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Strengths: Pretty easy to set up (but see comments)
Weaknesses: Getting Started guide could be more detailed.
Cannot initialize the base station from a computer directly connected to the base (through the LAN port) - you have to do it wirelessly.
Summary: Set up was pretty much a breeze and intuitive to plug everything into the unit. Only problem was that it didn't work initially and that made me second guess everything I was doing. Turns out the problem was that my cable modem "locked" onto the router that I was using for my land-based network, and so it was ignoring the base station when I connected it directly to the cable modem. Rebooting (unplugging, waiting 10 seconds, and replugging) the cable modem after it was plugged into the base station, then doing the same for the base station (possibly not required, but I did it to be safe) made everything come alive. Although the fix was simple, it took me a little while to figure it out. The Apple website has a document on it, which I found very quickly, so no complaints there, but this seems like a fairly common problem and could be addressed as part of the getting started procedure. (For example, add a sentence stating that if you have a cable modem, you may have to unplug and replug the power to the modem (reboot) after plugging the ethernet cable into the base station.)
I immediately went downstairs and tried the laptop to check the range and, viola!, success! Good speed, too. I have yet to check out every nook and cranny of my house where I might end up using the laptop.
By the way, the older titanium powerbooks cannot use the airport extreme card, and I am not sure if the airport card supports the faster networking speed. I purchased a Sonnet Aria Extreme and it seems to work fine. I was able to set up the base station with the non-Apple, non-Airport Extreme card and am able to wirelessly connect to the base station just fine.
I connected an old G4 desktop and an even older imac through an ethernet router to the LAN port of the base station and at least the G4 works - I haven't tested the imac, but I don't see why it wouldn't work since the G4 is connected through the same router and it works fine.
The Airport Extreme base station also has a USB port for sharing peripherals, such as a printer. I have not tested that functionality yet, but will update this review when I do.
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