Product Description

AirPort Express with AirTunes is an incredible wireless product that allows you to play iTunes music over your wireless network to your home stereo or powered speakers. It also allows you to share both a broadband Internet connection for up to 10 users and a USB printer. If you already have wireless at home, powered by an AirPort Express or AirPort Extreme Base Station, you can easily extend the range of your wireless network by connecting a second AirPort Express to it. AirPort Express has a small unique design made for life on the go. There are no separate power supplies or cables required, making it easy and convenient to take with you. AirPort Express is also designed to fully support both Mac and PC users.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5723 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Apple
• Model: M9470LL/A
• Released on: 2004-07-24
• Platform: Windows
• Format: CD
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 3.00 pounds

Features

• Enjoy your iTunes music library in virtually any room of your house
• Share a single broadband Internet connection and USB printer without inconvenient and obtrusive cables
• Create an instant wireless network on the go
• Access an AirPort Express wireless network
• Compatible with Windows XP or 2000; Mac OS X v10.2.7 or later

From the Manufacturer
Enjoy your iTunes music library in virtually any room of your house. Share a single broadband Internet connection and USB printer without inconvenient and obtrusive cables. Create an instant wireless network on the go. Extend the range of your current wireless network.

Featuring AirTunes for playing your iTunes music wirelessly on your home stereo or powered speakers, AirPort Express brings not only the Internet but your music to wherever in your home you like to enjoy them most -- whether you use a Mac or Windows PC. Unmatched in its ease of use, it delivers data rates up to 54 megabits per second, fits in the palm of your hand so you can take it wherever you go.

Driving the Wi-Fi Revolution In 1999, Apple sparked the wireless revolution with the introduction of AirPort, the first affordable and easy-to-use solution for accessing the Internet without restrictive cables. In 2003, AirPort Extreme took your unwired connection to the next level by harnessing the superfast 802.11g wireless standard for data rates nearly five times those of the 802.11b standard that the original AirPort used and many current wireless networking devices still use. With AirPort Express, Apple continues to advance wireless, delivering the first device to pack wireless networking, audio, printing and bridging capabilities into a single affordable, portable unit. AirTunes Unleashes Your Music AirPort Express with AirTunes brings your iTunes music in your Mac or PC into your living room -- or wherever in your home you have a stereo or a set of powered speakers. All you have to do is connect your sound system to the audio port on the AirPort Express Base Station using an audio cable (included in the optional AirPort Express Stereo Connection Kit) and AirTunes lets you play your iTunes music through your stereo or powered speakers -- wirelessly. iTunes automatically detects the connection of your remote speakers, so you just have to select them in the popup list that appears at the bottom of the iTunes window and click play.

Enjoy your playlists, set iTunes to shuffle through your entire library or repeat your favorite songs over and over

Enjoy your playlists, set iTunes to shuffle through your entire library or repeat your favorite songs over and over again -- however you like to enjoy your music on iTunes, you can now enjoy it that way through your stereo speakers, wherever they're located in your house.

Add Music to Your Current Wireless Network
If you already have a wireless network in place, you can use AirPort Express to add music to its capabilities. Let's say, for example, you have AirPort Extreme set up in your den. There's no need to scrap this setup and create a whole new one with an AirPort Express Base Station, your DSL or cable modem, printer and stereo all in one place. Simply connect AirPort Express to your stereo in your favorite music room and plug it into an electrical outlet -- it wirelessly links to your existing network, letting you play your music in your room of choice without moving anything or connecting anything else.

AirPort Express connects you and everyone in your family not only to the Internet but to each other. Since it employs the powerful 802.11g standard, you can wirelessly share photos, movies and other files without having to worry about slow data transmissions. Nor do you have to concern yourself over a difficult network setup procedure. AirPort Express uses the revolutionary Rendezvous technology in Mac OS X to allow your AirPort-equipped Macs running Mac OS X to detect each other with no effort on your part -- they discover each other just by virtue of being within the range of the network. Extend Your Network If you already have a wireless network in your home and would like to extend its range, AirPort Express is your answer. Suppose you want to connect to the Internet with your PowerBook in an area that lies beyond the 150-foot range of your AirPort Express or AirPort Extreme Base Station. You can use AirPort Express as a wireless bridge to extend the range of your primary base station.

There's no need for extra wires or cables -- serving as a bridge, AirPort Express doesn't have to be physically connected to your primary base station or to your DSL or cable modem. Simply place AirPort Express within the range of your primary base station and near the area where you'd like to enjoy your wireless connection.

Customer Reviews

AE with ITunes
Got this to stream music from ITunes on Labtop to remote speakers of stereo. Just have to say that set up was easy. Set back was that after it was installed I found out that the connection is skipping since upgrade to ITunes 8. Problem is with ITunes and the company does not provide any support for this issue. With music dropping in and out this set up is not working any longer.

Wow
For a bit over $100, I extended my wifi coverage and distributed an audio signal substantially better than any sound card I've ever had (lots).

I've had the AX for a year using wifi. My signal was too weak (distance and walls) and I was getting the inevitable dropouts at times.

I just changed it to a wired WDS approach to provide ethernet to the other side of the house and provide a good quality audio signal to our reference system.

The DAC is solid and provides a much higher quality signal than whatever is in my computer and an M-Audio sound card. The improved wifi coverage was substantially better than with a Hawkings amplified antenna could deliver.

Setup was not the simplest. I first attempted it in "Expert mode" (Airport Utility) and, while everything worked I was getting three different error messages. I then reset my AEBS (worked on a DI-624 as well) and AX back to factory defaults and let Apple's auto configuration tool do the work. Everything worked, no error messages. Then I went back in Expert mode and set some static IP's I need.

For the money, a really product and good execution by Apple.

This is a November update (installed in October): After listening to the Airport Express via the analog out and comparing the same radio station streamed from a Squeezebox, we realized although it is better than our soundcard, it leaves room for improvement. We added an outboard DAC. Although at least doubles the price, the addition of a DAC is highly recommended to those who value sound quality.

Setup obscure but the thing works
The setup directions are almost useless, not unusual for consumer networking devices no matter who makes them. The most important thing to keep in mind is it takes time for the unit to connect to your router, just restarting after being powered off is slow. So don't get impatient.
The instructions included in the review by C.P. Cavafy are very helpful and will get the job done just follow them and allow time for the device to connect.
I use it to connect a Slingbox as well as the Air Tunes feature. It's perfect for both and is easily the most stable wireless access point I've used.