Airport Extreme 802.11n Base Station unboxing

Earlier this week Apple made good on its promise to ship its 802.11n Airport Extreme Base Station sometime in "February," and now that it has, the units are starting to appear in local Apple Stores. AppleInsider and Jennifer J on Flickr popped down to their local Store to pick up two of the first Base Stations to go on sale, and for our convenience have posted a bunch of their photos online. Hopefully reports will be forthcoming regarding the real world performance and range of the new Base Station. As for the physical unboxing, it's the standard Apple affair: a sparse box design with an equally minimalist little router sitting inside. For absolute perfection in box design, we still think that Apple should include a little square of bubble wrap: y'know, for the sake of popping them for fun aesthetics.

Read - AppleInsider
Read - Airport Extreme photoset on Flickr

[michael @ Feb 3rd 2007 7:28PM]

Oh my gosh. This place is starting to turn into an Apple-owned site. About everything on this site is starting to be Apple-centric. The post right under here is even mocking Bill Gates. Can you believe that? Now I like Apple as much as every other consumer that buys their stuff all the time, but this is getting out of hand. Apple this and Apple that. You would think this site would have more to talk about besides Apple. But I'll still read this site since it's suppose to cover tech news about "everybody"

[Zorque @ Feb 3rd 2007 8:06PM]

That post is mocking Gates because he said something stupid. Remember how much coverage Vista and the Zune have gotten/are getting?

[deslock @ Feb 3rd 2007 9:55PM]

You want more Microsoft coverage? Here are three quotes and some history:

"We are engadged in a FUD campaign to let the press know about some of the bugs. We'll provide info a few bugs at a time to stretch it out." - Brad Silverberg (Senior VP), quoted in an internal email about Microsoft's campaign against IBM's DR-DOS sent to Bill Gates on Jul 22, 1991

****************

"Screw Sun, cross-platform will never work. let's move on and steal the Java language.

That said, have we ever taken a look at how long it would take Microsoft to build a cross-platform Java that did work? Naturally, we would never do it, but it would give us some idea of how much time we have to work with in killing Sun's Java." - Prashant Sridharan (Visual J++ Product Manager), quoted in internal email on Sep 17, 1997

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"OSS is long-term credible ... FUD tactics can not be used to combat it." - Vinod Valloppillil, quoted from Halloween Document I on Aug 11, 1998


"I am not sure how the company lost sight of what matters to our customers (both business and home) the most, but in my view we lost our way. I think our teams lost sight of what bug-free means, what resilience means, what full scenarios mean, what security means, what performance means, how important current applications are, and really understanding what the most important problems [our] customers face are. I see lots of random features and some great vision, but that doesn’t translate into great products.

I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft. ... Apple did not lose their way..."

- Jim Allchin, quoted in internal email sent to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer on Jan 07, 2004

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Former Intel software executive Steven McGeady testified that in 1995 Microsoft Group Vice President Paul Maritz told him that Microsoft's strategy to counter the Internet was to "embrace, extend, extinguish." This meant extending HTML so that Web pages would not work with Netscapes browser. Microsoft did this and more. Among other things, Microsoft coerced, paid, and otherwise induced software vendors, Web sites, and Internet service providers to replace Navigator with Internet Explorer and to support the Internet Explorer extensions that were not interoperable with Navigator. Microsoft gave away Internet Explorer to everyone, including corporations, in perpetuity. Microsoft sometimes paid bounties of $15 to $45 to ISPs for each user who used Explorer and paid sums in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to ISPs that agreed not to purchase any software from Netscape.

As usual, Microsofts biggest club was its Windows license. Compaq Computer learned this when it bundled Netscapes browser on its Presario computers. In June 1996, Microsoft sent Compaq a "notice of intent to terminate" Compaqs Windows 95 license unless Compaq put the Internet Explorer and Microsoft Network icons on the Windows desktop. Like IBM, Compaq had to cave. New restrictions were added to Windows licenses to prevent computer companies from putting the Netscape Now button on the Windows desktop. And Microsoft paid a huge sum to a financially desperate Apple for kicking Netscape Navigator off the Mac. In 1998, the DoJ filed a broad antitrust suit against Microsoft.

The Java story is similar and brings us back to Sun. As a cross-platform language with a wildly enthusiastic developer following, Java threatened Microsoft. Unable to stop Javas runaway success, Microsoft licensed Java from Sun. The license was negotiated in December 1995 while Microsofts "embrace, extend, extinguish" strategy was already in full swing. Signed in March 1996, the license required Microsoft to create a Java implementation that would pass Suns compatibility test, which is plainly at odds with the intent to "embrace, extend, extinguish." Microsoft evolved its version of Java to be incompatible with the original and distributed the incompatible version for free. Developers who used Microsofts Java tools created programs that often ran only on Windows systems. The September 1997 Microsoft-Apple deal required Apple to support Microsofts extensions to Java, further undermining Javas cross-platform compatibility.

[Rick @ Feb 3rd 2007 7:43PM]

Or, there's not much else to report.

[Killian @ Feb 3rd 2007 7:43PM]

I was going to post and say someone was going to be REALLY upset about this, but Michael seems to have already taken care of proving that point

[keith waddington @ Feb 3rd 2007 7:46PM]

Apple makes nice stuff. Pure and simple.


waddo

[Tom Carey @ Feb 3rd 2007 7:53PM]

OK - Now that it is out of the box - does it do anything?

[Erik @ Feb 3rd 2007 7:54PM]

Why does it lack AirTunes? I would want one but will stick with my Express for now.

[Kevin @ Feb 3rd 2007 8:18PM]

It doesn't lack airtunes... Airtunes will work with ANY router, including this one.

P.S. what is the MBPS of draft-n?

[Kevlar @ Feb 3rd 2007 8:29PM]

Draft-n is rated at 108mbps afaik.

I got the $1.99 update for my MBP, but I can't seem to connect to my Belkin Pre-n router at anything higher than 54mbps. Sorry to say that the slight speed benefit of transferring network files isn't worth picking this up to fix it. I still get awesome reception, even at 54mbps.

[Mark Deab @ Feb 4th 2007 3:18AM]

If you have non pre n devices on your network, belkin will switch it to a lower mode, have a look at the settings to see if you can change it;)

[Chris M @ Feb 3rd 2007 8:36PM]

I really love it when you guys do that Mac-bashing thing, about how sites cover Mac news more than PC news.

If Engadget made a post everytime a PC company released a new customizable configuration of desktop or configuration of PMP, the site would be flooded with information nobody cares about. If Apple releases the new router that they've been talking about for... months?, I think it's coverable.

Honestly guys, there's more Mac news because- *gasp* Mac releases good stuff, and they do it sparsely.

[Kev50027 @ Feb 4th 2007 11:58PM]

A router? Who gives a rats rear about a stinking router? Why was there speculation for months about this stupid box? BECAUSE OF YOU! The media is Steve Job's little rear licker. If Steve announced today that Apple will start including a neck strap with every iPod the media would shit themselves. If Creative did the same thing with the Zen Vision series, nobody would ever know.

It's not that Apple makes nice stuff, it's that the media only cares about stuff that comes out of Apple's rear, even if it's just a stupid wireless router.

[Jico @ Feb 3rd 2007 8:40PM]

Ironic or not, this is just stupid. Unboxing a f***ing router? Does anyone else think this is a waste of time?

[Ellianth @ Feb 3rd 2007 9:56PM]

I do. That's why I didn't bother to read the article, just watching the comments waiting for a fight to start.

That router is really ugly IMHO.

[Karl @ Feb 3rd 2007 8:43PM]

I believe draft-n has a theoretical maximum throughput of 540mpbs. Your mileage may(will) vary.

I hope the lit Apple logo can be turned off.

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Feb 3rd 2007 10:50PM]

It's a slick router, folks. It has a USB port for a NAS disk and printer sharing. It's the same footprint as the Mac mini, which means the external HD enclosures and USB hubs designed to stack under the mini will stack under this just as well (and, for space savings, that rocks). And there are three antennas in that thing, but you don't have to stare at some Linksys or Belkin monstrosity that looks like a control tower for a real airport.

No, it doesn't have AirTunes... but that's because Apple is still selling the Express. The Extreme has never had AirTunes and it won't - it's a router.

But that NAS functionality is big - and it can auto mount on a Mac on the network. I've been using a Linksys WRT54G for a few years now, and I've been looking at a NAS setup. That would mean, before this, having the cable modem plug into the router and then the NAS ddrive plugging into the router - all side-by-side and taking up a huge amount of room. With this design I can put the cable modem on top of the router and put an enclosure and hub under the router foor some decent space savings...

I like that.

[ScOObyDoo @ Feb 3rd 2007 11:41PM]

Is it just me, or does that $179 router not come with a frikkin ethernet cable? I knew Apple was getting cheap (just look at what comes with an iPod nowadays), but this is just stupid. If I brought my $179 router home and noticed they didn't even bother to include a $2 cable I'd be furious.

[SCF @ Feb 4th 2007 3:40AM]

Apple has never shipped an Ethernet cable with any of its AirPort products.

[willieboy @ Feb 4th 2007 12:28AM]

Purty.

[Guffy @ Feb 4th 2007 12:34AM]

I do feel an "unboxing a router" article is very pointless. It looks like the previous Airport Extreme (I am just guessing, I dont have one) and is functionally the same as any other router out there when it comes to ports and that sort of things. So why would anyone care reading about unboxing a router. This is probably the most pointless news Ive read here at Engadget in a very long time.

[dammerson @ Feb 4th 2007 12:36AM]

Here's a question for y'all:

Netgear has an N router they call the "gigabit edition". They also have a non-gigabit version. Both are rated at 300Mbps. I'm trying to figure out what could be different about the two versions (as well as how they compare to the new Apple router).

Anyone know? Also, is there any benefit to using Cat-6 wiring instead of standard cat-5??

thanks

[Dave @ Feb 5th 2007 12:31PM]

Agreed w/ Martin way to even try to look at products dork.

[Martin @ Feb 4th 2007 3:04AM]

That last comment was for dammerson btw

[Flying? @ Feb 4th 2007 11:41AM]

Too bad the device only sports 1 USB port : impossible to simultaneously use a shared printer and hard drive ... hey Apple, it's now quite common that people have both !

[Decrypter @ Feb 4th 2007 12:53PM]

Flying, all you have to do is add a USB hub and you can connect multiple HD's and printers.

[freal081493 @ Feb 4th 2007 1:10PM]

guys....
C'mon i dont mean to sound like a kid but it is just a router...
um. i think some people dont care and some people just have their prefs.
Im a mac fan but the holy wars.. over a router.. okay...
Ohh no ethernet cable their like 2 cents I have a box of them in my attic.

[Jacob @ Feb 4th 2007 4:43PM]

Kevlar: "I got the $1.99 update for my MBP, but I can't seem to connect to my Belkin Pre-n router at anything higher than 54mbps."

Hence, "PRE-n". The 802.11n standard hasn't actually been set in stone yet, but all the manufacturers went ahead and started making stuff *based* on it anyway. As a result, none of these sets from different companies are guaranteed to work with each other.

[KC @ Jun 7th 2007 3:11AM]

Could some one please email me a copy of
AirPort Extreme 802.11n* Enabler for MBpro.
I work in Vietnam and just cant get a hold of this nor can we purchase it on line. I know its just 2 buck.
could some one please share some love...
thank you, KC

[TK101 @ Feb 5th 2007 11:01AM]

You silly people make me laugh :)

[Bungles @ Feb 5th 2007 1:08PM]

I agree, this should not be big news but it sure is a relief from the rest of the pre 802.11n MIMOnstrosities.

[Jebby Deringer @ Feb 5th 2007 1:44PM]

It's a nice looking router. I think it is newsworthy because there are only a few Apple peripherals and they only come out every year or so. I agree about the 1 usb. I would want to hook up a drive and a printer. Hooking up a USB hub defeats the purpose of a nice looking router. I'll probably just buy an ugly router and hide it somewhere.

[whiffer @ Feb 5th 2007 10:33PM]

i picked up a couple of these on friday. easy to set up, they look pretty on my desk and around the house as range extenders. one thing i thought was great was when i plugged in an external hard drive into it. i went back to my computer, a window had popped up asking for my password, i entered it and i had a remote external drive just like that.

the range is great, but my favotire feature is being able to hide my external drive in the office and have access to them from my laptop wirelessly. worth the upgrade.

[gfar @ Feb 12th 2007 11:51AM]

N is 540 not 108, so that guy can shut up.

Whoever paid 1.99 for the n enabler from mac has never heard of a torrent or google, so I'm wondering how the hell he found this site. (seriously, it's fucking everywhere)

I didn't even read that giant post cause it was so big...seriously, everyone reading this comment skipped over that massive one up there -- screw that guy.

[Kevlar @ Feb 4th 2007 6:25PM]

Wow gfar. Thanks for that.

I mentioned 108mbps, since my pop's laptop with a belkin n card/matching router gets 108mbps everywhere, so I assumed that was the rated speed.
Also, you neglected to realize that I said I GOT the $1.99 update. Not that I actually paid for it. Sorry if I wasn't clear enough.

[JBW_TX @ Feb 21st 2007 2:27PM]

MAJOR SETUP BUGS: G4 Mac Desktop with OS 10.4.8., brand new Airport Extreme-"n" and an Airport Express to receive iTunes for my stereo. It took an hour on the phone with an AppleCare Tech to get this "simple" setup to work. We had to temporarily hardwire everything with Ethernet cables. We had to manually copy Airport ID numbers from one Airport to the other. I had to do three “hard resets” of my Express. Eventually, we got it to work wirelessly. I have been a loyal Mac user since 1986 and I have never had the headaches with any Apple product that I just experienced with this new Airport Extreme-“n” setup.
“Thumbs-up” to my AppleCare Tech for sticking with me until we got it working.
Major “tumbs-down” to the Apple Extreme-“n” design team for releasing a product that can be extremely difficult set up, even for a very simple wireless network using all Apple products.
I am not alone in my frustration. Take a look at Apple.com’s discussion forum.
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1135