New Airport Extreme and Time Capsule juggle two networks simultaneously
By Paul Miller 
posted Mar 3rd 2009 9:05AM
posted Mar 3rd 2009 9:05AM
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Sounds good but... has Apple learned to implement QoS yet? Kindof a hard sell without that feature, like the last one.
yaaayyyyy dd-wrt!
boooo no QoS
deal breaker. that and the $179 pricetag. really? not that i've come to expect anything different / less.
No way. You're risking flashing dd-wrt on a $179 router when you could do that with a free FON router?
hell no, dd-wrt comment was referring to it's super customizable and in-depth QoS service...I use it to prioritize VoIP traffic so it never gets any lag, even when downloading, etc. next HTTP traffic, then finally uTorrent traffic. Easy-peasy and oh so customizable.
@jeesusfreek: does dd-wrt support a linksys N router? last time i looked they didnt but that was sometime ago.
About time. The WRT600N/610N have been around for more than 6 months now.
I have been running a WRT610N that can do all that for awhile now.
is there software that would allow me to setup my own wireless network for monthly rental, like they have at the airport?
dd-wrt comes built in with two (or three) versions of pay-for-use software that you can run on a good ole' linksys wrt54g (or many other routers of your choosing)
http://www.dd-wrt.com
t-mobile customers can get the wrt54g for $20, i did so on saturday.
OK... so will this fix my problem of my new MacBook Pro killing my internet connection?
Comment system fail that was supposed to be for the guy 1 above this post.
Ouch..179 for a router. Are people this stupid?
I got mine for $79 with the original iPhone $100 rebate (or whatever you want to call it). I've been extremely happy with it, especially since it has the built-in print server/NAS.
It's not actually that bad when you compare features to other "high-end" home routers.
Yes. Apple users are that stupid.
The price hurts indeed
This isn't much worse than the WRT610N when it came out which is still selling at retail for $149. You have to figure most routers don't have 2.4 and 5 Ghz capability. Some of the other stuff you can get just by DD-WRTing a router, but still those are some advanced features.
Yes, absolutely insane, because you could get the Linksys WRT610N for $149.49 at Amazon (list $199.99). $30.50 is the cost of sanity.
How is this new or fun? Other routers have had the dual bad setup available since last year.
Oh, it's because of the fruit logo isn't it?
Here I was all excited that it would be able to bridge two networks simultaneously, and was hoping Apple finally figured out how to multi-home.
No, it has two radios in it.
Man, your title makes it seem like Apple was the first to do dual band networking.
How exactly does it do that? I don't see anywhere where it's even hinted at that it's even new technology.
They just edited the post. It was in there.
This is not a new feature, I bought a buffalo N router last summer that could that. It's really not that useful especially for that price, you can buy a Belkin N router that stand upright and shows your connection details on its built in screen for much cheaper than that shiny white thing.
Apple fans paying through the ass for 2 year old features sold as new..... as usual.
I have a N1 Vision, love it, does a bit more than this, looks better, and the display is excellent, especially when there are many devices connected to it
I just looked up the N1 Vision with the built-in screen on Amazon and it gets only fair reviews and it doesn't have a USB port for hard drives or printers. I also see no mention of dual-band. It is no comparison. Do you mean some other Belkin N router? I would like to find a cheaper alternative for my Mom that is easy to set up and and works reliably, and has a USB port with print server (and the print server must work, and work well, with Macs.)
oops, that it does not have... AirPort wins with the file/print server... My printer has a network interface so I didn't need the function
Apple airport Extreme £116
Belkin N1 Vision £69 (yes it can run 2 SSIDs)
A print server is £30
As I said Apple fans paying through the ass for "new" (yes engadget edited it's story) features that Belkin launched in Oct 2007
I'm pretty sure most schools flip out if you're using a router at all, so maybe "hippest router in the dorm" isn't quite right
true that, thought the same thing when i read that...
yay for sr2016 gigabit switch fo' free! cuz lightning damaged like four ports on it so the company insisted they get a new one. this one's been chuggin along for 2 years now. works like a champ.
schools generally clamp down on unprotected wireless, and policy varies on in room networks... my school has kind of a unmentioned and unenforced policy about charging for running a network but I also have an office with one computer "allowed" where we keep three servers (web, backup, and trixbox) and three workstations along with a couple NAS systems, laptops, a wireless network, and a friend's computer so that he can remote in while he's in Africa.
Why did i just buy one like 3 month's ago. Looks like mine's going on ebay
Seems like an appealing refresh, but I would have preferred an offering at the $99 price point.
its so damn costly man...
499$ for a 1TB hdd. AMAZING! I must get 7 of them!
>Apple's new Airport Extreme actually brings some fun stuff to the staid wireless router market, while a similarly refreshed Time Capsule does the same for NAS land. The power comes from its new dual-band WiFi radios, allowing them to work in 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands simultaneously,
Linksys has 3 routers that do this. So, errr... What is it bringing to the wireless router market?
Along with built in print server and NAS? Linksys doesn't match it.
@PCIV
I hate to spoil your comment, but yes the Linksys routers do have NAS and Print server capability.
The logo.
@Tarnation:
Linksys has only one model of router on their website which features Wireless-N, gigabit switching, and Storage Link (USB for connecting an external HDD). It is the WRT610N, and it lists for $200 (currently $145 on Amazon)
It does not have USB printer sharing capability.
D-link offers three dual-band routers which offer Shareport (for printer and external HDD sharing) ranging in price from $160 to $310.
Yep, that is costly. when the N routers were new this was a justifiable premium for the promised performance. ~170$ /= the cost of ubiquity. I bought the first gen after going through 3 belkin n routers and one linksys that looked like an orbital satellite. Realistically, Belkin has got more of my money tied up in a box of broken routers than apple does on one functional product. However that was like 2 years ago they need to get with the times.
I'm not even going to remark on the time capsule. capacities should be double for that price. disregard the comment about not remarking on the time capsule.
Anyone know if guest networking is a software/firmware update or only available in the new models?
What I want to know is if my now "last-gen" Airport Extreme will get this capability through firmware upgrade. If not, I will be pissed.
Unless Firmware can magically solder another radio on to your Airport Extreme no. They could give you some of the user stuff though.
is it just me, when author said "whitest", it triggerred my racist alert. why not build a black airport extreme too?
It is just you.
lol
Colorware* has you covered.
*uh, sorry . . . I didn't name the company.
Wow...I bought my Wireless N router last summer for $70. Maybe I should glue a piece of fruit to it so it'll appreciate by $100.
Damn I owned my AirPort Extreme for about 25 days. Today I called Apple and they let me return the old one and gave me a full refund. As soon as the local Apple Store opens up, I am grabbing the new one! I love Apple's customer service!
That's actually pretty impressive. Apple always seems like it has the "we'll give you what we want and you'll like it" attitude, so I'm glad to hear their customer service is good. What's the cut-off for a return like that though--30 days?
D-Link DIR-655/855 ftw. And, they come in white too!
DO NOT BUY AN APPLE base station... i was stupid enought to buy the last gen one and it is by far the worse peice of crap i've EVER used...
buyer beware.
I actually think the Airport Extreme was at one time the only router that would do a separate 5ghz N network. I remember reading an ArsTechnica rundown of 802.11n routers. You also have to keep in mind that the Airport also has NAS capability or you can use it as a printer port. That ups the price significantly. The airport extreme has also been rated very highly in actual throughput speeds, where, some.. *cough* linksys *cough*, have real problems maintaining their touted speeds on a wireless LAN. Just my two cents. I have an AE and i have it set up as a 5 ghz N network to prevent interference, while my trusty newly-Tomato'd (Got tired of DD-WRT) WRT54G v. 2 handles Bandwidth monitoring and 2.4 gz B/G devices. A pretty nice setup.
Think i'd rather stick to my current router...http://www.cdwg.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=1270327
nice try...thats an access point that requires a dedicated manager. you don't have that.
the new models also support accessing your "AirDisk" via MobileMe without a computer connected to it.
These r awesome! I have 2 of them right now, one running an n network, one running a bg network. They r super easy to setup and use. I'll b picking up one of these and use the other two for something else
I have a time capsule, but you sound like a tool. no offense though.
Note: the AEBS is 802.11a/b/g/n and can run in the 5ghz band as well, but the old model didn't allow you to run in both 5 and 2.4 at the same time (a problem if you had a mixed n/g network).
All you whiners can complain, but try and find something that supports 5ghz wide channels plus can do rudimentary print and disk sharing for $179. And it's fast.
The only real problem with it is you need to restart it if you change a NAT port map. That's aggravating.
Apple should change their name to "Fail" :D
Wireless N and gigabit are all well and good but the Airport Extreme I got last year could only push a few MB/sec to the connected hard drive so I got rid of it. I wonder if the new one has a faster processor.
WOW welcome to 2009 Apple everyone else has had routers that do this for years..... why do you guys act like this some "NEW" innovation? Because it has a catchy name???
netgear wndr3300 is quite cheap and does dual band. works fairly well, nothing special though.
I finally decided to insure my data with a backup device, so I chose Time Capsule. Unfortunately, it tool aver 3 hours on the phone with Apple to get it working. Then, my initial backup failed with a Time Machine error after two hours.
I don't think this product is ready for prime time
Bob, Could you please elaborate on your statement
"the new models also support accessing your "AirDisk" via MobileMe without a computer connected to it."
I would like to understand what this capability entails.
Thanks
Richard
I think what he means is, that the the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule allow you to acces the harddrive in the Time Capsule and the harddrives (or USB sticks) that are connected to the Airport Extreme over the internet via Mobile Me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I can remember reading about it on the product page. Look here: http://www.apple.com/airportexpress og timecapsule I don't have time to look it up myself right now.