Apple launches 802.11n Airport Express right on cue
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Mar 17th 2008 8:28AM
posted Mar 17th 2008 8:28AM
What's this? New Product from Apple on a Monday? Why, yes, yes it is. The 802.11n Airport Express rumored over the weekend just became official. $99 takes the little iTunes streaming, pocket base station home to a draft-n network near you. Yes, today.
I wonder what took them so long.
"Boom"
"Get N or get out" to harken back to the Nintendo days of yore.
I'm still wondering what's taking them so long to support 64-bit encryption on the Airport Express. All we get is 40 or 128 bit and some of my devices (I'm talking to you, TiVo) won't connect to anything but 64-bit encryption.
@Harkonian: 64bit and 40bit WEP encryption is the same thing. It's a 64bit key, but actually only 40 bits are used for encryption. But don't bother with it, it can be cracked in 15 minutes. 128bit (AKA 104 bit) WEP takes a day. Only WPA holds these days.
I would happily use WPA or WPA2, but, once again, TiVo does not support these using anything but the TiVo branded wireless USB adapter. Since I have a non-TiVo adapter, I'm fubared. I suppose I could just buy a second airport express and hook my TiVo up to it via the ethernet port...
Not even apple puts this news on their front page.
Ever thought of mac address filtering its not the safest but it's alright.
So, is this launching today?
"Yes, today."
Perhaps I should have added "/Sarcasm" to the end of my post above to make things clearer :)
My bad. Words can't convey speech. Damnit.
monday. way to keep us on our toes, apple. just imagine what wednesday holds in store for apple fanboys.
I wonder how much I could get for one of my g versions... Perhaps I could sell one of them to upgrade to an n.
Dear Apple,
Thanks for making it stick out from the wall like that so I can kick it with my leg every time I walk by. Keep up the good work!
John
well, you cud consider learning to walk a few inches away from the wall.
If thats too hard, you could consider making a hole in your wall to embed it yourself.
@ John
How about..."Dear God, thanks for making me blind and clumsy."
Dear John,
Please learn how to walk. Keep up the good work!
Apple
No, srsly though... get a Griffin airbase for it or something.
...or you could use apple's power adapter extension cord to get it away from the outlet.
Hey guys, take it easy on John. He only has one outlet in his house and it just so happens to reside in a 2 ft. wide hallway in his house. I think you can see the obvious problem there.
How 'bout them doorknobs?
Are you referring to John? Stop insulting doorknobs.
Holy hell, everyone is high ranked.
I CAN HAS INVISIBAL PLUG?
Sorry, everyone. I have clumsy fingers, too. I forgot to include this:
Dear God,
Thanks for giving me MS and making me need leg braces to walk. I really enjoy the rough days of getting from point A to point B without bumping into things. I also really like having to preface everything I say with "btw I have MS" so people don't flame me first. You're awesome.
John
John, I'm sorry about your misfortune, if your post is sincere. I have a wonderful sister-in-law with MS, so I hope you'd not joke about it. I don't think you did.
But don't lose your ability to laugh. Some of those retorts--given the info in your original post--were pretty clever and funny. Laugh WITH us, ok?
peace
terry
You guys are a bunch of apologists. Why is there such a resistance to accepting consumer input for what is obviously not a great design? If Nokia released a power adapter like this, there'd be web sites dedicated to "Side-Pluggin," but because it's Apple, it's the best thing ever.
i agree with ollie. Get the power adapter extension cord and then mount it on the wall flush (or on a shelf, or in the ceiling.)
personally, the design is fine for me, because it sits behind my stereo components anyway. (and any other angle would likely obstruct the other outlets.)
I agree. I have one and the range is utter crap. I move into the next room and the signal craps out. I have other access points that I can actually go outside and still connect. Apple really put their foot in their mouth with this crap design.
It's fair to criticize Apple for designing the Airport Express the way it did. It does stick out quite far. But having said that, I have one and I love it. I have mom set up with one too and she loves it. We both use them for streaming iTunes. It hasn't been a problem for me or her but I can see why people might have a problem with it. I am sure there are plenty of things that could be done to alleviate the issue.
Get the Griffin AirBase stand for the Airport Exp. if you can't stop kicking it out of the wall. http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/airbase
When Apple designs a product, they leave a door open for 3rd party accessories.... A door which is frequently slammed on the accessory makers' feeble fingers.
@John, sorry to hear about the MS.
As said before, it is all done in good humor and hopefully you can see that. Indeed, a cursory scan of your own posting history -- or, I should say flaming history -- shows that you expect precisely that, and in spades, from your own post-ees.
Holy damn. The thing is small as your palm and we still find a way to bitch? It's not a power brick, it's the entire f*cking product. Jesus I am seriously lost for words here
what a pack of loser fanboys. John has a darn good point, regardless of his own physical status. The product has flawed design, and it is an Apple product. Go figure.
Great news! Ordering one now.
yay! Now I can finally extend my current N network without buying another AirPort Extreme.
Would 802.11g speed/performance be any better with this as compared to the 'old' Airport Express?
I don't think so, it looks like this version only adds 802.11n support. There is no mention of expanded range or speed boosting for non "n" networks.
If you ever need to be convinced that there is an Apple slant here...consider this..
If Linksys came out with an Wireless N bridge think it would get a story on Endadget? I fail to see how a product that is at least a year and a half behind the curve is news.
Uhh....
http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=linksys+wireless+n
The comparable product from Linksys is still using g/b speeds.
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1122062241008&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=4100839789B11
"Oh God! Its another post about an Apple product! Never mind that it is one of their most useful product, Engadget should realize that Apple doesn't make real technology."
@ KR...the date on that Article is from October 2006. Thanks for proving my point though.
Apparently you missed the part about the equivalent product not being updated yet.
@ Maestro:
My point was that Engadget DOES write about Linksys and their various Wireless N products, thus negating your complaint that they wouldn't write about a Linksys product that's similar to the Airport Express. It seems that in all likelihood, they would.
Also, I did not link to any specific article, but rather a whole list of Engadget articles from various dates.
Thanks for being an idiot though.
ignoring your idiotic "oh noes Engadget hearts Apple 2 much!" nonsense....
you said it's "a product that is at least a year and a half behind the curve"
care to qualify that?
I've been looking for a plug-and-play (literally, plug it into the wall and it basically auto-configures, or at least has a "setup wizard" for both mac and PC that is totally painless) 802.11N router with WPA2 or 128bit WEP, a built in firewall, and works with A/B/G/N2.0. It also needs to be a wireless bridge (wireless extender) that'll let me stream audio, and will act as a print-server.
...in a compact, portable, nicely-designed form. for about $100.
can you show me one?
I'm especially interested in the one that apparently came out "at least a year and a half ago"
Wow, you must feeling pretty stupid right about now
The apple community is large, and a huge population of engadget's readers use apple computers. For them, this is a big deal. Sure, engadget doesn't need this many posts on apple, and i think i remember seeing a 802.11n airport rumor on here last week, but i think its still fair for them to post apple product releases. Just my 2cents.
A quick question. Can I use the AE as a bridge and share internet out of the ethernet port on the AE?
sure, but there has to be a current wireless network that the first AE is getting it's connection from...
A better approach would be to put them in WDS mode, for wireless bridging.