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Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station (Simultaneous Dual-Band) (MC340LL/A)

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Brand: Apple
Category: CE

Buy New: Too low to display
as of 9/2/2010 10:32 CDT details

Seller: Amazon.com
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

reviews

Format: CD
Platform: Windows
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Operating System: Windows
Modem: None
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 1.3 x 6.5 x 6.5
nv: Interfaces/Ports: 1 x RJ-45 10/100/1000Base-TX DSL/Cable Modem WAN, 3 x RJ-45 10/100/1000Base-TX Network LAN, 1 x USB USB 2.0
Transmission Speed: 54 Mbps
Warranty: 1 year warranty

MPN: MC340LL/A
Model: MC340LL/A
UPC: 088590935018
EAN: 0088590935018
ASIN: B002TLTG9E

Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Features:

•	Simultaneous dual-band wireless base station supports 802.11b/g and 802.11n
•	USB 2.0 port lets you connect and wirelessly share a hard drive and/or printer
•	Three GigaBit Ethernet ports
•	Guest networking for easy sharing of your internet connection with temporary guests
•	Measures 6.5 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches; backed by a one-year warranty

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
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.

Amazon.com Product Description
The new AirPort Extreme is the perfect wireless solution for home, school, and small business. With higher speeds and greater range, the AirPort Extreme Base Station offers super fast wireless network access throughout just about any home, office, or classroom. And with simultaneous support for 802.11b/g and 802.11n bands, all your Wi-Fi devices can get the best possible wireless performance and range.

Apple Airport Extreme
At a Glance:

Simultaneous dual-band support for 802.11b/g and 802.11n
USB 2.0 port for sharing a hard drive or printer
Three Gigabit Ethernet ports
Easy guest networking

The sleek Airport Extreme has Ethernet ports and a USB 2.0 port.

Simultaneous Dual-Band Support
Some Wi-Fi devices use the 2.4GHz wireless band, including iPhone, iPod touch, and devices using 802.11b/g. Other devices can use either 2.4GHz or the higher-speed 5GHz band, such as the latest 802.11n-based Mac computers and Apple TV. Instead of choosing one of the bands, AirPort Extreme operates simultaneously on both bands, and your multiband devices automatically use the best available band. This means all your Wi-Fi devices get the fastest possible wireless performance and the best possible range. In addition, AirPort Extreme reduces the possibility of interference from appliances and cordless phones that use the 2.4GHz band.

Even Faster Performance Than Before
Based on the IEEE 802.11n specification, AirPort Extreme uses a technology called multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) to transmit multiple data streams simultaneously. The result? AirPort Extreme delivers data transfer speeds up to five times those of 802.11g wireless networks - while achieving up to twice the range.¹ And improvements in antenna design give you up to 50 percent better Wi-Fi performance and up to 25 percent better range than with the previous-generation AirPort Extreme Base Station.²

Share an Internet Connection with up to 50 People
Up to 50 people can all share the same Internet connection, exchange files using the file-sharing capability built into Mac OS X or Windows, access local and remote file servers, annihilate the competition in multiplayer games - anything a typical network user can do, plus a number of things that are decidedly not typical, such as wireless storage and printing.³

Share a Hard Drive with Everyone
AirPort Extreme can turn your external USB hard drive into a drive you can share with all the users on your network and access securely over the Internet. This feature - AirPort Disk - is a simple and convenient way to share files among everyone in your family, office, or class.

How does it work? Just connect the external hard drive to the USB port on the back of your AirPort Extreme and - voilà - all the documents, videos, photos, and other files on the drive instantly become available to anyone on the secure network, Mac and PC users alike. It’s perfect for file sharing, collaborative projects, and more.

Connect and share a USB printer and hard drive with everyone on the network.

You can set up password-protected accounts for everyone on the network or allow read-only access to certain files and folders. If you’re using Mac OS X Leopard, you’ll see the drive in your Finder sidebar, where it’s always available for accessing files and folders. For Mac OS X Tiger and Windows users, a simple-to-use AirPort Disk Utility provides a variety of setup options, including setting the disk to become available whenever you connect to the network.

Wireless Printing
With wireless printing through AirPort Extreme, it’s almost like having a printer in every room of the home or office. AirPort Extreme uses the Mac- and PC-compatible Bonjour networking technology to let everyone on the network take advantage of one centrally available printer. Wirelessly, of course. (Wireless printing over USB requires a compatible printer and Mac OS X v10.2.7 or later or Windows XP (SP3) or Windows Vista (SP1).)

Set up is as simple as plugging the printer into the USB port on the AirPort Extreme Base Station and adding it to the printer list on your Mac or PC. That's it!

Easily set up a guest network for visitors.

Guest Networking Offers Access for Guests
It’s easy to allow guests to use your Internet connection without sharing your password or giving them access to the rest of your network. Simply enable the guest networking feature using the AirPort Utility application and create a separate Wi-Fi network just for your friends. You can set up this guest network with a different password or with none at all. Your primary network - including your printer, attached drives, or other devices - remains secure.

Compatible with 802.11a/b/g
All currently shipping Mac systems support the next-generation 802.11n technology in the AirPort Extreme Base Station. And AirPort Extreme is compatible with Mac computers, PCs, and wireless devices such as iPhone and iPod touch that use 802.11a, b, or g technologies. You can also rest assured that AirPort Extreme works with other certified 802.11n products.

Three Wired Ethernet Ports
For computers and network devices that don't have wireless or need the consistency of a wired connection, the Airport Extreme has three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports.

The Apple Airport Extreme measures 6.5 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches. It is backed by a one-year warranty.

What's in the Box
Airport Extreme, power supply with cord, printed and electronic documentation, Software (AirPort Utility for Mac and Windows, AirPort Disk Utility for Windows, Bonjour for Windows).

¹Based on a comparison with Apple’s 802.11g products. Comparison assumes AirPort Extreme network with 802.11n-enabled computer. Accessing the wireless network requires an AirPort- or AirPort Extreme-enabled computer or other Wi-Fi Certified 802.11a/b/g/n-enabled computer. Actual performance will vary based on range, connection rate, site conditions, size of network, and other factors. Range will vary with site conditions.
²Based on a comparison with Apple’s previous-generation 802.11n products. Comparison assumes AirPort Extreme network with 802.11n-enabled computer. Accessing the wireless network requires an AirPort- or AirPort Extreme-enabled computer or other Wi-Fi Certified 802.11a/b/g/n-enabled computer. Actual performance will vary based on range, connection rate, site conditions, size of network, and other factors. Range will vary with site conditions.
³Wireless Internet access requires a wireless-enabled computer, a base station or other access point, and Internet access (fees may apply). Some ISPs are not currently compatible with AirPort Extreme. Wireless printing over USB requires a compatible printer and Mac OS X v10.2.7 or later or Windows XP (SP3) or Windows Vista (SP1).

Customer Reviews:

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Once installed, could not ask for a better and easier router September 1, 2010
gd64
Installation was kind of buggy, AirPort utility on my MacBook pro crashed several times. Sometimes the router wasn't even recognized. Once it was recognized and the software didn't crash, set up was painless and quick. The ability to add a hard drive is very conient for Mac users looking to use Time Machine. Buying an AirPort Express is a great idea because you cam extend the network or use AirTunes or add a printer. One downside is there is only one USB port.

4 out of 5 stars

Easy to install but limited range August 31, 2010
FH-Ace
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Good product, and easy to install but the range is limited compared to other Wifi routers I've used in the same location. The unit I replaced always gave me full signal strength everywhere in my home. This router displays 20-30 percent less signal strength as you move aways from the unit. Still a nice product though.

5 out of 5 stars

It just works. August 29, 2010
Nathan Twaddle
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Like all things Apple, this AirPort Extreme base station just works. From unpacking to surfing the net, the entire process took ~15 minutes. The dual-band functionality is a definite plus as in my apartment I usually can pick up at least 15 different wireless networks (2.4GHz). My MacBook Pro and my TV allow for a 5GHz wireless connection so I haven't to compete with interference. I've multiple products in my home that have Wi-Fi functionality that are both Mac/PC as well as the TV, Blu-Ray player, iPhone, iPod Touch, Kindle, etc... These are both 2.4GHz and 5GHz devices. This AirPort Extreme allows for 50 connections and I'm sure in the future more things will be Wi-Fi enabled so there's room for growth. Who knows, one day even the coffee maker may be Wi-Fi.

The computers are all networked together and share a hard drive and printer connected to the AirPort using a USB hub. The hard drive also doubles as my Mac's Time Machine backup.

This unit doesn't run hot as others have commented on. Maybe a bit warm to the touch but nothing that is of concern. Since I don't have anything plugged directly into AirPort and am running totally wireless, only having 3 hardwired ethernet connections isn't a problem. The guest option is a nice touch - I've not used it but it is a good idea. I've not needed to do so, but being able to extend the network to achieve greater range is definitely a feature that I can see the functionality of.

Definitely worth the price due to ease of use, features, and the lack of frustration when setting up.

5 out of 5 stars

apple products simply work. August 23, 2010
Kyle Weeks
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I love airport extremes. I have one at home and another at school. I plugged a 2TB hard drive into the back of this one so it could be a shared drive. It doesn't transfer data to & from the external hard drive all that quickly, but I can't expect it to be as fast as a hard connection.

5 out of 5 stars

Great hardware but what's the deal with the config utility? August 14, 2010
G. Mladenov
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I bought the Airport Extreme to setup a 5GHz wireless network at home.
There are 20+ wireless networks in range in my apartment, so using a 2.4GHz router was not working for me anymore.

The hardware does its job admirably once it's set up properly.
Setup, however, is made unnecessarily awkward by the poor usability of the Airport Utility software.

The software does provide the needed config options to tweak the wireless network, including manual channel selection, MAC filtering, etc..
But the overall experience of using the software is a big disappointment!
Apple should have hired professionals to do the software, not first-year undergrads interning for them.

Thankfully, though, it's a smooth sailing after the painful experience of setting up Airport Extreme (and in my case Airport Express as well, which I use as a 5GHz client adapter).

Overall, this router deserves its 5-star rating for elegant design, integrated print server capabilities, 5GHz wireless, and trouble-free operation (so far).

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