A few more things I’ve noticed:
- Time Machine over Airport Extreme with a MacBook Core Duo (only wireless g) is very slow. I unloaded a bunch of pictures a few days ago. It’s been trying to backup the files since, but keeps failing because of the amount of time it needs. I guess that’s the nature of notebook computer sometimes. Look up something really quick, then close it. Write something quick, then close it. Mind you I gave the MB a couple hours last night to backup about 12gb. That wasn’t enough time. I’ll have to hook it up directly again.
- I really like using Airport Utility versus the browser based configuration. On the Netgear, I’d only configure the router when hooked up directly through the ethernet. It’s apparently the only secure way. I noticed that I can us Airport Utility over wireless on my MB. Should I be worried about security?
- You can allow the Airport to notify you when it has a firmware update. With Netgear, I’d have to visit the netgear website whenever it occurred to me that there might be an update.
Last night I picked up an Airport Extreme! I’m pretty excited. Set up was relatively easy. Below are some random observations so far because I love unordered lists.
- No more web based configuring like with my old Netgear, instead you use Airport Utility.
- In Airport Utility, “SSID” is listed as “Network Name.” And is it just me or does it seem confusing that there is something called “MAC Address” and it has nothing to do with Macs?
- Airport Utility shows who is connected and how much bandwidth they’re using in a neat little line graph.
- The Extreme’s access list setup also lets you choose what times devices can connect to the router.
- If you have an iPhone or any pre-N device like my Core-Duo MacBook, you can’t use the 5ghz frequency. You’re stuck with 2.4ghz like everyone else.
- Airport Disk is cool though I swear it was called “Airdisk”. I can’t wait to figure out how to access it from anywhere on the internet. Also, I don’t think you can change the name of the disk while connected to the Extreme.
- Time Machine through the Airport Disk seems to be working. I used the gigabit ethernet for my initial MacBook backup. I’ll let you know about the wireless-G backup experience after I work on some large files.
- I have an Ethernet card in my Epson 7600. My old version of EpsonNet 1.9a couldn’t find the printer through the Extreme, 2.2a could! I thought Epson was going to leave me behind again, but they didn’t.
- I have not used the built in print server.
So far it seems like a pretty solid router at a good price considering what you get: gigabit ethernet, wireless print server, NAS, Time Capsule-like Time Machine, wireless-N, and Apple support.
My trusty old white Netgear wireless-G has served me well for a few years now. It hasn’t caused me too many problems, well nothing a simple unplug/replug couldn’t fix. But I think it is time it should be replaced with the new old Airport Extreme.
A couple of days ago Apple offered a software update for their Airport Extreme that now allows time machine backups. This means you can back up your files wirelessly. This was the only reason to buy the expensive Time Capsule and now you don’t have to. Unless there is some other reason to get the Time Capsule I’m just not aware of.
I also own an Airport Express. I once used it for Airtunes only. Currently it just sits on a shelf. My Apple TV has replaced that role. But now if I get an Airport Extreme, I can bridge it with the Express to extend my wireless range!
Oh yeah, this is going to work so great with my new Blac X! FTW!
I’ve been looking for the perfect solution to back up my life, basically all the files on my computer. I wanted something that was inexpensive, easy to use, and reliable. I was backing stuff up on CD, that got old fast. I tried DVDs, but I heard the dyes are unstable. Then I heard a suggestion of just saving it on hard drives. Ok, why not?
I bought one of these. The Seritek seemed like a good solution at the time. I was taking advantage of the speed and technology of SATA drives. Whenever I bought a new hard drive for my PowerMac, I could stick the old drive in a tray and use it in this enclosure. External SATA is nice, but it just doesn’t work like a Firewire drive. It didn’t take long before I got super annoyed by these stupid trays. I learned later that there were enclosures out there that don’t require trays. Cooldrives has a few, but I was told the fans would not turn off when the computer is put to sleep. Ditto for the Seritek. That was very annoying to me also. Drobo was another drive enclosure I considered and still am. But it does so much more which comes at a cost, a cost of half a G! This leads me to the Blac X (finally, huh?)
A couple of weeks ago, I was perusing my local Fry’s looking for some kind of hard drive solution. Something caught my eye: a tiny little black box with a picture of bare hard drive plugged into some kind of enclosure like a video game cartridge. Ooh, what’s this? It takes SATA drives, 2.5″ and 3.5″. Nice. USB? Rip off! How much was this badboy? $39.95. Ooh, maybe not a rip off. Is it any good? I pulled out my iPhone and quickly searched the web for reviews just like in the commercials. Ahh, here’s one.. skipped to the conclusion section. Thumbs up. It’s mine!
Part 2 here.
