How is it even possible that it doesn't support gigabit ethernet??? I would have already ordered one if it did. I guess Stevo was spending all his time on the precious iPhone and forgot to add any innovation to this product.
During the Macworld Expo on Tuesday, Apple introduced its new AirPort Extreme, a simple and elegant wireless networking solution delivering up to five times the performance and twice the range of the previous AirPort Extreme.
Based on 802.11n technology, AirPort Extreme extends a wireless network to even more areas in a home or office and makes streaming digital content and transferring large files faster and easier, the company said.
The new AirPort Extreme Base Station ships in a sleek, new design with connections for networked computers, printers and a USB hard drive to quickly and easily share files or back up valuable data and content.
"The new Airport Extreme is the most powerful and easy to use Wi-Fi base station that we have ever made," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With five times the performance and twice the range, now you can transfer bigger files faster and get access to the Internet and your favorite digital media from many areas in your house you couldn't reach before."
Using MIMO (Multiple In Multiple Out) smart antennas and 802.11n technology, AirPort Extreme now delivers greater data throughput and extends the reach of wireless connectivity to more areas of the home, business or school. With the ability to operate in either the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz wireless frequencies, AirPort Extreme also reduces the possibility of interference from appliances and cordless phones that operate in the 2.4 GHz frequency. AirPort Extreme is backward compatible with Macs and PCs using previous generation 802.11b/g wireless technologies.
Apple said the AirPort Extreme Base Station features a simple, new design that is just 6.5 inches square and 1.3 inches tall, and a built-in USB port allows users to print wirelessly to a USB printer or turn any external USB hard drive into a shared drive so they can share files or backup valuable data from multiple computers on a network. New AirPort Utility software included with every AirPort Extreme "makes it very easy to set up a secure, wireless network for up to 50 simultaneous users within minutes," the company said. Users can also set security restrictions, including Internet access limits on their childrens' computers.
The AirPort Extreme Base Station also includes:
802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking;
MIMO (Multiple In Multiple Out) smart antennas;
dual-band antennas for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies;
three 10/100 Ethernet LAN ports;
one 10/100 Ethernet WAN port;
one USB port;
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA/WPA-2), 128-bit WEP encryption; and
a built-in NAT firewall.
Pricing & Availability
The new AirPort Extreme Base Station will be available in February through the Apple Store, at Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $179. Nearly all currently shipping Macs support 802.11n when updated with 802.11n Enabler software, which ships with the AirPort Extreme Base Station.
The AirPort Extreme Base Station is based on an IEEE 802.11n draft specification and is compatible with IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11g. Achieving the fastest data rates requires that all users have an 802.11n-enabled computer. Actual performance will vary based on range, connection rate, site conditions, size of network and other factors.
Appple said all Intel Core 2 Duo and Intel Xeon Macs except the entry 17-inch iMac with 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor support the 802.11n technology.
I'm liking that form factor though, looks good for a three-way AE / Mac Mini / ?TV stack! Throw in a LaCie hard drive at the base and you've one chunky little pile.
No gigabit is a bit lame, but more of a problem in real life I expect would be the: "all clients must be n for maximum speed, ie. do not mix in good old g's and ancient b's, you have been warned".
APX for me until it dies I think.
Edit: press shift+option+K to make an Apple sign for "AppleTV". I did, only it posts as a stupid ? mark here. Ah well.
Is there anyway to tell at this point what filesystem the APX uses with a connected USB HDD? I almost bought a linksys piece that did simlar (though wired) but they use some stupid filesystem no comptuer would read (accept through the linksys, and then the network @ 10/100 [ick]). If they'll let me unplug from the apx and then into a computer I'll buy, even without gig-e (eSATA is my friend). Isn't 802.11n rated at 300-600Mbps, real world 200-250?
Wow , i was actually about to order one , but no gigabit ethernet kills it in my opinion.
How on earth they thought 10/100 from 1990's is gonna cut it in 2007 is beyond me. Anyone who knows their way around computers is gonna avoid this at this price point. Maybe at $100 , maybe , but close to $200 i can get much more than this flop offers. So sad so sad.
This lack of gigabit ethernet makes no sense whatsoever, especially since other products in the same price range do have it (e.g. Linksys). Are they really that gung ho on having your Xserve be wireless? Because I'm not a big fan of that kind of latency (and lack of concurrency) for my servers.
Then again, I suppose Apple has to have something to put in the 3-month bump after they market test it with all us early adopters . The only people who really are a market for this item's unique wins are people who want a fairly cheap NAS solution or who have a Core 2 Duo Mac.
I posted a message on Apple's discussion forms questioning why Apple choose 100MB rather then 1000MB.
My post was QUICKLY removed (I mean in under an hour).
Where's my freedom of speech in a public message forum? It's okay to ask lame ass questions but when someone posts a reasonable question they remove the post.
One assumes that the APX base station will be firmware-upgradable via a Software Update when 802.11n final is decided upon.
Tricky things, those assumptions....
Yeah, they did the same thing with the draft-g stuff, they released it before it was final with the promise of firmware updates, I just have no idea how it turned out for the early adopters. Although, Apple didn't just release APX with the draft spec, TV has it too, that does lend some hope. OTOH, I read somewhere that the draft-n hardware spec is not final (obviously software isn't). Can anyone clarify that with a link to a credable source? (like, not cnet, etc)
Comments
Interesting that they're saying the Mac Pro ("Intel Xeon Macs") have the n-capable hardware, too. Did we already know that?
Yes. I believe all the new Macs have had it since the C2Ds were released last year.
Based on 802.11n technology, AirPort Extreme extends a wireless network to even more areas in a home or office and makes streaming digital content and transferring large files faster and easier, the company said.
The new AirPort Extreme Base Station ships in a sleek, new design with connections for networked computers, printers and a USB hard drive to quickly and easily share files or back up valuable data and content.
"The new Airport Extreme is the most powerful and easy to use Wi-Fi base station that we have ever made," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With five times the performance and twice the range, now you can transfer bigger files faster and get access to the Internet and your favorite digital media from many areas in your house you couldn't reach before."
Using MIMO (Multiple In Multiple Out) smart antennas and 802.11n technology, AirPort Extreme now delivers greater data throughput and extends the reach of wireless connectivity to more areas of the home, business or school. With the ability to operate in either the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz wireless frequencies, AirPort Extreme also reduces the possibility of interference from appliances and cordless phones that operate in the 2.4 GHz frequency. AirPort Extreme is backward compatible with Macs and PCs using previous generation 802.11b/g wireless technologies.
Apple said the AirPort Extreme Base Station features a simple, new design that is just 6.5 inches square and 1.3 inches tall, and a built-in USB port allows users to print wirelessly to a USB printer or turn any external USB hard drive into a shared drive so they can share files or backup valuable data from multiple computers on a network. New AirPort Utility software included with every AirPort Extreme "makes it very easy to set up a secure, wireless network for up to 50 simultaneous users within minutes," the company said. Users can also set security restrictions, including Internet access limits on their childrens' computers.
The AirPort Extreme Base Station also includes:
802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking;
MIMO (Multiple In Multiple Out) smart antennas;
dual-band antennas for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies;
three 10/100 Ethernet LAN ports;
one 10/100 Ethernet WAN port;
one USB port;
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA/WPA-2), 128-bit WEP encryption; and
a built-in NAT firewall.
Pricing & Availability
The new AirPort Extreme Base Station will be available in February through the Apple Store, at Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $179. Nearly all currently shipping Macs support 802.11n when updated with 802.11n Enabler software, which ships with the AirPort Extreme Base Station.
The AirPort Extreme Base Station is based on an IEEE 802.11n draft specification and is compatible with IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11g. Achieving the fastest data rates requires that all users have an 802.11n-enabled computer. Actual performance will vary based on range, connection rate, site conditions, size of network and other factors.
Appple said all Intel Core 2 Duo and Intel Xeon Macs except the entry 17-inch iMac with 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor support the 802.11n technology.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
No gigabit is a bit lame, but more of a problem in real life I expect would be the: "all clients must be n for maximum speed, ie. do not mix in good old g's and ancient b's, you have been warned".
APX for me until it dies I think.
Edit: press shift+option+K to make an Apple sign for "AppleTV". I did, only it posts as a stupid ? mark here. Ah well.
How on earth they thought 10/100 from 1990's is gonna cut it in 2007 is beyond me. Anyone who knows their way around computers is gonna avoid this at this price point. Maybe at $100 , maybe , but close to $200 i can get much more than this flop offers. So sad so sad.
Then again, I suppose Apple has to have something to put in the 3-month bump after they market test it with all us early adopters
I need a base station, gigE or not, anyone know what possible changes there are to the draft-n spec?
One assumes that the APX base station will be firmware-upgradable via a Software Update when 802.11n final is decided upon.
Tricky things, those assumptions....
My post was QUICKLY removed (I mean in under an hour).
Where's my freedom of speech in a public message forum? It's okay to ask lame ass questions but when someone posts a reasonable question they remove the post.
Nice Apple. WE KNOW YOUR GAME.
One assumes that the APX base station will be firmware-upgradable via a Software Update when 802.11n final is decided upon.
Tricky things, those assumptions....
Yeah, they did the same thing with the draft-g stuff, they released it before it was final with the promise of firmware updates, I just have no idea how it turned out for the early adopters. Although, Apple didn't just release APX with the draft spec, TV has it too, that does lend some hope. OTOH, I read somewhere that the draft-n hardware spec is not final (obviously software isn't). Can anyone clarify that with a link to a credable source? (like, not cnet, etc)