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Best Buy is offering Apple's June 2011 Airport Extreme Base Station -- the current model that Apple sells new for $179 -- for $89.99 as its deal of the day.
Apple sells the same device refurbished for $139.
Originally released June 2011
The sleek, easy-to-use AirPort Extreme Base Station with simultaneous dual-band support is the perfect wireless access point for home, school or small business. It offers fast, 802.11n Wi-Fi access for Mac computers, PCs and Wi-Fi devices such as iPhone, iPod touch and Apple TV.
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(View all)Is this worth it?
I currently have the standard 2WIRE router supplied by ATT Uverse that is 802.11 b/g. I pay for the 12 Mbps internet speed, because that's the max that they can provide to my apartment complex. When I'm on WiFi I usually get 3-4 Mbps. We have about 6 Apple devices and an xbox if that matters.
Do you think this router will really make a $100 difference going to 802.11n? Thanks gents.
This one for $89 ? A big difference.
Doesn't Peace's avatar make you want to find a tab of acid for someone? Dedicate it to Steve.
It can push wireless faster than anything else out there at that price range, but it's routing features are terrible - and I'm not just talking about the lack of configuration options - I mean silly stuff, like it really struggling with >50 open connections, blocking GRE (which means PPTP wont work through it), etc.
I've resorted to using mine as a wireless access point, with something a bit more capable doing the actual routing.
Airport Extreme 5th gen is the worst thing I have ever had from Apple.
When downloading something over wireless it emits a loud buzzing noise, something can be heard constantly crackling inside it when you put your ear close to the case even when idling, it drops PPPoE connection every 24 hours (debugging PPP shows it stops sending LCP Echo-requests all of a sudden and after an hour it sends an explicit LCP terminate request to its peer). And these problems are so widespread, just google it. Also almost nothing can be tuned in its operation, it has almost no settings at all. The Airport Utility 6 was dumbed down to the extreme. This is a very bad product and I suggest you stay away from it.
I replaced my old TP-Link 1043 with an APE and after a month I switched back. At least my TP-Link 1043 with OpenWRT is stable, customizable and completely silent in operation.
I'm now willing to sell my APE and never look back, at least until Apple resolves the massive hardware problems with the APE and lets you set up the unit to your liking.
Please - you would think by now that people would understand happy customers don't tend to post to forums, etc... Only those with problems. My APE is rock-solid, in over a year, I've never had a single problem. You do have one valid point about the lack of configuration options, but that's not the point of this product. If you don't want to mess around much with your wireless network, this is the router to get. If you have a problem, that means you have a defective unit. Get an RMA.
Despite what the inevitable links to forums sites you will soon provide, there is NOT a massive hardware problem. Like all products, there will be a percentage that are defective. Quit complaining and get it replaced. And, if you are disappointed in the lack of configuration options; you bought the wrong thing.
Of the 321 reviews for your router on Amazon, the TP-Link 1043 received 56 one-star reviews. One out of six hated that router. The 5th gen API only received 24 one-star reviews out of 402, or one out of sixteen who hate their APE.
This is a very *good* product and I suggest you give it serious consideration.
How good are the Apple refurbs for the base station. Is it worth the extra 40 to buy new?
Refurbished products from Apple's online store comes with the same warranty and they are fully tested to make sure they work well. The difference in price is usually not worth paying to get a brand new version, especially if you are not buying a product that includes a battery that wears out with use.Best Buy does not seem to be giving you a similar deal though. They don't offer any warranty. Who knows where they are getting them...
11ac sucks, it's barely twice as fast.
At 60GHz, your signal can barely reach the other end of a room. It is not designed to distribute internet access around a house from one central location.802.11ad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11#802.11ad) is where it's at. 14 times faster.