AirPort Extreme Base Station

I see the new airport extreme base station has a USB port to connect a USB drive to share to all connected users on the LAN. I am thinking of getting this to be able to share a network drive on the USB port - my question, will I be able to configure my existing Linksys WRT54's to connect to this basestation via WDS. I currently have 2 Linksyses (sp) running via WDS to provide wireless networking at my house.
Bwana, I know you have one of these - do you think the Linksyses(sp) will run alongside it.
I have tried the airport express via WDS with the linksys using WPA encryption with success but then my iTunes won't work for streaming to the hifi if the PC/Mac is connected via cable to the Linksys.
Running the express as a client works though.
Also, the Express has a usb port but it is for printing - you haven't tried to connect a drive to this port have you?

I dont have a extreme - just a couple expresses.

The extreme is great - if you have 802.11n devices. Now one problem with your proposed set up is the linksys routers which I'm guessing dont support 'n' even if/though your MB does.

Of course you might not even need the 2 Linksys routers - the new extreme is said to have really good coverage.

IMO 802.11n isnt going to be a substitute for a firewire connection.

bwana said:

I dont have a extreme - just a couple expresses.

The extreme is great - if you have 802.11n devices. Now one problem with your proposed set up is the linksys routers which I'm guessing dont support 'n' even if/though your MB does.

Click to expand...

No they don't but all I want is to be able to share a drive wirelessly so the .11n is not a big concern (at this stage)

Unfortunately I doubt if you will be able to share a firewire drive over a network effectively so my only option is USB. Basically I want to get rid of that rubbish Lan shared drive I have that has a throughput of around 3mb/sec even when using a wired 100mb lan.

I just plug my firewire drive into the mini and share it that way. My max wireless newtork speed is 'g' anyway so having a 'n' device wouldnt speed anything up.

I'm not saying I wouldnt get an extreme if I needed a new AP but I'm fine with the system I have set up now. If something breaks then I'll probably get one.

bwana said:

The extreme is great - if you have 802.11n devices. Now one problem with your proposed set up is the linksys routers which I'm guessing dont support 'n' even if/though your MB does.

Click to expand...

There is no "if" about it . The new extreme is great. As I said previously, even in a mixed b/g/n environment the Airport Disk flies. "N" is definitely better at mixed environments than "G" in that you aren't reduced to the speed of the slowest device.

I've got a 160GB WD IDE 3.25" in a VISO enclosure formatted to HFS+ attached and it feels almost like an internal drive. Definitely way better than the Iomega landrive that has a gigabit etherport. (Remember that you will need to format using FAT32 if you want any Windoze clients to use the Airport Disk(s)).

I wouldn't recommend extending the network with the WRT's right off the bat, first see what sort of coverage you get with the extreme on it's own. I've got a couple of airport expresses attached for the airtunes and I don't use the WDS, instead I join to the extreme as a client and it seems to work just fine. When I did WDS between the two I felt that the extreme was taking a noticeable range and speed hit. You are gonna have to play around with your own setup and see what works best.

As for USB HDD on the express, I haven't tried it, but I don't think it will work. But since you can add a USB hub to the extreme you can attach multiple drives. I don't know if the performance will take a hit with lots of drives attached.

At the end of the day, the extreme plays fine with other vendors' devices, but seems to play best with Apple devices. If you have a really large space to cover, have you considered flogging the WRT's and buying two extremes?

BobJones said:

There is no "if" about it . The new extreme is great.

Click to expand...

In a primarily 'g' network it isnt going to be any better than what I have right now. I've got one 'n' right now so ditching my AExpresses would be rather pointless.

I've also got a gigabit ethernet and unless 'n' is twice as fast as it claims to be wireless wont hold a candle to it. Plugging a usb2 drive into the extreme might be nice but how does it compare with a fw800 drive attached to another computer on the same gb network?

Call me nostalgic but I also like having the Airport Expresses littered around the house plugged into various stereos and printers.

Like I said - if something breaks or my needs change I'll look at the extreme but much like the rest of Apples recent products (?Tv and the iPhone) I'm not getting too excited about it.

I too have one 'n' client, gigabit ethernet hub, expresses and mostly 'g' clients for the rest and in my setup the extreme makes a big difference cf. the netgear 834gt that it replaced when the latter got fried.

Since only some of the computers in my study are wired, I appreciate the difference the extreme makes in my setup.
FW is underestimated but isn't going to make a difference in my setup since for now the wireless will still be the bottleneck.

I needed a new AP/router and the extreme does the job better than what I had before, and at a significant price advantage over the devices I consider to be competition.

Last time I looked nobody is required to get excited about the products. I also don't recall anyone telling you to get the new extreme or apple tv or iphone. Dont buy it if you don't need it. But please stop pissing on everyone else experiences - yours isn't the only opinion that people are interested in.

BobJones said:

Last time I looked nobody is required to get excited about the products. I also don't recall anyone telling you to get the new extreme or apple tv or iphone. Dont buy it if you don't need it. But please stop pissing on everyone else experiences - yours isn't the only opinion that people are interested in.

Click to expand...

I just call it like I see it. I've been buying apple for well over a decade now and one thing I've learnt it's rarely worth being an early adopter - more often than not you face disappointment to one degree or another.

Now - I've said this a couple times so far but here goes - for me the 'n' isnt worth it right now but "if something breaks or my needs change I'll look at the extreme". I dont see how that is pissing on your parade. As for pissing on everyone else's experiences well that's a fallacy.

adsl3g - I'm afraid you cant hook a usb hdd up to the express - the port is just for printing though you can use it to charge devices like an ipod of cellphone should you ever travel with one. Saves on carrying a load of adaptors.

bwana said:

I just call it like I see it. I've been buying apple for well over a decade now and one thing I've learnt it's rarely worth being an early adopter - more often than not you face disappointment to one degree or another.

Click to expand...

There you go again with some classic transference. What was wrong with "more often than not I've been disappointed to one degree or another."?
Your comments contain the innuendo that if others aren't doing what you do, there must be something wrong with them. That's the feeling that I've got from your posts a couple of times now. Just pointing out how you come across to me.

bwana said:

Now - I've said this a couple times so far but here goes - for me the 'n' isnt worth it right now but "if something breaks or my needs change I'll look at the extreme". I dont see how that is pissing on your parade. As for pissing on everyone else's experiences well that's a fallacy.

Click to expand...

You said: The extreme isn't worth it if you don't have other n devices.
I said: I've got an extreme with mostly g devices, I think it performs better.
You said: "In a primarily 'g' network it isnt going to be any better than what I have right now."
What's with that? You directly contradict the experience I just described with no justification cited.
Furthermore, nobody said for you to ditch your expresses.
Nobody said for you to buy an extreme.
Nobody said for you to do anything you don't want to.
So why transfer what you want to do onto what others should do?
That's just arrogant.
You can be helpful without being condescending.

BobJones said:

What's with that? You directly contradict the experience I just described with no justification cited.

Click to expand...

The experience you described was one of a 'n' device and "mostly 'g' clients" iow g and b. I never intended to give the impression that I was contending your experience. I obviously should have been clearer but apart from my one 'n' device all my others were 'g' so my network doesn't have to content with, and by all accounts make suitable allowances for, 'b'. I'm not certain what other justification you're looking for.

adsl3g asked and I offered up my opinion. What he decides at the end of the day is his call. Perhaps he'll believe, as you do, that the device is just what he needs and that's fantastic.

Anyhow - I've said my peace and unless you want to discuss the extreme then I really have nothing further to say apart from offering an apology if you feel you've been maligned. Who knows - if I hear a compelling argument for the device I might end up getting one sooner rather than later.