The Airport Extreme is $179, that seems expensive, aren't there wifi devices for $50?
Absolutely, there are many Linksys, D-link and Netgear wireless access points available for under $100 as well as under $50, sometimes they're even free if you sign up for a trial of vonage, but lets clear one thing up, the Airport Extreme is an 802.11n access point, that doesn't mean much tomost people yet, but 802.11n is the newest generation of wifi, it provides 5 times the speed of the existing G routers and twice the range of existing G networks.
802.11n receives instant applause from most who try it as they find their entire home or offices are now blanketed with wifi, fast dependable wifi, where G used to provide intermittent or unreliable coverage, 802.11n provides full 4 bar reception.
Once you've decided that 802.11n is what you're ready to graduate your network to, you'll find that all other 802..11n wifi access points are in the $100 dollar range, this makes the airport suddenly quite reasonable at $179. Then you learn that the Airport Extreme has a usb port on the rear that allows you to connect your usb printers and hard drives and have access to them through the wireless network.
You can easily add many more devices to the usb port through the use of hubs, we went shopping to best buy over the weekend and I decided my top pick for a usb hub is Belkins new range which come in 4 port and 7 port editions. There's a bunch of reasons why Belkins hubs are the best and I'll tell you about them or cover them in another page, for now trust me and if you're looking for a USB hub pick up the Belkin models. (This Belkin 7 port Hub is at Amazon for under $33, compares to over $50 at Best Buy)
The Apple Airport Extreme comes with a setup CD that runs easily on a Mac or PC and includes the 'Enabler' software which upgrades any Core 2 Duo Macs to full 802.11n power (they shipped in 2006 without the software upgrade and require the 'enabler to utilise new 802.11n networks).
After setup your USB hard drives and printers are easily available to Windows and Mac users and you Airport will provide easy, reliable, wifi to your home or office for all your World of Warcraft or myspace needs.
You can order the Apple Airport Extreme from Amazon by Clicking here
Links:
Apple's Official Airport Extreme Webpage http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/
Wikipedia discussion of Airport http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport