Greatest… Piece of Electronics… Ever…
For Valentine’s Day Lauren gave me an Apple AirPort Express and it has quickly become one of the greatest network add-ons I’ve ever owned.
Installation was quick and easy; any computer (Only Windows and Apple due to the software required to set it up) with wireless access can connect to the AirPort Express right out of the box and configure it for your own network. It can extend the current wireless network that you already own and have in place, act as it’s own wireless router, act as a print server, and act as a remote set of speakers. Once configured to extend and work with an existing network, any wired or wireless machine (it works on Windows and Apple right now and I’ll try it on LINUX later) on your network can access it.
I was dreading the printer setup, but was quite pleasantly surprised when it recognized and served our HP 1160LE without any special considerations or hoops to jump through. I’ve played with other printer servers in the past (primarily Linksys) and have always had nightmares with configurations. It just worked when I plugged it in.
As for speakers, it took a little rearranging to get the printer into our entertainment center, but the repositioning allowed me to connect my stereo in the living room with the AirPort Express. Again, I just plugged in the stereo jack and the wireless speakers just worked.
It’s a great piece of hardware and would definitely be on my recommendation list to anyone that wants to “cut the cords” and share your printer and speakers to any machine on your network.
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