All Articles Tagged airport extreme

Owner of a previous generation Airport Extreme or Time Capsule WiFi router and jealous of the newer versions Apple dropped this week? Well, while you can’t shove the drool-inducing, iPhone-friendly dual-radios into the older tech, you can now upgrade them to firmware 7.4.1 which includes the new MobileMe / Back to My Mac sharing feature for AirDisks.

Fire up Software Update and go get it!

(Via @TUAW)

UPDATE: MacRumors also found remote file access for MobileMe users:

Access files on a networked drive from anywhere – Allows MobileMe subscribers to register their AirPort Express Base Station or Time Capsule with their MobileMe account, providing them access to their files from anywhere via the Internet. Drives will appear in the Finder sidebar like any other attached drive, acting just like a personal file server with remote access.

ORIGINAL: It was rumor, it is now fact. Apple has released new versions of their Airport Extreme (WiFi router) and Time Capsule (WiFi router + HD) base stations, with simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi:

For maximum range and compatibility, AirPort Extreme works simultaneously on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, allowing all the devices on the network to use the most efficient band automatically. And AirPort Extreme uses the latest 802.11n wireless technology so you can enjoy up to five times the performance and up to twice the range of 802.11g wireless networks.

Think of it as having 2 lanes on your WiFi highway. While your 802.11g iPhone is out taking a Sunday drive on your network, it’s no longer blocking traffic in front of your screaming fast 802.11n MacBook.

The only other new feature we could find was Guest Accounts:

Now you can set up a separate Wi-Fi network with a separate password for your visitors. Simply enable the new guest networking feature, and your guests can use the Internet but can’t access other parts of your private network, such as your computers, printers, and attached hard drives.

Anyone going to upgrade? Anyone in the market for a new router going to consider one of these?

Mac Mini, iMac? Check. Check. Mac Pro. Check. Airport Extreme. Check. Time Capsule. Check. Yep, that’s the rumor list Apple just plowed through one after the other, with nary anything resembling a “Spotlight on Desktops” Event in sight.

Nary anything, aside from the friendliness of the new routers, approaching iPhone updates either — though we imagine new developers eyeing Macs to get into iPhone App-making with have their hands, and charge cards, full today.

You getting anything?

Since all current and previous iPhone (and iPod touch) devices have 802.11b/g WiFi, if placed on a faster, wider-range 802.11n network, they typically cause such networks to downgrade to 802.11b/g speeds for compatibility. This means your hyper-fast router will slow down your iMac or MacBook whenever your iPhone hits the network…

…But maybe not for much longer?

Apple Insider reports that the FCC has just been hit with new versions of the Airport Extreme (802.11n Router) and Time Capsule (802.11n Router + HD for Time Machine backup) that handle things a tad more gracefully:

The documents appear to indicate that Apple is adding a combined mode, allowing its 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. Existing models can only run in one mode or the other, providing either wide compatibility or the highest possible network performance, but not both.

While only the most power-mad of power users will likely ditch their old Airport Extreme or Time Capsule for the latest/greatest, the new features should appeal to iPhone users looking for high-quality routers to round out their setups.

Now who wants one?