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Does Airport Extreme work on Core Duo machines?

There's 2 protocols available with the new Airport Extreme. b/g and n. You will currently be using b/g with your current WiFi setup (if you have one). n offers twice the range and up to 5 times the speed over a LAN.

If you are satisfied with your current b/g performance (note you won't experience a speed increase when surfing the net using "n") then you have nothing to lose.

And yes, it is fully compatible with your CD MBP on the b/g protocol.
 
So confusing. In trying to make their line less confusing it has become more confusing.

Is Airport "Extreme" the b/g standard or does it include the draft-n standard? Why not just add a new Turbo extreme to the line?

Oh noes! It confuses Mac users! :mad:
 
miles01110 said:
I was reading the system reqs and it says you need a C2D. I have a CD Macbook Pro.

If it doesn't work with CD machines, that's pretty stupid. Thanks.
Click to expand...

It works will all 802.11 (b/g/n) protocols. The only problem is that if you connect a device with a "lower" protocol to it, that's the top end that it will run at.

I'll use my setup as an example:

20" iMac 802.11g
17" iMac 802.11n
15" CD MBP 802.11n (updated)
15" PowerBook 802.11g

If I ran everything off my new AirPort Extreme, the highest speed protocol used on the system would be 802.11g whenever a "g" device is connected. Much like SCSI, EIDE or FireWire, if you have two devices that connect at different speeds, the bus will drop to the lower speed.

However, if you have a CD MBP like I do, you can replace the existing AirPort card with the upgrade card used in Mac Pros, which is an 802.11n card. It will set you back a little over $50 and 20-30 minutes of careful disassembly/reassembly.

Although it's a bit of overkill, I have both an 802.11n and 802.11g AirPort Extreme. The "n" version serves as my DHCP server and provides NAS (network attached storage) through the external hard drive setup. The older "g" AirPort acts as a bridge and allows my "g" machines to connect to it. That way I can have my two 802.11n machines connect to the "n" base station and the "g" machines connect to the "g" base station. (I use access control lists to manage security and what machine connects to which access point.)

I really didn't need the newer AirPort, but I wanted the networked hard drive capability it offered...

MD
 
MacDann said:
It works will all 802.11 (b/g/n) protocols. The only problem is that if you connect a device with a "lower" protocol to it, that's the top end that it will run at.

I'll use my setup as an example:

20" iMac 802.11g
17" iMac 802.11n
15" CD MBP 802.11n (updated)
15" PowerBook 802.11g

If I ran everything off my new AirPort Extreme, the highest speed protocol used on the system would be 802.11g whenever a "g" device is connected. Much like SCSI, EIDE or FireWire, if you have two devices that connect at different speeds, the bus will drop to the lower speed.

However, if you have a CD MBP like I do, you can replace the existing AirPort card with the upgrade card used in Mac Pros, which is an 802.11n card. It will set you back a little over $50 and 20-30 minutes of careful disassembly/reassembly.

Although it's a bit of overkill, I have both an 802.11n and 802.11g AirPort Extreme. The "n" version serves as my DHCP server and provides NAS (network attached storage) through the external hard drive setup. The older "g" AirPort acts as a bridge and allows my "g" machines to connect to it. That way I can have my two 802.11n machines connect to the "n" base station and the "g" machines connect to the "g" base station. (I use access control lists to manage security and what machine connects to which access point.)

I really didn't need the newer AirPort, but I wanted the networked hard drive capability it offered...

MD
Click to expand...

Hi I have one of the very first CD MBP's. Where did you buy the stuff for upgrading to 802.11n? And where did you find instructions for doing it?
:confused:
 
That's not right, surely? So you could have this mecha-ting N network going but as soon as a G device joins the party everything throttles down to G?
 
MacDann said:
It works will all 802.11 (b/g/n) protocols. The only problem is that if you connect a device with a "lower" protocol to it, that's the top end that it will run at.

I'll use my setup as an example:

20" iMac 802.11g
17" iMac 802.11n
15" CD MBP 802.11n (updated)
15" PowerBook 802.11g

If I ran everything off my new AirPort Extreme, the highest speed protocol used on the system would be 802.11g whenever a "g" device is connected. Much like SCSI, EIDE or FireWire, if you have two devices that connect at different speeds, the bus will drop to the lower speed.

However, if you have a CD MBP like I do, you can replace the existing AirPort card with the upgrade card used in Mac Pros, which is an 802.11n card. It will set you back a little over $50 and 20-30 minutes of careful disassembly/reassembly.

Although it's a bit of overkill, I have both an 802.11n and 802.11g AirPort Extreme. The "n" version serves as my DHCP server and provides NAS (network attached storage) through the external hard drive setup. The older "g" AirPort acts as a bridge and allows my "g" machines to connect to it. That way I can have my two 802.11n machines connect to the "n" base station and the "g" machines connect to the "g" base station. (I use access control lists to manage security and what machine connects to which access point.)

I really didn't need the newer AirPort, but I wanted the networked hard drive capability it offered...

MD
Click to expand...

I do almost the exact same thing as you thus allowing you to configure the Extreme to 802.11n 5ghz only I get link speeds of 300Mbs and the older airport allows things like pda's and older machines to run at whatever speeds they are capable of. The only difference is I allow the extreme to assign IP's to the wired and 802.11n machines but the regular airport is set up as manual IP entry this allows me to setup strong security on the extreme and basically have my regular airport set up with no wep but requires someone to actually know something about the network. Some of the older devices like PDA's and smartphones do not like the wep security.
 
gema said:
Hi I have one of the very first CD MBP's. Where did you buy the stuff for upgrading to 802.11n? And where did you find instructions for doing it?
:confused:
Click to expand...

About the only vendor still selling the Mac Pro upgrade kits is PowerMax. If you search their site for "Airport Extreme Wireless Upgrade Kit for Mac" you'll find it.

A whopping $49.00, but it *must* be installed by an "Apple Authorized Service Provider only" according to their description. While I'm not authorized, I'm an Apple service provider in my job and to myself, so I figured I qualified. They didn't ask, either.

If you check the "Accelerate Your Mac" web site you'll find instructions, or you can just look at OWC's videos for R&R of the MBP hard drive. The AirPort card is just forward of the hard drive and is very simple to R&R. It's held in place with a single screw and there are two antenna cables that have to be disconnected and reconnected. You'll get a CD-ROM with the new AirPort card that has the 802.11n enabler, so you won't need to buy that separately.

I did it while I was swapping my hard drive, so it added about 5 minutes to a 30 minute job. Well worth the time and $50, IMHO.

MD
 
Jarcrew said:
That's not right, surely? So you could have this mecha-ting N network going but as soon as a G device joins the party everything throttles down to G?
Click to expand...
No.
Overall network speed will generally not decrease (i.e. 802.11g speeds on an 11n network), but this depends on the network in general and the computer as well (e.g. physical location of the computer in relation to the access point). The drastic speed lowering was what used to happen with draft/early version 802.11g equipment, and that was the bulk of the work of the new standard. Now it's not true, and I have no idea why people spread it.

However, you can exclude 802.11b and/or 11g clients from joining an 11n network for best performance.

That being said, 802.11n is still being drafted, but the standard is not expected to change dramatically between now and September 2008 (http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/11/Reports/802.11_Timelines.htm). Apple released pre-11g equipment before the 11g standard was finalized, many others like Linksys and Dlink do it as well..not a big deal. You might find compatibility quirks for now, but that should be it.
 
MacDann said:
About the only vendor still selling the Mac Pro upgrade kits is PowerMax. If you search their site for "Airport Extreme Wireless Upgrade Kit for Mac" you'll find it.

A whopping $49.00, but it *must* be installed by an "Apple Authorized Service Provider only" according to their description. While I'm not authorized, I'm an Apple service provider in my job and to myself, so I figured I qualified. They didn't ask, either.

If you check the "Accelerate Your Mac" web site you'll find instructions, or you can just look at OWC's videos for R&R of the MBP hard drive. The AirPort card is just forward of the hard drive and is very simple to R&R. It's held in place with a single screw and there are two antenna cables that have to be disconnected and reconnected. You'll get a CD-ROM with the new AirPort card that has the 802.11n enabler, so you won't need to buy that separately.

I did it while I was swapping my hard drive, so it added about 5 minutes to a 30 minute job. Well worth the time and $50, IMHO.

MD
Click to expand...

Did what you recomended. Bought the card at PowerMax. installed and all. No problem. In utility the card is b/g/n. So all that is fine. However Now I can't see the base station. I have done everything such as restart, reconfig etc. but still no base station. The card is functionally however and I can connect to my other 802.11g wireless. All my other Mac's can connect to the base station easely. How come my CD MBP can't see and can't connect to the airport extreme base station?????
I can this in system profile:
Oplysninger om AirPort-kort:

Type trådløst kort: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x87)
Område til trådløst kort: USA
Firmwareversion til trådløst kort: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (4.80.79.1)
Aktuelt trådløst netværk: ZyXEL
Trådløs kanal: 6

BTW i live in Denmark and it says region for card: USA. Is that the joker?
Is this why it will not connect to the base station?
If I use airport utility i can log on to the base station an changes settings.

Any good advise will be very much appreciated.:( :( :( :(

PS country cannot be changed to USA
 
This is very bad news for me...
I have a CD MBP (in Denmark) and wish to upgrade the airport card.
You bought the card from a store in the US, right? Can you post a link? I haven't been able to find any on this side of the pond that sells them.

Please also post if you find a solution.

ps. I found this on Google. Not much info, but it suggests to me that you need to flash the firmware...

Hope you get it sorted out.

Edit: In system profiler, my airport card says Region: Worldwide.
It probably is the joker
 
NJuul said:
This is very bad news for me...
I have a CD MBP (in Denmark) and wish to upgrade the airport card.
You bought the card from a store in the US, right? Can you post a link? I haven't been able to find any on this side of the pond that sells them.

Please also post if you find a solution.

ps. I found this on Google. Not much info, but it suggests to me that you need to flash the firmware...

Hope you get it sorted out.

Edit: In system profiler, my airport card says Region: Worldwide.
It probably is the joker
Click to expand...

Jep

www.powermax.com.
Search their site for "Airport Extreme Wireless Upgrade Kit for Mac"

Although I have tried all day to sort it out in vane!!!

My iMac works fine. My MacBook works fine. My MBP CD connects to Zyxel router but will not connect to my airport extreme basestation. All settings are correct I think, I really do not know what to do now. I can find the base station using the airport utility and change settings etc from my MBP CD.

Wwhen you buy the card on PowerMax wire the money through a bank acount and they will ship it the day after. Good service there!

Good luck if I succeed in this project i will post a note here :(

Edit: my system profiler also on all other Mac's says Region: worldwide
 
gema said:
Jep

www.powermax.com.
Search their site for "Airport Extreme Wireless Upgrade Kit for Mac"

Although I have tried all day to sort it out in vane!!!

My iMac works fine. My MacBook works fine. My MBP CD connects to Zyxel router but will not connect to my airport extreme basestation. All settings are correct I think, I really do not know what to do now. I can find the base station using the airport utility and change settings etc from my MBP CD.

Wwhen you buy the card on PowerMax wire the money through a bank acount and they will ship it the day after. Good service there!

Good luck if I succeed in this project i will post a note here :(

Edit: my system profiler also on all other Mac's says Region: worldwide
Click to expand...



Thanks for the link,
I'm a bit hesitant to buy it yet though, as you can't get it to work...
But the dollar is soooo cheap.....
I really hope you find a way to fix it.
 
:D
I just switched of WPA/WPA2 personal to none security and then i found my AE basestation again :D

The next minute checkin speed (802.11n)
 
gema said:
:D
I just switched of WPA/WPA2 personal to none security and then i found my AE basestation again :D

The next minute checkin speed (802.11n)
Click to expand...
There you go.
Right now link speed is 130 MB.
My AE basestation is on first floor and my CD MBP is one floor below.
This is great will try some security settings to check. Be back later
 
I just switched on WPA/WPA2 personal and my AE basestation is still there. The speed is unchanged 130 MB.
Only one memento. The light on AE BS is green when pictured in Airport utility, but it seems to funcktion normal anyway. Might change when I unpluck the AE BS next time.
In the morning I will try the streamin to :apple: TV
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
 
gema said:
I just switched on WPA/WPA2 personal and my AE basestation is still there. The speed is unchanged 130 MB.
Only one memento. The light on AE BS is green when pictured in Airport utility, but it seems to funcktion normal anyway. Might change when I unpluck the AE BS next time.
In the morning I will try the streamin to :apple: TV
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Click to expand...

PERFECT!!

That is so great!! Congratulations!
I will order a card now, can't wait for it to get here!
 
Update

Memento's:

When I unplucked the AE BS I had to start over and remove WPA2 restart and put on WPA2 again. Works fine. However one error message keeps comming up:
The base has no valid IP...........
But it works fine though. The AE BS flashes yellow instead of constant green.

I even streamed to the :apple: TV and this works a lot better than before using my Zyxell router (802.11g).

I'm not sure how to get a green light and a valid IP or vice versa. I'm working right now and will try some time in the future.

But anyway AE BS and upgraded CD MBP (802.11n) works :rolleyes:

EDIT: PS my other mac's works fine connecting to the AE BS
 
gema said:
Memento's:

When I unplucked the AE BS I had to start over and remove WPA2 restart and put on WPA2 again. Works fine. However one error message keeps comming up:
The base has no valid IP...........
But it works fine though. The AE BS flashes yellow instead of constant green.

I even streamed to the :apple: TV and this works a lot better than before using my Zyxell router (802.11g).

I'm not sure how to get a green light and a valid IP or vice versa. I'm working right now and will try some time in the future.

But anyway AE BS and upgraded CD MBP (802.11n) works :rolleyes:

EDIT: PS my other mac's works fine connecting to the AE BS
Click to expand...



Okay, that sucks a bit, but as long as it works...
Kind of strange why there are these problems outside of the US, but I guess it must have something to do with this region setting.
 
NJuul said:
Okay, that sucks a bit, but as long as it works...
Kind of strange why there are these problems outside of the US, but I guess it must have something to do with this region setting.
Click to expand...

Or it might be a simple thing I didn't realised so far:eek:

Edit: BTW at PowerMax they told me the card works in every country!
 
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