the first version?
Wireless n has two frequencies. 2.4 MHz and 5 MHz. Your microwave is near the 2.4 MHz frequency. If you only have n devices, I believe you can tell the Express to only use the 5 MHz frequency. Any b/g devices will still need to use the 2.4 MHz frequency.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ulmelqlo
I have three words for you:
Multifunction Printer Support.
Yet again Apple disappoints on this product. If you are one of the millions that has bought a printer that also copies, scans, etc., you are out of luck with this product.
Are there any wireless print servers that provide that type of support? If you have a network printer (ie, it has an Ethernet port) it knows how to conduct network communication with your computer. Otherwise, it's expecting a dedicated USB connection to a single host computer that has the drivers installed to know how to use some functions. The Express (and I think all wireless print servers) can't support the full funtions of some printers because you don't install drivers on them. It can pass on the print file, but that's about it. So for the most part, if you have an MFP, card readers, or other features that require some amount of control from the host device, you aren't going to be able to make use of it with any wireless print server. It is, after all, a print server. In fact, I'm not even sure you can check ink levels over a wireless print server as that, too, requires two way communction with the host computer.
Some companies do make wireless USB ports that can mimick an actual USB connection over your network. That might do what you are looking for.
Comments
Be careful when you do this... Having two access points on the same SSID really works best when both SSIDs are on the same network. Giving your AE the same SSID as your other router will cause roaming between the two routers to fail, since the AE can't act as a bridge (it can only route). That means that if your home network is, for example, on the 192.168.1 net, and your AE's wireless segment is 192.168.2, your machine will get "lost" if it switches access points.
The better option (if you can), is to use the AE as a relay. It'd really be nice if Apple would allow the AE to bridge.
As long as the AE is on the same network and not acting as a DHCP server, there's no problems. It just forwards all the requests back. On the contrary to your statement, running cable and matching SSIDs is the much better option-- you get twice the bandwidth and much better range (since the nodes don't have to be within range of each other). As someone who's done it both ways with this exact configuration, I'd say if you can run the cables try it.
haha.
Can PCs see a USB printer attached to the Express (i.e. can you share a printer with both PC and Mac when using the Express)? Thanks.
I'm told this works, mostly, depending on the printer and drivers, etc. As much as setting up a printer for Windows ever "works" very well.
...oh wait.
No USB/time machine on either airport?
No gigabit ethernet?
The update is better than nothing but hard to get excited about considering what they still left out.
Multifunction Printer Support.
Yet again Apple disappoints on this product. If you are one of the millions that has bought a printer that also copies, scans, etc., you are out of luck with this product.
There is absolutely no indication from the information we have that this will be wirelessly supported. Look carefully at the pictures on the website and the printers they connect are the simple vanilla kind. If you want to scan, you are going to have to unplug it from the Express and plug it into your computer.
When will Apple understand that a huge part of their customer base has MFPs?? They don't have it on the base station either.
Oh well...
I have three words for you:
Multifunction Printer Support.
Yet again Apple disappoints on this product. If you are one of the millions that has bought a printer that also copies, scans, etc., you are out of luck with this product.
There is absolutely no indication from the information we have that this will be wirelessly supported. Look carefully at the pictures on the website and the printers they connect are the simple vanilla kind. If you want to scan, you are going to have to unplug it from the Express and plug it into your computer.
When will Apple understand that a huge part of their customer base has MFPs?? They don't have it on the base station either.
Oh well...
pretty sure MPF support is a function of the device drivers not of the network device.
This may be true, but the problem is that if you are going to use wireless printing capabilities as one of your main selling points, then you should have a disclaimer that some of the core functionalities of millions of MFPs are not going to work. Plus there are other networking solutions that, even on a brand by brand basis, have worked out support for scanning for example.
I'm sure Apple could probably get together with HP and the three other major printer manufacturers and work the driver issues out.
pretty sure MPF support is a function of the device drivers not of the network device.
I'm not sure if there is an open standard for scanning and faxing over the LAN. I happen to have a networked MFP that doesn't offer network scanning & faxing on Macs. I don't reall mind that though. I generally avoid MFPs whenever I can.
This was exactly my situation, and exactly what I use it for when not travelling. You have two options:
1. The preferred option is to run CAT5 across the house and attach the Express to it. Then just give it the same name (SSID) as the other router on a different channel and clients will automatically switch back and forth to the strongest router.
I like this option, but my house is almost 200 years old. I want to own it for a while before I start poking holes in it. I could probably get to the attic rather easily, but that might not help me on the far side of the first floor where the most egregious dead zone covers the family room.
2. If running CAT5 isn't an option, you can put the Express in a place in the middle of the house where it's still in range of the original base station and use it as an extender. You'll lose half your wireless bandwidth in this process but it will double your range. For this your main router has to support WDS and be compatible, so it can be complicated to get right. (Or, you could shut off the wireless on the FiOS router and buy two expresses
I guess I have to call Verizon to find out if my router supports WDS, then. I don't see how to replace the Verizon router because it is one and the same with the modem (or whatever you call it when it is receiving fiber optics) and it is supplied by coax.
If your computer can only read "b", then it will not realize any faster speeds (g or n) and will throttle down to "b" when you use it.
Actually, that part of the question was about range--not speed. I would believe you if you said that throttling down to "b" speed also led to "b" range, but I'm not sure that that is what you are saying...
This may be true, but the problem is that if you are going to use wireless printing capabilities as one of your main selling points, then you should have a disclaimer that some of the core functionalities of millions of MFPs are not going to work. Plus there are other networking solutions that, even on a brand by brand basis, have worked out support for scanning for example.
I'm sure Apple could probably get together with HP and the three other major printer manufacturers and work the driver issues out.
well i believe printing is not a problem - at least i have not usually had a problem setting these MFP devices up to print. scanning, copying and other functions are usually were the issue is and that is NOT what apple is advertising.
this issue belongs squarely with the device manufacturers to support mac users - if they can write the drivers for windows computers they surely can do so for os x.
The modem that they install with FiOS lets you turn off just the wireless via the admin controls. The installer should have given you the admin password, but otherwise you might have to call customer support and have them tell you how to reset it. That's what I ended up doing in my house-- I have an old UFO Apple base station on one side and the Express on the other side of the house.
Oh, cool. I didn't think of that.
Just get the older version for half the price if all you need it for is hotel use.
Excellent point. I have no use for that speed for traveling. Though the 5GHz spectrum would be nice, but I don't foresee that as an issue. Thanks.
Setting up the two access points with the same SSID is a real pain-- it screws up routes on the clients constantly as one switches in and out of favor. Bridging works much better.
What about the Mac mini?
What about it?
You are expecting an update?
For the past 2 years, Apple has only updated the Mac mini in the fall.
This may be true, but the problem is that if you are going to use wireless printing capabilities as one of your main selling points, then you should have a disclaimer that some of the core functionalities of millions of MFPs are not going to work. Plus there are other networking solutions that, even on a brand by brand basis, have worked out support for scanning for example.
I'm sure Apple could probably get together with HP and the three other major printer manufacturers and work the driver issues out.
Buy a Printer that has wireless built-in.
The Brother HL-5280DW has both 100BT and 802.11g. The data stream carries the packets across the network. The dumb device [three-in-one] determines what to do with it. It's your PPD that isn't working correctly.
If you're using your ethernet port off the Wireless access point to go to the printer and you can use a standard RJ45 enabled printer without the scanner/fax built-in then it's definitely a device driver issue.
If you can low-level ping your printer then it's still your device driver.
If you can't ping the IP address of your printer than I would check our ip address range set for your network and make sure they are on the same subnet.
Will this in any way reduce the (admittedly minor and completely tolerable) lag in AirTunes streaming?
The delay is due to the buffering needed to account for interuptions in communication and has very little to do with network speed. "G" is plenty fast enough to handle it. It's sort of like how there is a delay when changing channels on digital cable vs analoge cable. The system needs a small buffer of data to work with.
Can you use the USB port for anything other than printing?
I foget the company, but someone made a AirTunes remote that plugged into the USB port so you could remotely control your iTunes playback. I assume that's still compatible with the new Express. I wouldn't expect Apple would add AirDisk support as that would eat into Exreme sales.
I know one of the benefits of n over g is the increased range. But is that increase realized when the computer used is still on b? I am hobbled with a TiBook and its awful range--I got it 2 weeks before g...
A separate question, is it possible/difficult to use an Express to extend the range of a non airport network? I got FIOS and their wireless router, but I only have coverage in half the house...
They say having b or g on your n network will reduce speeds and range, but they aren't clear if that means "reduce to b/g levels" or "reduce to something lower than n levels" (for the range).
Sticking with a single vendor for extending the range of your network is usually best. It may be better these days, but a few years ago it was extremely difficult to get routers from different vendors to work well together.
If you have a Gigabit network that is put together with a Gigabit switch and then you could plug the Airport Express into that Network to create a wireless 802.11n network, then a gigabit port on the Airport Express would not be a waste.
It would still be a waste. Even if you had gigabit to the Express, where is it going to go from there? You are still limited by the n speeds of the wireless part. It makes sense on the Extreme, because you can have more than one computer hooked up via wire. So those computers can talk at gigabit speeds. But as soon as you have any part of the connection wireless, even with n, 100 Mbps will be sufficient to keep up with the wireless part. (Note: If you have a 100 Mbps connection on one port of an Extreme, that does not impact the other ports from communicating with each other a gigabit speeds, if that's what you are worried about.)
So, will this version not get its AirTunes wireless signal disrupted by my microwave oven, like the first version?
Wireless n has two frequencies. 2.4 MHz and 5 MHz. Your microwave is near the 2.4 MHz frequency. If you only have n devices, I believe you can tell the Express to only use the 5 MHz frequency. Any b/g devices will still need to use the 2.4 MHz frequency.
I have three words for you:
Multifunction Printer Support.
Yet again Apple disappoints on this product. If you are one of the millions that has bought a printer that also copies, scans, etc., you are out of luck with this product.
Are there any wireless print servers that provide that type of support? If you have a network printer (ie, it has an Ethernet port) it knows how to conduct network communication with your computer. Otherwise, it's expecting a dedicated USB connection to a single host computer that has the drivers installed to know how to use some functions. The Express (and I think all wireless print servers) can't support the full funtions of some printers because you don't install drivers on them. It can pass on the print file, but that's about it. So for the most part, if you have an MFP, card readers, or other features that require some amount of control from the host device, you aren't going to be able to make use of it with any wireless print server. It is, after all, a print server. In fact, I'm not even sure you can check ink levels over a wireless print server as that, too, requires two way communction with the host computer.
Some companies do make wireless USB ports that can mimick an actual USB connection over your network. That might do what you are looking for.