Airport Extreme + External HDD

I am a windows user but will soon be switching to a Mac (yes, I am coming to the good side finally) but I had a few questions about wireless... My current Lynksys router is not cutting it for me. When I am going to buy my Mac, I was going to get a network drive to place on my network so that I can share files easier between my mac and pc without both having to be on. I was looking at a new N router also since mac has N enabled as per leopard. I forgot about the airport extreme (forgive me) when I was considering my new router. I learned that it has a USB port for a print server or external HDD or both with a USB hub. I was wondering if any body currently has a set up with a HDD attached to their Airport and how it is working out for them. I want to know if set up is easy and how the drive is accessed... do you have to install software etc...
Plus, has any one used the airport express as a range extender? and how is that working for you?

 

I have the new airport extreme connected to a USB drive. From my MBP, it shows up on desktop as additional drive each time I connect. From my window box, the disk shows up as a network drive automatically. You have to install the airport software that come with the airport extreme first.

Range is better than my old Linksys router but I found the N speed are only marginally better than my old G Linksys. Nevertheless, I think it's a much better router.

The setup is handled through special software instead of a more common web interface. It works fine and I actually like it better.

USB disk performance is acceptable. Don't expect a performance like a dedicated linux box with gigabit ethernet, but it is good enough for my use.
It's good for light use, but it's too slow to run file server.

One problem I have is writing large file to the airport disk from windows box. Sometimes it just hangs. Doing the same thing from my MBP works fine.

Hope this helps.

 

Thank you so much. That helps a lot. So you do have to install the software on every machine? I was hoping for a box that you could just hop on my network and access but so far everything I am finding is really complicated. This seems the least complicated that I can find. I am not looking for a fast file server. mainly it is going to be used for back up. I was going to put all of my music on it but I think iTunes might give me a fit on that, so I might keep it both on the Mac and on the back up drive. I am glad to know that this has been done successfully though. Having a USB HDD instead of a network drive opens me up to more possiblities. (cheaper per Gb and more selection of size)

 

You have to install the included software in every machine only if you want to be able to access the airport extreme configuration.

To access the disk, you can do it without the software.
Let's say you name your airport extreme "doodle", and your airport disk "data1". You can simply access the disk from any window machine as \\doodle\data1. You can map it to any drive letter using "map network drive" in windows and using the above network address.

The software give you the automatic mount option. It is useful for notebook connected through wifi, but not that useful for always on desktop.

 

sweet... that makes me happy. Also makes the decision of going to Mac even easier