MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
I think I need to replace our Netgear router as it keeps randomly dropping the signal and refusing to link to laptop.
I will try to update the firmware tonight but looking at the reviews this probably wont sort it.
I have been looking at the Apple routers but they dont make an obvious distinction between the £80 and the £140 modem. I dont want to pay for the expensive one, but dont want to regret not getting it in a few months time.
I know Apple are not the cheapest and any router should work with a Macbook Air / ipad just as well as an apple one but I have two Netgear and one TP link routers and I still cant get a stable wireless signal in the same room as the router with any of them so am now ready to throw money at the problem.
For router duties, it honk the Express and Extreme are essentially the same thing.
You do know they do not have an ADSL MODEM in them, don't you?
I use my Time Capsule as my primary router, along with a Netgear DM111P ADSL MODEM.
Rachel
It appears I am unable to navigate the mac site
[url= http://www.apple.com/uk/wifi/ ]comparison[/url]
I take it you mean Airport Extreme v's Airport Express.
Main differences are:
Extreme has 4 ports, wired gig ports, higher throughput. Better support of port forwarding, higher throughut tx.
Express has Airply output (optical and analogue).
The new version of the Express added dual band wifi, and the latest firware release added ability to support guest networks accross multiple AP's.
I have (3) Expresses in the bedrooms for streaming and coverage, Extreme is the main router. Also have a Time Machine in the living room (Extreme with a disc). All have been rocksolid and up since I moved in before Christmas and never off.
NONE have a modem - all are pure router, youy will still need your fibre or ADSL modem
If you've been through three routers all with the same issue, are you sure the problem isn't the laptop?
Wot Cougar said.
Alternatively you are getting a lot of radio interference or a nearby wifi is on the same channel as you. Have you tried selecting a different channel?
Good point, well made.
I would recommend changing the channel as well. I had similar issues and this has worked for me.
A lot cheaper than replacing the router (unless you really want to)
OP I had awful problems with my old Netgear router and Macs various.
I binned the Netgear, and bought an AirPort Extreme with a DrayTek Vigor 120 modem.
Stability and speed vastly improved.
I've found some laptop / wifi combos which just don't work and never got to the bottom of it. At home I have everything Apple, so it all just works....
I have a Billon something-or-other that's been on solidly for pretty much three years without a peep. It is a higher end one, but seems to cover half the street judging by where I pick it up on my phone? And it has no problem playing with any pc, mac or phone etc that its been asked to
The Airport Extreme will allow you to plug in a HD and run NAS. We use ours as the main wireless hub and to back up the laptop wirelessly. You can obviously do the same thing with the the all in one time machine box but having read the reviews there seems to be some problems with the reliability of the hard drives in the all in ones so I felt happier having a separate drive with it's own fan and so on. We've got two of the old design Express units running running streaming tunes and one supporting a wireless printer. All very easy to set up and seamless in operation.