Apple Quietly Releases 802.11n Capable Airport Extreme [Updated]

[failsafe1]

Might sound nutty but I am more excited about this announcement than the other stuff. The phone is awesome by the way.

 

[burgen]

hard drive format

what drive format will the extreme bae station support for the external hard drive?
FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, or HFS?

 

[dvkid]

I would expect that the N Enabler download will also be shipping or available with Apple TV, as you will want N for that too. Besides, N is not even a final version yet so I think Apple has some time before it turns on N in all the products.

 

[rdrr]

Airport Express will still be fine for music streaming!

Except there isn't any mention of WDS support or Airport Express support at all.

Are they just dropping that?

 

[solace]

I would expect that the N Enabler download will also be shipping or available with Apple TV, as you will want N for that too. Besides, N is not even a final version yet so I think Apple has some time before it turns on N in all the products.

N won't be Final until sometime in 2008

and regardless if they put up the Enabler for the average user, not like you can't just "borrow" someone's APE or AppleTV Disc

i've been waiting for them to enable N, cuz i have a D-Link DIR-655 (kicks the crap outta the APE imo) and wanna use N on my macbook C2D

 

[iwod]

1. Modem , Extra External HD.. Etc.. no one has mention the problem of having more and more power supply cable. Imagine a single place with your Modem, External HD, Airport extreme, Printer. Unless you are using a 2.5" HD otherwise that is 4 Power supply and cabling.

Any Macmini size External HD that also has a USB hub function? Or Western Digital My Book Pro Edition will do ( Dont know if it has USB hub function )

AFP / SMB? Which one does it uses? And what about Itunes Server that some expensive NAS has in them. Afterall i expect itunes server from the itunes maker

1G Net. I hope they will have a expensive version with 4 1G Port, 2 USB Slot etc. $249 For it sounds right

 

[cyclotron451]

lets talk megahertz

That's not a total fix. I think "n" uses the entire 1-13 spectrum in one gulp. The use of a separate "g" network will still be seen as interference by the "n" devices.

the 802.11n base-station can use the 2.4GHz (actually 14 of which only 3 are non-overlapping) channels for compatibility with 802.11b/g , but it also has the wider 5GHz frequency band available (12 non-overlapping channels) , so it (probably) will be possible to have concurrent, overlaid, yet non-interfering, 802.11n and 802.11g networks!

In my case, I sold very recently my Apple Snow 802.11b basestation and 'b' cards and bought a bunch of cheap USR 802.11maxg+ base and extenders, I think the throughput is just enough for video streaming around the house. My eMac and keyLime iBook are now tethered to wired 100Mbps ethernet as the 802.11b airport cards dropped the overall data throughput to about 5megs a second, 802.11b is banned in my air-network space! I admit that plain 802.11g isn't that much better, but the USR maxg does a reasonable job.

The MIMO (multiple input-output) space diversity data multiplier antenna system of the new Airport Extreme will make it much better in a solid-built house than the previous generation, but my 100 year old house still needs about 3 devices to give good coverage.

The new basestations also come with enhanced data encryption, which is a very good reason to upgrade for people still using 802.11b systems. The old WiFi can be cracked in just a few minutes.

 

[true777]

No 56k modem

No way to use Airport Extreme to connect using a 56k modem anymore?

I know in the US 56k modem connections are considered obsolete, but in many parts of the world 56k connections are still the only affordable way to connect to the internet.

I am currently in rural Austria where I use the built-in modem of my Airport Extreme base station to connect to the internet. From the description it doesn't sound like one could connect the Apple USB modem to one of the Airport's USB ports to connect to the internet that way, so there doesn't seem to be a way to use the Airport Extreme to connect via a 56k connection anymore -- or am I missing something?

 

[teme]

Does anyone know if old Airport Extreme or Airport Express could get an update to make shared USB-harddrive possible? That would be very useful feature for me.

 

[aswitcher]

Does anyone know if old Airport Extreme or Airport Express could get an update to make shared USB-harddrive possible? That would be very useful feature for me.

I really doubt it.

 

[maesy]

Using USB Hard Disk as media storage for AppleTV

The question was asked earlier, but answers went a bit off-topic. I have a 1TB USB Disk that I use for storing my iTunes Library. Do you think I'll be able to plug it into the Airport Extreme and stream it to the AppleTV without turning a computer on...? In theory, this should work... AppleTV looks for wireless devices, then looks for iTunes Library files... right? This would be a big selling point for the AP!

 

[johngordon]

I was at the point where I was needing to get an external HD - and wireless access to it was something I'd wondered about - am I right in thinking from reading here that this wouldn't be possible with an older AEx, but now is?

Funds permitting, a new MBP, with wireless access to an external HD would solve all those storage problems, and effortlessly if you can just see and access the external HD contents wirelessly and immediately.

Add in time machine, and it should be a pretty good set up. Well, for someone like me who likes things simple!

 

[xUKHCx]

The question was asked earlier, but answers went a bit off-topic. I have a 1TB USB Disk that I use for storing my iTunes Library. Do you think I'll be able to plug it into the Airport Extreme and stream it to the AppleTV without turning a computer on...? In theory, this should work... AppleTV looks for wireless devices, then looks for iTunes Library files... right? This would be a big selling point for the AP!

I just watched the keynote and when Steve wanted to view stuff off Phils laptop he had to enter a passkey, so i do not think this will work.

 

[xenotaku]

quick question.....

I am going to order one of the new base stations, but will my airport express still work as a range booster? Will it still be able to pick up the airport extreme signal and boost it for larger network range or will this not work anymore because the new one is N?


and why does Linksys claim their wireless N router gives off 4X the range where the new apple one is only 2X?

 

[Bill Gates]

I am going to order one of the new base stations, but will my airport express still work as a range booster? Will it still be able to pick up the airport extreme signal and boost it for larger network range or will this not work anymore because the new one is N?


and why does Linksys claim their wireless N router gives off 4X the range where the new apple one is only 2X?

It's all marketing BS. From my experience, the new N-routers have less range than MIMO 802.11g routers. I happen to own the Linksys router, so I'm speaking from experience.

 

[william1949]

Extreme and express

So as I understand it .... (please let me know if I have this wrong) .... if I still want to use my Airport Express (I use it for music) then I would loose the benifits of 802.11n (other than being able to attach my external drive to it. Bummer!

From http://www.apple.com/wireless/80211/
"Speed and range will be less if an 802.11a/b/g product joins the network."

 

[xenotaku]

It's all marketing BS. From my experience, the new N-routers have less range than MIMO 802.11g routers. I happen to own the Linksys router, so I'm speaking from experience.

how about the other part of my question? Can I still use my airtunes thingy to extend the network or it wont work anymore cause its N?

 

[shamino]

Many comments...

are you serious? how much is your electric bills? i have 2 computers, 2 printers, 1 router, 2 speaker set, one refrigerator, one central air conditioner, and other small things on 24/7 and my bill in the SUMMER is only like 30USD/month

You must be pretty lucky. I have less than you, and usually end up paying between $70 and $90

This really depends on the size of your home, doesn't it? A studio in the middle of a large apartment building will have different power usage patterns, compared against a 4-bedroom 2-story single family home.

With 802.11n you've got the potential to go beyond 100mbit speeds.

So, in your scenario, my 1gbit cabled mini cannot stream data as fast as can be received a wireless 802.11n device on the network.

True, but aside from bandwidth tests, how often are you likely to actually move more than 100Mbps over your wireless segment? Maybe you will, but most people use their wireless connections for web surfing, so you end up limited to your ISP's speeds anyway. And streaming video isn't likely to come close to 100Mbps either.

meh it's still not a router/switch, thus making it nothing more than an overpriced wireless access point...

Since when? Apple's base stations have always been routers, and this one is no different.

Go look at the spec sheet. Note the WAN port and the presence of NAT. This is as much of a router as any other consumer-grade broadband router is.

 

[AndyR]

Can someone just explain to me what the point of the Airport Extreame is? Most ADSL wireless routers come with the ADSL modem built in so you just plug the cable straight from the filter in, but if I'm reading it right you need a seperate ADSL modem to plug into the Airport? Why bother with that when there are cheaper all in one solutions out there?

Please tell me I'm wrong as it does look smart!

 

[aristobrat]

how about the other part of my question? Can I still use my airtunes thingy to extend the network or it wont work anymore cause its N?

I don't know. I haven't seen anything about WDS in the new Airport Extreme, or specifically, if you can mix the 802.11 protocols with it. I did see where if you have a slower 802.11b/g device on the network, the entire network slows down.

Maybe the new Airport Extreme really does have 2x the coverage and you won't need your Airport Express to extend your network anymore?

Can someone just explain to me what the point of the Airport Extreame is? Most ADSL wireless routers come with the ADSL modem built in so you just plug the cable straight from the filter in, but if I'm reading it right you need a seperate ADSL modem to plug into the Airport? Why bother with that when there are cheaper all in one solutions out there?

Please tell me I'm wrong as it does look smart!

In the US, cable modems and DSL modems are almost always separate from the router.

 

[combatcolin]

hmmm... sneaker-net makes a come-back!

1st time i've heard that one.

 

[w8ing4intelmacs]

The lack of Gigabit Ethernet is puzzling

Admittedly, I haven't done all that much research, but I haven't found ANY wireless routers that have gigabit ethernet.

 

[sionharris]

no airtunes?
i can't afford and don't want apple tv...

oh well, at least airport express is now cheaper

quick question... does the aiport express base station have a modem or do you plug a modem into it?

 

[combatcolin]

Admittedly, I haven't done all that much research, but I haven't found ANY wireless routers that have gigabit ethernet.

Give it 6 months i suppose.

 

[Data]

No Gig E

I don't get it, all the macs are having them on board and then the router doesn't support it, that just does not make sence to me, hope there will be a opttion later for an AE that does have GigE, just like all the "new"mac's have.