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Question

Does Airport Extreme Base Station have advantages?

by Apr 26, 2011 5:36PM PDT

My Airport Extreme Base station just gave out this week so I need to replace it. I had the first version of the Gigabit models and I know there's a newer version out but I am also looking heavily at the Linksys E3000. I know the E3000 is cheaper but that is not the deciding factor. I want the parental controls that the E3000 has and it seems like the AEBS doesn't have parental controls.I have always tried to buy Apple products though and I want to know, am I giving up any features by going to the E3000 instead of staying with the Apple model? It seems when it comes to the actual hardware they are very similar. When I looked at the Airport Utility I noticed there is a section to set it up with MobileMe and when I did research on Google I found an article from 2008 from Apple stating that in order to use Back to My Mac an AEBS is required. Is this still the case or does it just need a certain protocol that is now available in other routers such as the E3000? Are there any other possible features that I give up by not getting an AEBS?I haven't really had much luck getting Back to My mac working reliably with even the AEBS but it's a feature I want to use more in the future so don't want to give this up.Thank you for your help.

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4 Posts
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Answer
What I've experienced
by May 17, 2011 8:32AM PDT

In order to get DSL from my phone company (AT&T), I needed to use one of their own brand 2Wire Modem/Routers. This works fine with two Macs and two PCs connected, even wirelessly. When I tried to use the Apple Base Station, it wouldn't work with AT&T, and a phone call to them gave me the "Sorry, our system does not support Apple". I know I've been given methods in various forums in how to make the Apple Base Station work, but it was pretty convoluted, so I stuck with the AT&T Modem/Router that worked. Part two of my installation was that I wanted to do the wireless iTunes to Stereo routine. The AT&T router does not work, so I used an Apple Express Base Station. In a perfect world I should be able to use the same Modem/Router for both DSL and iTunes, but it's not a perfect world, so I accepted the fact that when I want to steam iTunes I simply choose the Apple Network for the iTunes computer. Macs work perfectly with other brands Modem/Routers, so you don't need an Apple model.

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"Sorry, our system does not support Apple"
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator May 18, 2011 1:29PM PDT

is an answer given by those that do not know what they think they do.

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Answer
I love mine
by Aug 5, 2011 10:26AM PDT

I quite recently got an AEBS for my MacBook and G4, and it works beautifully. I also had no trouble at all setting it up with my Time Warner cable account. The reviews I read (a lot of them) before I bought it stressed its versatility, ease of setup and durability. The one criticism they had was that there are only three spaces for Ethernet cable (and one for USB, I think, but I'm not in a position to look at it, right now), rather than four - which I gather is more usual in wireless routers.

I hope this helps. I am pretty competent around computers and computer equipment but I'm no expert, nor extremely daring or knowledgeable, so if you are like me, that should be encouraging, too.

I hope that whatever you choose to do, you will be satisfied with your decision.

Jenny

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Nothing to do with the subject but,
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Aug 5, 2011 11:01AM PDT

long time, no hear.

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