"new" airport express or aTV3

[mic j]

I've decided I want to be able to airplay iTunes to my upstairs stereo receiver (music only). I already have the wireless aTV3 in my home theater in the basement along with a time capsule as my router. Wifi signal strength upstairs is fine (wireless n, 2.4GHz, transmit rate 39). My stereo receiver has an optical connection. So do I go for another aTV3 or a "new" dualband airport express?

AE allows me to extend wifi range (which may or may not be needed), while aTV is usable on either stereo or another tv. I do not need printing functionality.

Any recommendation, since they are both $99

 

[mchalebk]

If you're only looking for Airplay audio, the AP Express should be just fine. If you want any of the other capabilities (video, movie rental, etc), get the ATV.

 

[waw74]

running an aTV without a screen may be problematic, you'll at least need to hook up to a TV to set it up, and i know my aTV2 has some issues if i start to stream audio before i turn on the TV (i typically have to stop and re-start sending to it)

extending your network wirelessly will cause a drop in speed, so if you don't need it, i wouldn't do it. The drop in speed is caused by the repeater having to talk to both the main base and your device at the same time.

you can get a refurb old-style airport express for $69.

 

[mic j]

running an aTV without a screen may be problematic, you'll at least need to hook up to a TV to set it up, and i know my aTV2 has some issues if i start to stream audio before i turn on the TV (i typically have to stop and re-start sending to it)

extending your network wirelessly will cause a drop in speed, so if you don't need it, i wouldn't do it. The drop in speed is caused by the repeater having to talk to both the main base and your device at the same time.

you can get a refurb old-style airport express for $69.

Thanks for the tip on the speed slowdown. I wouldn't have guessed that. That refurb looks pretty good since I don't need dual band.

Edit: Decision made. Ordered the refurb. Thanks for the help.

 

[Rorlow]

I just added a new airport express (as an extender) to my ATV3 in the master bedroom, because I had interference issues when using my airport extreme alone. Now streaming HD movies work flawlessly. I did run a cat5 from the airport express to the ATV3, even thou its on the same shelf. I didn't see any slow down, in fact my movies stream quicker than before.

I was amazed at how simple it was to setup the airport express as an extender, that was why I switched from winblows several years ago because apple products & OS are so user friendly.