Does Airport Extreme Base Station have advantages?

markwco · markwco #1 (**permalink**)

04-27-2011, 03:35 AM

My Airport Extreme Base station just gave out this week so I need to replace it. I had the first version of the Gigabit models and I know there's a newer version out but I am also looking heavily at the Linksys E3000.
I know the E3000 is cheaper but that is not the deciding factor. I want the parental controls that the E3000 has and it seems like the AEBS doesn't have parental controls.
I have always tried to buy Apple products though and I want to know, am I giving up any features by going to the E3000 instead of staying with the Apple model? It seems when it comes to the actual hardware they are very similar. When I looked at the Airport Utility I noticed there is a section to set it up with MobileMe and when I did research on Google I found an article from 2008 from Apple stating that in order to use Back to My Mac an AEBS is required. Is this still the case or does it just need a certain protocol that is now available in other routers such as the E3000? Are there any other possible features that I give up by not getting an AEBS?
I haven't really had much luck getting Back to My mac working reliably with even the AEBS but it's a feature I want to use more in the future so don't want to give this up.
Thank you for your help.

osxx · osxx #2 (**permalink**)

04-27-2011, 08:57 AM

1) able to control 4 airport extremes/express
2) use a USB hard drive attached to the extreme for Time Machine
3) simultaneous radios for 2.4 GHz and 5 Ghz
4) guest network if you want it
5) Mac filtering for family (they all do now i believe)
6) easy to use back to my Mac with a Mobile Me account

Mini_mi · Mini_mi #3 (**permalink**)

04-27-2011, 07:20 PM

I've used both the extreme and the e3000 and I prefer the extreme. For parental controls I use OpenDNS. This way I can control at each computer or put the DNS settings on the router. Open DNS is only 10 buck a year.

markwco · markwco #4 (**permalink**)

04-27-2011, 10:06 PM

Those are definitely good reasons to keep the extremes. I don't know much about OpenDNS but I will look into it. With OpenDNS can you choose which computers to block or the entire internet connection? I know the E3000 for example allows me to block certain websites but I can choose to block it for just certain computers/IP addresses on the network.

Boosted_Brian · Boosted_Brian #5 (**permalink**)

04-27-2011, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mini_mi

I've used both the extreme and the e3000 and I prefer the extreme. For parental controls I use OpenDNS. This way I can control at each computer or put the DNS settings on the router. Open DNS is only 10 buck a year.

Good ole OpenDNS.... I had an employer try and use this. its not the most effective and probably one of the easiest things to get around. Change the ip address in network settings, flush dns, with some other things, and it no longer works.

Mini_mi · Mini_mi #6 (**permalink**)

04-29-2011, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boosted_Brian

Good ole OpenDNS.... I had an employer try and use this. its not the most effective and probably one of the easiest things to get around. Change the ip address in network settings, flush dns, with some other things, and it no longer works.

Of course its easy to get around if you know what your doing. In the case of my kids, (since I know what I'm doing), I have made it so they can't make any changes to their settings without an admin password which of course I don't give them. Any employer that lets their users have full access to their systems doesn't have a very savy IT department

Boosted_Brian · Boosted_Brian #7 (**permalink**)

04-30-2011, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mini_mi

Of course its easy to get around if you know what your doing. In the case of my kids, (since I know what I'm doing), I have made it so they can't make any changes to their settings without an admin password which of course I don't give them. Any employer that lets their users have full access to their systems doesn't have a very savy IT department

haha... Yea I was in a remote office, and we had a lot of freedoms that most other offices didnt have. But I just thought it was funny when they tried to use that to keep us from accessing certain sites during the day. It was almost like using a 2 ft fence to keep out a 5 ft dog. LOL

osxx · osxx #8 (**permalink**)

04-30-2011, 11:13 PM

I left another soon to be important feature off of the AEBS its one of the few thats IPv6
ready.

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Does Airport Extreme Base Station have advantages?

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markwco #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 16, 2008 Posts: 182	04-27-2011, 03:35 AM My Airport Extreme Base station just gave out this week so I need to replace it. I had the first version of the Gigabit models and I know there's a newer version out but I am also looking heavily at the Linksys E3000. I know the E3000 is cheaper but that is not the deciding factor. I want the parental controls that the E3000 has and it seems like the AEBS doesn't have parental controls. I have always tried to buy Apple products though and I want to know, am I giving up any features by going to the E3000 instead of staying with the Apple model? It seems when it comes to the actual hardware they are very similar. When I looked at the Airport Utility I noticed there is a section to set it up with MobileMe and when I did research on Google I found an article from 2008 from Apple stating that in order to use Back to My Mac an AEBS is required. Is this still the case or does it just need a certain protocol that is now available in other routers such as the E3000? Are there any other possible features that I give up by not getting an AEBS? I haven't really had much luck getting Back to My mac working reliably with even the AEBS but it's a feature I want to use more in the future so don't want to give this up. Thank you for your help.
	QUOTE Thanks

osxx #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 19, 2008 Location: houston texas Posts: 3,935 Mac Specs: 15 MacBook Pro 2009 32GB iPad 4 32GB iPhone 5 Apple TV 3 AEBS/AE	04-27-2011, 08:57 AM 1) able to control 4 airport extremes/express 2) use a USB hard drive attached to the extreme for Time Machine 3) simultaneous radios for 2.4 GHz and 5 Ghz 4) guest network if you want it 5) Mac filtering for family (they all do now i believe) 6) easy to use back to my Mac with a Mobile Me account
	QUOTE Thanks

markwco #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 16, 2008 Posts: 182	04-27-2011, 10:06 PM Those are definitely good reasons to keep the extremes. I don't know much about OpenDNS but I will look into it. With OpenDNS can you choose which computers to block or the entire internet connection? I know the E3000 for example allows me to block certain websites but I can choose to block it for just certain computers/IP addresses on the network.
	QUOTE Thanks

osxx #8 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 19, 2008 Location: houston texas Posts: 3,935 Mac Specs: 15 MacBook Pro 2009 32GB iPad 4 32GB iPhone 5 Apple TV 3 AEBS/AE	04-30-2011, 11:13 PM I left another soon to be important feature off of the AEBS its one of the few thats IPv6 ready.
	QUOTE Thanks

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