Apple's new AirPort, Time Capsule add dual-band networking

[AppleInsider]

Apple on Tuesday refreshed its AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule wireless products by adding a new Guest Network feature and support for simultaneous 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz dual-band networking. Time Capsule drives are now also accessible over the Internet for MobileMe subscribers.

The new Guest Network feature, available on the new AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, allows you to set up a secondary network for friends and visitors with Internet-only access so you don't have to hand out your WiFi password.

Meanwhile, the new combined 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz mode allows your AirPort base stations to simultaneously support iPhones and other 802.11b/g devices operating at 2.4 GHz, while also broadcasting 802.11n wide signals in the 5GHz band to maximize throughput for notebooks and devices such as Apple TV.

Previous-generation AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule models can only run in one mode or the other, providing either wide compatibility or the highest possible network performance, but not both.

Also new to Time Capsule -- and oddly omitted from any of Apple's press-releases -- is that MobileMe subscribers using Mac OS X 10.5.x Leopard can now now access all of their files on their Time Capsule drive over the Internet.

You need only to register their Time Capsule with your MobileMe account. The Time Capsule drive will then appear in the Finder sidebar of your Mac just like any other attached drive.

"It's like having your own personal file server wherever you go," Apple says.

The new Time Capsule, which combines an 802.11n router and server-grade hard disk for automatic wireless back-up with Time Machine, and is immediately available in two models: a 500GB model for $299 and a 1TB model for $499.

The rear of Apple's AirPort Extreme.

The rear of Apple's Time Capsule backup appliance.

The AirPort Extreme Base Station is also available immediately for a suggested retail price of $179.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[UTisNUM1]

No 2TB? Geez, way to disappoint.

[tetzel1517]

The Guest Network and dual-band networking features are very, very nice, (I'm definitely going to get the new AE) but Apple is really stretching credibility to suggest that a 1TB hard drive is worth $320.

[sigs21]

Originally Posted by tetzel1517

The Guest Network and dual-band networking features are very, very nice, (I'm definitely going to get the new AE) but Apple is really stretching credibility to suggest that a 1TB hard drive is worth $320.

sure wish I could just load Iphoto and Itunes on it and play off all my macs.. come on apple..


Will go get the new extreme and keep my old one to ..

[O4BlackWRX]

I wonder if the other airport extreme n versions could be updated (even for a fee) to support guest and dual band. I would love to use dual band, all my devices except my wife's and my 3G's are N and I hate running at g just for iPhone's! I just can't justify a $200 upgrade for these features.

[mrjoec123]

Originally Posted by O4BlackWRX

I wonder if the other airport extreme n versions could be updated (even for a fee) to support guest and dual band. I would love to use dual band, all my devices except my wife's and my 3G's are N and I hate running at g just for iPhone's! I just can't justify a $200 upgrade for these features.

I've been running two different Airport Basestations for this reason. The n serves up my laptop; the G, plugged into my n via Ethernet, serves up another g network for the iPhones and guests who come over the house. That way, my laptop always gets maximum bandwidth. The Apple TV and mini are plugged into the Airport via Ethernet, so they never interfere.

[AnDi86]

I so want one of these! But i don't see the point in having an adsl router, which i then have to connect into this in order to use it as a wireless access point! If apple where to add the capabilities into it for it to function as an adsl modem/router combo, i would buy it in a flash!

I don't need anymore clutter!

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by UTisNUM1

No 2TB? Geez, way to disappoint.

Availability. Apple's not magic I doubt they could get the quantity they need and at 300 dollars the 2TB WD drive would mean at the least a $599 Time Capsule

[UTisNUM1]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

Availability. Apple's not magic I doubt they could get the quantity they need and at 300 dollars the 2TB WD drive would mean at the least a $599 Time Capsule

It should at least have been an upgrade. I have a 1TB Time Capsule and it has only 300MB left, This is spanned through my small business.

[breeze]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Apple on Tuesday refreshed its AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule wireless products by adding a new Guest Network feature and support for simultaneous 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz dual-band networking.

The new Guest Network feature allows you to set up a secondary network for friends and visitors with Internet-only access so you don't have to hand out your WiFi password.

Meanwhile, the new combined 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz mode allows your AirPort base stations to simultaneously support iPhones and other 802.11b/g devices operating at 2.4 GHz, while also broadcasting 802.11n wide signals in the 5GHz band to maximize throughput for notebooks and devices such as Apple TV.

Previous-generation AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule models can only run in one mode or the other, providing either wide compatibility or the highest possible network performance, but not both

The new Time Capsule, which combines an 802.11n router and server-grade hard disk for automatic wireless back-up with Time Machine, and is immediately available in two models: a 500GB model for $299 and a 1TB model for $499.

The rear of Apple's AirPort Extreme.

The rear of Apple's Time Capsule backup appliance.

The AirPort Extreme Base Station is also available immediately for a suggested retail price of $179.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

Any idea if a firmware upgrade will be available for older Time Capsules?


If not, I have a new (sealed box) 1TB model that I will sell for $100 less than current price, to anyone interested

[tetzel1517]

Originally Posted by mrjoec123

I've been running two different Airport Basestations for this reason. The n serves up my laptop; the G, plugged into my n via Ethernet, serves up another g network for the iPhones and guests who come over the house. That way, my laptop always gets maximum bandwidth. The Apple TV and mini are plugged into the Airport via Ethernet, so they never interfere.

If I get the new base station, would it be possible to use my current one as an extender? I'd like to hook my Blu-Ray up to it to access BD Live content

[breeze]

Originally Posted by tetzel1517

If I get the new base station, would it be possible to use my current one as an extender? I'd like to hook my Blu-Ray up to it to access BD Live content

Yes, follow the below listed link titled : Using the AirPort Admin Utility to create a WDS network with multiple base stations


http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107454

[Wiggin]

Is the guest access new? I'm pretty sure the Extreme I bought last year already had an option for guest access. I just assumed the TC and Express also had it already. Or am I missing something?

[json]

I wonder if the AE (and TC) has a new wlan chipset to be able to handle the "dual band" functionality.... if so maybe the performance has gone up too.....

I guess I'll have to wait until "someone" buys one and takes it apart.

[NasserAE]

Originally Posted by UTisNUM1

It should at least have been an upgrade. I have a 1TB Time Capsule and it has only 300MB left, This is spanned through my small business.

You can always attach external HD to you TC or AE. You can even use a powered USB port to connect an external HDD and a printer.

[tetzel1517]

Originally Posted by breeze

Yes, follow the below listed link titled : Using the AirPort Admin Utility to create a WDS network with multiple base stations


http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107454

Excellent! But it leads to another question: I want to take advantage of the dual-band features on the new base station. Will my devices know to connect via the new base station and not the old one, or does it not matter? I'm worried that if they somehow go to the older base station, then all my wireless-N devices would be forced to work at wireless-G speeds.

[breeze]

Originally Posted by tetzel1517

Excellent! But it leads to another question: I want to take advantage of the dual-band features on the new base station. Will my devices know to connect via the new base station and not the old one, or does it not matter? I'm worried that if they somehow go to the older base station, then all my wireless-N devices would be forced to work at wireless-G speeds.

I'm sure that's a common situation that has a solution, in light of the ability to have two protocols available simultaneously. The new Time Capsule manual should address these situations, however, Apple product specialists are always pretty helpful if you call and ask for specific walkthrough, setup and configuration help too.

[irchs]

Any QoS features or anything like that?

[hillstones]

Originally Posted by AnDi86

I so want one of these! But i don't see the point in having an adsl router, which i then have to connect into this in order to use it as a wireless access point! If apple where to add the capabilities into it for it to function as an adsl modem/router combo, i would buy it in a flash!

I don't need anymore clutter!

No one else would buy it. Not everyone has DSL.

[Maury Markowitz]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

The new Guest Network feature allows you to set up a secondary network for friends and visitors with Internet-only access so you don't have to hand out your WiFi password.

THANK YOU APPLE!

I just bought a new LinkSys router because it had QOS. Turns out it's completely unusable, and it locks up all the time (DHCP just stops working). Guest access is worth more to me than QOS, so that's that.

For those of you that have a Time Capsule, can you hear it? I have an Apple TV and it bothers me that I can hear the drive from across the room (yes, very good ears). Does the TC spin down the drive when it's not being used?

Maury

[Booga]

Originally Posted by Maury Markowitz

THANK YOU APPLE!

I just bought a new LinkSys router because it had QOS. Turns out it's completely unusable, and it locks up all the time (DHCP just stops working). Guest access is worth more to me than QOS, so that's that.

For those of you that have a Time Capsule, can you hear it? I have an Apple TV and it bothers me that I can hear the drive from across the room (yes, very good ears). Does the TC spin down the drive when it's not being used?

Maury

Time Capsule noise: I don't know-- it's usually located on the other side of the house. Unlike AppleTV which has to be close to the TV, you can put the time capsule in the basement, closet, attic, kitchen cabinets...

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by UTisNUM1

It should at least have been an upgrade. I have a 1TB Time Capsule and it has only 300MB left, This is spanned through my small business.

wow that's a lot of data. Apple needs to eventually integrate some deduplication into Time Machine. A %20 reduction would save you a couple hundred megabytes.

Originally Posted by json

I wonder if the AE (and TC) has a new wlan chipset to be able to handle the "dual band" functionality.... if so maybe the performance has gone up too.....

I guess I'll have to wait until "someone" buys one and takes it apart.

My guess is new chip as most of the simultanous routers seem to be newer models which suggest more than just a firmware update IMO.

[ecking]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

The new Guest Network feature allows you to set up a secondary network for friends and visitors with Internet-only access so you don't have to hand out your WiFi password.

Meanwhile, the new combined 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz mode allows your AirPort base stations to simultaneously support iPhones and other 802.11b/g devices operating at 2.4 GHz, while also broadcasting 802.11n wide signals in the 5GHz band to maximize throughput for notebooks and devices such as Apple TV.

Holy shit must buy, this is exactly what I want! And just when my G dlink router has started to give me trouble.

[johnmcboston]

1TB does seem small, considering TC keeps multiple copies of items. If you have a 1TB drive in your mac that's getting full, TC doesn't have much room for multiple copies of anything...

When I got my airport a while ago, I was a little disappointed with the USB port - you couldn't attach a hub to it, only a single device. SO if you had a printer and HD to share, you were SOL. Curious if they changed this behavior...

[sandor]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

wow that's a lot of data. Apple needs to eventually integrate some deduplication into Time Machine. A %20 reduction would save you a couple hundred megabytes.




My guess is new chip as most of the simultanous routers seem to be newer models which suggest more than just a firmware update IMO.

time machine only copies changed files, so there really isnt duplication. and then when space gets full, it deletes the oldest data first.

basically, time machine will use as much or as little space as you give it.

[jstaggie]

I'm glad I read this thread. I've got an older time capsule and it never occurred to me to set to N-wireless only and then bridge to my old airport extreme to manage any G clients (iPhone). Cool.

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by sandor

time machine only copies changed files, so there really isnt duplication. and then when space gets full, it deletes the oldest data first.

basically, time machine will use as much or as little space as you give it.

I know adding some sort of dedupe in a future major revision would certainly be nice. Kudos of they could add block level dedupe. Time Machine is still backing up a lot of redundant data.

[Kesem]

Will the new dual routers make my iphone surf faster? How about my Apple TV when I use it at the same time as my iphone and imac?

[djames42]

Originally Posted by UTisNUM1

No 2TB? Geez, way to disappoint.

Well considering 2TB drives just came out (and Apple's continuing pattern of doubling the cost of storage), you probably wouldn't want an internal. As someone else suggested, add an external drive via USB. Use it for your Time Machine backups, and the internal as a regular NAS drive.

Originally Posted by O4BlackWRX

I wonder if the other airport extreme n versions could be updated (even for a fee) to support guest and dual band. I would love to use dual band, all my devices except my wife's and my 3G's are N and I hate running at g just for iPhone's! I just can't justify a $200 upgrade for these features.

For guest access, yes. For dual band, I suspect this is done via hardware and wouldn't be available via firmware upgrade. Either way, Apple (bless them) loves to tie features to hardware, not providing these features via firmware (otherwise my old 4G iPod could've easily taken on some of the features of the newer models, such as searching and volume limiting).

I do hope they give us guest access via firmware however; that would rock!

Originally Posted by AnDi86

I so want one of these! But i don't see the point in having an adsl router, which i then have to connect into this in order to use it as a wireless access point! If apple where to add the capabilities into it for it to function as an adsl modem/router combo, i would buy it in a flash!

I believe different DSL providers use differing technology. Integrating an ADSL bridge into an Airport device would limit the number of providers who would be able to utilise the integration. It would be nice though!

Originally Posted by breeze

Yes, follow the below listed link titled : Using the AirPort Admin Utility to create a WDS network with multiple base stations

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107454

Not sure if this would work. Doesn't this article describe wireless bridging? If so, I'm not sure the older device (running in compatibility mode) would be able to connect to a N-only wireless router, right? Unless you really need your wireless range to be extended, I would suggest hardwiring the two Airports together. It might take some configuration to give your secondary router a fixed IP based on its MAC address, and you'd probably have to configure each to hand out a different range of DHCP addresses, but it shouldn't be that difficult.

Originally Posted by tetzel1517

Excellent! But it leads to another question: I want to take advantage of the dual-band features on the new base station. Will my devices know to connect via the new base station and not the old one, or does it not matter? I'm worried that if they somehow go to the older base station, then all my wireless-N devices would be forced to work at wireless-G speeds.

If you hardwire them together, then each base station can have a unique SSID.

[tomkarl]

Originally Posted by Maury Markowitz

THANK YOU APPLE!

I just bought a new LinkSys router because it had QOS. Turns out it's completely unusable, and it locks up all the time (DHCP just stops working). Guest access is worth more to me than QOS, so that's that.

For those of you that have a Time Capsule, can you hear it? I have an Apple TV and it bothers me that I can hear the drive from across the room (yes, very good ears). Does the TC spin down the drive when it's not being used?

Maury

I can hear the TC from two rooms over (doors open, hallway between them). I almost could use it to announce the hour when it does backups.

Obviously, when the drive isn't cranking, it's nearly silent.

[Kasper]

Guys, we just added information about Time Capsule sharing for Mobile Me users:

From Apple but not in the Press Release:

"Access your drive over the Internet.
Say you're traveling and you need a file on your Time Capsule back at home. If you're a MobileMe member using a Mac with Mac OS X Leopard, no problem .* You can now access all the files on your Time Capsule drive over the Internet. Simply register your Time Capsule with your MobileMe account, and its drive appears in the Finder sidebar of your Mac just like any other attached drive. It's like having your own personal file server wherever you go."

Pretty cool.

K

[vinea]

Originally Posted by tetzel1517

Excellent! But it leads to another question: I want to take advantage of the dual-band features on the new base station. Will my devices know to connect via the new base station and not the old one, or does it not matter? I'm worried that if they somehow go to the older base station, then all my wireless-N devices would be forced to work at wireless-G speeds.

If it works like the dual band Linksys my brother in law has you end up with two SSIDs.

Oddly, my non-N MBP sees both but can only connect via the 2.4Ghz G.

Originally Posted by Maury Markowitz

THANK YOU APPLE!

I just bought a new LinkSys router because it had QOS. Turns out it's completely unusable, and it locks up all the time (DHCP just stops working). Guest access is worth more to me than QOS, so that's that.

For those of you that have a Time Capsule, can you hear it? I have an Apple TV and it bothers me that I can hear the drive from across the room (yes, very good ears). Does the TC spin down the drive when it's not being used?

Maury

Yes, the Linksys kinda sucks doesn't it?

The TC audiably comes on and does spin down the drives. If you can hear your aTV across the room you can certainly hear the TC. Or at least I can hear mine from across the room.

I have the old AE and the old TC bridged wireless because the signal upstairs is so-so and the TC can pull in the AE much better than the MBP can. I opted to stick the TC upstairs rather than in the closet downstairs with the modem because when I want speed I connect via GigE. Even N is notably slower than GigE for large files.

I keep my iTunes and iPhoto files on the TC and use an external HD for backups. I used to use Amazon S3 for online backups as well and I may again.

[ahmlco]

Originally Posted by johnmcboston

1TB does seem small, considering TC keeps multiple copies of items.

Time Machine only keeps multiple copies of files that have changed. If you've changed file A twice in the last 30 days then there are probably just three copies of the file out there: the original and the two mods.

Besides, even with a block-level comparison on average half the file is going to be "dirty". (Think of adding a single character to the top of a text file, which shifts everything after that.)

Not only that, but now you're in a time-for-space tradeoff, as backups are now slower due to the need to compare the new file byte-for-byte against the old file. TANSTAAFL

[grimslade]

Originally Posted by Kasper

Guys, we just added information about Time Capsule sharing for Mobile Me users:

From Apple but not in the Press Release:

"Access your drive over the Internet.
Say you're traveling and you need a file on your Time Capsule back at home. If you're a MobileMe member using a Mac with Mac OS X Leopard, no problem .* You can now access all the files on your Time Capsule drive over the Internet. Simply register your Time Capsule with your MobileMe account, and its drive appears in the Finder sidebar of your Mac just like any other attached drive. It's like having your own personal file server wherever you go."

Pretty cool.

K

Does this work with 1G Time Capsules too? Has anyone checked? That would be rad.

EDIT: TUAW sez yes:
http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/03/apple...-internet-sha/

[O4BlackWRX]

Originally Posted by johnmcboston

1TB does seem small, considering TC keeps multiple copies of items. If you have a 1TB drive in your mac that's getting full, TC doesn't have much room for multiple copies of anything...

When I got my airport a while ago, I was a little disappointed with the USB port - you couldn't attach a hub to it, only a single device. SO if you had a printer and HD to share, you were SOL. Curious if they changed this behavior...

You could always hook a Hub up to it, or at least that's what was advertised and I did with mine.

[Maury Markowitz]

Originally Posted by tomkarl

Obviously, when the drive isn't cranking, it's nearly silent.

So does the drive spin down when not in use? Or is it like the ATV, always turning?

Maury

[dstranathan]

I havent used an ABS since the snow version years ago. Thinking about getting a new router/access point.

Can you admin the ABS from the WAN side with a web browser (or even Apple's Airport Utility), or do you have to be on the LAN side to admin the router?

[O4BlackWRX]

Originally Posted by dstranathan

I havent used an ABS since the snow version years ago. Thinking about getting a new router/access point.

Can you admin the ABS from the WAN side with a web browser (or even Apple's Airport Utility), or do you have to be on the LAN side to admin the router?

You can administer the ABS over WAN from the Airport Utility, no web interface.

[noirdesir]

Originally Posted by grimslade

Does this work with 1G Time Capsules too? Has anyone checked? That would be rad.

EDIT: TUAW sez yes:
http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/03/apple...-internet-sha/

Cool, does TM also work remotely? It should as already had this working over AFP using the IP address of my TC. But I naturally would like to have IPsec for that. Which AFP does not have.
Any chance of linking a free OpenDNS account to a TC?

[fazekas]

Read about AirPort Utility 5.4.1 and AirPort firmware 7.4.1 updates, only see the AirPort Utility 5.4.1 available.

With these updates, does anyone know if Airport Extreme be able to back up with Time Machine, with an external USB hard drive attached to the Airport Extreme?