Apple AirPort Extreme not your average router
As we move out Internet service to a new provider, we needed to buy a router.
The choice was between the D-Link DI-820 and D-Link DI-655 (as they seemed to get the best reviews) and the Apple Airport Extreme.
The Airport Extreme was roughly $50 more than the D-Link models. D-Link does make great routers. I’ve been very happy with them in the past. The D-Link, and in fact most routers, allow for some great tweaking options. Port forwarding and other such geeky controls are sadly lacking even in the advanced settings on Apple’s router, however what it lacks in geeky settings (and indeed most people would never use them) it gains in some other great features.
Setup is a dream, and coverage is fantastic from my first tests. We should be able to use this in the house and out into the yard without any trouble.
It also has a wonderful guest feature. It allows you to create a network connection you can give to your friends. This will give them access to the Internet, without giving access to your network! Fantastic idea and I expect very useful in the future as we move and have many more visitors, many of which may choose to bring thier own laptops.
But the best feature is the USB connection on the back. Several routers will allow you to connect a USB hard drive to the back of a router allowing access to an extra drive, but Apple takes this idea to a whole new level. The Airport Extreme allows you to not only connect one hard drive, but through a usb hub, you can connect a number of them (I know of no limits). Not only this, but you can connect printers to the same connection, allowing you to share all your USB drives and printers accross your network.
It gets better! You can also, if you subscribe to MobileMe, you can access those hard drives through your Mobile Me account when you are not at home! Fantastic.
Looking forward to hooking up the net and doing more testing!
