2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Decent wifi router, 2-year shelf life
Date of Review: Dec 16, 2007
The Bottom Line: Decent wifi router, but because it broke down after 2 years, I'd recommend a different brand like Linksys for a much better price with the same or better quality.
I'm not sure what the average shelf life of a wifi router is, but my Airport Express lasted about 2 years before it started to die.
Prior to its malfunctioning, it worked perfectly fine; it transmitted a wifi signal to my Mac laptop, Wii, DS, etc. One thing I especially loved, was that I could plug my USB peripherals (printer, scanner, etc.) and access them wirelessly. The signal stretched as far as 100 feet, I'd say. (rather, you could get 1 bar from that distance) The connection speed was always satisfactory; I'd be able to download large files at only a slightly slower speed (but not significantly slower) than if I were to have my broadband cable plugged directly into my computer.
During the "good years", my only complaint was that it would take awhile to reset after a power or internet outage. (not a LOT of time, maybe 2-3 minutes, but considering that my non-wifi routers would be almost instantaneous, it was kinda sluggish)
Currently, my Airport is going unused, as it started malfunctioning a few months ago (I purchased it in April of 2005). At first, the connection would just disappear for a few minutes then come back, but as time went on the problem worsened. The connection would go away, then not come back for anywhere from 5-15 minutes, or, when the connection became visible again, I wouldn't be able to access it (it'd give me an error message, ask for my password [even though it's already specified in my network preferences], or disappear again after I chose it, etc.)
I'm not sure if this problem is due to the environment I live in (a very moist valley), or if it's just the airport's fault, but whatever the reason, it is no longer reliable for me, and considering the price I paid for the standard job it did, I don't feel as though it was the best quality.
I'll be purchasing a new wifi router of a different brand. (and this is coming from a lifelong Apple fan!)
