Airport Extreme vs Airport Express Routers
Airport Extreme and Airport Express are routers for wireless internet access created by Apple for gadgets with wifi functions like mobile phones, laptops, and even desktop computers. They have ports that allow printers and other usb devices to be connected into where network users could share.
Airport Extreme
Airport Extreme is the first wireless network hub that Apple released on 1999. It has 3 ethernet ports and 1 usb port that users could connect their printers and hard drives for use. The Airport extreme only allows 50 network users and a guest user. You can insert your usb disk into Airport Extreme and make it act like a shared drive where everyone in the network can access.
Airport Express
The Airport Express was distributed in the market by Apple on June 2004. It’s small in size and very portable. This is the perfect must-have for travellers who wanted to have access to the internet always. The best thing about Airport Express is that it has an audio jack that you can connect your external speakers and play music via iTunes.
Difference between Airport Extreme and Airport Express
Due to the size of Airport express (6.4cm x 6.4cm x 2.5cm), it can only accommodate up to 10 users with no guests at all compared to the Airport Extreme which could let 50 users connect at the same time. Unlike Extreme in which its usb port can accept flash disks, the Express’ usb port is for the printers only. The WAN (Wireless Area Network) and LAN (Local Area Network) of Airport Extreme are separated while it is merged in Airport Express. The only power source for Extreme is its ethernet port connection while Express has its own power adapter.
Either buying an Airport Extreme hub or the Airport Express, it all ends up in what kind of lifestyle you have or where/what you’re planning to use it for. For travellers, Airport Express is the perfect choice because of its portability. If you’re planning to have other users connect to your hub, then pick the Airport Extreme since it can accommodate up to 50 users.
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In brief: • Airport extreme can accommodate 50 network users with guest network available while the Airport Express is limited only with 10 users with no guest. • The Airport express has an audio jack where external speakers can be connected to play music via ITunes whereas the Airport Extreme’s usb is capable of reading external hard drives. • The source of power for Airport extreme is just its ethernet connection. The Airport Express on the hand has a separate AC adapter that can be plugged in any outlet. |