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Differences between older and newer Airport Express

Last week I was visiting friends in Washington DC and I set up a wireless network consisting of a new Airport Extreme and five Airport Express units as extenders. The new network was connected directly to the Verizon FIOS modem which had performed unsatisfactorily in the large house.


Four of these AEs were two years old and a fifth was bought new. The network setup was easy using the new iOS-style Airport Utility (v6.0) on the Mac (or on the iPad). We were able to choose to use the 5GHz network or the 2.4GHz and managed to get all AEs on the faster band.


Enthused by this success, I returned to London and decided to check my home network which consists of a two-year-old Airport Extreme and four AEs, all of which are at least four years old. I had not checked the network since the introduction of AU 6.0. I was disappointed that none of the AE's could be edited using the new Airport Utility v6.0. I had to download AU 5.6 in order to be able to inspect the settings on these old units. I did update the firmware on the old units but this made no difference.


While everything is working, and the old AE's appear to be connected to the 5GHz network, I would like to ask if there is any advantage in buying new AEs and would there be any performance improvement? I assume, from my recent experience, that the newer AEs differ from the early units. How do the earlier units differ from the later?

Posted on Jun 7, 2012 8:51 AM

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Posted on Jun 7, 2012 9:24 AM

While everything is working, and the old AE's appear to be connected to the 5GHz network, I would like to ask if there is any advantage in buying new AEs and would there be any performance improvement?

The older Express is not capable of producing any type of "n" network....either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz. This device is limited to wireless "b/g" performance.


If you do see settings for 5 GHz on the Express devices that you have, then they are newer versions.


Check the Model No on the label on the side of the Express. The "new" version will be A1264. The "old" version will be A1084 or A1088.

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Jun 7, 2012 9:24 AM in response to Michael Evans3

While everything is working, and the old AE's appear to be connected to the 5GHz network, I would like to ask if there is any advantage in buying new AEs and would there be any performance improvement?

The older Express is not capable of producing any type of "n" network....either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz. This device is limited to wireless "b/g" performance.


If you do see settings for 5 GHz on the Express devices that you have, then they are newer versions.


Check the Model No on the label on the side of the Express. The "new" version will be A1264. The "old" version will be A1084 or A1088.

Jun 11, 2012 1:25 PM in response to Guy Rogers

Thanks, Guy. I'd already seen this and I'll be down to the Apple store later this week to stock up. Personally I think the change from the built-in plug to a cabled plug is a bit of a retrograde step; it will be more untidy. Strangely, having set up a network in the USA last week, I can maybe understand why Apple have made the change: the US standard socket tends to be a bit loose and the AE is a weighty item to be suspended from such a dinky plug. It wobbles and can break contact in some circumstances. In the UK, on the otherhand, where we have a plug designed for giants, the AE has always been a very firm and secure fit. But I'll put up with the new design in the interests of progress!


Michael

Jun 11, 2012 7:07 PM in response to Michael Evans3

Understood, the good thing about the UK plugs is they are side by side. The problem with the CA/US plugs is they are top of each other generally. So with the AE, you can only place it in the bottom, otherwise it blocks the bottom slot if placed on the top. In addition to the issues you describe. I think it will be better for placement with the cable, but it all depends on your home setup. Hope it works out for you. As an aside, the new Extreme base stations do put out a stronger signal - might help getting through the brick walls !

Jun 12, 2012 2:06 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

I would also be interested in this since I'm currently working on a post for my blog, macfilos.com. I checked the specs and the new Express seems to do most of what I am getting from my current Airport Extreme. The Extreme has more physical connectivity, but I wonder why we need two separate products. Already the new Express looks like the Extreme and, it seems, is peforming similarly. Incidentally, I know tiddly squash about wifi and networking (as is probably obvious), so excuse me if this question is overly naïve!

Jun 12, 2012 10:17 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Peter/Michael, I do not confess to know what goes on under the hood, this article has some interesting stats on the strength of the 5th gen extreme vs the 4th gen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_airport_extreme Unfortunately it does not compare to the Express.


I would say it would boil down to the users need and size of the house/office you were networking. Personally I use the Extreme as the 'master' network device. It has an external hard drive plugged into the USB port ( not possible on the Express) for Time Machine. I then had a hard line to a desktop PC and a NAS device and one spare for 'hardline' moving of data. The Express only has the one, the new Express has the ability to extend the network from a hard line cable, previously it would only extend through wireless - I would say this is an enhancement.


The extreme then broadcasts to a new Apple Tv - connected to an Amp & TV for iTunes/Movie streaming - and to an Express (connected to an Amp for iTunes streaming ) which also extends the range of the network. The fundamental difference for me of the old express to new is the ability to get it away from the floor/plug and for it to use the dual bands. As when using the different wireless devices when multiple are connected there is a noticeable slow down in network speed. A nice feature of the new express is it can support more devices in our ever connected world.


So for me, I need the two devices as per the listing above they have different end uses.


The bigger issue is that the old Airport utility offered way more configuration functionality over the current diagrammatic approach. To me they should have kept some of the advanced features.

Jun 13, 2012 12:25 AM in response to Guy Rogers

Hi Guy,


Thanks for the further information. I'd already come to more or less the same conclusion and wrote this post


http://www.macfilos.com/home/2012/6/12/when-all-airport-expresses-are-not-create d-equal.html


yesterday (among others on the same subject during the day). As you will see I got everything up and running, including three new Airport Express units, in under four minutes! Michael

Differences between older and newer Airport Express

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